pops while recording

[taximouse]

I just want to say that I have never experienced the kinds of problems I'm having in any previous versions of live...

I'm getting outrageous pops when recording. ..tried 3 different audio interfaces, ,2 FireWire cables. Don't get pops in logic.

At this point ableton you should probably take me off the featured artist list because I no longer trust this program and I'm not using it as a daw anymore

[taximouse]

Details:

8 tracks playing back
No plugins
48/24bit
158 gb free

Can't record without devastating pops. CPU btw 30 - 50%

No problem in logic

[LoopStationZebra]

Zoe, Did the problem just appear out of nowhere? I see you're on a MacBook as well. Hmm.

Just starting having a similar issue out of the blue. My new thread in this section has the details.

*shrug*

Just trying to see if there's a common denominator out there. I'm on 8.1.1. Got a MacBook (not the pro) and am on 10.4.11. I also use a Motu Ultralite.

Hmm.

I've not downloaded any updates for either the Mac OS or other software. Is that the same with you? I did update my Motu drivers but that didn't fix the issue.

This only seems to affect audio tracks, not MIDI. Same with you? It will even occur when recording into an audio track with a MIDI source.

[taximouse]

Nothing has changed in my setup for donkey's years. I'm using a MacBook pro though.
Seems to be since 8.1.1

Just audio I'm talking about, my separate MIDI -crashing -live -onstage issue started with version 8

8.1.1 is also crashing in the studio when I do things like change the sample rate or audio interface in the prefs ..and sometimes when I unmute tracks

I'm feeling like a QA tester more than a customer!

[LoopStationZebra]

Ahh, okay. So you're issue is starting with the first use of 8.1.1. Mine has started after using 8.1.1 for weeks - troublefree. Ah well. For a sec there I thought I had some company in my *particular* misery, lol.

Well, I'm considering taking a look at Logic as well now. Never bothered with it much, but I hear that it's gotten more 'live loop' friendly. Gotta check and see if that's the case.

[leisuremuffin]

if you still have 8.09 i suggest using that. it's been really good to me.


i'm not sure what's up with 8.1 and beyond. I never installed it because i was concerned that the introduction of m4l might create problems. based on what i've been hearing around the forum, this could be true.



.lm.

[taximouse]

I just read this letter in the "General" forum (where I never go)...its a over month old now, but puts my mind at rest that they are at least aware of our problems. I had been wondering what was going on. I'm also happy to see that one of the bugs I've been reporting over the last few months made it into the latest bugfix ("Under certain conditions, starting a slot recording would crash Live.").

So I'm hoping that the popping we're experiencing is another bug.

----

"Dear Ableton users,

Some of you have experienced and reported problems with Live 8 several months ago that we have still failed to fix. This is both painful and necessary for us to discuss. We owe you sincere apologies, as well as an explanation and outlook for the future.

Ableton values quality over innovation. Our engineers will stop whatever they are doing to fix a bug when they become aware of it. They must, however, rely on a process that prepares the incoming information and funnels it to them appropriately. Establishing and maintaining this process is the responsibility of management -- particularly us, Bernd and Gerhard -- and this is where things have gone wrong while we let our attention divert to ambitious new projects.

Our apologies also extend to both the Ableton developers and tech support colleagues because they want to be proud of software and service that users love.

We have now decided to:

suspend all development towards new features while the whole team joins forces to address the current issues. This effort is open ended and will result in a free Live 8 update;
make process changes to prevent similar situations from happening in the future.

We hope this plan finds your understanding and agreement. We'd like to wish you a very happy holiday season and a wonderful 2010!

Gerhard Behles, CEO
Bernd Roggendorf, CTO"

[kenporter]

Hi,

Do you experience the pops during recording or when playing back your session? Are you monitoring through Live or through MOTU's cuemix? What's the latency set to in Live? Did it somehow change? Are you using warping at all, if so is it set to complex pro?

Ken

[mikemc]

I'm on windows using a MOTU Ultralite, and I've found it is more prone to pops and clicks since 8.1.1, I also prefer using 48k/24bit. I upgraded the MOTU drivers to the most recent, this did not help. I have other interfaces as well, trying these did not help.

I have found these things:

Minimize the UI, the pops go away.
Using 44.1k instead, it is less prone to popping.
Adjusting the windows or controls using a mouse, this will cause pops. <-- this is reliably reproducible.

Usimg a MIDI controller and not displaying Live's UI as I am playing, the popping and clicking goes away. Of course is not really an acceptable workaround to hide the UI while you are using the app in the majority of cases. If it is not fixed by the next time I play live, however, that is how I will have to do it.

fwiw, I am monitoring through Live, not cuemix. Buffers are set to 256. Adjusting buffers does not help with the "pops during window/control adjusting with mouse while playing" issue. I'm on windows vista.

[taximouse]

I always monitor through cuemix or not at all (open ear headphones).

One cannot record professional audio at 44. But its worth noting that for stage I record live in 44 but still get pops.

Also get pops with the firebox...

Note original post that settings have never changed although believe me, I've tried every buffer and latency setting combo imaginable now...or I wouldn't be on this forum being such a grouch things seem very different with version. 8.

Anyway, for now I'm happily using logicpro for my studio projects until I can trust live again

[LoopStationZebra]

Zoe, anything to report on using Logic MainStage for live work? Have you given that a go? Been seeing that more and more folks are using the looper features there, but so far there's not a lot of real reviews on ease of use.

[kenporter]

What a bummer, sorry to hear that. Did the driver of the MOTU change at all?

Slightly off topic, but I couldn't resist, of course one can record professional audio at 44.1kHz. Unless you have a great sample rate converter that does an incredible job converting the sample rate from 48kHz to 44.1kHz (which most likely will be your final sample rate anyway) I would actually argue that recording at 48kHz (again assuming the final audio will be for CD and not DVD Audio) would be of disadvantage. Recording at 24 bit or higher rather than 16 bit of course makes sense.

Anyway, this doesn't really help you solve your problem. I hope you'll get it solved soon. For what it's worth I've been experiencing problems since 8.1 as well, different issues but still problems.

Ken

[taximouse]

I'm recording for film right now but i see what you mean. I just always record in the same sample rate as the post production person further down the line. the idea being that conversion should be the very last step in the process (and that whoever does it has fancy gear, unlike me). So today its 48, but sometimes its 88 or 96. I admit I don't know much bout sample rates and just follow that rule. Regardless, i don't think some limitation in Live should dictate what I have to use.

[mikemc]

^ yes, exactly so, a software limitation shouldn't force the choice of sample rate, particularly if it was working prior.

My "click and pop" problem is different, it is more of a 'static-y zippering' noise when adjusting windows as well as pops and clicks when dropping effects onto tracks. This looks like it is an interaction with my video driver-- when I disable that driver, it all goes away.

[alex.the.forge]

I'm recording for film right now but i see what you mean. I just always record in the same sample rate as the post production person further down the line. the idea being that conversion should be the very last step in the process (and that whoever does it has fancy gear, unlike me). So today its 48, but sometimes its 88 or 96. I admit I don't know much bout sample rates and just follow that rule. Regardless, i don't think some limitation in Live should dictate what I have to use.

as a *general* rule it is better to record at a sample rate that is an even multiple of what you will end up at because there is less chance of rounding errors. You are right to do 48k for film, as that is the standard, so if you want to go higher then you should use 96k as it is exactly double. But 44.1 is what you will end up at in most music situations (CD/MP3 etc) and in that case you should keep it to 88.2k or 176.4k etc.... this might not matter that much in high end post studios as they will likely have decent converters, but it's probably good practice anyway.

but yeah it's irrelevant where the bugs are concerned, unless you find 96 or 192 is okay

out of interest, when you say "pops" do you mean sudden isolated spikes like a mic pop, or are there lots of little lines in the waveform like digital static or corrupted data? Just wondering because I have been experiencing the latter when importing recordings from my partner's computer. She either uses Live or Garageband just to write vocal ideas and she has been forgetting to put the vocal tracks in mono, and it's usually the empty right channel that has them, but there have also been instances where silence in other parts of the file have them. I haven't had time to explore whether this is a Live bug or whether the data was getting corrupted some other way.