Bitwig Distortion/DC Bias and crackling popping sound.

[Jazzlover]

I am experiencing a crackling/popping sound (not buffer related) when I play the first note on certain instrument presets that use Bitwig's Distortion and have the DC Bias turned up. After a second or less the sound is fine. If I turn the audio engine off and on again I get the same sound. Just the act of turning the audio engine back on can produce the same sound before even playing a note. If I turn the DC Bias down the issue disappears.

I have been in contact with Bitwig support, they say they have reproduced the problem (they managed to produce the problem a small popping sound when turning the audio engine off and on but I don't believe when playing a note) and will look into it.

I am surprised I have not read any mention anywhere of this issue with Bitwig in any review or on any forum and wonder whether anyone else has experienced this or I am the only unlucky one to have this issue.

[Jazzlover]

I guess I am the lone unlucky one experiencing this problem.

[UltraSniffy]

I love the distortion plugin and use it daily, but i have not been able to reproduce this glitch.

My main complaint about the device is that it doesn't have a "neutral" setting, unless you turn the mix all the way down.

I'd like to be able to have the mix at 100%, and dial in the drive as required...

[Jazzlover]

Well, the problem exists on both my pc running Windows 7 64bit (Focusrite 2i4 into monitors or headphones) and my Macbook (with the speakers built into the laptop) running OS X.

Load a Polysynth with the Detuned Darkness preset and play one note or one chord (it's easier to hear the popping if you play a quick staccato note). I get the popping sounds (a few pops in a row). Next set of notes or chords, no popping sound. Reload the preset and the problem reappears. Turn off the audio engine and turn it back on and the problem reappears for the first note(s) played. Disable the Ladder effect in the chain for the same preset and turn the audio engine off and then on, I hear the pops again without playing a note. The popping sound can be seen on the output meter in the header.

If nobody else can replicate it that this must be a sign that Bitwig doesn't like me or either of my machines located in two different locations.

[UltraSniffy]

Great, now I'm tempted to install the presets.

I will try to remain strong, but dammit do I wanna hear this pop for myself.

[Jazzlover]

I'd also like to know what the DC Bias knob is there for in the first place because it doesn't seem to have much if any affect on the sound.

[Jazzlover]

I was really hoping to hear from others as to whether or not they had experienced similar problems or if they could reproduce the problem on their systems.

Oh well. Guess I will just wait and see if it ever get's fixed.

[frenchboy]

I'd also like to know what the DC Bias knob is there for in the first place because it doesn't seem to have much if any affect on the sound.

I don't use the device but I'm guessing the DC Bias creates a DC offset before the clipping, so that it clips more on the top or bottom of the waveform. It can be a pretty subtle (but really great) setting on a distortion device. If you use a sinewave and a spectrum analyzer you should be able to see what it does.

[Jazzlover]

I don't use the device but I'm guessing the DC Bias creates a DC offset before the clipping, so that it clips more on the top or bottom of the waveform. It can be a pretty subtle (but really great) setting on a distortion device. If you use a sinewave and a spectrum analyzer you should be able to see what it does.

Thanks. I can hear and see slight differences. Nothing mind blowing though.

It's not a huge deal but it is a drag to load a preset or create a new preset and not know if it's going to make that popping sound. It's a little disconcerting and annoying.

[Jazzlover]

Great, now I'm tempted to install the presets.

I will try to remain strong, but dammit do I wanna hear this pop for myself.

So, did you download the presets and try it?

[ahs]

hi,

i will try it today on a notebook. i am curious now !
and i have a complte new installed system and soundcard

[Jazzlover]

hi,

i will try it today on a notebook. i am curious now !
and i have a complte new installed system and soundcard

And? Did you try it?

[ThomasHelzle]

Just in case it isn't clear to anybody in the meantime: any bugs you find go to tech-support:
http://www.bitwig.com/en/support/tech-support.html
KVR is for discussion and to see if you are doing something wrong, but if there is a problem you can reproduce and have steps for it, send it there.

Cheeres,

Tom

[Jazzlover]

Just in case it isn't clear to anybody in the meantime: any bugs you find go to tech-support:
http://www.bitwig.com/en/support/tech-support.html
KVR is for discussion and to see if you are doing something wrong, but if there is a problem you can reproduce and have steps for it, send it there.

Cheeres,

Tom

Tom,

I did communicate with tech support.

The reason I posted here is that I have the problem on both my PC and MAC that share nothing in common (not even the audio interface) and so was surprised to not have heard anyone else complain about the problem as the problem is obviously not isolated to only one particular machine/configuration.

Thanks.

[ThomasHelzle]

Great.

Sorry for my broken record mode at times, I just want to make sure that these things reach the people who can do something about it.

As for the problem: I hear a faint thing as you describe it, but it would never have bothered me personally, so I guess it's somehow more pronounced on your system or you do things with it that make it more audible.

I hope it can be fixed for you,

Cheers,

Tom