Clicks & Pops during playback & recording (through DAW only)

[Lana Banana]

I'm experiencing terrible pops and clicks during playback in Pro Tools 12.6.0, that gradually increase as the session goes on.

Anyone else experiencing a similar problem, or know a solution?

It literally began randomly about 10 days ago after importing a stereo mp3 file into a brand new session for a client.
Since then it's not gone away, and is becoming an embarrassment with clients in the studio, as it's very noticeable during playback, and also occurs during recording where it also pops & clicks in their headphones.

The pops & clicks are not on the waveforms, and are not there on the mp3's or wav's after bouncing down.

I've got a Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 connected to my Windows 10 PC via Firewire, and then a Focusrite OctoPre mkII connected to the Pro 40 via optical. 44.1, internal.

I've tried almost everything I can think of, and am also still talking to Focusrite who are trying to help, but so far we haven't found a solution.

I have...

-Optimized PC for audio playback
-Replaced optical cable
-Replaced firewire cable
-Removed all plugins from an existing session, one-by-one
-Created a brand new session, with no plugins
-Reset both Focusrite machines
-Tried all buffer sizes, from 126 up to 1024.
-Tried Low Latency Monitoring

I have a bespoke PC, which should be able to handle pretty much anything..

-TWO Intel (R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-2673 v3 @ 2.40GHz, 2401 Mhz, 12 Core, 24 Logical Processors
-32GB RAM


Anyone have any ideas??? Please help! I desperately need this fixed!

[jeam25]

Originally Posted by Lana Banana

I'm experiencing terrible pops and clicks during playback in Pro Tools 12.6.0, that gradually increase as the session goes on.

Anyone else experiencing a similar problem, or know a solution?

It literally began randomly about 10 days ago after importing a stereo mp3 file into a brand new session for a client.
Since then it's not gone away, and is becoming an embarrassment with clients in the studio, as it's very noticeable during playback, and also occurs during recording where it also pops & clicks in their headphones.

The pops & clicks are not on the waveforms, and are not there on the mp3's or wav's after bouncing down.

I've got a Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 connected to my Windows 10 PC via Firewire, and then a Focusrite OctoPre mkII connected to the Pro 40 via optical. 44.1, internal.

I've tried almost everything I can think of, and am also still talking to Focusrite who are trying to help, but so far we haven't found a solution.

I have...

-Optimized PC for audio playback
-Replaced optical cable
-Replaced firewire cable
-Removed all plugins from an existing session, one-by-one
-Created a brand new session, with no plugins
-Reset both Focusrite machines
-Tried all buffer sizes, from 126 up to 1024.
-Tried Low Latency Monitoring

I have a bespoke PC, which should be able to handle pretty much anything..

-TWO Intel (R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-2673 v3 @ 2.40GHz, 2401 Mhz, 12 Core, 24 Logical Processors
-32GB RAM


Anyone have any ideas??? Please help! I desperately need this fixed!

Hi lana ! Sounds to me like the wordclock because of your setup . Another thing to consider is the windos sound control panel while playing back in PT . What card is selected by windows there ?

[sw rec]

Recording to a qualified dedicated hard drive?

[Lana Banana]

Originally Posted by jeam25

Hi lana ! Sounds to me like the wordclock because of your setup . Another thing to consider is the windos sound control panel while playing back in PT . What card is selected by windows there ?

Thanks for the reply, jeam25!

I have the Saffire Audio selected as the Playback Device, and also the Recording Device.
I have tried switching the playback device to my internal Realtek High Definition Audio, but it's not made any difference

What could I alter in terms of the wordclock?

[Lana Banana]

Originally Posted by sw rec

Recording to a qualified dedicated hard drive?

Thanks sw rec. We are recording to a separate hard drive, that isn't used for anything else but Pro Tools.. :/

[sw rec]

7200 rpm drive, no power-saving protocol?

[Lana Banana]

Originally Posted by sw rec

7200 rpm drive, no power-saving protocol?

The drive we use for Pro Tools is a Seagate ST2000DX001-1NS164, which is 7,200 RPM.

Power saving protocol..?

[sw rec]

Some drives have onboard electronics that limit/shut off the data stream when it thinks it isn't being used. Typically WD drives, but not Seagate. Safe there.
Usb/firewire?

[Lana Banana]

Originally Posted by sw rec

Some drives have onboard electronics that limit/shut off the data stream when it thinks it isn't being used. Typically WD drives, but not Seagate. Safe there.
Usb/firewire?

Firewire. I've changed the Firewire cable, and also changed the optical cable connecting the Saffire Pro 40 to the OctoPre MkII.

[sw rec]

Are you using a firewire controller card with a Texas Instruments chipset? That's critical. Grab a SIIG card, but make sure it's a TI chipset.