Question

Sometimes I play a song and the master bus clip indicator says 666 and audio stops playing, and clicking it doesn't clear it.   How do I fix this and/or find the cause of it?

Answer 1

This is most often caused by a plugin so follow the steps below to find out which audio plugin or virtual instrument is causing it.

1.  When it happens it usually happens in the same time position in the song, so reset the audio device by going to Options/Preferences > Audio Setup > Audio Device, and chose another audio device.  Let it "take", then switch back to the original audio device.  This resets the original audio device.

2.  Play the song and take note of where on the timeline the 666 error occurs.  Repeat step one, reset the audio engine and play it again.  If it happens in the same place again, loop that range, maybe 8 bars before where it happened.

3.  Play that looped section and start disabling tracks one by one until it no longer goes 666.  When it stops, the offending plugin or instrument causing the 666 error is on that track.  If it's an audio track, rinse and repeat while disabling individual plugins on that track until you find the one causing the issue.

4. Once you find the offending plugin or instrument you can try another different format (VST2 instead of VST3, etc) and you should also report it to the plugin vendors tech support.  If it only happens with that plugin when using a particular audio device and driver, say Focusrite, and it doesn't happen otherwise, make sure that the audio device driver is fully up to date and if not update the driver and test it again.

Answer 2

The '666' indicates that really heavy clipping occured on the master bus. It also means, that probably your speakers could have been destroyed, so Studio One disabled the audio output for safety reasons.

Find the track that is causing the clipping by watching your level meters or use the method described by PreSonuSupt4!

It is also good practice to always have a limiter on your master bus to prevent clipping and the '666' error.

Comments

The '666' indicates that really heavy clipping occured on the master bus.

No, that's wrong. There's no clipping. Instead, a plug-in or device driver sent a "NaN" (Not a Number) which is invalid data the audio engine is not able to process, so it's forced to stop.

Answer 3

I realize this is an old thread - but I also have the "666" problem.  It seems to appear randomly when I load a song. It does not happen during playback.  I am using Studio1 Professional, v 3.5 and a PreSonus Studio 1810 interface.

When the 666 error occurs I get no audio until I shut down Studio1 and restart it.  Has anyone discovered the cause of the 666 error - I know that, for me at least, it is NOT caused by overloading because it does not occur during playback.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.

Comments

Please read step 1 from the original comment.  There is no need to shut down Studio One to clear it.

... reset the audio device by going to Options/Preferences > Audio Setup > Audio Device, and chose another audio device.  Let it "take", then switch back to the original audio device.  This resets the original audio device.

Answer 4

I've tried the four steps suggested in the "best" answer. None of them work for me. If I change the audio device the 666 goes away, but as soon as I switch back to my Presonus audio interface (1810) the 666 appears again.  The 666 error typically arises when I have had one song open, then close that song and open another song.  For me Studio 1 (version 3.5) requires that I shut down and restart if I want to close one song and open another. The workaround is to not close a song, but rather to have multiple songs open (although at a certain point that uses a lot of computing power).

If folks using Studio 1 version 4 are not experiencing the 666 error (except when the signal is clipping or are having plug in issues are noted in the answer below) it may be that the bug has been fixed.