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So I have gone all over trying to find a reason why my recordings through my Studio Projects B1 Large Condenser Mic (through a PreSonus Audiobox Digital Interface) now have a click/crackle sound every 3-10 seconds. It isn't extremely loud, but I can hear it and it annoys the crap out of me. This is all new equipment and it was not doing this on my recordings a month ago.

To be clear, when I listen to the mic live through the pre-amp, it is crystal clear audio. It is inly when I playback the recording that the clicks have appeared. I have tried turning off the lights in my room, unplugging my laptop incase it was the outlet, and adjusting every single knob on the Audiobox. No luck.

I would post a little audio up but I don't see that as an option anywhere in this forum post. If someone knows how to post it I will right away so you can all hear what I mean.

So ya, if anyone knows what is going on, please let me know so I can finish what I was trying to record as soon as possible.
Thanks!

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Jgnorman Mon, 01/24/2011 - 16:34

audiokid, post: 362099 wrote: see buffer

I have messed with the latency and buffer settings and it doesn't seem to fix it.
Did what this [[url=http://[/URL]="http://www.recordin…"]page said[/]="http://www.recordin…"]page said[/] , and it is still doing the same thing. I had my buffer speed at 1024 and latency well over 3000 and no difference... So could it be my latency is too high and I just can't ever record on this computer?!?
But the main thing that is confusing me, is it wasn't there a month or two ago. I listened to a recording I made 1 month ago, and I could just barely hear it, but now it is much louder...
Any other ideas I could try out?

anonymous Tue, 01/25/2011 - 08:09

natural, post: 362114 wrote: Clocking issue? You don't list what you're recording on.
interface and DAW (if it's a DAW) has to have a master clock or else you get clicks and pops.

Ok, Apparently I know alot less about all of this than I thought. Thank you for taking time to help and sorry if I don't already know some terms you all use.

As for an interface, I'm not really sure what that would qualify as, but I literally just have my condenser mic plugged into the presonus audiobox, which is then plugged into my laptop. Are you saying I need another piece of hardware between the Audiobox and my laptop?

As for my DAW I am pretty sure that just means the computer I am using right? If not, I am using Adobe Audition 3.0

Dell Studio 1555 Laptop
Windows Vista Home Premium
Intel Core 2 Duo CPU
P8600@2.40GHz Processor
6GB of RAM
64-Bit
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570

And you also suggested maybe trying a new USB cord, but I got this around Christmas and I only have this one firewire to USB cord. You think I should buy a new cord to try?

Oh, and using the latency test program I do get spikes of latency in the red almost every 10 seconds. But I closed a ton of stuff so that the latency was staying in the green (around 200-500) and recorded and the clicking was still there.

If there is anymore information I can provide that will help let me know!

TheJackAttack Tue, 01/25/2011 - 08:22

If I recall correctly, that computer mobo uses a Ricoh Express Card combo chip. It is a good little pc for general use but there are going to be some quirks. First and foremost make sure your wireless radio is off and disabled. Second, this is Vista so there are a metric truckload of services that can be disabled. Third, the Audiobox is a USB interface I believe. USB cables are cheap. Just because it is new is no guarantee the cable isn't compromised. Run your latence buffer up to 1024 even if the latency checker says 512. Lastly, try Reaper. The trial is free and it is a smokin' fast low load program.

FYI:
Interface=device that converts analog audio into digital 1 & 0. In your case the Audiobox. These can be either firewire or usb or PCI.

DAW=digital audio workstation. This is the actual program you use to record and/or edit audio. The DAW is independant of your computer though some are native to only windows or only mac.

Jgnorman Tue, 01/25/2011 - 08:34

Ok, thanks for that info! I am slowly learning how to record...
So amazingly, I downloaded Reaper just now and the click is all gone! I thought it might be Reaper, but I opened Audition and it wasn't there for that either!!! I am amazed since I don't think I actually made any changes... The only thing I can think is that I had to reboot last night for some reason, and I hadn't tried recording again since. So apparently that fixed it?!? Well whatever the case, I am happy now! I can finally get on with my recording project, and actually confirm some collaborations with other artists now.

Thank you so much for all of your help! I have a feeling I will be coming back to ask more questions in the future :)

Oh, and one last unimportant question. Now that you know my recording setup, is there anything else you would consider absolutely essential to home recording that I do not have yet? So far it seems this little audiobox is going to fulfill all my needs, but I don't know what I might run into in the future.

Jgnorman Tue, 01/25/2011 - 08:42

"I am amazed since I don't think I actually made any changes..."

Ok, I just remembered (I can be a little absent-minded at times lol) I went on the Presonus Website and downloaded the latest drivers for my audiobox last night. That was why I rebooted because it said I needed to.

Is it safe to assume that was the thing that took the clicks away?

TheJackAttack Tue, 01/25/2011 - 10:12

Nothing is safe to assume. Proper updated drivers are likely the reason. When having issues it is always wise to do a cold boot (means shut down completely and then press the button to start-not simply a "reboot" command). Also, when you change the latency of an ASIO driver you kind of have to nudge Audition to change the buffer. Going into Hardware Setup and pressing ASIO Control Panel is sufficient to change the Audition settings. Of course starting the program from scratch will do it too.

Reaper will exhibit less hickups generally than Audition because Audition has far more code and features. I often record with Reaper and edit in Audition for that reason. As to future needs, there isn't anyway to know what you will need or want. That is based solely on your goals.

anonymous Tue, 01/25/2011 - 16:02

So unfortunately the crackle came back... But the very interesting thing I noticed this time, is that each time I hit play in Audition, the crackle is in different places every time. But, on the bright side, it isn't being written into the final export like it was before. So I guess now I just have to deal with hearing it while I'm editing the audio, but when I mixdown to the final mp3 it won't be there. Still, annoys the crap outta me...

kmetal Tue, 01/25/2011 - 22:39

Have your optimized your system yet? w/ background things running it's difficult to know where the interference is from.
Your problem may be part of the hardware living in your computer that doesn't want to cooperate everytime. I've known plenty of women who get by like that just fine.
i say either live w/ pop's clicks, after exhausting all possible settings ect, or make a professional audio computer purchase.

anonymous Sat, 03/17/2012 - 17:48

FIxed Audiobox USB noise

Seems a lot of people are having this same issue of crakling and popping from the Audiobox. I was so mad that I was ready to smash it with a big hammer but I was to tired from messing with it all day! Short and sweet, here is I got mine totally fixed. Uninstalled the drivers (I assume everybody knows how to?) Download the asio4all driver. It is free and it now works with win 7 32 or 64 bit : ) Install asio4all, reboot. Put in your presonus cd and install their drivers. Reboot. The rest is pretty easy. As for me, I opened Sonar 8.5, went to options, audio, and it was using the asio4all drivers. I tried and tired but I could not get any more crackles or pops : ) I hope it works for everybody else too : )

anonymous Sat, 04/21/2012 - 05:17

I always forget to un-ARM the tracks for recording when I listen back to a mix in Reaper just after a take. This leads to crackles on my system. If I un-arm all the tracks and then start playback, everything sounds fine. Not sure if that is a problem with my buffering setup, but it is an easy enough workaround that I never bothered to investigate it further.

poni618 Wed, 10/03/2012 - 14:39

try optimizing [[url=http://[/URL]="http://support.pres…"]Optimizing Your Computer for Audio - Windows Vista/Windows 7 : PreSonus Audio Electronics[/]="http://support.pres…"]Optimizing Your Computer for Audio - Windows Vista/Windows 7 : PreSonus Audio Electronics[/]

i found that disabling my wireless card when recording really helped with the crackling/popping
i spoke to a guy at presonus and he actually said tha tif its a labtop you want to have it plugged in when recording because without being plugged in the battery can try to like save power or something and cause issues.