Ableton Forum

Greetings all,
This is primarily directed at other Live users who have the 1616m interface.
I thought this problem was due to an older computer, but I just purchased a new Toshiba 2.0 dual-core(T7200, 2gb Ram, etc.), so I am a bit aggravated. I can't seem to get the kind of latency settings I was expecting. I am set at 10ms right now, and I still get annoying clicks and pops when playing, especially when employing cpu intensive programs. I am NOT maxing out my system, and I HAVE gone through and done all the optimization recommended at musicxp, etc. My graphics card is NOT on the same IRQ, so I am really annoyed. What kind of latencies are others getting with this unit. Is this situation Live's problem? Is Live capable of running at low latencies. I LOVE Live, but the clicking and popping (while infrequent) is killing my interest. I have talked to Emu, and they indicate that with my machine, I should be capable of MUCH lower latencies. I am thinking of requesting Emu to send me another card, as perhaps this one is bad. Anyway, just wanted to know about other's experience with this card...Thanks!!

What is your EMU buffer setting ? You should be able to run without problems at 2 max 5. Do you have latest drivers and application. The ones on CD are bad, you must upgrade.
I hope it is not your case but There is design problem by all Toshiba duocore models. The fans switch on and off causing the noises. If you search internet you may find more info. Seems the only solution is to build in hardware switch.
I thought it affect firewire

i've got a 1616m, runs flawlessly with live (on HP pavilion) at way low latency. i know this doesn't help much, but just wanted to confirm i don't think it's the 1616m or live alone. good luck.

I have the same problem everyonce and a while. I have the 1616 and a toshiba satelite as well. I know if i use the dsp card by it self I have a ground noise issue with the cardbus controller. When i Plug in the EDI cable the Ground points in the cable help. I get glitchs and pops every once and a while but I can't reproduce it on command. My friend has the same problem every once and a while. No advice here. just wanted to let you know you are not alone. My latency is at 10 ms to. I have optimised my computer as well and have talked to Toshiba and Emu support and I am at a dead end. My 1820 on my Desktop has worked flawless for the last 5 years but I think it is time to switch to Mac, for me at least sick of problems with Windows and PC. I know Macs are not perfect but I know 4 people with mac and have had no problems with Drivers and compatibility etc. and Have you ever heard of anyone who has n't had problems with a PC. Oh and my 1820 took some tweaking to work good on my system at first. I will stop babbling. Peace

i run an hp with mine and so far, no trouble yet. make sure the preamps on the front of the microdock are down to 0, you might be hearing feedback from that if the mic input has the highest level of sensitivity

is your laptop plugged in or are you running straight from the battery?

I am plugged in. Yes, ALL my drivers are p to date. If anyone has a link to the reported Toshiba problem, I would appreciate it!The thing is, I had this same problem rith my HP DV 5000 laptop! That is why I am thinking that maybe the cardbus is wonky. What is stranger still, I installed Cubase SX3 yesterday, and I was amazed. Almost no cpu usage on plugins that would choke Live, and I had no clicks or pops with very low latency. So, the other htpothesis is that it is somehow he combination of soundcard with Live that is funking things up. Now I am wondering if I need a new soundcard if I wish to use Live...very frustrating. I really appreciate all of your feedback...it's good to know that others are having similar difficulties!

After testing 1616m for 2 weeks I will definitely keep it Sound is amazing, latency decent and midi latency 5-10x better then USB or FW. Updaing drivers did the trick for me and other problems I thought to be caused by EMU were because of a muse driver.
This card was main reason I didn't buy Mac and glad to see it was worth.
In your case I would try everything possible first, check different combinations with different notebooks too
That Toshiba thing was brought by peedro so search the forum. There I found the link to description how to solve it- meaning rip it and bulid in hardware switch- which was too crazy for me, since it is my job, I spend some more money and bought Vaio.

Same problem here! i thought i was all alone with this issue. I just bought a Chem-book (laptop) its got a
core2duo t7600 @2.33 GHz,
2gig corsair ram,
7600 rpm hard drive,
and nothing is installed other then the 1616 drivers (ones on their site as of today) video (geforce go 7600) drivers and Live 6.0.3 (i think it is).

If i change the latency settings to any lower then 8 or so i get all the pops and cracks. useless.

I have a desktop system with very similar system specs and a tascam fw-1082 and I have great results. PCMCIA is supposed to be faster then firewire. This is really killing me though. I just took out and spent a $5000 loan and bought a notebook, controller, interface, etc... for travel and I'm feeling like i wasted my money.

Is there any help out there?

I feel you...this issue has plagued me no matter what I seem to do. The Emu pcmcia seems to generally be sweet, but there are a lot of issues that can complicate the matter with a laptop situation(IRQ, drivers,PCI bus, etc.)...and NO, I do not think it is simply a PC thing. I actually just purchased an RME 800 off Ebay and it should be coming any day! I am SO excited by this. Everything anyone has ever said about this unit is super positive: rock stable, low latency, great on the pc, etc., etc. I am selling my EMU 1616m, if anyone is interested. I just want to make music instead of dealing with all the bullshit! That alone was worth the extra money towards the RME. I would suggest that anyone who is having trouble with the Emu ditch it in favor of something more stable. It sucks to spend a lot of money and be discouraged with your set-up. Hope this helps!

yeah, no one ever has problems with RME, thank god someone finally invented the perfect soundcard. (i know a number of folk have had troulbe with the emu, but it took me as long to sort out some issues with my RME on mac as it did to sort out my issues with my emu on a PC (maybe i should have tried metric halo or motu for the trifecta of despair).)

Man, that sucks