crackling when recording

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shwashwa

Aug 30, 2003
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#1
i know there's a setting to try to correct this somewhere but i cant remember how. when i record into a daw (and i have 3 on my computer, happens with all 3) i get crackling during the recording and it is printed to the track and can hear it on playback. its not present on the tracks that i import into the daw that im overdubbing with. only when recording, and the crackling ends up a permanent part of the recorded track. how do i correct for this?
thanks
 
#2
Many possibilities. Do you use a separate and fast hd for the daw? If other software reads or writes to the same hd cracklinig occurs. But there are other possible sources like interferences on the board of the pc etc.
Hard to diagnose with so few knowledge of the special conditions.
 
#3
Your on the right track. Process of elimination. What ever you're using to record with bass, cable, (other hardware inline), cable, interface. You know that your computer and imported tracks work OK. So the issue is when you record the Bass. Start with evaluating the Bass, then the cables, any other hardware you have between the bass and the interface.

Question, do you get the cracking noise when recording other instruments or line in audio through your interface?
 
#4
Badwater said:
Your on the right track. Process of elimination. What ever you're using to record with bass, cable, (other hardware inline), cable, interface. You know that your computer and imported tracks work OK. So the issue is when you record the Bass. Start with evaluating the Bass, then the cables, any other hardware you have between the bass and the interface.

Question, do you get the cracking noise when recording other instruments or line in audio through your interface?
Click to expand...
thats a tough question because i only record bass. i just load some prerecorded tracks into my daw and record myself playing with them. (probably not a really intensive recording load on computer resources) issue sounds to me like maybe a buffer size issue or the hard drive issue mentioned above. i have 3 hard drives in my machine, not sure which is being recorded to though... probably the main one with the software on it...
 
#5
Which DAW, operating system and version, interface, memory, other apps running at the same time? Does it happen with all the drives? Have you swapped everything-cables, interface, bass? That's where I'd start...then I'd go to the various DAW forums and see if there are any known (or unknown) issues that others may have solved. If you're recording you're audio to the same drive that your DAW is on-that would be the first logical place to start-change that and dump your recording to your fastest, least filled drive.
 
#7
silky smoove said:
Sounds like your buffer size setting is too low. When you run too low, which is desirable because it allows for lower latency, you can run the risk of getting crackly artifacts as your system runs out of steam.
Click to expand...
What exactly is latency? I'm monitoring myself through the air, not the headphones, so is latency not an issue for me? Or will the recorded track not line up with the others if there's latency?
 
#8
shwashwa said:
What exactly is latency? I'm monitoring myself through the air, not the headphones, so is latency not an issue for me? Or will the recorded track not line up with the others if there's latency?
Click to expand...
Latency isn't the issue here, it's just the typical reason why people try and push their buffer size lower and lower. The crackling is from your system not being able to keep up (i.e. the buffer size is too small) and it leaving artifacts on the recordings as they head from the analog world into the digital one. This all assumes that the buffer size is even the problem, which it may or may not be. Without knowing more details I can't really say for certain.
 
#9
buffer size should not induce errors in the recording, it´s only a playback issue. I have never been able to create faulty recordings that way, not even with brute force.
A very slow harddisk could cause something alike, but you would need tons of tracks recorded at the same time (like more than 100)

Post a sample of the recording, that might lead us on the right track :)
 
#10
Okay I'll try to do that within the next day or so, also the buffer size is one second and I'm typically using only three or four tracks that are a minute long or so. Also, just for my own information, what is latency in this context? What does it mean and what effect would it have?
 
#11
miiitch said:
buffer size should not induce errors in the recording, it´s only a playback issue.
Click to expand...
I agree that it should only affect playback, but in my experience that's not always the case. I've seen it happen plenty of times where the resultant recording is full of artifacts. This is typically on underpowered machines and lots of DSP happening that's going into the monitoring path (i.e. it has to be processed in real time).
 
#12
silky smoove said:
Sounds like your buffer size setting is too low. When you run too low, which is desirable because it allows for lower latency, you can run the risk of getting crackly artifacts as your system runs out of steam.
Click to expand...

This.

With most modern DAWs you can use really large buffers (and consequently long latency) and still get zero latency monitoring and proper sync with the backing tracks -- as long as you don't need to hear any effects or other plug-ins. For bass that should not be a problem, but I have had to adjust my settings when recording vocals and I didn't have any external reverb available.

Lesson learned: Use big buffers and keep good margins on the headroom, better safe than sorry when you finally get that that great take.
 
#14
id like to thank everyone who contributed to this thread helping me try to figure this out. i have some new info that may help. today i plugged in my old zoom recorder into the usb in order to use it to record instead of my usual set up. the zoom kind of becomes its own audio interface and mic all in one (great sounding mic by the way) i had to go into my daw and select the zoom for the input and the usual soundcard (emu 0404) for the out put. no crackling. everything else was the same. i was using the emu to playback the tracks that i was recording with. the zoom was the input soundcard. could this possibly be a soundcard issue with the emu? i thought it was a good interface, no?
 
#17
shwashwa said:
This is Greek To Me
Click to expand...

actually, this is Greek:
αυτό είναι συνήθως ένα ποσοστό του δείγματος / θέμα ρολόι ... ελέγξτε για να βεβαιωθείτε ότι η ρύθμιση ρυθμό I / O ρολόι υλικού / λογισμικού / δείγμα σας ταιριάζει config συνεδρία σας, στη συνέχεια, κάντε επανεκκίνηση.

In most DAW software there is a set up section to set the sample rate. If your
sessions don't have the same setting as your I/O Converter, say a UA Apollo for example, you'll get the clicking/crackling. In Pro Tools, it's in the settings folder under Playback Hardware. But in other DAWs its in a similar folder. Either way you have to make sure your hardware and software are set to the same sample rate and the software is referencing the internal clock of the hardware.
It's DAW 101 stuff. Google 'set up' for your DAW and watch some YouTube videos.
 
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#18
im still not exactly sure what this means. the sample rate of both the zoom and emu are 44.1, but only recording with the emu pops and crackles. the settings on the cool edit recording software are 26 i think? i cant figure out how to change it just yet, but like i said, the zoom at 44.1 isnt causing any problems....
 
#20
Did you go through my (and others) suggestions regarding buffer sizes? You never responded to that. I still suspect this is the problem.

Edit: Well, you kind of replied, but your answer makes no sense to me. Walk us through exactly what you've done regarding your operating buffer size.
 
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