Focusrite Scarlett Solo Audio Crackling and Popping

[FirstGoomba]

Hello everyone,

I wanted to drop a line in here as it feels like I'm at an impasse with my current situation. While I am pretty Green with Ableton I've been using it for a little bit now and can navigate things pretty well.

Now, the problem:

I am having really bad crackling and popping coming from my audio recordings while using my Focusrite Scarlett Solo and my AudioTechnica 2035 microphone. This feedback only happens within Ableton, not when I use it with any other application.

I was wondering if someone more knowledgeable in Buffering and Latency could break things down hopefully, I've checked out the "How to Avoid Crackles and Audio Dropouts" Thread pretty extensively but it looks like I'm still running into issues there.

My signal chain is pretty simple:
Sound:
5.1 Surround -> PC via the 3 audio cables
Recording:
AT2035 Mic -> Focusrite Scarlett Solo Interface -> PC via USB

I've even reformatted my PC awhile back to address this issue but im drawing a blank. I don't believe it would be any of my hardware causing the issue as it's only when I launch my copy of Ableton Live 10 Suite 64-Bit


PC SPECS:

Windows 10 64Bit
Ryzen 9 3900X 12-Core (24CPU) 3.8Ghz
Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon 5700XT 8GB GPU
64GB G.Skill DDR4 3200MHz

[silentio246]

Dont you use the Focusrite Scarlett Solo ASIO driver? You should always use the ASIO driver for best performance.

[FirstGoomba]

Dont you use the Focusrite Scarlett Solo ASIO driver? You should always use the ASIO driver for best performance.

I do, but it appears that the issue still persists no matter what driver I go to use.

I'm thinking of wiping my PC again and just fresh installing everything. Because i honestly cant figure this out.

[FirstGoomba]

Took a minute to dive into the Lab
Here's what I found:

- It looks like when I run the MME DirectX Driver there are no audio issues when setting up the Focusrite Scarlett Solo as default input. A little bit of a time-delay when recording but audio quality is great.

- My only options in the driver drop-down menu are the "MME/DirectX" and "ASIO" driver now.

Scarlet Solo Settings:
Sample Rate: 48000
Buffer Size: 192
Clock Source/Status: USB/Synced

Ableton Settings:
Sample Rate: 44100
High Quality
Buffer Size: 8192 Samples
Input latency: 186ms
Output Buffer Size: 944 Samples
Output Latency: 21.4ms
Overall Latency: 207ms

How should I proceed? OR am I okay to stick with the MME Driver?

[AbletonMASCHINE]

I think the culprit are the different sample rates. Set a uniform sample rate e.g. 44,1 kHz in your system and use only that in any application, driver settings etc. Use ASIO!

Recording buffer size should be around 128-256 samples or less and result in an overall latency around 10 to 20 ms.

For Recording use minimal viable buffer size, for mixing, exports etc. around 1024 to 2048 samples.

[FirstGoomba]

I think the culprit are the different sample rates. Set a uniform sample rate e.g. 44,1 kHz in your system and use only that in any application, driver settings etc. Use ASIO!

Recording buffer size should be around 128-256 samples or less and result in an overall latency around 10 to 20 ms.

For Recording use minimal viable buffer size, for mixing, exports etc. around 1024 to 2048 samples.

So when I edit my preferences and select the ASIO audio driver, I'm able to select the Focusrite ASIO Driver, however, I can no longer hear any audio.

The sample rate, Latency, and Buffer Size all reflect as you have said however there is no Audio coming from my speakers, however, when i plug in monitor headphones to the "Direct Monitor" jack on the far right of the interface I can hear everything, but the result is sadly the reason for this post as I have gone through this process already.

Speaker Config [Signal Chain]:
My speakers are routed through my PC via 3 3.5mm cables and cannot be routed through the Scarlet Solo as the interface requires a different speaker configuration. [[1/4" Jack vs. 3.5mm]] or [[Monitor speakers vs. Logitech 5.1 desktop speakers]]

[[Update!]]

After going through the motions once more after the install and responding to your message the cracking and popping isn't as severe for some reason? still there but more like static when you would place your hand on an old TV.

However for some reason it's no way near as prominent and detrimental to my Voice-Over reads.

[AbletonMASCHINE]

A further idea:

Are your Windows sound settings for the "speakers" also set to the sample rate as used in ASIO?

BTW: I've connected my stereo monitor speakers to my audio interface and everything works. All my audio is routed through this soundcard only. Maybe you can connect your speakers directly to your Scarlett via adapters or get dedicated monitor speakers in order to connect them to your Scarlett because your Logitech 5.1 are good for gaming with surround sound but not ideal as monitors.

[silentio246]

You cannot use the Focusrite Scarlett ASIO driver and the onboard soundcard (connected to Logitech 5.1 system) simultaneously in LIVE.
Connect your sound sources (Mic) and monitors (stereo) to the Focusrite Scarlett. Maybe use adapter from 3,5 mm stereo to 2x 1/4" Jack mono (Scarlett output ), or use better monitors (with 1/4" Jack connectors), as AbletonMASCHINE said.
Use the Focusrite Scarlett ASIO driver in LIVE for realtime audio, and your problems are gone.

[FirstGoomba]

A further idea:

Are your Windows sound settings for the "speakers" also set to the sample rate as used in ASIO?

BTW: I've connected my stereo monitor speakers to my audio interface and everything works. All my audio is routed through this soundcard only. Maybe you can connect your speakers directly to your Scarlett via adapters or get dedicated monitor speakers in order to connect them to your Scarlett because your Logitech 5.1 are good for gaming with surround sound but not ideal as monitors.

I tried to find somewhere to adjust the sample rate but couldn't find anything regarding that, the Advanced tab was the only thing regarding rates I could find.

I was thinking that this might be the situation stopping me as its the only part of my signal chain that splits in the program. All I have is these 5.1 logitech speakers and figured i should be using monitors that is plugged into the back of the Scarlett.

Silentio246 I believe you are 100% on this being the issue, i will need to invest in some monitor speakers to plug into my Scarlett to verify that I need to be routing everything via that Sound interface Vs. My PC sound card.

[FirstGoomba]

My big concern going forward:

Im worried that It might be something else as when im simply monitoring everything through the monitor port for headphones I still am getting the same results of that popping and crackling sound. Not as prominent but still existent.

Currently I'm just using the port on the front right with some monitor headphones to make due without speakers.

In theory it should be okay to do just that as im not using my sound card in my PC but just the Scarlett itself. So im drawing a blank when it comes to the actual situation causing the audio feedback.

Should I still be getting these results even with monitor headphones?

[silentio246]

If you still have problems, try to optimize your computer.
There is a lot of helpful information at the focusrite website:
https://support.focusrite.com/hc/en-gb/ ... Windows-10

[FirstGoomba]

If you still have problems, try to optimize your computer.
There is a lot of helpful information at the focusrite website:
https://support.focusrite.com/hc/en-gb/ ... Windows-10

Thank you all very much for the helpful tips and information regarding my setup and the issues I've been running into regarding cracking and popping.

With all the information present I know that I need Monitor Speakers to continue testing

However,

I am concerned I might run into the same issue. The monitor headphones that came with my mic seem to give the same issue when I plug them into the front of the interface.

[AbletonMASCHINE]

Hi, Please have a look at MS documentation for the sound settings. You will find the sample rate settings in topic "10. Try different audio formats"

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/win ... 35c7cd56c8

[silentio246]

The Monitor Output of the Scarlett should give you a clean audio signal, If everything is configured correctly.
Otherwise I'm running out of ideas.