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Old 05-08-2019, 08:11 PM   #1
catcalledmightymouse
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Default Driver issues (pops and crackles)

Hi there,

Hope everyone is having a great day.

I am running Reaper on Windows 10, using a Steinberg UR44 interface. My issue is with pops/crackles that occur during recording and playback.

I have taken all possible steps to optimise Windows10 for audio/recording as per this link provided in another thread:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwLzg0GJhoA

The driver I am using is the latest Steinberg USB driver (1.10.4), and I have mucked around with the buffer setting for the device. The pops/crackles occur about 3 times a minute and are enough to make for a bad recording and/or listening experience. I have not noticed any pronounced CPU spikes that correlate with the pops/crackles.

I have also tried using the ASIO4ALL driver. This actually eliminates the problem (thus confirming that it is a driver issue), but when I am using this driver, only two inputs are visible (HD Audio Microphone 1 & 2) which means that (a) I can't utilise all available inputs, and (b) When I try to listen to old recordings, there is no sound output, possible relating to the output range being restricted to "HD Audio Speaker 1" and "HD Audio Speaker 2".

Any help or advice in this matter would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers,

Gabriel

p.s. This is also posted in the compatibility forum

Last edited by catcalledmightymouse; 05-09-2019 at 04:24 PM.
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Old 05-08-2019, 08:35 PM   #2
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Originally Posted by catcalledmightymouse View Post
Hi there,

Hope everyone is having a great day.

I am running Reaper on Windows 10, using a Steinberg UR44 interface. My issue is with pops/crackles that occur during recording and playback.

I have taken all possible steps to optimise Windows10 for audio/recording as per this link provided in another thread:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwLzg0GJhoA

The driver I am using is the latest Steinberg USB driver (1.10.4), and I have mucked around with the buffer setting for the device. The pops/crackles occur about 3 times a minute and are enough to make for a bad recording and/or listening experience. I have not noticed any pronounced CPU spikes that correlate with the pops/crackles.

I have also tried using the ASIO4ALL driver. This actually eliminates the problem (thus confirming that it is a driver issue), but when I am using this driver, only two inputs are visible (HD Audio Microphone 1 & 2) which means that (a) I can't utilise all available inputs, and (b) When I try to listen to old recordings, there is no sound output, possible relating to the output range being restricted to "HD Audio Speaker 1" and "HD Audio Speaker 2".

Any help or advice in this matter would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers,

Gabriel

p.s. This is also posted in the compatibility forum

With asio4all
I get microphone and line input 2 of each but can only use maximum of 2.
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Old 05-08-2019, 08:43 PM   #3
dug dog
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Have you tried disabling WIFI?


Over the years, that has caused many a pop and crackle.
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Old 05-08-2019, 09:00 PM   #4
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Have you tried disabling WIFI?


Over the years, that has caused many a pop and crackle.
Agreed. I used a UR22 on a system with no wifi adapter and it was fine. Later I added a wifi adapter and it caused issues. Disabling the wifi adapter allowed it to work properly again. I had the same experience using it on a Laptop.
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Old 05-09-2019, 02:41 PM   #5
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Default Disabling WiFi didn't work unfortunately

Hi All,

Cutnpaste - thanks for letting me know your experience with ASIO4ALL. Interesting that you get a line input as well.

JamesPeters and Dug Dog - excellent thought regarding the wifi adapter, I probably should have tried that already (I now remember that being one of my 4 billion issues back in my pro tool days). However, I gave it a shot and unfortunately it didn't work. I'm still getting just as many pops and crackles.

Any other thoughts?

Thanks again!

Cheers,

Gabriel
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Old 05-09-2019, 03:24 PM   #6
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What are the settings for the audio driver in Reaper and also for the ASIO driver? If you can attach screen shots that might be best. (You'd have to crop them.)
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Old 05-09-2019, 04:23 PM   #7
catcalledmightymouse
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Default Audio Driver and ASIO Configuration Settings

Thanks James Peters.

Attached are screenshots of my audio and ASIO settings. Let me know if this isn't the info you mean.

I've tried mucking around with ASIO buffer settings, but didn't have any luck there.
Attached Images
File Type: jpg Reaper Audio Settings.JPG (33.4 KB, 205 views)
File Type: jpg ASIO Settings.JPG (27.7 KB, 202 views)
File Type: jpg ASIO Settings2.JPG (19.9 KB, 183 views)
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Old 05-09-2019, 04:37 PM   #8
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Originally Posted by catcalledmightymouse View Post
I've tried mucking around with ASIO buffer settings, but didn't have any luck there.
This may be a stupid question but did you try them at 1024? Depending on your computer horse power and the amount of processing on your tracks, this may be necessary.
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Old 05-09-2019, 04:46 PM   #9
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This may be a stupid question but did you try them at 1024? Depending on your computer horse power and the amount of processing on your tracks, this may be necessary.
Definitely not a stupid question. Initially I trialed all buffer settings. I have just done another check with wifi adapter disabled and buffer at 1024. Still popping and crackling!
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Old 05-09-2019, 04:52 PM   #10
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Hmmm..... what are your computer specs?
What does the CPU usage look like when projects are running?
What processing is on your tracks? (ie. any real CPU hogs?)

If there are no red flags from these questions, then you should likely have a look at a utility called Latency Mon.

https://www.resplendence.com/latencymon
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Old 05-09-2019, 05:08 PM   #11
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Try lowering those settings. 512 can actually be too high for some devices and setups. I don't really know why, but I've noticed that sometimes. It might have to do with some of the default buffer settings in Reaper (for other things) "working well" with a certain driver latency. Also most people are trying to lower the latency so it's not noticeable, so it makes sense to at least try lowering that ASIO buffer amount. 128 might work better and be stable.

Also I just looked at that video (I just started it a minute ago) and one of the things it mentions is wrong. Turning off all visual effects isn't necessarily a good idea. There are certain video acceleration elements which are better to leave at the default setting. I'd recommend putting those settings back the way they were, or set it to "let Windows decide what's best for performance" (or whatever it is).

And another thing they're doing wrong, adjusting virtual memory settings. Ugh.

Another thing they got wrong: performance for background services. Put this back to the default setting.

I'm going to continue to skim through the video, but some of these bits of advice are holdovers from previous versions of Windows and shouldn't be done with Windows 10.

That video is too frustrating to watch. I agree with some things (high performance power setting, turning off virus scanning, turning off system restore) but there are too many things which won't have any appreciable benefit and some might make things worse. That's not a good video to watch.

Last edited by JamesPeters; 05-09-2019 at 05:23 PM.
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Old 05-09-2019, 05:16 PM   #12
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Hmmm..... what are your computer specs?
What does the CPU usage look like when projects are running?
What processing is on your tracks? (ie. any real CPU hogs?)

If there are no red flags from these questions, then you should likely have a look at a utility called Latency Mon.

https://www.resplendence.com/latencymon
Computer specs are: Intel(R) Core (TM) i7-8850H CPY @ 2.60GHz with 16.0GB RAM.

I am running these trials on a bare-bones track in order to troubleshoot, so no plugins at all, and only one audio track. The REAPER performance meter never goes above 0.3% for either Total or RT CPU, so that doesn't appear to be the issue.

Thanks for the Latency Mon tip - I'll have to check that out.
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Old 05-09-2019, 05:25 PM   #13
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Originally Posted by JamesPeters View Post
Try lowering those settings. 512 can actually be too high for some devices and setups. I don't really know why, but I've noticed that sometimes. It might have to do with some of the default buffer settings in Reaper (for other things) "working well" with a certain driver latency. Also most people are trying to lower the latency so it's not noticeable, so it makes sense to at least try lowering that ASIO buffer amount. 128 might work better and be stable.

Also I just looked at that video (I just started it a minute ago) and one of the things it mentions is wrong. Turning off all visual effects isn't necessarily a good idea. There are certain video acceleration elements which are better to leave at the default setting. I'd recommend putting those settings back the way they were.

And another thing they're doing wrong, adjusting virtual memory settings. Ugh.

Another thing they got wrong: performance for background services. Put this back to the default setting.

I'm going to continue to skim through the video, but some of these bits of advice are holdovers from previous versions of Windows and shouldn't be done with Windows 10.

That video is too frustrating to watch. I agree with some things (high performance power setting, turning off virus scanning, turning off system restore) but there are too many things which won't have any appreciable benefit and some might make things worse. That's not a good video to watch.
Interesting thoughts JamesPeters.......I'm with you, watching that video and following the instructions completely did my head in! I'll go back through and try and rectify the issues you mentioned. I wish I could remember which thread I saw that link in so that I could send them an update.

I've tried lowering the ASIO buffering to 128 (and in the past couple of weeks have actually trialed every single buffer setting, just in case) and still have the issue.

As an aside - I will definitely undo some of the bad advice from that optimisation video, but do you think any of those things would actually be contributing to my current problem? Factor in that this issue existed before I tried those changes.
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Old 05-09-2019, 05:41 PM   #14
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Originally Posted by dug dog View Post

If there are no red flags from these questions, then you should likely have a look at a utility called Latency Mon.

https://www.resplendence.com/latencymon

Dug Dog: I've installed Latency Mon and started it running. On the main screen I have the following message: "Your system seems to be having difficulty handling real-time audio and other tasks. You may experience drop outs, clicks or pops due to buffer underruns. One or more DPC routines that belong to a driver running in your system appear to be executing for too long. One problem may be related to power management, disable CPU throttling settings in Control Panel and BIOS setup. Check for BIOS updates".

Any thoughts on that? I should probably mention this is a work computer, so I probably can't get away with changing BIOS settings.
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Old 05-09-2019, 05:59 PM   #15
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Originally Posted by JamesPeters View Post

Also I just looked at that video (I just started it a minute ago) and one of the things it mentions is wrong. Turning off all visual effects isn't necessarily a good idea. There are certain video acceleration elements which are better to leave at the default setting. I'd recommend putting those settings back the way they were, or set it to "let Windows decide what's best for performance" (or whatever it is).

And another thing they're doing wrong, adjusting virtual memory settings. Ugh.

Another thing they got wrong: performance for background services. Put this back to the default setting.

I'm going to continue to skim through the video, but some of these bits of advice are holdovers from previous versions of Windows and shouldn't be done with Windows 10.

That video is too frustrating to watch. I agree with some things (high performance power setting, turning off virus scanning, turning off system restore) but there are too many things which won't have any appreciable benefit and some might make things worse. That's not a good video to watch.
I have now reversed the things you have mentioned, including virtual memory settings (now set to "Automatically manage paging file size for all drives"); performance for background services (now set to programs); visual effects (now set to "Let Windows decide what's best for my computer").
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Old 05-09-2019, 06:02 PM   #16
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Unfortunately, CPU throttling IS a known problem so, if you can't change that setting, then I don't know what to suggest.
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Old 05-09-2019, 06:09 PM   #17
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Unfortunately, CPU throttling IS a known problem so, if you can't change that setting, then I don't know what to suggest.
Ok, then I can try and give it a shot. Any chance of talking me through what to do?
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Old 05-09-2019, 06:45 PM   #18
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Well, I guess it goes without saying that I can't condone something that might get you into trouble at work so that's entirely your call. However, changing the power throttling settings is not exactly an unorthodox move and it's pretty straight forward.

Hypothetically speaking, of course, you'd have to figure out how to get into your computer's BIOS which involves restarting your machine and holding down or repeatedly stabbing the appropriate key until the BIOS menu appears. This menu is often (or maybe always) only navigable using the arrow keys. Somewhere in that menu, there should be a heading for performance or power settings or something like that. You'd have to look around or google it first. After you make changes, there will be an option available to "save changes and reboot" or similar.

I'm no expert but, depending on your machine, it IS possible that this option may not exist as different machines offer different BIOS options- some being more tweakable than others.

Good luck.
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Old 05-09-2019, 11:58 PM   #19
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Well, I guess it goes without saying that I can't condone something that might get you into trouble at work so that's entirely your call. However, changing the power throttling settings is not exactly an unorthodox move and it's pretty straight forward.

Hypothetically speaking, of course, you'd have to figure out how to get into your computer's BIOS which involves restarting your machine and holding down or repeatedly stabbing the appropriate key until the BIOS menu appears. This menu is often (or maybe always) only navigable using the arrow keys. Somewhere in that menu, there should be a heading for performance or power settings or something like that. You'd have to look around or google it first. After you make changes, there will be an option available to "save changes and reboot" or similar.

I'm no expert but, depending on your machine, it IS possible that this option may not exist as different machines offer different BIOS options- some being more tweakable than others.

Good luck.
Ok, so I've managed to enter the BIOS settings, but I can't change anything because it has been locked with an administrative password (by the IT guys at work......and no chance of me getting that lifted!). I had a bit of a poke around, and there didn't appear that any of the options would have been relevant anyway (see attached images). I really appreciate all of the advice, but I am wondering if there are any other tweaks I can apply?
Attached Images
File Type: jpg administrative password requirement.JPG (25.0 KB, 110 views)
File Type: jpg Bios settings.JPG (38.0 KB, 107 views)
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Old 05-10-2019, 12:11 AM   #20
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Originally Posted by catcalledmightymouse View Post
Ok, so I've managed to enter the BIOS settings, but I can't change anything because it has been locked with an administrative password (by the IT guys at work......and no chance of me getting that lifted!). I had a bit of a poke around, and there didn't appear that any of the options would have been relevant anyway (see attached images). I really appreciate all of the advice, but I am wondering if there are any other tweaks I can apply?
Attached is a screenshot from the LatencyMon main screen, in case there is anything helpful there.

Thanks again for the input thus far......really appreciated.
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File Type: jpg LatencyMon Results Main Page.JPG (53.4 KB, 123 views)
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Old 05-10-2019, 12:30 AM   #21
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Attached is a screenshot from the LatencyMon main screen, in case there is anything helpful there.

Thanks again for the input thus far......really appreciated.
Further to those other LatencyMon Results, it looks like wdf01000.sys may be the issue? I've added screenshots of the LatencyMon Drivers and CPUs results, and that one keeps coming up! I've been reading other COCKOS threads and googling like crazy, but no one seems to have a solution.

Once again - any further advice would be fantastic!
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File Type: jpg wdf1.JPG (20.2 KB, 105 views)
File Type: jpg wdf.JPG (25.6 KB, 98 views)
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Old 05-10-2019, 12:41 AM   #22
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I found this when I searched about that process causing you problems.

While reading that thread I realized you might be using the UR44 on a USB3 connection. It's meant for USB2, and it may not be properly compatible with USB3. It wouldn't be the first time someone has had issues with a USB2 interface plugged into a USB3 port (myself included with the UR22, but I had forgotten about that since I resolved it so quicky at the time by just trying another USB port: a USB2 one).

If you're not sure which USB ports on your PC are USB2 or USB3, you can look it up in your mainboard manual. Or you can try plugging the UR44 into different USB ports and see which one works better.

Also I sure hope you're not hooking this up with a USB hub of some kind. That would include your keyboard, monitor...anything with a USB connection on it.

By the way you can leave your BIOS alone, most likely. Changing your Windows power setting to "high performance" will stop your CPU from throttling. Leave hyperthreading and all that BIOS stuff alone. It's fine. If there is anything in your BIOS causing problems, that's not it.
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Old 05-10-2019, 12:52 AM   #23
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The wdf0100 thing does not point to any specific problem...look at the other high dpc causes first.

You should post the drivers tab sorted by highest execution.

Only optimisations I would recommend by default on Win10 is power plan to high performance, USB selective suspend to off and in USB root hub power management, untick the box that says allow computer to turn off this device.

Are the pops random or regular....when you say three times a minute they're not occuring every 20 seconds are they??
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Old 05-10-2019, 12:58 AM   #24
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I found this when I searched about that process causing you problems.

While reading that thread I realized you might be using the UR44 on a USB3 connection. It's meant for USB2, and it may not be properly compatible with USB3. It wouldn't be the first time someone has had issues with a USB2 interface plugged into a USB3 port (myself included with the UR22, but I had forgotten about that since I resolved it so quicky at the time by just trying another USB port: a USB2 one).

If you're not sure which USB ports on your PC are USB2 or USB3, you can look it up in your mainboard manual. Or you can try plugging the UR44 into different USB ports and see which one works better.

Also I sure hope you're not hooking this up with a USB hub of some kind. That would include your keyboard, monitor...anything with a USB connection on it.

By the way you can leave your BIOS alone, most likely. Changing your Windows power setting to "high performance" will stop your CPU from throttling. Leave hyperthreading and all that BIOS stuff alone. It's fine. If there is anything in your BIOS causing problems, that's not it.
Wowsers.........that is interestin! Only catch is that this laptop only appears to have 3 x USB3 inputs, and no USB2. Does this potentially mean that i need to upgrade to a USB3 compatible interface? I hope not! And in answer to your questions, I have definitely not plugged via a hub. It is directly into the USB port on the laptop.
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Old 05-10-2019, 01:02 AM   #25
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The wdf0100 thing does not point to any specific problem...look at the other high dpc causes first.

You should post the drivers tab sorted by highest execution.

Only optimisations I would recommend by default on Win10 is power plan to high performance, USB selective suspend to off and in USB root hub power management, untick the box that says allow computer to turn off this device.

Are the pops random or regular....when you say three times a minute they're not occuring every 20 seconds are they??
Thanks for the input Stella645, I've now attached the drivers tab sorted by highest execution. I will make sure that I have those USB optimisations right and double check the regularity of the pops. From memory it didn't appear to be on a set cycle as you are describing - I was just giving an approximate average.
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Old 05-10-2019, 03:16 AM   #26
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I had a similar issues,
If you check under CPUs page on latency mon and find that the highest dcp execution is a lot higher on cpu 0 ?
If that is the case you can set affinity (Under task Manager, details, right click on program) for reaper to only run on cpu 1,2 & 3)
This worked for me, You have to set affinity each time pc is booted,
There is a third party software called Process Lasso which can be used and it will remember the settings so no need to change ever reboot.

hope this helps.

From your screenshots ACPI is also high.
As a work around for this under device manager you will need to disable "Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery" - I found this made no difference unless I uninstalled every thing including drivers under "Intel Dynamic Platform and Thermal Framework Generic Participant"
You will need to disable wifi first or windows will reinstall these automatically. Also if you don't check uninstall drivers for some of these, again windows will automatically reinstall these.
I have not had any issues with uninstalling these (you do at your own risk) and once my wifi is back on and I am using the laptop for other non music related software I just let windows reinstall them. If you want you battery meter back in the task bar you will need to reanable "Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery"

Last edited by Scottk; 05-10-2019 at 03:41 AM. Reason: Added acpi info
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Old 05-10-2019, 04:18 AM   #27
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Wowsers.........that is interestin! Only catch is that this laptop only appears to have 3 x USB3 inputs, and no USB2. Does this potentially mean that i need to upgrade to a USB3 compatible interface? I hope not! And in answer to your questions, I have definitely not plugged via a hub. It is directly into the USB port on the laptop.
While not ideal...plugging via a hub may actually be a better option if you only have USB3 ports. But you would need it to be a USB2 hub and it must be powered for this interface.
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Old 05-10-2019, 11:03 AM   #28
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The ACPI dpc may well be the problem as Scott says...and this is not an easy one to pin down.
But connected to that, something else worth a quick try as it's an easy one....try disconnecting power and running on battery if you didn't already. Or if you only tried on battery try with power.

I would also disable the high definition audio driver for DAW use but as this is your work computer maybe you can't get away with that.
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Old 05-10-2019, 02:07 PM   #29
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Only catch is that this laptop only appears to have 3 x USB3 inputs, and no USB2. Does this potentially mean that i need to upgrade to a USB3 compatible interface?
You'll need to confirm that. There's a high likelihood that this is the problem. Find the computer's make/model, and look up the info on it. There are probably variants of the model so you'll have to figure out which one just in case.

It may be possible to force the USB3 ports to work as USB2 but that would be a change done in the BIOS (or UEFI, whichever your mainboard uses) and it would affect all USB ports. So if you want USB3 benefits on some ports but good low latency audio for your DAW with your audio device on another port, you can't mix the two. You'd be dumbing the system down to USB2 speeds. That may not be a problem for you if you're not transferring large/many files very quickly and often, though.

Another option is to try a powered USB2 hub as Stella645 says.

You can try finding an interface that's USB3 specifically. There aren't many, and they can be a lot pricier than the UR44.

It's definitely worth trying the computer plugged in versus battery-only, and seeing if that affects anything (and be sure you go through the Windows power profile, turning off anything that might affect your CPU, USB, etc.)
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Old 05-10-2019, 05:56 PM   #30
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I don't have any suggestions, but I went through much of this same process trying to use a Focusrite interface and had to give up. I worked with people on this board, the driver guys at Focusrite, and even techs at Sweetwater. This was on a Dell desktop. I ended up returning the Focusrite and replacing it with, ironically, a UR44, which worked flawlessly out of the box and is now working flawlessly in Linux Mint.

It is probably a mysterious combination of drivers and some incompatible hardware in your system. Maybe you should try a Focusrite?
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Old 05-10-2019, 07:24 PM   #31
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Scottk View Post
I had a similar issues,
If you check under CPUs page on latency mon and find that the highest dcp execution is a lot higher on cpu 0 ?
If that is the case you can set affinity (Under task Manager, details, right click on program) for reaper to only run on cpu 1,2 & 3)
This worked for me, You have to set affinity each time pc is booted,
There is a third party software called Process Lasso which can be used and it will remember the settings so no need to change ever reboot.

hope this helps.

From your screenshots ACPI is also high.
As a work around for this under device manager you will need to disable "Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery" - I found this made no difference unless I uninstalled every thing including drivers under "Intel Dynamic Platform and Thermal Framework Generic Participant"
You will need to disable wifi first or windows will reinstall these automatically. Also if you don't check uninstall drivers for some of these, again windows will automatically reinstall these.
I have not had any issues with uninstalling these (you do at your own risk) and once my wifi is back on and I am using the laptop for other non music related software I just let windows reinstall them. If you want you battery meter back in the task bar you will need to reanable "Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery"
Hi ScottK - interesting that you had similar issues. I've tried all of your suggestions including setting the CPU affinity to 1, 2 & 3 as well as disabling the ACPI driver and uninstalling the "Intel Dynamic Platform and Thermal Framework Generic Participant". Unfortunately, that fix didn't work for me, but I appreciate the tips.
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Old 05-10-2019, 07:33 PM   #32
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The ACPI dpc may well be the problem as Scott says...and this is not an easy one to pin down.
But connected to that, something else worth a quick try as it's an easy one....try disconnecting power and running on battery if you didn't already. Or if you only tried on battery try with power.

I would also disable the high definition audio driver for DAW use but as this is your work computer maybe you can't get away with that.
Thanks Stella645. I've tried it on battery power, with no change in the situation. I've also tried plugging the interface in via my Dell WD15 Port replicator which has a USB2.0 input. Not sure if that counts in the same way as a dedicated USB hub? It didn't solve the situation, so perhaps it is still worth trying an actual hub.
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Old 05-10-2019, 07:35 PM   #33
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You'll need to confirm that. There's a high likelihood that this is the problem. Find the computer's make/model, and look up the info on it. There are probably variants of the model so you'll have to figure out which one just in case.

It may be possible to force the USB3 ports to work as USB2 but that would be a change done in the BIOS (or UEFI, whichever your mainboard uses) and it would affect all USB ports. So if you want USB3 benefits on some ports but good low latency audio for your DAW with your audio device on another port, you can't mix the two. You'd be dumbing the system down to USB2 speeds. That may not be a problem for you if you're not transferring large/many files very quickly and often, though.

Another option is to try a powered USB2 hub as Stella645 says.

You can try finding an interface that's USB3 specifically. There aren't many, and they can be a lot pricier than the UR44.

It's definitely worth trying the computer plugged in versus battery-only, and seeing if that affects anything (and be sure you go through the Windows power profile, turning off anything that might affect your CPU, USB, etc.)
Thanks JamesPeters. As per above comments, I've tried it with battery power, to no avail. I've also tried plugging the interface in via my Dell WD15 Port replicator which has a USB2.0 input. Not sure if that counts in the same way as a dedicated USB hub? It didn't solve the situation, so perhaps it is still worth trying an actual hub.
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Old 05-10-2019, 07:39 PM   #34
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I don't have any suggestions, but I went through much of this same process trying to use a Focusrite interface and had to give up. I worked with people on this board, the driver guys at Focusrite, and even techs at Sweetwater. This was on a Dell desktop. I ended up returning the Focusrite and replacing it with, ironically, a UR44, which worked flawlessly out of the box and is now working flawlessly in Linux Mint.

It is probably a mysterious combination of drivers and some incompatible hardware in your system. Maybe you should try a Focusrite?
Thanks Stringer. Looks like I might be in a similar (but opposite) situation to you. What I find interesting is that although my LatencyMon report is highlighting some issues, I don't get the pops/crackles with the ASIO4ALL driver (although I don't get all of my inputs or the right outputs, so that isn't exactly a fix).

I might need to try and borrow an interface from a friend and see if I have similar issues with a different brand/model. For a second I considered pulling out my old Original MBOX, but then remembered that you can't get 64bit drivers for those.

I was pretty excited when work upgraded my laptop (more ram, better processor etc), but hadn't anticipated that I would have incompatibility issues. Like you say, must be some magical mix of drivers to get everything running smoothly. Almost seems like I'm stuck back in one of my pro tools nightmares!
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Old 05-10-2019, 07:48 PM   #35
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What are the hardware specs of your laptop? Does it have Nvidia graphics?
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Old 05-10-2019, 08:53 PM   #36
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What are the hardware specs of your laptop? Does it have Nvidia graphics?
NVIDIA GeForce MX130 seems to be the graphics card Drumphil.
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Old 05-10-2019, 09:00 PM   #37
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Default Update - trialed with Yamaha THR10C as interface

Hi all,

Really appreciate everyone's selfless input on this. As an update, after reading Stringer's post about having similar issues and having to switch interfaces to solve the issue, I remembered that my Yamaha THR10C (small modelling guitar amp) has the ability to act as an interface. So, I tried that out, using the exact same driver (1.10.4) as I have been using with the UR44 (they are both Yamaha/Steinberg products).

Net result was that the THR10C worked completely fine, with no pops or crackles. This does't actually solve my problem as the THR10C is somewhat limited as an interface (I need to do much more than track guitars, and don't always want to track guitars through the THR10C). However, it does seem to show that the compatibility issue is coming from the UR44.

Does that make sense, or am I reading this all wrong?!?
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Old 05-10-2019, 09:32 PM   #38
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NVIDIA GeForce MX130 seems to be the graphics card Drumphil.
nvidia cards are common suspects with DPC latency problems. It can help to set the power mode to "prefer maximum performance" in the Nvidia control panel.

Thinking a bit further, having that graphics card means you have dual graphics, with the output from the MX130 being run through the on board intel graphics.

Always a problematic setup.

Quote:
Does that make sense, or am I reading this all wrong?!?
It is possible, but I'm still thinking it most likely that it's something else about your system and drivers. Do you have the option to test the UR44 on another computer?

Or it could be the USB2 USB3 thing. Process of elimination. Test whatever possible variables you can.

Intel network interfaces can cause DPC latency problems, so try disabling that. Also worth trying is uninstalling any third party antivirus software and using windows defender instead. Their network firewall/inspection stuff can cause DPC latency problems. I seem to remember the AVAST firewall causing such problems.

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Net result was that the THR10C worked completely fine, with no pops or crackles.
Do the DPC latency spikes go away too? (worth noting: the dpc latency checker is designed to be run without any system load. It's not giving you useful information if you test it under load, and the program itself will cause audio glitches if you try and run your DAW with it running.)

Last edited by drumphil; 05-11-2019 at 12:02 AM.
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Old 05-11-2019, 09:19 PM   #39
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nvidia cards are common suspects with DPC latency problems. It can help to set the power mode to "prefer maximum performance" in the Nvidia control panel.

Thinking a bit further, having that graphics card means you have dual graphics, with the output from the MX130 being run through the on board intel graphics.

Always a problematic setup.
Device manager lists Intel UHD Graphics 630 and NVIDIA GeForce MX130. Does that mean that dual graphics are running, which may lead to issues? I've now tried setting the Nvidia control panel to "prefer maximum performance" but no change in my situation.
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Old 05-11-2019, 09:22 PM   #40
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It is possible, but I'm still thinking it most likely that it's something else about your system and drivers. Do you have the option to test the UR44 on another computer?

Or it could be the USB2 USB3 thing. Process of elimination. Test whatever possible variables you can.
I will try and test the UR44 on a friend's laptop later this week if possible. I guess it might also be worth investing in a USB2 hub, assuming that using my port replicator (as described earlier) doesn't equate to the same thing?
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