Can't stop crackling, popping and static

[KvltKitty]

Hello everyone,

So I am running a firewire MOTU 8pre into my Windows 7 laptop. I have gone through just about every forum post regarding this, and can't find a solution. Basically, after messing with all the settings I will get the MOTU to stop crackling and popping for a while, but inevitably it comes back strong and then won't stop. The strangest part is, that everytime it stops, the settings I have are DIFFERENT than the previous time. There is almost no consistency to it.

I have changed to the legacy driver, I have the clock settings to internal, I have tried changing using Windows WAVE to ensure using the proper settings for the Legacy driver. Nothing will keep it fixed for long though. The problem seems less prevalent with the headphone out, but sometimes even the headphone out is just as bad.

Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated

Cheers

[MIDI Life Crisis]

Have you checked your buffer settings? I'm guessing you have but you said any suggestions.

[BKK-OZ]

All sample rates matched?

[monkey man]

Can't stop crackling, popping and static

Simple. Ease up on the baked beans, bro'.

[stubbsonic]

Arg. That IS maddening. I had little random messed up samples in a recent recording session and had to draw them out with a pencil tool!! TEDIOUS.

So as others have suggested (and it sounds like you have checked these)--

sample rate check
driver check
clock source check (both in driver config and DP)
buffer size (this is important, as MLC said)
I usually don't need to go higher than 256 to get rid of problems,
but I'd try that, or even 512, just to see if that fixes it.

[KvltKitty]

This is absolutely maddening
It will stop for about a minute or two
But then, arbitrarily, a system sound or something like it will make it revert to crackling
Then after the popping, all sounds will be so loud and filled with static that they distort. Here's what I have done:

I changed the IEEE 1394 driver to the legacy driver
I disabled my onboard audio
I have set all default devices to the MOTU device
I have ensured that power saving doesn't restrict power to the PCIe device
I have ensured that within Windows, it is communicating at 44.1 kHz
The sample rate is set to 44100
Samples per buffer is 512
Use stereo pairs and WaveRT are enabled
Master clock on MOTU Audio Console is set to internal

Is there anything I'm missing?
Sucks, I bought a new laptop and DAW for mobile recording, and I can't even get the MOTU to play audio properly
-_-

[MIDI Life Crisis]

If it were on a Mac I'd suggest creating a new user account and seeing if it goes away. Is there a similar process in Windows? I think there is but don't have a clue how to do that on your machine.

[KvltKitty]

naw unfortunately not. It should be working... I don't understand

Could it be because I'm using a 4pin to 6pin connector? It's on my laptop, and I only have the 4pin. I'm really at a loss, and don't know what else it would be...

It starts working, then just totally stops arbitrarily (by stops, I mean it starts making terrible noise and/or distorting the system sounds)


Gonna have to contact them on Monday. Kinda ridiculous this is an issue still. I read the manual, and don't get what could be going wrong. This is coming from a guy who builds custom audio input devices in his spare time lol

[BKK-OZ]

You say you have your sample rate set to 44.1k, but you don't say what sort of software you are going into - still sounds like either a hardware fault or sample rate mismatch to me.

I suggest that you check that your software (on a Mac, I would look @ Audio MIDI Set Up, not sure how to do that on Windows) and hardware sample rates are matched.