Questions & Answers

Cracking Sound in Studio One v3

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asked Jan 26, 2016 in Studio One 3 by dsaul (140 points)
edited Jan 28, 2016 by dsaul
I, too, am getting crackling noises in my recordings.  I record 2-hour orchestra concerts, using 6 mics.  I record into a Windows laptop (Core i5, 8gb RAM, 100% solid-state drive).  For hardware, I am using either my FireStudio Project box or my Presonus StudioLive 16.4.2 mixer, connecting them to the laptop via firewire.  For recording software, I have used either Studio One v3.1.0.35191, Studio One v2, or Capture 2.1.1.31798.  I do keep my software open the entire 2 hours.  I don't close the program or reboot the laptop at all during the 2-hours.  What I DO do is periodically click "save" between songs.  So, that means there are multiple WAV files for each track, i.e., Track 1(2).wav, Track 1(3).wav, etc.  In two different concerts now, about an hour into the concert, a crackling sound starts.  It is louder when the music is louder.  The crackling is on all 6 of my recorded tracks.  I am not anywhere near clipping.  In my last 4 concerts, I used a different combination of mixer vs FireStudio, and Studio One vs Capture.

The only pattern I see is that the crackling is there when I have clicked "save" a number of times during the concert.  For example, in one concert, I clicked save 9 times: the first 6 WAV files were fine, the last 3 WAV files had crackling.  Another concert, I clicked save 8 times: the first 7 WAV files were fine, the last WAV file had crackling.  Another concert, I had only TWO saves, and both WAV files were fine.  In a 4th concert, I had 4 saves, and all 4 WAV files were fine.  All 4 concerts were 2 hours long.  How can I prevent the crackling??  I don't notice it until the music starts, and then it's too late.  I have not tried shutting down and rebooting during intermission.  Do you have any suggestions?  Thanks.

 

P.S. This is an addendum, after matthewgorman replied below (sorry; I can't figure out how to add a new comment after someone has clicked on -answer- to my question).  I also have a backup recording. It is a field recorder that is plugged in directly to the main-outs of the FireStudio Project box or the tape-outs of my mixer.  The backup recording also has the crackling sounds.  Since the backup recording does not go through the firewire connection, can I eliminate the firewire as the cause?

1 Answer

0 votes
answered Jan 26, 2016 by matthewgorman (52,060 points)
It sounds like a firewire issue. You don't mention the chip in your firewire. I have seen this behavior on VIA chips, where it craps out after a while.

 

Download the free utility latencymon. Hook up your system, you can record tracks empty, and let latencymon run. Preferably for the length of time you start to see problems. It should tell you where the problem is. No need to start/stop/save as you are recording. i don't think that has anything to do with it. Once you get the latencymon results, you may want to open a support ticket and attach the report. There may be some tweaks that they recommend based on that to help.
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