slight pops and clicks when recording

[Bill0287]

Still pretty new to PT. While recording an ultra simple session, I am getting steady pops and clicks...here is what I did:

Create a new session at 44kHz, 24bit, wav
Import an mp3 into a stereo audio track as a source to follow
Create 1 mono audio track for guitar, add one instance of eleven free.

When I record enable the guitar track and play alone, it's fine
When I record enable the guitar track and play along with the source track, it pops and clicks; very slight, be very noticeable, and it gets recorded.

Nothing is clipping

RTAS is steady at 19%
Disk never gets above 1-3%
256 samples, 4 processors, 90% CPU, DAE level 1 normal

I am recording to an ext FW drive, PT 8.0.1 on WinXP SP3.

Any ideas why this would be happening...I didn't notice it with 7.4.

Thanks
Bill



Sandra--------------------------------------------------

Computer
Model : Dell Inspiron 537

Processor
Model : Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q8200 @ 2.33GHz
Speed : 2.33GHz
Cores per Processor : 4 Unit(s)
Threads per Core : 1 Unit(s)
Type : Quad-Core
Integrated Data Cache : 4x 32kB, Synchronous, Write-Thru, 8-way, 64 byte line size
L2 On-board Cache : 2x 2MB, ECC, Synchronous, ATC, 8-way, 64 byte line size, 2 threads sharing

Computer
Mainboard : Dell 0U880P
BIOS : Dell A03 07/23/2009
Bus(es) : X-Bus PCI PCIe IMB USB FireWire/1394 i2c/SMBus
Multi-Processor (MP) Support : No
Multi-Processor Advanced PIC (APIC) : Yes
Total Memory : 3GB DIMM DDR2

Chipset
Model : Dell G41 DRAM Controller
Front Side Bus Speed : 4x 333MHz (1.33GHz)
Total Memory : 4GB DIMM DDR2
Memory Bus Speed : 2x 400MHz (800MHz)

Memory Module(s)
Memory Module : Elpida EBE21UE8AFFA-8G-F 2GB DIMM DDR2 PC2-6400U DDR2-800 (5-6-6-18 3-24-6-3)
Memory Module : Elpida EBE21UE8AFFA-8G-F 2GB DIMM DDR2 PC2-6400U DDR2-800 (5-6-6-18 3-24-6-3)

Video System
Video Adapter : ATI Radeon HD 4300/4500 Series (40 SP 600MHz, 512MB DDR3 2x400MHz, PCIe 2.00 x16)

Graphics Processor
Adapter : ATI Radeon HD 4300/4500 Series (40SP 2C 600MHz, 512MB 400MHz)

Storage Devices
SAMSUNG HD502IJ (500.1GB, SATA300, 3.5", 7200rpm, NCQ, 16MB Cache) : 466GB (C:)
WDC WD10EAVS-32D7B1 (1TB, FireWire/1394/SATA300, 3.5", 5400rpm, NCQ, 8MB Cache) : 932GB (K:) (M:) (P:)
TSSTcorp DVD+/-RW TS-H653G (SATA150, DVD+-RW, CD-RW, 2MB Cache) : N/A (D:)

Logical Storage Devices
Hard Disk (C:) : 466GB (NTFS) @ SAMSUNG HD502IJ (500.1GB, SATA300, 3.5", 7200rpm, NCQ, 16MB Cache)
DATA (K:) : 244GB (NTFS) @ WDC WD10EAVS-32D7B1 (1TB, FireWire/1394/SATA300, 3.5", 5400rpm, NCQ, 8MB Cache)
MUSIC (M:) : 195GB (NTFS) @ WDC WD10EAVS-32D7B1 (1TB, FireWire/1394/SATA300, 3.5", 5400rpm, NCQ, 8MB Cache)
PRO TOOLS (P:) : 195GB (NTFS) @ WDC WD10EAVS-32D7B1 (1TB, FireWire/1394/SATA300, 3.5", 5400rpm, NCQ, 8MB Cache)
Optical Drive (D:) : N/A @ TSSTcorp DVD+/-RW TS-H653G (SATA150, DVD+-RW, CD-RW, 2MB Cache)

Peripherals
LPC Hub Controller 1 : Dell 82801GB/GR (ICH7) LPC Interface Controller
LPC Legacy Controller 1 : T0 87-18h
Audio Device : Dell 82801G (ICH7) High Definition Audio
Audio Codec : Realtek Semiconductor Realtek 662 High Definition Audio
Audio Device : Dell RV730XT Audio device [Radeon HD 4670]
Audio Codec : ATI (AMD) AA01h
Disk Controller : Dell 82801GB/GR/GH (ICH7) Serial ATA Storage Controller
USB Controller 1 : Dell 82801G (ICH7) USB Universal Host Controller
USB Controller 2 : Dell 82801G (ICH7) USB Universal Host Controller
USB Controller 3 : Dell 82801G (ICH7) USB Universal Host Controller
USB Controller 4 : Dell 82801G (ICH7) USB Universal Host Controller
USB Controller 5 : Dell 82801G (ICH7) USB 2.0 Enhanced Host Controller
FireWire/1394 Controller 1 : Dell FW322/323 IEEE1394 OHCI FireWire Controller
SMBus/i2c Controller 1 : Intel 801xx/63xx SMBus

Printers and Faxes
Printer : Nitro PDF Driver (600x600, Colour)
Printer : Microsoft XPS Document Writer (600x600, Colour)
Printer : Microsoft Office Document Image Writer Driver (200x200)
Printer : HP Photosmart C3100 series (1200x1200, USB, Colour)

Network Services
Network Adapter : Realtek RTL8102E/RTL8103E Family PCI-E Fast Ethernet NIC - Packet Scheduler Miniport (Ethernet, 100Mbps)

Power Management
Mains (AC) Line Status : On-Line

Operating System
Windows System : Microsoft Windows XP Professional 5.01.2600 (Service Pack 3)
Platform Compliance : x86

[MultiCore]

Do you have your internet connection running in the background (Wifi). And a firewall/virus-scanner too.

[Bill0287]

There is a wireless router near the machine (but the machine is connected to the router via cable, not wireless), and anti-virus is also running on it. Never noticed a problem like this with 7.4 though.

UPDATE: I did a quick test with little old REAPER, and there are no pops and clicks...so it's not the guitar, the interface, or the computer per se...it's PT and how it operates.

[TOM@METRO]

Right, one of the operating anomalies of Pro Tools is that it prefers to work alone. No A/V, no internet (especially wireless), minimum background applications running. Dell computer are especially troublesome with all the bloat-ware that comes installed. A new OS installation and new Firewire controller are usually required to get maximum performance from PT.

Also your audio drive is only 5400 RPM with only 8MB of cache. This is below minimum specs for PT.

[Bill0287]

I tried this again with reaper and found the clicking still present... could someone listen this short clip of a dry guitar and hear the clicks and tell me if this sounds like a HD speed issue or something else.... the clicks are very slight, but you can hear them

http://rapidshare.com/files/39596991..._0932.wav.html

[Julia B]

If you need to be connected to the web (which I do sometimes for downloads -- no wireless for me), you will need an anti-virus, anti-spyware program. Sorry. This is necessary. There are two AV programs I can recommend that Pro Tools seems to work fine with -- the reason is that these are not "viruses" themselves like McAfee and Symantec. The two programs are:

* Vipre from Sunbelt Software http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/

and

* Eset available at Walmart. Eset AV unfortunately needs something like Spybot S&D, which I found conflicts with PT and Teatimer.exe. So I'll stick with Vipre.

I've informed Digi tech support of this, but I don't think they can make any endorsement especially since stuff changes when companies buy up their superior competition.

I use Vipre. I've even been working in PT and this thing kicked on a scan and went through without event. It is not invasive in system files. It uses very little processor capacity. It's like the scan runs in the background.

Also use Firefox as your default browser. You'll pick up less spyware.

You need a minimum 7200 RPM SATA drive for your System Drive AND a 7200 RPM SATA drive for your DATA drive (or an external Firewire Drive -- no USB drives) -- note that with Firewire cards with Windows OS that Digidesign only supports certain ones. So if you're going to go that route, I'd contact tech support first and get the part numbers.