Delta 44 Clicks and Pops

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Aspiring Engineer
Member Since: Jan 04, 2009

Hey guys, I just recently got a delta 44 sound card, and am experiencing some pretty annoying pops in my signal. I have the latest drivers installed for the delta but the pops are still there. Please help. thanks in advance guys.

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Member
Since: Jul 02, 2003


Jan 04, 2009 10:42 pm

Most likely you need to set the audio buffers for the card a bit higher. In your DAW software under the Audio options there should be a either a button to bring up the ASIO buffer settings, or a place to set the buffers if you're using WDM mode. With the Delta series you should probably be using the ASIO driver (also set in your Audio Options) for the best performance.

Raise the buffers until the pops/crackling stops. If you have to raise it much above 256 samples you will probably run into latency problems when trying to record, but your system looks able to handle a 256 sample buffer using ASIO.

Dan

Aspiring Engineer
Member
Since: Jan 04, 2009


Jan 05, 2009 12:02 am

Well I'm using the m-powered version of pro tools 7.4. How would I go about doing that? I've already tried to setting the buffers well above 256 on the delta conrtol panel and the difference it made seemed minimal

Member
Since: Jul 02, 2003


Jan 05, 2009 01:21 am

I'm not familiar with Pro Tools, but if you change the buffer setting on the Delta panel you have to get to it from within PT otherwise the change will likely have no effect. There may/should also be disk buffer settings that you can play with that might help.

How large of a project, and how many effects are you trying to use?

Dan

Aspiring Engineer
Member
Since: Jan 04, 2009


Jan 05, 2009 02:13 am

its there on the first track i'm using. see im still waiting on a mixer I ordered (Behringer 1202 XENYX FX). The delta got here first so i just plugged in with my guitar. I knew it would come through weak but i just wanted to test it out, and since the initial run through, the popping is there. I was aware of people having the problem before i purchased the item, but it seemed that everyone who complained about had relatively small computer systems. I know my setup isnt a beast but I felt it was surely robust enough to handle all the aspects of the Delta

Prince CZAR-ming
Member
Since: Apr 08, 2004


Jan 05, 2009 09:29 am

I've had problems when the Hard drive isn't set correctly. Make sure UDMA is turned on (i think). If you're using ata100 or 133, then use the 80pin cable (i think) instead of the old normal 40 pin IDE cable. (if you're using SATA, then never mind).

There could be programs running in background that are stealing cycles, and making the system hiccup. Kill all processes you can, before you start to record.

Also, if you have an aggressive PCI video card, then setting the PCI Latency down (PCILatency, is the name, i think) to something manageable is helpful.

Another big help, is to have 1 drive for OS and system files, then 1 drive for audio. This way no 'system' writes / reads are interfering with your audio writing. Maybe you can plug in a second drive and test out. Even a 10g or so would let you know if it's fixed.

Another possible help, is to open perfmon and watch for unexpected spikes / page faults / etc. Turn on the harddrive monitoring can give you some insight as well.

Pretty much, your PC should be able to handle quite a few tracks, before any pops come into being. Seeing as how you're on the first one, I'd say something else besides normal CPU bottleneck is coming into play.

hth

Oh yeah, Welcome to the HRC!

Czar of Midi
Administrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002


Jan 05, 2009 04:59 pm

Oooo, I do see he is at the absolute minimum amount of RAM for using that. That in part could be causing a problem as well.

To be honest drewskers, it is rarely the fault of the card that is causing the pops and clicks. It is 95 time out of 100 to blame on system performance or spec's.

Your processor is plenty fast, but as I stated above you are at the bare minimum amount of Ram to safely run the software.

But indeed make certain as well that you are running the drivers required by PT to use the Delta. The wrong driver can cause a problem as well.

Aspiring Engineer
Member
Since: Jan 04, 2009


Jan 05, 2009 11:05 pm

Well pro tools automatically configured with the delta so I figured everything was alright. So you think I need more than 1.25 GB of Ram to work problem free with the delta? the system requirements call for 128 MB of Ram

Czar of Midi
Administrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002


Jan 06, 2009 06:29 pm

The system requirement calling out for 128 MB of ram is simply stating what it is going to use just to start up and run.

Well, PT did not choose the proper drivers set up then at all. If it had you would not be experiencing any noise at all.

I would suggest first opening the Delta control panel and hard set it to 256 first off. Then you will need to go into PT le and find the audio preferences or options and get to the panel that will allow you to choose ASIO or WDM as they are the high performance drivers for audio.

By the sounds of it PT simply grabbed the default driver, which odds are is MME and that not going to work at all.

So you will need to go in and make the changes in PT to have it take effect.

Aspiring Engineer
Member
Since: Jan 04, 2009


Jan 07, 2009 10:11 pm

Well the pro tools menu is pretty much my Delta control panel. The changes I made there showed up in pro tools. Now reading through some documents from M-audio I believe the problem lies with the IRQ assignment. I checked it out on my system and the delta is on a virtual IRQ, which automatically shares its resources with the first couple of IRQ's. To move the delta up on the list I have to disable a number of other devices (such as a couple of USB ports, my ethernet and printer ports etc.)which seems like quite an inconvieniance.

Member
Since: Jan 08, 2009


Jan 08, 2009 06:20 am

I had similar problems with a tascam US144 interface. The audio used to just drop for a couple of seconds at random intervals. When I updated the firmware to v1.12 I didn't install the corresponding drivers. When I put the latest drivers on the audio drop outs stopped but instead it would screach for about 3 - 4 seconds. This was not nice at 4.30 in the morning!
I spoke to someone at a local store. They had not really heard of problems and said it was probably other hardware causing a conflict. They had someone (different interface) come in with problems when they started troubleshooting found out it was his HDD. He replaced it and the problem was sorted.
I found it happend the most while my WLAN adaptor was in use. Now when im wanting to use my interface I have to disable my adaptor. Never had any problems since. I have a switch on the front of my laptop to enable and disable it witch makes it easier.
Hope you get your problems sorted.

Czar of Midi
Administrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002


Jan 08, 2009 09:00 pm

Ah yes, I never even gave that a thought.

Do you have another slot you can try the card in? That may help as well.

But yes, audio interfaces do not like sharing IRQ's at all. It doesn't matter who makes them.

Aspiring Engineer
Member
Since: Jan 04, 2009


Jan 08, 2009 10:21 pm

I have another PCI slot that my modem is in. would it make that much of a difference to take out my modem of the PCI slot for the delta?

Czar of Midi
Administrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002


Jan 09, 2009 06:18 pm

Yes it can, depending on the Mother board of coarse.

In the early days I ran into the same type of problem time and again. IRQ sharing has always been a problem with Audio interfaces.

If it is a newer MoBo and you are running a PCI modem that will cause issues as well.

I would suggest to give it a try with the modem out and see what happens.

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