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Crackling sound through USB sound card on laptop.
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Chemogen
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
166
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713
Posted : Aug 5, 2010 13:59:24
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Ok, a bit of background. I have a Compaq 615 laptop running XP Pro that I use for performance. I haven't had any problems with the laptop other than this major audio problem.
From when I first got my Novation Nio 2/4 sound card, there was a horrible crackling (like an old, scratched vinyl - no pops or stutters, just crackling) coming through the audio (the actual onboard sound card doesn't display this problem at all though.) To get rid of the noise, I was using Asio4All successfully for a few months without any crackles at all.
However the problem has cropped up again and I seriously don't know what's causing it. If I boot up Live, for instance, and get the crackling and then close Live and open another application, like Traktor, the audio drivers totally crash and I get a horribly bit crushed sound (Asio4All will display the red ! icon) which then necessitates a reboot.
I've tried:
Disabling all lan, ethernet, wireless devices.
Stopping all non-microsoft services
Reinstalling Nio and Asio4All drivers, different versions.
Trying various buffer sizes, although when it was working with Asio4All, the buffer was set to 256 samples without any incidient.
This is driving me insane and renders the laptop totally useless seeing as it's only used for audio work. The built-in IDT device works fine, sound coming through the laptop speakers is crackle-free, it's just when it's going through the Nio. However, I'm using the Nio on my desktop without any problems at all.
DPC Latency Checker shows a consistently green read-out.
sometimes everything works fine, whether I'm using the Novation drivers or Asio4All ones. However,once I boot the system from a shut-down (not a restart) the crackles come back 80% of the time.
I found a bit of success disabling my graphics card (Radeon HD3200), which got rid of the noise for a couple of reboots, but on the third time I booted up from a shut-down (to see if the fix was permanent) the crackles were back. I got similar results by keeping the card enabled but disabling write combining. While the crackles returned, as long as either the graphics card is disabled or write combining is disabled, the crackles aren't that bad but still unacceptable and constant.
I'm not even sure if the problem is related to the graphics card or if it's simply solved by a lucky reboot. Sometimes it works fine, sometimes it doesn't which makes the problem even worse seeing as I never know when it'll crop up. It also makes no difference whether or not the PSU is plugged in. Sometimes perfect performance - sometimes not.
I know that the laptop/sound-card has the potential to pass clean audio, as it's been done before. I've gigged a few times without any hassle using Asio4All, but now - no dice. I've tried hundreds of different methods but nothing is proving 100% reliable. The closest I've gotten to a fix is by booting up, disabling the display adapter and then rebooting and hoping that will work for a session. However even then there're some occassions when that doesn't work.
Does anyone have ANY advice? Is there something on the laptop I'm missing that's causing the audio drivers to crash? Anything you can think of that I'm missing?
Thanks for any assistance. As a side note, if the problem crops up again before a gig, would running a cable from the laptop's headphone jack (using the onboard drivers) and into a mixer be a decent substitute for a sound-card when playing live?
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*eLliSDee*
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
40
Posts :
671
Posted : Aug 5, 2010 20:59
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did you try downloading the latest asio4all drivers.
they fix some bugs every now and again.
also. try leaving the usb cable unplugged until windows has booted completely..
Also. do you use a usb hub? or 1 of the onboard ports. maybe try switching between ports.
also. do you have usb2.0 enabled in the bios?
aslo. try disabling the onboard sound.
for sure you can run a heaphone cable through a mixer. no problem.
use 1/8" stereo mini male to 2 male RCA cable.
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Chemogen
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
166
Posts :
713
Posted : Aug 6, 2010 00:18
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Hey dude,
Yeah, tried plugging in the interface after booting, before booting, during booting. Tried the latest ASIO drivers, disabled the onboard sound. My bios is very limited, so I don't have an option to activate USB 2, I'm assuming it's always active.
But...Someone suggested I try use a powered hub. Going to Computer Mania to (generous of them) try it out in-store to see if it helps. Do you think it might?
It's just so damn weird that sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't! |
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Deranger
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
36
Posts :
214
Posted : Aug 6, 2010 00:25
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try to dual boot with windows 7 and see if it works there.
i had the same problem with windows 7 until i chose "high performance" in the power section inside control panel and the problem disappeared,try to see if ther's an option like this in xp.
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*eLliSDee*
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
40
Posts :
671
Posted : Aug 6, 2010 12:16
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Quote:
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But...Someone suggested I try use a powered hub. Going to Computer Mania to (generous of them) try it out in-store to see if it helps. Do you think it might?
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possible.
It is worth trying. Your usbs port could be screwy.
Like with my desktop, i have to plug all my usb devices on a powered hub. my onboard usb ports don;t supply power anymore.
Or try it through a friends pc. if it does the same you can start to worry about maybe the interface itself being broken.
You say it was working before?
listen.
if all else fails and the thing is really dead.
My i suggest, if your laptop has firewire. 4pin or 8.
check this out:
http://www.zzounds.com/item--BEHFCA202
they don't show the back but it has balanced and unbalanced audio jack inputs and rca
it is very cheap as far as firewire interfaces go.
I use it with my laptop, and the sound is very clean and crisp(read review). better than SB live audigy stuff
also you get much lower latency than with usb(firewire is much faster than usb). also reduces cpu load.
i know a place in joburg that ships them if you don't want to order online.
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Chemogen
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
166
Posts :
713
Posted : Aug 6, 2010 17:41
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Unfortunately no firewire port on mine. :/ The USB hub didn't work, all that came through was stuttering garbled noise. I'm using the Nio on my desktop with no problem at all.
If this was something that happening all the time, I'd give in. The fact that sometimes it works flawlessly and sometimes it doesn't is the worst part, because it means that the lappy has the potential to pass clean audio, there's just something popping up that doesn't get along with it. A good 4 days of solid research and tweaking and I'm not any closer to knowing what that something is. 
It looks like I'm going to be gigging with the onboard sound card from now, although I think I can detect an inferior output from it (especially in the low end) compared to the Nio (when it's crackle free) |
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*eLliSDee*
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
40
Posts :
671
Posted : Aug 6, 2010 21:35
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you said you get some results when you disable video card drivers. this got me thinking
I think this nio relays on directx drivers.
did you install a game recently or something that replaced the directx drivers back to older version. or corrupt it.
download the latest directx drivers.
also maybe
loose soldiering inside the nio , usually where the audio jacks are soldiered on the board. sometimes touching sometimes not.
Or check the cables soldiering.
i cant think of anything else.
good luck.
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Chemogen
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
166
Posts :
713
Posted : Aug 6, 2010 23:49
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So I've gotten rid of the crackles for about 5 reboots, which is the most I've gone through without them returning. What did I do? I lowered the buffer size of the Nio driver. From the default 10ms down to 4ms cleared it up straight away. I can take it all the way down to 0ms without any crackling but as so soon as it goes to 7ms or up the crackles start and get worse...Isn't this the total opposite of buffer size side effects?
It seemed that switching to the Asio4All drivers would crash the drivers, so I've just uninstalled. I'm not going to try replicate the problem to see what it's cause could be (if it ain't broke...) and I'm going to leave the buffer size so that the latency is 4ms. Lets hope it stays this way! So, so weird! |
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