Hello! (and a few problems with Traction/Spike)

[Les Cheetham]

I've just taken delivery of a Laptop/Spike system to replace my ageing Amiga/Yamaha MD8 setup. Initially everything seemed to be OK, however there are a few issues that concern me. Firstly a VERY loud burst of noise when I load Tracktion. Not every time - but enough to make me fear for my monitors if I forget to turn the volume down. Secondly, pops and crackles during playback and also when just playing through Guitar Rig. I'm sure that this is not a CPU issue as the monitor is reading less than 10% and it occurs even if there are no pre-recorded tracks. I bought the system primarily for solo acoustic recording which makes it difficult to edit any noises out. Thirdly, sometimes playback will be really distorted. Lots of digital noise as if through a pretty nasty fuzz pedal.
On a possitive note, Tracktion seems to me to be an extremely user friendly program. I don't know if anyone has ever used Bars and Pipes Professional on the Amiga platform? - but Tracktions "workflow" interface made me feel right at home!

[IIRs]

Welcome to the club Les.

Sounds like driver issues to me.. have you selected the Spike's ASIO drivers in the settings page? You got a mac or a pc?

[Les Cheetham]

Thanks for the reply. The ASIO drivers are enabled. I have found that I have to use ASIO direct mode as some plugins refuse to work otherwise. I have noticed a post on another forum claiming an issue with the Intel 915 graphics chip and Spike - I don't know if this is the case ( It's a Pc by the way).
I would have thought that a firmware update would be out by now if that was the case.

[IIRs]

First thing to check: have you set processor scheduling to 'background services'?

R-Click 'my computer' -> properties -> 'advanced' tab -> performance settings -> advanced -> processor scheduling (set to background services)

[djsubject]

First thing to check: have you set processor scheduling to 'background services'?

R-Click 'my computer' -> properties -> 'advanced' tab -> performance settings -> advanced -> processor scheduling (set to background services)

dose that make any difference if your on a win2000 pc?

i have tryed both ways & there was no difference that i could tell

[Les Cheetham]

First thing to check: have you set processor scheduling to 'background services'?

R-Click 'my computer' -> properties -> 'advanced' tab -> performance settings -> advanced -> processor scheduling (set to background services)

Thanks, I've checked that and it was already set. I did buy the package from a company that "tweak" the system for optimum audio performance - however they have just started selling Spike, so they will not be aware of any issues.
I've checked the Mackie forum and a number of people seem to have had identical problems - so at least I'm not alone!

[IIRs]

Thanks, I've checked that and it was already set. I did buy the package from a company that "tweak" the system for optimum audio performance - however they have just started selling Spike, so they will not be aware of any issues.

maybe their tech support could help you then? otherwise there's official Mackie support.. have you checked you have the latest version of the drivers?

[Beno]

Yes Spike (and most USB interfaces) need ASIO direct Mode enabled.
Ben