Audio Drop Outs and Crackling on a Traktor S4 NOT CAUSED BY HIGH CPU %

DJ Software & Apps Traktor
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Audio Drop Outs and Crackling on a Traktor S4 NOT CAUSED BY HIGH CPU %

I am currently having a problem with my Traktor S4 working with my HP Dm4t Laptop. To begin, I’ll rattle off my computer specs:

• Intel(R) Core™ i5-540M Dual Core processor (2.53GHz, 3MB L3 Cache) with Turbo Boost up to 3.06GHz
• 1GB ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 5450 switchable graphics [HDMI, VGA]
• 8GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)

Now, let me explain my situation. I used to run Traktor 2.1 or 2.0 in Fall of 2011, and it ran just fine. No crackling, no audio drop-outs… Nothing. Now I upgraded to Traktor 2.5, and I’m having all sorts of audio drop-outs and crackling. However, when I ran a cached version of 2.1, I WAS STILL HAVING audio drop-outs and crackling.

The oddest thing is, I’ve adjusted latency, my CPU is never in high percentage usage, and my load usually never passes 1/4 of the bar. My computer specs should be more than enough to run Traktor fluidly, and it has before. But now, just recently I’ve had problems running Traktor 2.1 and 2.5. If I turn off my wi-fi, and close all programs then I can get it to run without crackling, HOWEVER, I never had to do that before…

Any suggestions as to what the problem may be?

I do not believe it is my CPU or background processes.

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Try disabling multicore support in Traktor.

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No luck… Tried that.

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remove battery? turn off wifi?

If neither of those work, start disabling other devices one by one - webcam, bluetooth etc..

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I am experiencing the same thing with my S4 and I just got the MacBook Pro with Retina Display. Problems occurred after I installed and upgraded to Traktor 2.5. Running the software alone and playing tracks is fine using my internal sound card, but after I plug in my S4 and use its sound card, cracks and pops can be heard when I play a track and pauses every 1 second. I also even tried uninstalling and just use the old version of Traktor 2.1.1 and still having the same problems. I tried to see if the same happens to my old MacBook Pro (brand new as well), and it was fine. On my Old MacBook Pro, I did not upgrade Traktor to 2.5 and it’s still in the original version, and it’s working Perfectly.
If anything, it can be because of new Traktor 2.5? Since we both encountered the same problem after upgrading? I have a wedding gig this Sunday, I’m trying to see my alternatives for now..

  1. DJay App
  2. Use Serato that I barely know how to use (just got it)
  3. Use old MacBook pro with Traktor and return MacBook Pro with Retina Display :disappointed:
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Usb 3. Does not work.

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Same here, i got nearly the same specs as the OP. i% CPU, same gpu but 4GB of RAM. It doesnt appear often, but sometimes i got a little crackling sound in my sets too. Thats pretty annoying, and it didnt show with Traktor 2.1 before…

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@Infiltr8r
Traktor 2.5 is the problem. Roll back to the previous version and you will be fine. This is one of many issues claimed by other users in the NI forums.

http://www.native-instruments.com/forum/showthread.php?t=168043

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ok i hope the info i share with yall can help. im gona try to make long story short to see if we traktor users have the same problem for pc
.

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i hope the info that i share with yall helps. ive been in searching for the fix of the sound issue with traktor for months. so here goes.

THE STORY: (like everyone’s lol)

  1. i bought traktor s4 and install the software and everything is great. at that time traktor 2 2.0
  2. i did the update from traktor and got 2.5 and this is were the problem began.
  3. i did update 2.5.1 the problem was a little better but it was still there.

THE 1st PROBLEM:

  1. when the s4 is connected to the pc and keylock is on both decks there a distictive rumbling crackling in the track.
    down load this track to see if we are on the same page. Darkest Hours (Erick Strong Remix) its a trance song and when the vocals start a low bass note starts also. make sure the keylock is on and move the tempo fade to a faster bpm, at this point that bass should be crackling and sounds mechanical.

THE FIX:
Dubspot has a video of DJ ENDO describing window vista/7 has a cpu spike when the usb is in use. These cpu spikes causes audio dropouts and releases the craklin. Windows has a hotfix just for this problem, this patch from windows was specially made for audio devices using usb. heres the link There is high CPU usage when using a USB audio device connected to a USB 2.0 EHCI host controller - Microsoft Support for the patch and here the video from dj endo from dubspot. in this video dj endo explains how to optimize a pc for djing. i just used the patch.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Bla5vvQBG8&feature=player_detailpage
Then after you download that patch go into traktor prefences to audio setup and enable mulitcore, then to transport and click on HiQ under Fast Cpu. this setup eilminated all my crackling issues when keylock is on.

PROBLEM #2
the track that is playing in a deck will pause, crackel or skip when loading a track in another deck.

THE FIX
goto traktor preferences to audio setup then to settings and change the sampling to 1024.

i hope this helps. i love traktor again lol. ive been fighting this problem since the update. i even tried to go back to the 2.0 version and i still have this problem. the usb patch from windows help alot. please reply to see if this help. --plurism–

ps. here additional info my pc. its a gateway nv55 and i am using traktor 2.5.1

[QUOTE]Windows® 7 Home Premium

Processor & Chipset
Processor Manufacturer: AMD
Processor Type: A-Series
Processor Model: A6-3420M
Processor Speed: 1.5GHz
Processor Core: Dual-core (2 core)
Cache: 4MB
64-bit Processing: Yes
Hyper-Threading: No
Chipset Manufacturer: AMD
Chipset Model: A60M Fusion

Memory
Standard Memory: 4GB
Maximum Memory: 8GB
Memory Technology: DDR3 SDRAM[/QUOTE]

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http://hotfixv4.microsoft.com/Windows%207/WindowsServer%202008%20R2/sp1/Fix313991/7600/free/408256_intl_x64_zip.exe)

saves registering

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Have you taken a close look at your Graphics cards settings?

  • Set it for performance rather than quality
  • Disable any HDMI audio support if applicable
  • Switch off any other gfx card tools/utils designed to improve how the card functions
  • Be sure you are suing the latest drivers

Also, have you run the standard latency checkers to see what drivers are/might be causing issues?

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Crucial steps you have to take when having audio problems.

  1. Temporarily Turn off unnecessary Windows Services like windows update, automatic virus scans , Automatic System restore
  2. Increase latency in Traktor a bit (1024 samples is too high for a system with recommended specs) try to get an overall 7-20 ms.
  3. Turn off "Send Midi Clock " in Traktor Preferences (when this is On, loading tracks/key/fx can cause issues even on fast pc’s.)
  4. Disable energy savings for all USB root hubs at System/Hardware properties.
  5. Some (not all) wifi-cards can cause issues, disable it when performing.
  6. ACPI errors and related latency are very known, check if your ACPI battery control method needs to be turned off.
    Latency Checker can find problems if it’s caused by processes, Process hacker can be used to turn off those processes.
  7. Remove unwanted programs and services from windows start up with msconfig.exe.
  8. Set your computer to performance: Turn off the graphical quality and set it to performance, disable all screen savers and timers.

These are the most common steps to take.

Yeah, you have to be quite a computer wizard to get good real time audio processing, So know your gear!
Even though I have many experience with Traktor, a new computer/install always takes me some days of testing and tuning.

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I’ve tried it all

I’m still having this problem…Has anyone got a 100% solution to this??? I am running Windows 8 and a lot of the solutions do not apply to Windows 8. Open to all comments please…