Subject:Q: ASIO buffering settings Track Buffering sett?

Posted by: fartheststar

Date:5/21/2013 3:49:38 AM

Hi all, I just changed a setting that fixed quite a bit of glitchy / staticy files I was getting when rendering and I was wondering if folks would share. I tried alot of stuff including drivers and it seems upping my ASIO when seems to make things work better.

I upped my ASIO to 49ms when rendering and it smoothed out the files. I was wondering what philosophy approach to use in setting ASIO.

It is shown under Options/Preferences/Audio Device and click the "Advanced" tab at bottom it'll bring up a screen showing ASIO settings.

Also I was wondering what your Track buffering is on the Options/Preferences/Audio Device page. I've currently got 0.30 seconds, but don't really know if higher or lower is better. The manual seems to say make it as small as I can get away with, but I don't really understand why.

Is the essential rule on these setting to raise them if I have problems, and lower them if I can get away with it?

Subject:RE: Q: ASIO buffering settings Track Buffering sett?

Reply by: pwppch

Date:5/21/2013 9:06:55 AM

ASIO sample frame size should have no impact on rendering.

Can you provide an example of your workflow for rendering and the project layout - tracks, fx, etc - that you are having issues with?

Peter

Subject:RE: Q: ASIO buffering settings Track Buffering sett?

Reply by: fartheststar

Date:5/21/2013 6:20:27 PM

The project has 25 tracks total, but probably no more than 14 or so are probably playing at any single point in time except maybe at intersections over verse/chorus parts.

The default track EQ is on each track (mentioning that I'll go disable most of the track EQ and see if that makes a difference), and after that maybe a Sony Track Comp on a track here and there - but it's mostly just audio tracks/loops. No midi.

On the master there is the Sony Multiband Comp and Density MKIII. I tried rendering with these both engaged and not engaded and still had issues so assumed it was independent of that.

Here's an mp3 of what I'm hearing - the first glitch at about 2 seconds is pretty noticeable, as is the click at about 5 seconds. There are other little artifacts in there. I appreciate any ideas of what might cause. I've gone in at loop seams to make sure all edges are at 0, and have even faded audio in middle of some tracks to make sure individual tracks aren't causing issue.

https://soundcloud.com/fartheststar/weird-glitch-suspense-groove-4

I think the glitch at 2 seconds is different type artifact than the little/clicks pops, as that glitch occurred when I changed loop points to render only a loop in mid-stream of the song - and it happens usually only at render, but not during playthrough - unlike the little clicks like are heard at second 5.

Again, I appreciate any comments on things to try. I just want to get clean tracks rendered without the little "events" in them.

I'm still hearing a little "something" in the new version, but it's now much less than it was. I changed a few other settings on my PC trying different things so it sounds like it may be something different. It seemed to get better immediately after changing the ASIO setting fixed - but maybe it was something different if ASIO has no impact.

from you comments it sounds like ASIO is only for input latency? It previously had my latency set at 9ms and I tried changing it as some websites recommended for audio glitching. I thought it helped, but maybe something else?

Subject:RE: Q: ASIO buffering settings Track Buffering sett?

Reply by: BJenkins

Date:5/22/2013 1:21:25 PM

I doubt my suggestions will help but since you solved my issue I want to at least throw out a few ideas.

I was able to solve my cracks and pops when using a VST by Un-Checking : “Enable multi threaded soft synth playback” located under Audio Devices. I have no idea why this worked. I was just stumbling around trying to get past the initial setup stage.

I also had a USB interface compatibility issue that caused a lot of static. That was solved by changing the sample rate from 41K HZ to 48K HZ for my USB interface again located in Audio Devices - Advanced. I then went to File – Properties – Audio and selected 48K there and also checked to start all projects using these settings.
I rarely get any pops or clicks now but on occasion I hear a click during playback but when I playback again it’s gone. I figure that’s a random event caused by the computer but I’m guessing.

I did come across one consistent light click when hitting a specific note when using a specific VST. At first I thought it was caused by a specific key on the keyboard but after experimenting I found that it was caused by this one VST. I used the volume envelope to clear it.

Subject:RE: Q: ASIO buffering settings Track Buffering sett?

Reply by: Iacobus

Date:5/22/2013 2:22:33 PM

If the glitch is not consistent in renders, it could be hardware-based. e.g., a spike or power sag could cause a file to not render properly.

If rendering files to the same drive as the system drive, that's twice the amount of work your system's hard disk has to do as it has to do any system tasks and render on the same disk. It'd be much better if you can render the project separately onto a drive dedicated to media. (If using an SSD, disregard this.)

Subject:RE: Q: ASIO buffering settings Track Buffering sett?

Reply by: BJenkins

Date:5/22/2013 3:29:41 PM

Hmmm, that’s an interesting point regarding rendering to the same drive. So far my rendering has been for short 60 second tracks or 10 second loops but maybe this will help the original poster. I’ll keep it mind as well.

Subject:RE: Q: ASIO buffering settings Track Buffering sett?

Reply by: fartheststar

Date:5/23/2013 1:31:30 AM

thanks for the tips everyone. I'm gradually chasing things out of my system.