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02-18-2020, 02:03 PM
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#1
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Jan 2020
Posts: 58
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distorted guitar when going via focusrite audio interface?
Hi all
I wonder if anyone could help / give me pointers. I’m hitting problem with one of the things I would hope would go most smoothly.
I’m currently trying to record guitar directly via my focusrite solo audio interface. I’m getting a loud crackling and what sounds like distortion sounds. I lowered the gain quite low on the focusrite, and that didn’t affect it. Initially I went via my amp, but I stopped doing that to try and fix it..
I’ve got ASIO4All installed. I’ve tried adjusting the sample size, from small to very big, and it doesn’t make any noticeable difference. Does anybody have any ideas or suggestions?
Any help much appreciated!
Thanks
Paul
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02-18-2020, 06:10 PM
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#2
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Jan 2020
Posts: 140
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Assuming you're on a PC, make sure you're plugged into a USB 2.0 port and not a USB 3.0 port. This is a known issue with Focusrite interfaces.
Also, is there a reason you're using ASIO4all instead of the native Focusrite driver? Their drivers can be problematic, but once you find the right one, you can usually achieve lower latency than with ASIO4all, which is a wrapper and not a true ASIO driver.
One more thing - if your PC's processor is an AMD 6xxx series, there are known issues with Focusrite, and you'll need the latest beta driver.
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02-18-2020, 06:56 PM
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#3
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Brooklyn
Posts: 2,613
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Which generation Focusrite? The 2nd Gen direct instrument inputs were notorious for clipping on anything but the weakest pickups no matter how low the input was set. Using a medium to high gain guitar into it was nearly impossible. Using a direct box instead, which you plug the guitar into and goes into the Mic XLR input, took care of that, as did taking the line out of any outboard the guitar was plugged into into the line in. Gen 3 Focusrites don't have this issue.
__________________
The reason rain dances work is because they don't stop dancing until it rains.
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02-18-2020, 11:26 PM
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#4
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Jan 2020
Posts: 140
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In the process of helping a new user sort out a gain problem on another thread, I also learned that using the XLR input of the 2i2 apparently automatically triggers the preamp circuit, bypassing the line/inst switch , whereas using the 1/4" part of the combo jack honors the switch position. Helps to read the manual, I guess, but I bought my 2i2 used and didn't get one.
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02-19-2020, 02:17 AM
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#5
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Polandia
Posts: 3,578
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Quote:
Originally Posted by vdubreeze
Which generation Focusrite? The 2nd Gen direct instrument inputs were notorious for clipping on anything but the weakest pickups no matter how low the input was set. Using a medium to high gain guitar into it was nearly impossible. Using a direct box instead, which you plug the guitar into and goes into the Mic XLR input, took care of that, as did taking the line out of any outboard the guitar was plugged into into the line in. Gen 3 Focusrites don't have this issue.
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Wasn't that only in 1st gen? 2nd gen already has quite a massive headroom on instrument setting (just checked in the manual on the website and it's +13dBu, my Mackie has +8dBu and it's enough for my guitars to never clip).
But yeah if it's a 1st gen OPs a bit out of luck, it distorted even at gain at 0 when you whispered a word "telecaster" near it.
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02-19-2020, 06:58 AM
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#6
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Oct 2019
Posts: 229
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I too have had similar issues recently in the last few days, not sure what's caused it, however the difference with mine is that I'm not recording, I'm just playing/mixing the audio.
So basically I get a really loud crackling noise at the beginning of the track, not always, sometimes, and it happens at a point in the song where there are no items / events that are occurring, the crackling make a loud noise before the tracks / events / items even start - there's around 2 bars before the tracks start to play anything.
The loud crackling noise becomes something like +64db on one of the FX tracks, but when I check the receive tracks, there doesn't seem to be anything happening.
This has also happened at the end of the song too, similar symptoms as above, where there's no items / events / audio playing anymore.
...very strange...
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02-19-2020, 07:00 AM
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#7
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Oct 2019
Posts: 229
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..oh...and I use the Asio4All driver, although when I use the WASAPI drive I think the crackling is fine, need to test it more when I can get it to work on Exclusive mode (which errors when I try this). My audio interface is an Akai EIE, not spcial asio drivers with it, it uses Windows drivers and/or Asio4All.
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02-19-2020, 07:14 AM
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#8
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Brooklyn
Posts: 2,613
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Quote:
Originally Posted by zeekat
Wasn't that only in 1st gen? 2nd gen already has quite a massive headroom on instrument setting (just checked in the manual on the website and it's +13dBu, my Mackie has +8dBu and it's enough for my guitars to never clip).
But yeah if it's a 1st gen OPs a bit out of luck, it distorted even at gain at 0 when you whispered a word "telecaster" near it.
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zeekat, you may be right about the gens. but it was worth it for your last line
__________________
The reason rain dances work is because they don't stop dancing until it rains.
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02-19-2020, 03:01 PM
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#9
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Jan 2020
Posts: 58
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Thanks for all the replies. Here are some in turn..
- It's a brand new 3rd Gen Focusrite Starlett Solo
- The processor is an intel Core i7, 8th Gen
I guess I should just keep playing about. There is also an Inst button on the focusrite. I'm going to try turning that off, lowering the gain even lower, etc.
I can't seem to just use anything but ASIO4ALL now. I just get a message when I try to select the focusrite ASIO options that hardware cannot be connected, there was an error, etc.
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02-19-2020, 03:10 PM
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#10
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Jan 2020
Posts: 58
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I've no idea if it is related (probably not) but something else I've noticed is that in my headphones I am only getting sound in my left ear. I've tried the earphones elsewhere and they work on both. This is only happening with the headphones plugged into the focusrite. When I have the main audio output on my computer going to speakers (playing my drum track from reaper), it is in stereo. I've checked and all the pan settings are dead centre....
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02-19-2020, 03:15 PM
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#11
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Jan 2020
Posts: 58
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sorted the last problem (sound only on the left in phones) by switching off the soundcard in ASIO4ALL. Yey!
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02-19-2020, 03:18 PM
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#12
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Jan 2020
Posts: 58
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ok.... well now. the problem seems to have fixed.. itself!!
Reaper seems to keep doing this to me. For no reason that I can work out, the problem has gone away. First I tried it without the Ins button pressed and turned right down. That seemed ok. Then I pressed the Inst button. Still ok. Then I turned up the gain. Still ok. Now I am back to everything as it was last night, but no crackle or crazy distortion!
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02-20-2020, 02:20 AM
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#13
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Near Cambridge UK and Near Questembert, France
Posts: 22,754
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What you really need to do in order to lay this one to rest is first download and run resplendence.com`s latency monitor to see if you computer actually has any issues with multitrack recording.
This seems unlikely unless you have the power settings etc all wrong. Funnily enough focusrite have an article on their website telling users how to optimise win19 machines for multitrack recording.
Next step is to make sure you have the very latest version of the focusrite drivers for your interface, install them & use them.
NOT ASIO4ALL, which is a kludge designed to fool your computer into thinking it is actually an asio driver.
Unfortunately, if you still want to use the Blue USB mic with the focusrite, the least bad option you have is to use WASAPI, which should work OK & will give you better, more reliable results than ASIO4ALL.
If after doing this you still have a problem, let us know - FWIW I went through all this stuff with a Mk1 Focusrite Saffire years ago, so I feel for you.
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Ici on parles Franglais
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02-20-2020, 03:34 AM
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#14
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Jan 2020
Posts: 58
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Thanks for the suggestions.. I will be onto trying vocals next. I keep thinking about investing in a Sure SM58. I'm hoping that would pretty much remove any problem. I suppose I could sell the Blue thing to help pay for it.
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