Does a better(expensive) audio interface reduce the pop sound when I play soft synths?
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 57 posts since 6 May, 2014
I downloaded some synth demos, like Dune 2. Man, this thing should know how to use CPU. Though the sound is amazing, my poor 2011 Macbook Pro seems too old for this kind of synths. Most of the Pad presets cause pop and click through my cheap audio interface (Roland Due-capture), even with 256 latency setting in LPX. Sometime 512 is not enough. My Absynth seems like comes from another world comparing to these new synths.
So my question is: could a better audio interface solve this problem(cost less)? Or should I just bite the bullet and buy a new Macbook(cost much more)?
So my question is: could a better audio interface solve this problem(cost less)? Or should I just bite the bullet and buy a new Macbook(cost much more)?
- KVRAF
- 15272 posts since 8 Mar, 2005 from Utrecht, Holland
Your problem seems to be CPU power. Another audio interface wont fix that. But plenty of softsynths should run happily on that system.
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- KVRist
- 404 posts since 12 Jan, 2008 from Sweden
Yeah, no audio interface will add CPU power to your machine, sadly
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- KVRAF
- 2290 posts since 18 Oct, 2010 from Japan
Well as we all know, in accordance to the New Edition Apple Bible (as written to replace the FIrst Edition Wozniak) That all followers of our lord, Jobs - all apples come with the ABSOLUTE most pristine in cutting edge computing technology, but such power has a half life of 6 months. AND SO IT WAS WRITTEN! Ye be that a purchase of no less than $1500 must be spent per yer.Logictree wrote: Or should I just bite the bullet and buy a new Macbook(cost much more)?
Seriously, I know, I know - OMG APPLE SO GREAT FER THE CREATIVES LOLOLOLOLOLOL#SWAG#YOLO - but if a 2011 mac can't put up with a few synths, I think a more sound investment might be to find something a little more powerful. I'm not necessarily saying to not use Mac, but what I am saying is that Mac seems to charge a lot for out dated hardware that won't last you as long as another machine for the same cost. Now on the other hand if you found a Mac with modern hardware, I'd say go for it.
EDIT:
Sorry I had to get it out of my system:
Well there's you problem right there! Looks like you're trying to do a PC's job with a Mac!
Okay, enough trolling. Sorry. I just had to.
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- KVRist
- 423 posts since 8 Mar, 2008 from Berlin
Actually I don't quite agree. There are big differences between audio interfaces concerning latency.BertKoor wrote:Your problem seems to be CPU power. Another audio interface wont fix that. But plenty of softsynths should run happily on that system.
I'm using a 6 year old Macbook (the white one) and can happily play CPU-hungry Reaktor-ensembles with a buffer setting of 128 with a Motu ultralite FW-interface on ableton Live. I even demoed U-He Bazille and ACE and it worked fine here.
What host are you using?
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- Banned
- 703 posts since 20 Oct, 2012
"poor macbook pro 2011"?! macbook pro 2009 crappy core2duo 2.26 here and everything perfect, no pops and clicks at all. Dune2 included. It's the Roland Duo-capture IMO: old driver, conflicts, interference or such.
I would re-install the driver...
http://www.roland.com/support/article/? ... ds&p=UA-11
I would re-install the driver...
http://www.roland.com/support/article/? ... ds&p=UA-11
- KVRAF
- 2022 posts since 15 Aug, 2012 from Australia
mentions the obvious...
a bunch of developers have inbuilt pops and crackles in their demos to remind you that it's a demo...
although I think Dune 2 might just be time limited.
a bunch of developers have inbuilt pops and crackles in their demos to remind you that it's a demo...
although I think Dune 2 might just be time limited.
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- KVRAF
- 9577 posts since 16 Dec, 2002
I've got a couple of 5 year old core2duo laptops, no problems here using he internal audio with asio4all drivers.
Sounds like a problem specific to your machine
Sounds like a problem specific to your machine
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- KVRAF
- 4014 posts since 29 Jun, 2011 from USA
Good interfaces can help with this. I imagine you'd be looking at RME. Ideally you could try it before buying, or get it with a no fuss return policy.
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Sound Designer - Soundsets for Pigments, Repro, Diva, Virus TI, Nord Lead 4, Serum, DUNE2, Spire, and others
Sound Designer - Soundsets for Pigments, Repro, Diva, Virus TI, Nord Lead 4, Serum, DUNE2, Spire, and others
- KVRAF
- 1645 posts since 12 Dec, 2012 from Switzerland
I still use an MacBookPro from 2007. Ok, I don't have Dune2, but running Lush101 plus a Sigmund delay works fine without pops. Maybe I'm wrong, but Dune2 should not suck that much more CPU power that a MBP 2011 starts to struggle.
However, the answer to your question is generally no. Definitely no audio face will add CPU power. Check what other programs use up all your CPU power. Also check how much RAM you have, it's possible that you think you have enough, but RAM can get out of order, so you might be stuck with just 2 GB or so.
That said, pops and clicks might also come from the audio interface, from different issues. Do you have these pops and clicks all the time? If yes, you might need to change to another (not necessarily better or even high end) audio interface.
Why high end not necessarily means you will live forever without pops and clicks. I'm running a pretty high end setup. And still it happens here and then that (I guess due to Wordclock de/synchronisation) pops and clicks occur. Especially when Logic starts to bug around with sample rate (I have no clue why).
However, the answer to your question is generally no. Definitely no audio face will add CPU power. Check what other programs use up all your CPU power. Also check how much RAM you have, it's possible that you think you have enough, but RAM can get out of order, so you might be stuck with just 2 GB or so.
That said, pops and clicks might also come from the audio interface, from different issues. Do you have these pops and clicks all the time? If yes, you might need to change to another (not necessarily better or even high end) audio interface.
Why high end not necessarily means you will live forever without pops and clicks. I'm running a pretty high end setup. And still it happens here and then that (I guess due to Wordclock de/synchronisation) pops and clicks occur. Especially when Logic starts to bug around with sample rate (I have no clue why).
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- KVRist
- 137 posts since 2 May, 2007
It doesLogictree wrote:]I downloaded some synth demos, like Dune 2. Man, this thing should know how to use CPU.
No, it is not too old, should be able to handle Dune 2 pretty well.my poor 2011 Macbook Pro seems too old for this kind of synths
Even a 256 buffer length should suffice. Try some other interface (like borrow from a friend) if you have a chance but don't buy one. It is not particularly bad.Most of the Pad presets cause pop and click through my cheap audio interface (Roland Due-capture), even with 256 latency setting in LPX. Sometime 512 is not enough
No, it is from another time. While Absynth is a fun and great synth it is unfair to compare them as such because of difference of their ages.My Absynth seems like comes from another world comparing to these new synths.
This is nuts... It might be a whacky driver or some othe software related issue. Your HW definitely can take the hit. What is the samplerate by the way and how many channels do you use?So my question is: could a better audio interface solve this problem(cost less)? Or should I just bite the bullet and buy a new Macbook(cost much more)?
Why don't you ask the developer directly? Rich is pretty nice and helpful.
Cheers