Crackles... works in safe mode - but that doesn't help

[sam26]

Hi all!

Ok I have a session that I think I used to run on v6 or v7, no tempo ramps or things that v9 is warning me about. When I run the session normally I get lots of crackles and pops. I have 128gb of ram, 7950x3d ryzen, solid state memory, and i'm running my buffer at 2048. When I run the session in safe mode, it doesn't crackle. I opened up the original session once again normally, deleted every plugin, and yet the crackle remains. What could explain this?

Is there a way to disable safe mode once I've launched in safe mode? Can I transition into normal mode?

I'm not sure what else to troubleshoot. What exactly happens in safe mode? Does it only disable the plugins? Is anything else happening behind the scenes? 

Really I just want my song to play without crackles while using plugins. 

thanks!

[Dingo]

Hi all!

Ok I have a session that I think I used to run on v6 or v7, no tempo ramps or things that v9 is warning me about. When I run the session normally I get lots of crackles and pops. I have 128gb of ram, 7950x3d ryzen, solid state memory, and i'm running my buffer at 2048. When I run the session in safe mode, it doesn't crackle. I opened up the original session once again normally, deleted every plugin, and yet the crackle remains. What could explain this?

Check that you don't have a hidden plugin in the Monitor section or a hidden track that is not in-active.
Also check you don't have a channel in input mode that could be picking up noise from an external device

Is there a way to disable safe mode once I've launched in safe mode? Can I transition into normal mode?

Quote from Mixbus dev on Ardour site... No, not at this time. You can however load in safe mode, remove half of the plugins, save a snapshot. Then load this snapshot without safe-mode and check. Rinse and repeat until you find the offending plugin.

I'm not sure what else to troubleshoot. What exactly happens in safe mode? Does it only disable the plugins? Is anything else happening behind the scenes? 

Really I just want my song to play without crackles while using plugins. 

thanks!

As far as I know safe mode only disables non core plugins (not in built EQ, COM/LIM etc)

If you don't get any further, send a copy of your session_name.ardour file to support: mixbus@harrisonconsoles.com

[johne53]

For Windows users, OpenGL has often been another common cause of crackles, pops and stuttery graphics if you're experiencing that? If it's only the crackles and pops, try Caberto's suggestion about Buffered I/O but if that doesn't help, it'll most likely be a problem with some plugin that's using OpenGL.

Are you using an NVidia graphics card? NVidia drivers often allow you to adjust OpenGL to give better performance - but non-NVidia cards rarely support this 

[sam26]

Thank you for the suggestions. I tried removing all of the plugins again, and this time the crackles went away. Then I reinserted the plugins one by one looking for an offender, and I found it! The problem was Tokyo Dawn Labs VOS Slick EQ GE. I switched it from full mode to eco mode, and the crackles went away. I don't know if that plugin uses OpenGL. Now the problem is solved. Thank you so much for your assistance

[johne53]

Over at KVR there's a page saying that the SlickEQ plugins were experimenting with an OpenGL renderer - though admittedly that was 8 years ago !!