Hi everyone, I’m a new Cantabile user since this week, love it so far! I was testing it out with CB2 for a while before I decided to get CB3 just when it came out.
For a clean slate, I re-installed Windows 7 64bit, from an already “tweaked” image of my OS hard drive (from 2014), never connecting to the web to update anything (since it was running fine as is).
Setting up completely new Songs & Set Lists, I ran into a problem I never had with CB2: Random glitches… At completely random moments, a glitch noise comes out of nowhere. They could be 1.5 hours apart, or even 2-3 minutes apart, so it’s really random… It’s going to be really long testing this to find the cause, so I was wondering if someone has an idea of what could be the cause.
Here’s my (crazy) plan for now:
1- Record CB3 output into my studio DAW, and try to get 1-2 more glitches to get an average frequency of glitchiness…
2- Same as above, but without plugins loaded, just an empty CB3 to see if a plugin might be the cause (I doubt it).
3- Again, but this time with another DAW (like Cubase) instead of CB3 into my studio DAW, to see if it’s Windows/Interface driver…
4- Get hair transplants.
My DAW:
Lenovo W520 Laptop
Dedicated Win 7 64 (no other software installed, no internet)
i72760QM @2.4GHz
8Gb Ram
Multi-boot partitioned OS’
External WD USB3 5400RPM HD for samples
MOTU 8Pre FW Interface
Running mostly Kontakt with Valhalla reverbs, Softube CL1B, and Fabfilter Pro-Q2
I’ve made all the recommended Windows (and BIOS) tweaks out there for audio, including checking with those latency tools. The only thing is the pagefile bar is always in the red in LatencyMon, but that was always the case.
To me it all points to CB3 being the cause, but when I get the glitch, CB3’s volume meters don’t display anything, so maybe it’s not the cause.
Not sure off hand what this could be but a couple of comments.
This looks like an actual audio glitch - as opposed to a drop out. I presume Cantabile’s load measurement isn’t spiking at the same time the glitch occurs? This would suggest something is generating the signal as opposed to just a break in the continuity of the signal (which often sounds similar).
I can’t think of anything in Cantabile that would generate a spike like this. Cantabile almost exclusively just mixes and forwards audio.
Looking at the screenshot though, this reminds me of a sinc curve. Since curves are used in audio-resampling so I’m wondering if this might be a clue.
For reference, Cantabile performs re-sampling it two specific cases:
Resampling of media files that don’t match the sample rate of the audio engine (does this only happen during audio file playback)
Resampling metronome sounds when the audio engine isn’t at 44,100Hz (for the built in sounds) or the selected wav files when using custom sounds. (does this only happen when metronome sounds are on).
Suggestions:
Try running the audio engine at different sample rates and see if that changes things.
Review any plugins that might be using re-sampling. ie: sampled instruments.
Seeing as you are using a MOTU device via Firewire, perhaps this article will also apply to your situation. I had a similar glitch on both my Ultralite mk3 hybrid and 828 mk3 hybrid units.
It has to do with MOTU not removing old copies of its drivers when it refreshes the drivers during plug/unplug events. Took me weeks to figure this out!
May not be your issue, but then again, maybe it is! I definitely would suspect the audio interface first.
Good observation with the sinc curve, I’ll look into that right now. It doesn’t happen when audio is playing back necessarily, but a couple of my instruments may be humming (on purpose) some tape hiss or something, which might help narrow down “who” it may be…
@terrybritton This would make a lot of sense… I have a feeling it’s driver related. I’ll look into it too, thanks!
@Brad, It seems like it may indeed be a sample rate issue; some of my Kontakt instruments are at 44.1 KHz, and others at 48KHz… Also, one of those instruments/libraries plays back a constant tape hiss emulation, so even when I’m not playing the keys, I guess it can glitch.
I will test it again with instruments that have matching sample rates to see if the glitches disappear.
If this is the cause, then what would you recommend to do? Afaik, you can’t resample Kontakt libraries to a different sample rate? Why did I never notice this in other DAWs? I use Cubase in the studio, and never heard glitches like that when I use 48KHz libraries in a 44.1 project…
I just got another clue: I had a 48KHz library/instrument loaded in Kontakt’s standalone which was running at 44.1Khz, and I got the glitch there too… Maybe this is related to a specific library?
So I’ll run some tests, starting with matching sample rates. Too bad I have to wait so long for a glitch to pop up!
Hate that kind of bug. I remember when writing the original Cantabile 1.0 leaving it running over night with various logging enabled just to try and track down some weird glitch issues (turned out to be related to Window’s memory management). I feel your pain.
Just an update: I’ve let some tests run, and narrowed it down to Kontakt, and my external hard drive. CB3 doesn’t have any issues, Kontakt standalone (and VST) is glitching. When I disconnect my external hard drive, the glitches disappear from Kontakt. All my libraries are on my external HD, none on my laptop…
I was testing it out with CB2 for a while before I decided to get CB3 just when it came out.
