Tracktion Software

tovokas · Post by **tovokas** » Fri Jul 28, 2017 6:56 am

I've recently moved to a new 2017 27" i7 iMac running Sierra. One issue I've encountered, even in new projects with only a track or two, is I can't lower the audio buffer size below 512 without experiencing massive clicking and popping. Below 256 the audio actually seems to slow down... The CPU is barely budging so it's certainly not because the processor is overwhelmed. Once I boost the buffer up to 768 everything runs smoothly, but since I mainly use Tracktion for song-sketching, this is a no-go.

In Studio One and Reaper I'm able to begin recording songs at 64 samples without any issues at all. I'm using a Behringer UMC202HD (a quick replacement after my TC Electronic interface up and died). I'm actually quite impressed with the interface considering what I paid for it, and as mentioned, it's working fine in everything else I can test, even in the latest version of Waveform on my Windows 10 machine. Anyone else seeing this on your Mac?

2017 27" i7 iMac, 32 Gigs of Ram, Behringer UMC202HD, Waveform 8.2.0.

tovokas · Post by **tovokas** » Tue Aug 01, 2017 10:56 am

As a follow up to my original question, since it hasn't prompted any responses, is it that there just aren't too many Mac users left active on the forum? Or is it that most are on earlier OSX versions preceding Sierra? Or is no one else experiencing this on their Macs?

I'd love to hear anyone's experience, regardless of version or interface, since as things are, I'll likely need to put Waveform on the shelf (outside of occasional tests to see if things have changed). That would be a sad day indeed, as regardless of my dabbling in other DAWs, I always come back to the Tracktion ecosystem as it just fits my workflow and recording style the best. I've completed two CD's in Tracktion, but this current latency limitation is really an insurmountable barrier for future work.

Thanks for any experiences you're willing to share!

dRowAudio · Post by **dRowAudio** » Thu Aug 03, 2017 4:52 pm

I can't speak for everyone on the forum but I can say that most of the Tracktion team use Sierra Macs. I do almost all development on my Sierra Mac.

If you switch to built-in audio, do you still get glitching or is it smooth?

tovokas · Post by **tovokas** » Thu Aug 03, 2017 5:15 pm

Switching to built-in audio doesn't seem to improve things, but I do have a new observation: I can set the sample rate to 64 on songs with lots of tracks and plugins, and it plays without glitching... as long as I remain on the settings tab! As soon as I switch to the song tab (even without any plugin windows open) the glitches and slowdowns begin. Could it be a graphics issue? (I have the 8 gig card in this iMac).

dRowAudio · Post by **dRowAudio** » Fri Aug 04, 2017 12:54 pm

Hmm, it could be but the UI runs on a much lower priority thread than the audio so it shouldn't get in the way of it. You would expect the UI to become very jittery and sluggish before any audio stuttering would occur.

Is it any specific type of track that's causing problems? For example, if you only have MIDI clips and plugins (no audio) do you still get glitches? Or if you only have audio files?

I'm just trying to narrow down if it could be the hard disk slowing things down (not that it should, if the hard disk can't keep up, you may get audio file dropouts but the Edit should continue to play the rest of the content smoothly).

tovokas · Post by **tovokas** » Fri Aug 04, 2017 7:22 pm

It seems to happen regardless of the number, or nature, of tracks: At low latencies, a single synth-only track will crackle on the song tab, and play perfectly on the settings tab. Ditto for audio: a single audio-only track will crackle on the song tab, and play perfectly on the settings tab.

(And again, my other audio apps are able to play complete songs with over a dozen audio files and many plugins at 64 samples without issue, (even loading in the exact same wav files), so it would seem unlikely that there's something structurally wrong with the hard drive or processor).

tovokas · Post by **tovokas** » Fri Aug 04, 2017 9:09 pm

Another note: if I grab the horizontal scrollbar and drag-scroll left and right the crackling goes crazy.

chico.co.uk · Post by **chico.co.uk** » Mon Aug 07, 2017 9:22 am

Does it persist if you ditch your tracktion settings file and start again with blank settings?
Maybe it's been accidentally changed to just use one CPU core or something similar, like a duff setting that wasn't intentional

tovokas · Post by **tovokas** » Mon Aug 07, 2017 9:53 am

I'll give that a shot tomorrow and report back.

tovokas · Post by **tovokas** » Wed Aug 09, 2017 1:14 am

Deleting the settings sadly didn't seem to change anything.

beli · Post by **beli** » Mon Aug 14, 2017 4:31 am

I did quick test running MBP with SSD and 16gb RAM, on Sierra and was able to get to 64 samples with no issues however anytihing bellow that caused the problem. I used internal Audio interface however I will test with UA Twin Solo as well ...could it be that you are having an issue with USB? I remember seeing these types of issues when I had USB based Audio interface

good luck with sorting it out

B

JohnMS · Post by **JohnMS** » Mon Aug 28, 2017 12:29 pm

This sounds very odd. I'd at first blame the Behringer audio interface, but then it is macOS, and (hopefully) a class compliant device. However, this doesn't seem to be the case, as you are using the same interface with Sudio One, with no problems.

What seems to be happening is that using and mousing over Waveform's GUI is somehow messing up everything.

Have you tried uninstalling and reinstalling Waveform? Try installing Tracktion T5 (i.e. the free version of Tracktion available from the site) to see if the problem can be replicated.

rosesbyrosex · Post by **rosesbyrosex** » Tue Sep 05, 2017 3:17 pm

tovokas wrote:One issue I've encountered, even in new projects with only a track or two, is I can't lower the audio buffer size below 512 without experiencing massive clicking and popping. Below 256 the audio actually seems to slow down... The CPU is barely budging so it's certainly not because the processor is overwhelmed.

Maybe you have heavy plugins on your tracks, if you don't, it's another problem

tovokas · Post by **tovokas** » Wed Sep 13, 2017 8:31 am

Nope, plugins only have a small impact. Even with a new song with a single compressor and 2 audio tracks, I can't go below 768 samples without cracks and pops. I can do 20 audio tracks and dozens of plugins at 64 samples in Studio One and Reaper, so it's not a horsepower issue.

tovokas · Post by **tovokas** » Fri Sep 15, 2017 7:29 am

Just as a refresher: I can play an involved song with 20 audio tracks and upwards of 50 plugins in Waveform at 64 samples... as long as I'm on the settings tab. As soon as I switch back to the song view things go all snap, crackle, pop.

Tonight I performed an experiment, and checked the "Open in Low Resolution" box in the Finder/Get Info window and launched Waveform. With this box checked, I'm able to play the song without pops down to 128 samples. Without the box checked, anything below 768 samples is unusable.

I can actually work at 128, which is good news, but this definitely seems like a graphics bug of some sort with the display of level meters and the like.

Tracktion Software

KVR Audio

Mac Audio Buffer Size