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Topic: popping noise........ - Page: 1

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ok, I searched, and every thread I found on this the person was using DJ/iO or some other external card and asio.

I am getting a popping on bass hits and in some of my highs on alot of my songs (the sounds normally aren't there). I have run the latency helper thing and closed almost everything I don't need, even the 1928374691283746129834 sound devices on this computer and set it to just the 2 USB ones.

I am running CUE LE 5.2.1
C3USB mixer (used as sound card, two USB's running from the laptop to the mixer)
DMC2 controller (hooked to laptop obviously)

Laptop is an HP DV5-1125nr
4 gigs of ram
250G HDD
64 bit Vista
AMD Durion X2 2.1G dual core processor

CUE performance settings are as follows:
Latency: auto (overclock and safe mode are OFF)


so recapping, DMC is hooked to laptop by way of USB, laptop is hooked to C3USB by way of two USB cables (one for each channel on the mixer), and then obviously mixer is hooked to amp, which it hooked to speakers. I have tried everything except for changing out my power source. The drop chord (or extension chord, whatever you want to call it, THE ORANGE ONE!!!, lol) I can't remember if its the one I was having issues with before or not, but I got everything hooked to a battery backup/surge protector, then into my power conditioner as well (yes, I know, redundant but I view it as better safe than sorry). any ideas on what could be causing it? thanks in advance for the help.







Michael
 
Inviato Thu 18 Jun 09 @ 2:33 am
well I changed out the power chord....no difference. according to the latency checker I am good to go, its green almost all the time then on occasion it will spike into the yellow and my current highest is 1624. any suggestions on what it could be, I have already turned off all my sound devices except for the two USB ones, my wireless card, my webcam (no loss there, never use the damn thing), a modem I didn't even know existed, my ethernet card, and my battery device. Any other suggestions?







Michael


P.S. I have noticed in some songs it isn't just on lows and highs. On some its all through it or just in certain parts but horribly bad, not like a pop here or there, but like someone cooking really loud fried chicken, like a really bad crackling.
 
Couple of things that may be obvious here and sorry if you tried already.



Can you atribute the noise to any actions ie is it worse when you spin the jog wheels/ load a track or operate a function on the mixer.

Performance settings. select all performance setings for least performance: Sound card 46ms, safe, overclock. Scratch select latency, simple. Master tempo fast. Basic interpolation.
If the poping stops adjust each performance setting in the same order until you get the noise then back off a stop.

Remove the mixer set the system up to ise internal mixer and the laptops sound card. Is the noise still there?

Different idea. Could the noise be distortion? if the loaded song is set to too high a level it could be causing digital clipping check on the Options tab and see if auto gain is disabled. If it is try enabling. Use the on screen channel gains to reduce the signal level after loading the track then see if the problem becomes better/worse as you adjust the gain.

hope this helps

Daz
 
it is more prevalent when I am loading larger sized files and messing with the controller (i.e. moving the jog wheels or cycling through songs). I am going to try what you said and see if that helps. I will let you know.






Michael
 
ok, I tried everything you said and its still there. I tried all the settings you suggested to no avail. all I know is this is really starting to upset me, lol. My first gig as a DIGITAL DJ is in less than 12 hrs (for those just tuning in I didn't book this one but oh well, what can you do) and I have this popping/crackling sound that is annoying the hell out of me (not to mention I haven't slept in about 25 hrs dealing with this). I am on the verge of saying the hell with it and going back to CD but I really don't want to do that. I know there is a way to fix it, but its driving me insane trying to find it. Thanks for the suggestions Daz. Anyone else got any ideas? I need a resolution fast. Thanks in advance.










Michael
 
If you are still having issues after what I suggested then abandon the laptop and see if you can borrow a PC.

Laptops can be a nightmare. I know a large number of people use them and "best of luck to them". if they find something that works, awsome. I see so many issues with laptop users it makes me wonder why they use them at all. I am lucky in that I have a laptop that seems to work with VDJ but I use a PC for gigs. Even a cheepy of the shelf PC will almost certainly work. I dont think these issues are related to how much the laptop cost but some work well and some don't. Sorry mate I know ime ranting and it will not help you right now.

I cannot think of anything else to suggest but keep us informed.

best of luck

Daz
 
Ditto on above as I can vouch for that 100 times over !! :)
 
well I touched on this on my "wish me luck" thread. I got the sound to, not go away, but be less noticeable by changing a couple of settings and not closing a couple of programs I normally close with task manager. but when I was troubleshooting earlier today before I left my first ever DIGITAL gig, I switched my USB cables around (HDD and controller in the mixer ports and vice-versa) and the sound got so bad you couldn't even hear music over it. could it have something to do with my USB ports causing the noise? would an external hub possibly help with the problem? could it be a driver or they are just dirty? up until I decided to go digital my USB ports had never been used except to hook a flash drive into cause it was just my personal laptop. as far as using a PC goes, the only PC I have in my house that isn't a total piece of crap is my gaming/production PC and it has a corrupted winblows start-up driver and I have to reinstall winblows on it (anyone got XP media center SP2 laying around somewhere? lol). again, thanks for the help guys. maybe with these new developments it can help narrow down the problem.






Michael
 
Are your drivers up to date?
 
according to my laptop they are, but that doesn't really mean anything, lol.









Michael
 
Hi mate.

Glad to hear that your firs gig nearly went as planned.

Just picking up on the comment about the USB cable swap. Do all your USB cables have EMI/RFI supressors fitted (tube shaped ring at one end of the cable). If not it could be worth getting hold of some. I did some testing relatineg to USB dropout on a previous post. The results suggested to me that some of the crappy USB cables that get supplied with kit can pick up so much interfearence that they mess with the data. This caused all sorts of issues from strange noises to compete locking up of VDJ.

Daz
 
you mean like the thing on the USB cable for the DMC2? I don't remember if the ones running to the mixer have that or not (all my gear is locked up at the moment but I am going to break it out tonight since I like to practice and piss off my neighbors, lol). The cables running to the mixer are the ones that came with it (anyone with a C3USB that can check before I get around to it tonight feel free to post up). I might look into that, worst case scenario, if that doesn't fix it, I can always return them, lol. I will give that a shot and see what that does. thanks for the suggestion.

a friend suggested speakers or mixer but it works fine with my CD player hooked up. I played a song with VDJ a couple of times to pick up on the average parts where the popping was more noticeable, then popped in a CD and played the same song and NO POPPING. but I will check out the USB thing.






Michael
 
 
Yep you are correct the DMC-2 controller cable has one as standard but the Radioshack items would be a good retrofit.

Remember that when you run your CD player through the mixer you are not using the USB/Digital part so your check only confirms the operation of the mixers analogue circuits. Usefull to know tho.

Why not try unplugging 1 of the USB mixer cables and just sending a signal to one mixer channel. see if the problem gets better/worse.

As a final thought for now you could expand your laptops USB handeling with a plugin USB card addapter, use the on board USB for the DMC-2 and the addon for the mixer. This would reduce the USB bandwidth loading.

Daz
 
I don't remember (actually I never really paid attention) if the plug that goes in the DMC2 is the same as the ones that go in the mixer. if they are could I just swap one of them mixer cables for the DMC2 cable just to test it and see if thats the problem then switch it back after I test it? or would I still end up with interference? I might look into the radio shack ferrite choke cores. should I get 2 per cable just for added assurance? it would be about the same price to do that as it would be to get new USB cables with them already inline. thanks for the help guys. I am going to try the unplugging the mixer cable and see if that helps and then if I can swap out the cable on the DMC with one of the mixer ones see if that works too just to see if that helps with the problem.










Michael
 
Tha cable that comes with the DMC-2 has a filter fitted at one end only and I think this is at the controller end. Only one is required per cable.
If the cable connectors are the same you can borrow the cable from the DMC-2 but dont swap them use one or the other.
When you try running the mixer on single chan also disconnect the DMC-2 and use the mouse/screen instead. Obviously what we are trying to work out here is if the USB system is causing problems, and if so where the problem is comming from.

Daz
 
ok, UPDATE!

still have the popping noise, I switched to single output USB, disconnected my controller and even my external HDD and it was still there. I also unplugged the power cable and ran it off of straight battery and it wasn't as prevalent as it is with it hooked up, however it is still there.

so what else do you guys think it could be? should I get those ferrite things and see if that helps? should I put one on everything (power chords included) or do you think the problem is something other than that?





*edit* - by the way, it doesn't seem to pop through the laptop speakers when I play in the laptop.


Michael
 
Have you turned off the sounds from your lappy.
 
you know....I haven't tried that, lol. if that does work I am going to feel like the biggest dumb ass ever, lol. give me about 20 min and I will let you know if that worked.










Michael
 
ok, tried it. it did cut it down ALOT but it is still very much there. but could it be because of power interference? should I cap every single chord I have? also, I can hear the popping in my headphones as well. honestly this sound sounds alot like dirty vinyl. you know like when your grandma throws on her old records and you hear that popping/crackling noise in them. thats alot what it sounds like. I highly doubt its my mixer, that is BRAND new, not even 2 months old (hell I don't even think it is a month old honestly). I just really need to get this worked out cause I have turned down a couple of gigs because of it cause I don't want to show up sounding like crap.






Michael


*edit* I just stopped a song, turned my mixer volume ALL THE WAY UP and I was still getting the popping noise in the speaker closest to where I have my laptop, HDD and controller at on the table (about 3 feet away cause I am in my garage and don't have much room to set up) as opposed to both when its playing. if that helps the situation any. I even tried switching speakers around to see if that was the problem but its ALWAYS that same side.
 
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