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  #1  
Old 07-04-2022, 08:11 AM
pierremanu pierremanu is offline
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Default Clicks and co.. What's wrong?

Hello,

I'm a bit desperate..
I am working on a laptop bought 6 months ago (end of 2021), a Dell Precision, i7, 16go ram, Windows 10 pro, and this computer has a NVDIA Quattro 500 graphics card.
I use Ableton Live, which runs without any problem (the CPU overhead goes up to 70% with a 256 buffer without me hearing any click or other playback error).
For professional reasons, I had to switch to Pro Tools (one year Studio license).
I use a Focusrite 6i8 3rd generation sound card connected to USB-C.
But I've been using it for a few months now, and I've got some unwanted clicks. Even with a 20% CPU, these clicks happen quite regularly (sometimes nothing for 15 minutes, then it doesn't stop...)
I followed AVID's advice to the letter regarding the optimization of Windows 10 to use Pro Tools.
- I disabled all the so-called CPU optimization options in the BIOS (hyperthreading, voltage adjustment to save battery, etc.)
- I have disabled all the peripherals that are not useful to me, network card, etc..
- I disabled the embedded sound card directly in the BIOS
- I created a new user account in Windows (of course, this is useless)
- It goes without saying that all drivers are up to date.
- I disabled the Windows battery management

Despite this, I still get these unwanted cracks.
No matter how many times I turn the problem over, I don't understand what's wrong.
My Windows installation is clean, no suspicious programs, and as I said, Ableton runs perfectly on the same machine!
The disk usage indicator is at zero, I don't use many tracks at the same time. Some plug in (but the CPU stays under 25%)

So, if someone has a clue that I haven't explored yet, I'd be extremely grateful!

Have a nice day!
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  #2  
Old 07-04-2022, 09:21 AM
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albee1952 albee1952 is offline
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Default Re: Clicks and co.. What's wrong?

Hmmm, here are some thoughts:
1-Are the clicks random or actually part of the audio wave?
2-What are the specs of the drive you are recording to?
3-You didn't need to disable the on-board sound card in BIOS. What you do need to do is make sure that Windows is NOT using your interface as its default playback device(in Sound Properties)
4-Does the laptop have any standard USB ports? If it does, I would try connecting the interface that way(at least to see if it makes a difference)
5-You mention SOME of the recommended tweaks, but you didn't mention disabling Power Management on all USB ports(sometimes aka "USB Root Hub")in Device Manager.
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  #3  
Old 07-04-2022, 09:39 AM
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Default Re: Clicks and co.. What's wrong?

Have a look at this thread and consider setting Processor Affinity.

Also look at the "Help Us Help You" link at the top of every Forum and post a Sandra Report.
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  #4  
Old 07-04-2022, 11:38 AM
Darryl Ramm Darryl Ramm is online now
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Default Re: Clicks and co.. What's wrong?

What exact version of Pro Tools are you running?

What version of driver for your interface? And importantly, confirm you are not running ASIO4ALL.

Lots of good advice sofar. You are unfortunately lost on some stuff here and you do need to get things you are doing right.

You also do not mention the most basic very relevant info like IO buffer size or sample rate you are running Pro Tools at, or if you have ignore errors checked... if so uncheck that, you want to see any AAE error. What is disk cache set to? with small test sessions just set that to 1GB or so and let the session fully load (disk cache meter turns green and has significant free space) before starting to do anything.

Looking at meters and % CPU rarely tells you anything useful and is likely a waste of time. That's been discussed to death on DUC before.

Since the 6i8 has optical digital input...are you using that for anything? is that input set to be the clock source? if you are not using it disconnect anything connected there and make sure the clock source is set to internal in the 6i8.

There are standard troubleshooting directions under "help us help you" up the top of every DUC web page. starting with trashing prefs--always start there, and especially trouble shooting plugins by moving aaxplugin files out of the plugin folder (and I would trash prefs again after doing that)--always suspect plugins, yes even ones installed but not being used. There is lots of standard troubleshooting stuff you don't seem to have tried... or if you have you need to tell us.

Purchasing the PT Trasher app will make trashing stuff easier. http://www.pro-tools-pc.us/category-s/1514.htm

Still stuck after working through all this describe all that standard troubleshooting you have done and what you saw (take notes as you go), and post a SiSoft Sandra report.

Last edited by Darryl Ramm; 07-04-2022 at 01:30 PM.
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  #5  
Old 07-05-2022, 04:33 AM
pierremanu pierremanu is offline
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Default Re: Clicks and co.. What's wrong?

Hello

Before, thank you for your answer. I detected a bit of mistrust on your part, which I can understand. But you should know that I have been looking for 6 months, and that posting my question here was the last resort. I'm familiar with the DAW pro environment, I've been working with Ableton for a long time, and a little bit of Cubase, on the same machine we're talking about here.

Albee:
Quote:
1-Are the clicks random or actually part of the audio wave?
1. the clicks are not part of the audio files, but appear randomly when listening (never in the same places).
Quote:
2-What are the specs of the drive you are recording to?
2. I have tried various configurations, on an external SSD (USB 3), an external HD (7200 RPM USB3), on the same SSD as the OS (and PT), this has no influence on the result.
Quote:
3-You didn't need to disable the on-board sound card in BIOS. What you do need to do is make sure that Windows is NOT using your interface as its default playback device(in Sound Properties)
3. I have seen cases in the past where the Realtek drivers interfered with the sound card's ASIO drivers.
Quote:
4-Does the laptop have any standard USB ports? If it does, I would try connecting the interface that way(at least to see if it makes a difference)
4. yes, I have tried to go through these ports, but no difference
Quote:
5-You mention SOME of the recommended tweaks, but you didn't mention disabling Power Management on all USB ports(sometimes aka "USB Root Hub")in Device Manager.
5. yes, indeed, I mentioned only a part of AVID's recommendations, but I actually followed them all. I also tried to remove ALL plug ins, but the problem persists.


Darryl Ramm:
Quote:
What exact version of Pro Tools are you running?

What version of driver for your interface? And importantly, confirm you are not running ASIO4ALL.
this is version 2022.5 but the problem has been there from the beginning (Feb 2022) and it was an earlier version. The updates have not changed anything. In the meantime, I did a complete reinstallation of windows, in case the computer was delivered with a not clean installation (already seen..)
The driver is version 4.65.5, the latest one I think.
But same remark: there was an update since and I had the same problem before. I also have a 2i2 first generation with which I have exactly the same problem.
I don't have ASIO4ALL.
Quote:
You also do not mention the most basic very relevant info like IO buffer size or sample rate you are running Pro Tools at, or if you have ignore errors checked... if so uncheck that, you want to see any AAE error. What is disk cache set to? with small test sessions just set that to 1GB or so and let the session fully load (disk cache meter turns green and has significant free space) before starting to do anything.
The buffer has been tested from 256 to 1024 in 44.1. No impact on the result.
The disk cache is set to "Normal" but from experience I doubt that the problem comes from there. But I will do the test for the sake of awareness.
The "ignore errors" box is unchecked.

Quote:
Since the 6i8 has optical digital input...are you using that for anything? is that input set to be the clock source? if you are not using it disconnect anything connected there and make sure the clock source is set to internal in the 6i8.

There are standard troubleshooting directions under "help us help you" up the top of every DUC web page. starting with trashing prefs--always start there, and especially trouble shooting plugins by moving aaxplugin files out of the plugin folder (and I would trash prefs again after doing that)--always suspect plugins, yes even ones installed but not being used. There is lots of standard troubleshooting stuff you don't seem to have tried... or if you have you need to tell us.
I don't use (in this case) SPDIF, the sync is internal (in 44.1).
The preferences and plug ins have been removed.

Indeed, I forgot to tell you, but I really tried everything. I have read dozens of articles like "how to optimize windows 10 for audio, for pro tools" and all that goes with it.
The thing that really pisses me off is that I have NO problems with other DAWs.
Is spending most of your time fiddling with your computer part of the "classic" use of PT? (yes, there's a bit of irony in my question )

Thanks for taking the time to answer me and sorry for my incomplete question
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  #6  
Old 07-05-2022, 04:47 AM
pierremanu pierremanu is offline
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Default Re: Clicks and co.. What's wrong?

I forgot to mention something important: even with a single audio track without effects/plug in, the problem is there!
So it has nothing to do with the size of the project.
I posted a long answer but it's waiting for moderator aprobation.
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  #7  
Old 07-05-2022, 09:16 AM
Darryl Ramm Darryl Ramm is online now
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Default Re: Clicks and co.. What's wrong?

Quote:
Originally Posted by pierremanu View Post
I forgot to mention something important: even with a single audio track without effects/plug in, the problem is there!
So it has nothing to do with the size of the project.
I posted a long answer but it's waiting for moderator aprobation.
So! What!! Nothing! Really Surprising! About! That!!!! Not untypical behavior with plugin problems!!

Plug-ins installed in Pro Tools but not being used are very capable of causing CPU problems. Again, you need to be following the standard troubleshooting approach. Have you moved *all* .aaxplugin files out of the plugin folder, trashed prefs and tested with that? And if that does not solve the issue then leave the other plugins uninstalled when you do other testing.
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Old 07-05-2022, 10:17 AM
pierremanu pierremanu is offline
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Default Re: Clicks and co.. What's wrong?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm View Post
So! What!! Nothing! Really Surprising! About! That!!!! Not untypical behavior with plugin problems!!

Plug-ins installed in Pro Tools but not being used are very capable of causing CPU problems. Again, you need to be following the standard troubleshooting approach. Have you moved *all* .aaxplugin files out of the plugin folder, trashed prefs and tested with that? And if that does not solve the issue then leave the other plugins uninstalled when you do other testing.
My dear...
Thank you for your kind reply.
In a reply I posted a few hours ago (but which does not appear, I do not know the reason for this blocking), I explain that I have this problem since February, and that I have repeatedly carried out the procedures for resolving the problems. Removing plug ins? done! deleting preferences? done! I didn't mention it clearly in my initial post but I've done ALL the maneuvers mentioned here (I did the maneuver of changing the disk cache this afternoon, without result).
Posting a message here is a last resort for me, don't think I'm going to ask you a question if the answer is on the first page found on google!

Thanks
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  #9  
Old 07-05-2022, 01:33 PM
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64GTOBOY 64GTOBOY is offline
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Default Re: Clicks and co.. What's wrong?

Make sure your laptop is plugged in or at least that the interface is on a powered USB hub. Trying to run a FR on battery power is not a good idea.

Increase the buffer size for your interface. FR has several interface drivers that can be accessed from PT Options menu. If you don't need to monitor through Pro Tools knock the buffer up high as you can.

Do the affinity deal. It sometimes does nothing on big fast machines. On laptops it can be a life saver

16 GB is not really a lot for the latest versions of PT so you may consider upping it.

On laptops with USB C an ultrafast thumb drive works better than trying to record to the system drive in most cases.
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  #10  
Old 07-05-2022, 10:23 PM
pierremanu pierremanu is offline
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Default Re: Clicks and co.. What's wrong?

Quote:
Make sure your laptop is plugged in or at least that the interface is on a powered USB hub. Trying to run a FR on battery power is not a good idea.
=>check
Quote:
Increase the buffer size for your interface. FR has several interface drivers that can be accessed from PT Options menu. If you don't need to monitor through Pro Tools knock the buffer up high as you can.
=>check
Quote:
Do the affinity deal. It sometimes does nothing on big fast machines. On laptops it can be a life saver
=>check (only core 1-2-3, without core 0)
Quote:
16 GB is not really a lot for the latest versions of PT so you may consider upping it.
On this point I find it hard to believe that 16GB of ram is too little to run ONE stereo track without plug in with a 512 or 1024 buffer.

Thank you for these lines of thought but unfortunately the problem is always present. :-(
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