At the end of my rope,,,

[okcrounders]

Hello all,

I've been plagued by this persistent issue for about four months and I'm out of ideas. Hopefully, someone can help me out. I'll provide a list of my equipment, then describe the issue.

1. DP 5.13
2. MacPro1,1 (dual core intel)
3. Motu PCI 424 card
4. Motu 2408 mk 2 and 3.
5. Alesis Hd 24 Adat
6. OS 10.4.11
7. 2 UAD cards


The problem: whenever I monitor in DP or play music in itunes, I hear popping sounds. They show up on the output meter of the 2408. At first, I thought it might have been the PCI card, so I called MOTU and got another one. Yet, I still have the same issue. So, I thought it may have been the 2408 mk3. I bought an mk2 on ebay for cheap, and am still having the same problem. I have tried reseating the cards, switching the slots around etc. etc. and still get the popping sounds. I have used both MOTU's clock and the clock on the ADAT (i.e. optical) but to no avail. The damn popping sounds still occur. I'm at a loss as to what to do....its really irritating?

Does anyone have any suggestions, or has anyone experienced similar problems.

Thanks,

Dave

[Bowman]

If you search this site for "clicks and pops" you will find a couple of ideas which might be worth trying. For starters, try setting your audio buffers to 1024.

[mdporter]

Do you have a second drive with a fresh OS installed that you can test from? Might be worth it to eliminate operating system issues.

[okcrounders]

Do you have a second drive with a fresh OS installed that you can test from? Might be worth it to eliminate operating system issues.

Unfortunately, I do not. And, I'm having trouble finding my original disc, so I can reinstall it.

[okcrounders]

If you search this site for "clicks and pops" you will find a couple of ideas which might be worth trying. For starters, try setting your audio buffers to 1024.

I've tried tinkering with the buffer setting...the problem persists.

[okcrounders]

Okay,

Sorry to be a bother. I've taken my mac in to a local repair shop, but they found nothing wrong with the hardware. I've run the Cuemix test, per James suggestion, and I'm still getting pops and clicks. So, I guess that means its not the PCI card. Any other ideas?

[Bowman]

A couple of thoughts:

Are the clicks and pops random, or are they actually recorded to audio?

If it isn't clocking, buffers or your Mac, then it could be some sort of data transfer conflict. On one of the threads about clicks and pops there is a post by Shooshie concerning conflicts between MOTU interfaces and USB mics.

Hang in there.

[okcrounders]

A couple of thoughts:

Are the clicks and pops random, or are they actually recorded to audio?

If it isn't clocking, buffers or your Mac, then it could be some sort of data transfer conflict. On one of the threads about clicks and pops there is a post by Shooshie concerning conflicts between MOTU interfaces and USB mics.

Hang in there.

Thank you for replying Bowman.

The pops and clicks are random. As far as I can tell, the noises are not recorded to audio when I'm tracking. Its a problem for me because I use a summing amplifier. I eq, mix, and all the rest in the box, but send the tracks via lightpipe to an Alesis HD 24. From the Alesis, the audio into a Folcrom summing amp and then back into the Alesis and then back to the computer via lightpipe.

I have tried clocking the MOTU to the Alesis and to vice versa, using both lightpipe and word clock. Besides, I don't think the Alesis is the issue because I started having the before I had the summing amp. Also, I get the exact same pops and clicks when I use itunes (which doesn't entail using the Alesis). Whenever a pop one occurs, I see it on the output meter of the 2408 and, when I'm using it, on the Alesis as well. It happens when I'm running the DP and the audio files off of my hard drive; it happens when I'm just running DP on my computer and the audio off an external hard drive.

[Frodo]

It could be too much data being called for on one hard drive -- or--- too many hard drives on one buss (ie: several firewire drives). If there's a firewire drive (or more) involved, it wouldn't be particularly surprising that pops and clicks might occur on busier projects.

However, I must ask what the "1,1" after "MacPro means. Some models of MacPros (pre 2008) still have the slower 33Mhz firewire buss. Later MacPros boast PCIe speeds on the firewire buss of 2.66Ghz which means they should be able to handle almost anything thrown at it.

[Dave Bourke]

Your reply puzzles me, Frodo. Firewire speed is measured in MHz? I've just checked in System Profiler under Firewire and my bus speed is listed as "Up to 800 Mb/sec."

My Mac Pro also had the Model Identifier "MacPro1,1" with "Bus speed: 1.33 GHz."

Am I misunderstanding this? Or do you know something I don't know? Which wouldn't be too hard, admittedly.

Kind regards.

[okcrounders]

It could be too much data being called for on one hard drive -- or--- too many hard drives on one buss (ie: several firewire drives). If there's a firewire drive (or more) involved, it wouldn't be particularly surprising that pops and clicks might occur on busier projects.

However, I must ask what the "1,1" after "MacPro means. Some models of MacPros (pre 2008) still have the slower 33Mhz firewire buss. Later MacPros boast PCIe speeds on the firewire buss of 2.66Ghz which means they should be able to handle almost anything thrown at it.

I don't know what the 1,1 stands for. I bought it new in 2007 and haven't had a problem except for the last 6-7 months. Since the pops and clicks also occur in itunes, wouldn't that tell against the 'too much stuff going on' hypothesis?

[Bowman]

This may be a really dumb remark, and if it is, I apologize, but I presume you've done all the usual stuff that gets mentioned here, repairing permissions, installing the latest drivers (assuming they are appropriate,) etc.

BTW, I also seem to have the same machine that you do: MacPro1,1 Bus Speed 1.33 GHz.

[zed]

Are these "pops and clicks" kind of like a distortion that randomly appears and disappears when you switch applications that use your audio system?

If so, I have suffered with that issue ever since I got my current computer, and all through the previous computer (a G5). Since the 424 card is different for each computer, the most likely source of the problem is the only thing that has remained the same... the actual audio interface: a 2408 Mk III.

[okcrounders]

This may be a really dumb remark, and if it is, I apologize, but I presume you've done all the usual stuff that gets mentioned here, repairing permissions, installing the latest drivers (assuming they are appropriate,) etc.

BTW, I also seem to have the same machine that you do: MacPro1,1 Bus Speed 1.33 GHz.

Bowman,

The fact that you're taking some time to even talk to me exempts you from making dumb remarks. To the best of my memory, here is a rough list of the things I've done:

1. Updated latest PCI 424 drivers
2. Updated from DP5 to 5.13 (at the behest of the MOTU tech guys)
3. Reseated my PCI 424 card in different PCIe slots
4. Replaced audiowire cable
5. Adjusted buffers and work priority
6. Reinstalled PCI 424 drivers
7. Replaced PCI 424 Card
8. Turned Airport off
9. Disconnected the machine from the internet
10. Repaired disc permissions
11. Downloaded idefrag and defragged my hard drive
12. Replaced my 2408
13. Tried James' Cuemix test
14. Offloaded itunes library to an external drive.
15. Put in more RAM, with more on the way.

[okcrounders]

Are these "pops and clicks" kind of like a distortion that randomly appears and disappears when you switch applications that use your audio system?

If so, I have suffered with that issue ever since I got my current computer, and all through the previous computer (a G5). Since the 424 card is different for each computer, the most likely source of the problem is the only thing that has remained the same... the actual audio interface: a 2408 Mk III.

No. They appear in all applications that use my audio system.