Audio dropouts when idle and recording but not playback (only on 1024 buffer size)

[lvly5t]

Hello I am experiencing audio drop outs in PT 12 (all specs listed under profile) when on 1024 buffer size regardless of session load (even with only one track).

Quick specs:
Self built system (i7 quad, 64GB ddr3 RAM)
Windows 10 Pro (64 bit)
PT 12.7.1 (non-HD)
Scarlett 18i20 (USB 3.0) 2nd Gen

I spent hours on the phone with Avid and Focusrite (makers of my Scarlett 18i20 interface) to no avail.

The weird thing is that this audio dropout does not occur at the same buffer size in FL12.

Sample rate changes and bit depth changed do not solve this issue. Working in lower buffer sizes does but I can't always work at 512 or lower.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Let me know if you need more info.



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[albee1952]

All your info is not all THE info folks need to help Posting a Sandra report is the best way for PC users(see the link above called Help Us Help You for info).
Without more info, some guesses:
1-Are you recording to a separate/approved drive?
2-Have you done all the system tweaks(especially disabling power management on all USB ports)?
3-If you have a CD/DVD drive, make sure there is no disk in it while running Pro Tools.
4-go into BIOS and make sure that there is no floppy drive enabled(even if you don't have a floppy installed in the system).
5-need a Sandra report for any more ideas

[Darryl Ramm]

And after when you post the Sandra report....

What did Avid and Focusrite have you do in those hours? Nobody here is interested in trying to help you only to have you say "oh we tried that". Post a (hopefully long) list of things tried...

You should have already been through many of standard trouble shooting steps (top of every DUC page, under "help us help you") yourself before call anybody or posted here. What ones of those have you tried s well. -- trashing prefs (frequently between troubleshooting steps) and removing all third party plugins especially should have already be done, if not do that now. Same with using a new empty session (not a copy, not from a template).

In the playback engine dialog: ignore errors should *not* be checked, uncheck dynamic plugin processing while there as well.

An early thing to check as well is is this the interface/driver or not. So what happens with a different audio interface (use ASIO4ALL if you need to).

[Darryl Ramm]

I also don't understand what you mean by dropout when "idle". What is idle? Transport stopped? Or just low CPU meter usage in playback? Or what?

Is all audio dropping out or just some? Are you listening to pre-recorded content paying back while monitoring as well as what you are tracking or are you only monitoring the track you are recoding?

Are you monitoring though Pro Tools or though hardware monitoring in the interface, or both? Deliberately test full software monitoring and full hardware monitoring for your recording track, at the same time as playback of a pre-recorded track. In both scenarios what exactly happens?

[lvly5t]

Originally Posted by albee1952

All your info is not all THE info folks need to help Posting a Sandra report is the best way for PC users(see the link above called Help Us Help You for info).

Without more info, some guesses:

1-Are you recording to a separate/approved drive?

2-Have you done all the system tweaks(especially disabling power management on all USB ports)?

3-If you have a CD/DVD drive, make sure there is no disk in it while running Pro Tools.

4-go into BIOS and make sure that there is no floppy drive enabled(even if you don't have a floppy installed in the system).

5-need a Sandra report for any more ideas

Sorry will post Sandra Report when I get home. I meant to do it on the first post.

1. Yes
2. Yes
3. Don't have either DVD or floppy drive anyways
4. Tried it, same issue persists



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[lvly5t]

Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm

And after when you post the Sandra report....

What did Avid and Focusrite have you do in those hours? Nobody here is interested in trying to help you only to have you say "oh we tried that". Post a (hopefully long) list of things tried...

You should have already been through many of standard trouble shooting steps (top of every DUC page, under "help us help you") yourself before call anybody or posted here. What ones of those have you tried s well. -- trashing prefs (frequently between troubleshooting steps) and removing all third party plugins especially should have already be done, if not do that now. Same with using a new empty session (not a copy, not from a template).

In the playback engine dialog: ignore errors should *not* be checked, uncheck dynamic plugin processing while there as well.

An early thing to check as well is is this the interface/driver or not. So what happens with a different audio interface (use ASIO4ALL if you need to).

Honestly that was the most angry I have ever been at Avid. They basically checked my system usage in PT and that was obviously no where close to being high. After that they checked that the interface was not my active playback/recording device in Windows. They tried run as admin. Then they said there was nothing they could do and needed to contact Focusrite.

Focusrite was even worse than Avid. At least their basic techs were he literally said there is no troubleshooting options and I had to get a senior tech. His thought was, because this wasn't happening in FL Studio at the same playback speed then it might be on them. Like a driver fix needed or something.




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[bugnut]

Hi lvly5t. I just got a Focusrite 1820 and am having the same issue. Have you or anyone else solved it?

When I insert a signal generator plugin in a Pro Tools session which is set to a 1024 buffer size the noise/tone plays for a few seconds then drops out for a second then kicks back in. Then out then in, etc.

It all seems fine at 512

If I press play and run the tone generator the tone stays steady but when I'm idled the problem comes back. Haven't tried recording yet.

The same thing happens when using any plugins which create noise, like Satin tape machine. The noise kicks in and out until I press play then the noise stays steady.

When I put Waves VU Meter on the Master fader it shows signal even when the signal drops out.

This behavior does not occur when I play noise in my Smaart app through the same output chain. The behavior only seems to occur in Pro Tools.

I've re-installed both Pro Tools and Focusrite drivers.