audio dropouts only when performing... puzzled!!!

[twitterytom]

on windows xp:

i'm performing tonight again in a small club and each time i play there i get audio dropouts. they happen every 10 minutes or so and last about a second. they coincide with the user interface freezing and the hard disk light flashing a lot. the strange thing is i can be playing for hours at home and it doesn't happen. i'm wondering if i do something different in a club that i'm not aware of.

this has happened in other clubs too. it doesn't seem to be just that location.

one thing is that i'm not running my hard disk in sata mode but in compatibility mode since i don't have sata drivers for windows xp. could that be part of the problem?

any other ideas of things i can check? the audio buffer size is fairly high

thanks,

[8O]

Could be vibrations or heat. Maybe this thread (and the one linked inside there) can help: http://forum.ableton.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=104701

[Geezus]

Oh wow this happens to me too. I'll be at home and Live will rock out for days strait but as soon as I take it with me somewhere it starts having audio dropouts, glitches, even crashes. Nothing about the setup will have changed either!

[beatpoet]

The only things I can think of are heat and vibration

Either that or Live suffers from stage fright ?

[twitterytom]

the vibrations would make sense... i have some kind of mental link to strong bass and audio drop outs.

would putting some sponges under the laptop help?

[WaveRider]

on windows xp:

i'm performing tonight again in a small club and each time i play there i get audio dropouts.

yeah that happens to me too. Actually it happens the first time you trigger a clip/midi note on a channel. Not consistent but happening enough times in my live set to be bothered. It will happen when going thru a set (loading an .als file, playing live, and repeating that over an over) but when at home you work on a set all day that won't happen (cause the "first time a channel is activated" state happens only once after the set is loaded.)

[twitterytom]

WaveRider: for me it's totally unrelated to triggering clips. it will happen in the middle of a clip just as much. it does happen more if i'm browsing with the windows explorer at the same time.

[ewistrand]

Do you bring along a good power regulator/conditioner- and by good, I mean a Juice Goose or something along those lines?
Power in clubs is usually flaky, to put it mildly...

ew

[twitterytom]

it seems to happen even when my laptop isn't plugged in. i'll double check that tonight

[ark]

I have a Windows XP laptop and I have found that when the machine is disconnected from the network, I get lots of dropouts unless I disable the network adapter. I do this as follows:

1) Right-click "My Network Places" and select "Properties"

2) Locate the icon that corresponds to the network adapter currently in use (probably something like "Local Area Connection")

3) Right-click that icon and select "Disable."

Apparently unless you do this, the system keeps checking whether a cable has been connected, and causes dropouts in the process.

[mikemc]

If it happens only when you play out, most likely is vibrations. You need to cushion your laptop/notebook in a way that doesn't block the ventilation. Raising it a bit will also help it stay cooler. There various stands, or you can use some foam rubber on the corners, or tennis balls cut in half. Even a 'springy' piece of wood will absorb vibrations.

[edited] Turning off stuff you don't need will help (see above^) and your power settings will affect how it prioritizes power usage when it is unplugged vs. plugged. Those are in control panel. IMHO, if you are playing with laptop unplugged, then you will run into problems mainly because your power settings will be optimized for battery life, but if you change your settings you will risk running out of battery power.

There is a whole nother other thing about network connections vs. Live 8 authorization that has been mentioned elsewhere: if you used your network connection to authorize, and it is removable and removed, then your Live 8 may not start unless you also authorized it offline.

[Hermanus]

I think authorization is not a problem anymore_ offline or online doesn't affect performances.

Maybe Try to Deconnect your active account settings in the Preferences [user account License Tab] in ableton live.

No need to be connected for playing with ableton man

[mikemc]

I think authorization is not a problem anymore_ offline or online doesn't affect performances.

Maybe Try to Deconnect your active account settings in the Preferences [user account License Tab] in ableton live.

No need to be connected for playing with ableton man

yep, as long as you are authorized, yes, doesn't matter how. I've got a usb 3G wireless that I used to authorize, and then when I unplugged it and started Live, it started up in demo mode. I authorized it offline, and now it is good either way.