Tracktion is Poppinng, Clicking, and Hiccupping

[piaz]

Could it be that the 3.30 drivers do not like 64bits math?

[Lunch Money]

1. valley, you're right of course-- SOME things must've changed, from installing an de-installing unrelated programs. The registry is certainly changed. But the hardware itself is not. I hate to say it, though, but Occam's razor is dictating that Tracktion (the most significant change) is the culprit. Evidence is not proving it, but Occam's razor is. There have been tonnes of click & pop threads lately, which means that there are a variety of systems in various states of flux and change-- some stable DAW-only stations, some "all-purpose" and constantly evolving. But given that Tracktion is still being updated and changed, that we all have different systems but have noticed the same thing, and that many of us have had stable and smooth Tracktion in the past, it seems at least worth considering that Tracktion is the culprit, unfortunately.

2. Ran the spyware. It found a few tracking cookies (must be from the prawn sites. ) but those don't use resources. Opera keeps my system really clean. So, it wasn't Spyware. Rebooting and running Tracktion shows the same symptoms.

3. Regarding AMD-- that Tascam manual is worthless nowadays. It's too old and outdated. AMD with VIA chipsets have been stable for DAW since after the 133 version of those boards, which is several years ago. Furthermore, both Tracktion 1 and Tracktion 2 have run perfectly on mine (and others') AMD systems in the past, and some people STILL have smooth-running operation with AMD.

4. I have 64-bit maths disabled.

My CPU meter isn't spiking, the HDD overload isn't lighting up (as well it shouldn't, with only 3 tracks running from a dedicated 7200rpm drive).

Something is Fishy in Bikini Bottom.

Greg

[darcyb62]

Will I run into further problems if I try to reinstall the original T2 version over the latest. I would like to verify that the old version worked.

[Madguitrst]

FWIW, I just started to work with Tracktion in the past week, coming from the Roland VS1680. I had version 1 for quite some time, since it was given away for free, but only dabbled with it. The clicks and pops were occuring with version 1 so, at least for me, it is not the version of Traction.

I dunno.....I think I started off on the wrong foot, going cheap with the interface just trying to get my feet wet and get a collaboration in gear. I thought the Tascam would be okay for the notebook, especially since I was only gonna do a couple of tracks on each project and send them off. I feel like a total idiot for not realizing it was not USB 2.O, as anal as I am with other things. I just don't think USB 1.0 can handle audio very well, but maybe I am wrong. I was hoping it would be cool for the laptop and that I'd get the tower up and running and use a better interface (RME maybe?????). Anyway, I will try a few things, including a change in buffer size and ridding the PC of other bells and whistles.

Speaking of which, anyone have any suggestions on interfaces with a decent price to performance ratio?
I was thinking RME Mulitface or something similar.

Thanks again folks.......this seems like a really helpful site and I'm glad to be here!

[darcyb62]

The US122 isn't that bad of a unit for starting. USB1 has its limitiations but it works okay if you don't expect too much of it. I have had much more success using it on desktop than a laptop. One other thing you should look at is your IRQ sharing. One of the early problems I had was resolved by fixing up a whole bunch of IRQ conflicts. If I recall corectly my USB shared the same IRQ as my video and networks. Resolving that resolved most of the issues.
I've been thinking of moving to the Behringer BCA2000. They had a lot of problems with their early drivers but I have heard that the new drivers are pretty good.

[Madguitrst]

Well, I tried everything.

Did almost every XP tweak from the links, increased the buffer size to the max, unplugged all of the USB devices......still, pops and clicks.

I am thinking it has to be the Tascam, just has to be.

Another night wasted...

[P.T.]

Did you try with the onboard soundcard? Is there any problem there?

It can't be a lack in your system. Many of us use 500-1000mhz laptops with less ram than you have as well as the slow 4500rpm disk drives that come in older laptops. I can run lots of audio tracks with no problem.

[headquest]

I had exactly the same problems when I tried to record audio using Traction 2 - clicks, pops and stutters gallore. At the time I sought help here and got similar answers... However, I use a firewire interface. Like you I am on a laptop with 512MB...

I had to record 12 tracks for a school project that needed to be done in Tracktion, so I had to persevere until the project was done. I observed the pattern of clicks and pops. I tried various different buffer sizes, and even switched onto my older USB Edirol soundcard to ss if it made any difference... it didn't.

In the end I put it down to problems relating to the T2 GUI issue. It seemed to me that the pops/clicks occured at exactly the same time that there were flickers in the GUI struggling to update. I concluded that until the GUI slowdown issue in T2 is sorted I would need to do audio recording using one of the other pieces of softrware that fortunately I have at my disposal (Audition, Live).

Has anyone else noticed this link at all?

[braj]

I've noticed I have to set my buffer larget in T2 than other apps to avoid clicks. But once doing that, no pops etc.

[headquest]

I've noticed I have to set my buffer larget in T2 than other apps to avoid clicks. But once doing that, no pops etc.

Hmmm... but there's no reason that you should need to do that, surely?

I have found the same, but it still didn't solve the click/pop problem here.

[braj]

I've noticed I have to set my buffer larget in T2 than other apps to avoid clicks. But once doing that, no pops etc.

Hmmm... but there's no reason that you should need to do that, surely?

I have found the same, but it still didn't solve the click/pop problem here.

I dunno, but I have a shit soundcard.

[P.T.]

In my experience different sequencers in combination with different computer setups will yield different latencies and playback problems or non-problems.

[Lunch Money]

I wouldn't blame the US-122 just yet. It's quite a popular card, with good reviews, and the only complaint I've heard about it is that it has an unprofessional level of cross-talk.

Based on this info, I recommended it to a friend who has been using it with T1 NFR just fine.

My system uses a PCI card. I'm still getting pops, clicks, and all that jiggery-pokery. I said it already, but it bears repeating: the anecdotal evidence is pointing toward T as the culprit, not the hardware involved.

Greg

[Madguitrst]

Has anyone noticed how often these are actually recorded vs how often during playback?

I notice much less that are recorded vs how much I get during playback. As soon as I hear it, I back up to a previouse section to see if it repeates. Usually it doesn't.

Hhhmm. I know what I'll do.
I'll play back the file outside of Tracktion through bot my soundcard and through the Tascam. That should help to determine whether it is Tracktion or the Tascam.

Since other folks are getting the clicks and pops on different interfaces, maybe it is Tracktion after all.

But again, I had it in Tracktion 1.
Anyone else have the problem in Tracktion 1?

[headquest]

I never had problems with this at all in Tracktion 1, and I used it as my main/only host for over a year, during which I did loads of recording.

In T2 the problems I had were when recording, and so were duplicated during playback. I looked at the files concerned in Adobe Audition and considered editing but the problems were simply too bad/extensive.