Topic by Budgewink

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  • Budgewink
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  • Registered: 13-03-2018
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Topic: Pianoteq 6 popping/cracking sound

Hi guys, i'm nearly at the end of my teather and am pretty desperate to find the cure for this. When I play Pianoteq alone in the program it plays fine like a dream however whenever I load up Reaper or another Midi program I get horrendous cracking and popping which I can't seem to get rid of. I've read the whole of the glitchfree.pdf file which has a plethora of suggestions on obtaining clean audio (as windows was never designed for Audio) but to no avail.
My specs are
Pianoteq 6.3
Ryzen7 2700x
8gig corsair Vengeance LPX 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR4 2666 MHz ram
AsrockAb350 pro4 MB
samsung970evo 500gig vnand
Scarlett 2i4 Audio interface
Yamaha Montage 8
I've also managed to record myself playing through Pianoteq a clean midi file but when i load it into a midi player it pops again. It doesn't seem to be the audio because if I render the file it plays clean, the problem only seems to be through playback with multiple programs.
I've messed around with buffer sizes and sample rates within the program also....
I've also tried changing the power settings in my bios.
Can anyone suggest anything before I chuck this newly purchased PC out of the window and buy a mac?

Reply by Qexl

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  • Qexl
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  • Registered: 04-09-2015
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Re: Pianoteq 6 popping/cracking sound

Could be wrong but, often it's something easy (thankfully) although it seems like you've tried many things, here's hoping you haven't already tried this..


1
right click volume icon (in system tray)

2
choose "playback devices"

3
the box opens.. look for your audio playback device (worry about others later if needed)..

4
IF you see your Scarlett, make sure it's enabled. IMPORTANT AND THEN>>>

5
ALSO IF you see your PC's built-in audio (like Realtek whatevs).. right-click and DISABLE the sucker (you can always re-enable it later).


Sometimes other programs will try to load default drivers first - even if you've set Pianoteq to use your Scarlett.

You may also have 'some' extra flex by disallowing "Allow application to take exclusive control of this device" in the "advanced" tab of your PC's audio device "Properties" - but although that 'might' reduce some crackle-pops it also might mean you're running native sound instead of your Scarlett - so I'd just always default to temporarily disabling my onboard audio as above.

Hope that's the sixer.

Pianoteq Studio Bundle (Pro plus all instruments)  - Kawai MP11 digital piano - Yamaha HS8 monitors

Reply by Lizbetha

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  • Lizbetha
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  • Registered: 15-01-2019
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Re: Pianoteq 6 popping/cracking sound

Have you looked at your lighting source(s)? I just troubleshot my own snap, crackle hiss to an LED lamp. Went to an incandescent and problem solved.

Reply by soundassets

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  • Registered: 17-08-2020
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Re: Pianoteq 6 popping/cracking sound

I managed to fix mine.  I had no issues with my 3 Sonic-Core Scope Cards. Then one died. Still no issues. I found a replacement card, so I'm back to 3. I did two things. Checked the bit depth settings on all the cards. The new one was set at 24 while the other two were set at 32. Just in case I also limited the velocity to 118. I get 7ms of latency with no issues on the cards. 5.8ms Pianoteq with a 256 sample buffer. So it must have been the new card set to 24 bits instead of matching the other 2 cards and Pianoteq at 32. I'm using the Scope ASIO2 Float 64 bit drivers. My dimmable LED bulbs are fine! So far so good. If need be I can set the buffer at 512 and still get 13ms, which I doubt anyone can perceive.

Reply by Robin Cherry

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  • Robin Cherry
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  • Registered: 04-01-2020
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Re: Pianoteq 6 popping/cracking sound

Lizbetha wrote:

Have you looked at your lighting source(s)? I just troubleshot my own snap, crackle hiss to an LED lamp. Went to an incandescent and problem solved.

Could also be jitter from a bad or too long Usb cable