Crackle & Pop...possible sollutions ?

fosko wrote on 8/7/2003, 9:42 AM
OK, I recored a few tracks last night bringing my total count up to 22 tracks. In many cases I have ..3 horn tracks, 4 string tracks, 3 flute tracks, ect. it give me felxability in mixing.. but would it help if I rendered these all to single subject tracks (bouncing them).

Also....many of the tracks.. like flute.. have events in measure 4-8 and don't come back in until measure 52. I normally just bring the volume envelope down until it comes back in. Does the volume Envelop take up more resources ( I have themm all over the place on all tracks). Would it be better to 'cut' the events so that the silent sections are removed ?

Just some thoughts.

By the way...
Pentium 3 1gig
Win 98 SE
Vegas 4.0
30 gig 7200 RPM IBM hard drive for audio
ATI All in wonder Pro 8MG video card
Everything is disabled (via CTL + ALT + DEL )except Systray,Exploroer, Vegas, and my Midi interface console.
Delta 1010 (on it's own IRQ)
(I knew you'd ask :-)

Comments

drbam wrote on 8/7/2003, 11:30 AM
Its usually suggested to remove silent sections. Bouncing (submixing) some your tracks will obviously free up some resources. You didn't mention whether you were using a significant amount of plugins (or certain plugins that are cpu intensive). If so, then you are probably pushing the limits of your system with 22 tracks especially if this means 22 events. Its the number of events that are running simultaneously that you need to be concerned about (not the total track count). You might also experiment with your buffer settings.

HTH,

drbam
fosko wrote on 8/7/2003, 4:17 PM
Removing meaning cutting or trimming ?? I'll try that. I'm not using a lot of plug ins. Most of my tracks so far are from MIDI instruments. Not a lot of EQ and Reverb needed.

When you say number of events running simultaneously.do that mean even if the even is there but empty ?

I'll look at Buffer size when I get home.. good ideas. thanks !
fishtank wrote on 8/7/2003, 4:44 PM
Let's hope most of these problems are addressed with the 4.0d version that is due out any day now.

You should probably use the largest ASIO buffer setting available. Small buffer sizes are used for low-latency monitoring while recording - sounds like you are just mixing at the moment. You CPU usage will go up drastically with small buffers (less than 256 samples).

You do have the DMA box checked for your drives? I assume this is the case, but thought I would ask. You can download HD Tach to verify you disk performance. The machine you are running should easily handle 22 tracks if you are using few plug-ins.
Rednroll wrote on 8/8/2003, 4:23 PM
"When you say number of events running simultaneously.do that mean even if the even is there but empty ?"

Yes. It is good practice to split your events and then remove all the events that contain no audio(silence). Although, there is no sound there, your hard drive is still accessing this information unnecessarily which will slow down the performance of your system. You also need to make sure that DMA is enabled on your hard drive. Enabling DMA will in most cases double your system performance with a high track count project. Also remember to defrag your hard drive that you record the audio too on a regular basis. Doing these 3 things will ensure your hard drive is working optimally for audio work.
JoeD wrote on 8/8/2003, 8:23 PM
What driver are you using for the delta 1010?

Try the older .27 win98 driver. If it's not on their site, let me know if you don't have this one and I'll psot it for you (or somebody else can).

DMA buffer setting of 384, set to mon mixer in the patchbay, codec and spdif sample rate at 44.1, uncheck "rate locked", check next to "reset when idle".

JD
fosko wrote on 8/9/2003, 9:30 AM
You know..I'd forgotten to check the DMA. My Audio drive doesn't have a DMA button. Weird ?? I went in to System Properties and checked under Disk Drives.. and no button. My Operating drive does.. and it's checked. The software is on the Operating Drive and data on the Audio drive.

I'm getting Mixed dignals from Fishtank and JoeD. One says Low buffer and the other says High. Joew. I didnt see a setting of 384 so for now I'm setting my Buffer all the way up.

The Driver version is 4.13.01.0042. Are you thinking the older driver is better ???


You know...it REALLY would be great if SF had all of this 'basic' info in a knowledge base. The current Knowledge base is fairly elementary. For example.. Reds suggestion about minimizing track traffic..Why can't Sonic give us tips in best ways to optimize a system..instead of waiting for the topic to come up here.. or tryingto search through thousands of posts.

Thanks guys
JoeD wrote on 8/9/2003, 8:36 PM
You check your IDE controllers in xp for dma, In win98se i believe it's within each hd setting (device manager).
You need to make sure DMA is working for your audio drive first.
Could be you need an update for your mobo, check into it.

Yes, use the .27 driver. It works best.
You also should see the buffer setting of 384.

this is a delta 1010, correct?

The database thing:
could get too hairy and provide misinformation to some (differing systems). Best to get a system up and running as best it can, then tackle the audio system.

JD
fosko wrote on 8/9/2003, 11:23 PM
Yep.. I double checked.. there is no DMA button. I'll check the mother board..it's an ASUS Cusl.

I do have a Delta 1010.. and this driver is the only one they have on site.

On the Delta Control Panel for DMA Buffer Size I have
336
528
800
1056
1344
1450
1600
1800
2112
2688

I guess I can see what you're saying about the Data base.. so many systems and configurations. But I'm talking about things like...the fact that cutting silent sections to makes it run more effecient.

Thanks for the tips !!!!