Can the Linnstrument "overload" a VST or even a DAW?

[ghiekorg]

Hello again
i am having some issues lately. After months on ipad i decided to "test" the linnstrument on a real PC (it's a laptop actually) a bit more seriously to see the differences.
I have two different facts: it is much better when thinking about sensitivity (each mobile app works on its own, so some have high sensitivity, other less, other none. On PC even changing a lot of VST i found it being more "consistent") and generally i feel i can relay on it much more. On the other side there is a problem that is annoying me since the beginning and on multiple machines: Not all VSTs, but some of them, are often crackling.
I can't still understand when and why but tonight i found one "spot". I was using a free piano VST and i realized that when using the sustain pedal after some time it was starting to crack. So i tried to keep it pressed and play the same notes. It cracks everytime more or less after the same amout of time/notes. But there is more: if i use my DAC (one of the main reasons why i wanted to "move" to a PC) the crackling starts again after the same amout of time/notes but it is clearer, there are more cracks and it doesn't stop till i release the pedal. When not using the DAC and just plugging my headphones in the jack output, the cracks are there but fewer and they go away after a bit even if i keep the pedal down... Can it be that the linnstrument sends a lot of messages and after some time the buffer is full and makes the cracks? Or maybe it's just the DAC that is failing? Someone told me so, but i also have crackling when i plug directly my headphones. Can it be that in both cases the lots of information sent by the LInnstrument are overloading the buffer but when using the DAC is worse because the buffer is limited due to the better quality of the output? I am completely ignorant about this topic so i am just assuming. Maybe it's apple trying to ruin my experence so i go back to ipad-only... I have the same problem with the SWAM instrument i bought. It cracks from time to time, especially when i use my DAC. Same with other vst/plugins.
Here is what i am using:
- Laptop: Asus G73SW
- DAC: audioquest dragonfly red
- DAW: bitwig 8-tracks
- Audio driver model inside bitwig: Wasapi, buffer size: auto (i tried also ASIO on my old machine but it was still crackling when using the DAC)
- Piano vst that i was testing: http://www.vst4free.com/free_vst.php?pl ... no&id=2564

[Roger_Linn]

Hi ghiekorg,
It sounds like the cracks you describe are probably the laptop having trouble keeping up with the amount of audio processing you’re requiring of it. Audio is processed in chunks called buffers. If the software doesn’t fully process a buffer full of data in the required time, you’ll hear a click, which is the output jumping from a correct value to an error value. This can occur for a variety of reasons:

1) Your computer isn’t fast enough
2) Your software driver for your Audio Interface (DAC) adds too much processing time.
3) Your synth software or DAW requires too much CPU power. I suspect the free piano VST.
4) Your synth software or DAW is having trouble responding to the high volume of continuous expression data generated by LinnStrument.

If you’re only using a piano sound, try changing LinnStrument’s Per-Split Settings to not send continuous Pitch/X, Timbre/Y and/or Loudness/Z. (Turn off the ”On” setting at the top of each of those three columns.) Given that none of these are required for a piano sound, Your synth or DAW won’t have to spend any time responding to and discarding this continuous MIDI data.

Another trick is to increase your audio buffer size. This will reduce the amount of audio computations, but will increase real-time latency between when you play and when you hear the sound.

Note also that macs tend to work more reliability for music and audio than windows computers, and require less setup and tweaking. But I realize they are more expensive. That said, if you could invest in a MacBook Pro, it’s likely that all of these problems would disappear.

[BobDog]

As Roger says it sounds like your cpu is having problems playing the sustained notes not with handling the midi data.

Laptops are usually setup to save power, even when connected to power. This can also cause this sort of problem.

Look in Control Panel->Power options and make sure that you are running the "High Performance" plan.

[Roger_Linn]

Bobdog makes a good point. The fact that the problem appears after 30 minutes suggests that the CPU speed is being throttled when it gets hot, which is how laptops avoid heat damage. That said, I've never had that problem on my MacBook pro because I think it has better heat control, but I'm sure it would throttle if I had many plug-ins running on many tracks.

[ghiekorg]

So... i tell you my thoughs:

1) Your computer isn’t fast enough

the cpu is an i7, so i guess should be enough to deal with bitwig alone.

2) Your software driver for your Audio Interface (DAC) adds too much processing time.

it's what i am thinking too :/

3) Your synth software or DAW requires too much CPU power. I suspect the free piano VST.

The VST is kinda "heavy", but it's still around 1gb. just it alone, no fx, no multiple tracks, nothing playing on the backgraund etc. I also have this crackling with audio modeling plugins. And other plugins too.

4) Your synth software or DAW is having trouble responding to the high volume of continuous expression data generated by LinnStrument.

No idea... it's bitwig 8 tracks, i hoped it was enough.

(Turn off the ”On” setting at the top of each of those three columns.)

Tried. Nothing.

Another trick is to increase your audio buffer size

I have set it to wasapi auto, and it says 960 samples. i remember working in the past with a m-audio keyboard and ASIO on 512 samples on older machine (like a quad core), but different vst and DAW.

Look in Control Panel->Power options and make sure that you are running the "High Performance" plan.

It actually got slightly better but didn't solve.

Audioquest told me that maybe it's failing. So i am thiking about giving it back and maybe buy something better like a mojo (even if it's more than twice the price and the audio quality using the dragonfly is really good, when no crackling). I also found other problems: if i am watching a clip on facebook or youtube and i wanna go back on the timeline the clip freezes and i have to reload the page. Another problem is when i put the laptop into standby mode and i turn it back on i have no audio and nothing starts (if i play an mp3 it will not start), i must set the realtek audio as default and the set again the DAC as default, then it work.
It's a lot of problems for just a "simple" thing like it... I just want something that i plug and it makes my sounds nicer.
Anyway i'm going OT. Thank you for your help

[Roger_Linn]

If you bought a new laptop, some of Intel's new "i7" chips are actually what they used to call "m7" and are slower chips:

https://www.theverge.com/2016/9/2/12754 ... -confusing

It's difficult to know what to tell you because most LinnStrumentalists use mac. I'd suggest doing some web searches to learn what interfaces, drivers and settings Windows users are using in order to get a total system that's reliable, even if those pieces cost more.

[BobDog]

All i7s are not equal. Looking at your laptop you have a 2630QM processor, this is basically a 2ghz processor even though it has 4 cores. This is not a fast processor when compared to most i7s.

Most plugins will only run on a single core. When you have sustain turned on you can get quite a few notes being played, this can easily get up into the hundreds, the free plugin you are using is probably not that well written and is struggling. It isn't going to to be as efficient as a paid for plugin, free stuff is good but there us a reason it is free.

If you use the plugins that are built into bitwig do you get the same problems?

Also is there a voice stealing setting on the plugin that you are using, thus would enable you to limit the number of sustained notes.

[BobDog]

Double

[ghiekorg]

Thank you so much for your help.
Yesterday after having problems to start sampletank on bitwig i decide to try another host. So i remembered of VSTHost from the recommented sounds page in the support section of the linnstrument website. I downloaded it and, even if i could make sampletank work, it was still slightly crackling. But then after changing the setting from MME to DS now it works everything perfectly. Even at 250 samples no cracks (using the SWAM instrument the usage goes up till almost 50% but in 2 days i think i heard 2 small crackling while playing, perfect). It's not a solution for recording stuff but it is at least for playing
Probably there is some kind of driver/installation/conflict between my laptop, the DAC and bitwig i guess...

[Roger_Linn]

This will be a very useful thread for others experiencing similar windows problems. Thank you.

[ghiekorg]

Just a last side note. Today i installed reaper and asio and they work great. So, once again, probably there was some incompatibility between my pc, my dac and bitwig.

[BobDog]

Great news