What am I doing wrong? AmpliTube crackling sound

[JT19Guitar]

Wondering if anyone else has seen this particular issue and has a suggestion for fixing it.

I'm able to get AmpliTube 4 to sound fantastic... for maybe 5-6 minutes, and then it starts crackling really badly--but only when I'm playing. If I stop playing, there's no noise.

I'm sure it has something to do with the buffering, but I can't figure it out.

I typically use 256, since it sounds better than 512. Decreasing to 128 or increasing to 1024 both cause glitching right away, so 256/512 seem to be my only choices.

Here's the funny thing. As soon as the crackling starts (while using 256), I can switch to 512 and then immediately switch back to 256... and I'm good for another 5-6 minutes.

The same exact thing happens when using 512... starts crackling after 5-6 minutes or so, and switching the buffer size setting cleans it up again for a few minutes.

So I find that I'm constantly having to stop and fiddle with the buffer size. It sounds great in between... but it gets really annoying to keep having to stop--and of course, recording is impossible.

Any ideas?

Here are the settings I'm using:

[dlgebert]

What am I doing wrong? AmpliTube crackling sound

Any ideas?

Here are the settings I'm using:

I see you're using a PC because I see "WDM" in your screen prints. I'm glad you included those.

I see you have an AXE I/O Solo, yet you seem to be using the onboard "Realtek" device, which probably came with your PC integrated on your motherboard. VERY slow, it can't keep up with the data flow. Don't use that device at all, except for your PC sounds as the default generic device.

Secondly, when you use your AXE I/O Solo, don't use the ASIO4ALL driver. IKM has their own driver that you must use and should be located in your user area under the AXE I/O Solo product.

Lastly, when using Amplitube 4, make your AXE I/O Solo is your input and output device. Don't use multiple devices in the Amplitube 4 standalone program, or in any DAW. This will introduce timing issues and cause snapping and popping.

Get and install the AXE I/O Solo driver from your IKM user area "My Products" page and use that exclusively with your AXE I/O Solo, and only use the AXE I/O Solo with Amplitube 4. Let us know how it works after those changes have been made.

Dave

[JT19Guitar]

Lastly, when using Amplitube 4, make your AXE I/O Solo is your input and output device.

Thanks so much for the suggestions, Dave! Obviously, this is all new to me... I've never used any software with my guitar before.

I think the reason I had the Realtek set as the output device is so the sound would go to the speakers connected to my PC. I don't have any dedicated monitors plugged into the AXE I/O Solo.

I guess I'd need to either guess some decent monitors to connect to the AXE, or just use the headphones?

The answers are probably pretty obvious to anyone who knows what they're doing.

[JT19Guitar]

So, here are the current settings. I'm able to choose much lower buffer sized (down to 16), and even that low, it seems to be stable for as long as I've tried it.



Now I just need to figure out how to hear it. For testing purposes, I had to plug headphones into the Amp Out on the AXE I/O Solo.

I assume my next step is to get dedicated monitor speakers to plug into the AXE I/O Solo's Line Out jacks, rather than try to get the sound to come through my computer's speakers--since that seems to have led to my initial problems.

[dlgebert]

I'm able to choose much lower buffer sized (down to 16), and even that low, it seems to be stable for as long as I've tried it.

Great news, that's a good buffer size, you shouldn't notice any latency.

For testing purposes, I had to plug headphones into the Amp Out on the AXE I/O Solo.

I have the original AXE I/O, but I see the AXE I/O Solo has a headphones out jack and volume knob. Have you tried plugging in your headphones there?

A good set of monitors are probably your best bet if you like to play without headphones. There is probably a way, with the correct adapters to connect the AXE I/O Solo Line Outputs to the input of your computer speakers.

As you mentioned above, the AXE I/O Solo back panel Line Outputs can accept both balanced and unbalanced connectors, but if you're gonna get decent monitors, I'd get monitors with balanced inputs and a good set of balanced cables. The cables may come with the monitors also.

Dave

[JT19Guitar]

I see the AXE I/O Solo has a headphones out jack and volume knob. Have you tried plugging in your headphones there?

Yes, but that seems to be a direct (dry) output that doesn't reflect what I hear in AmpliTube... whereas the Amp Out does.

A good set of monitors are probably your best bet if you like to play without headphones... I'd get monitors with balanced inputs and a good set of balanced cables.

I ended up ordering a pair of Mackie CR3-X monitors (just needed something inexpensive for now... I can always upgrade later if I get more serious about recording). I chose them because they have the 1/4" TRS inputs. Got a pair of short TRS cables to connect to the AXE I/O Solo, so I think I'll be all set.

Thank you SO MUCH for taking the time to help a newbie with troubleshooting!

[dlgebert]

I see the AXE I/O Solo has a headphones out jack and volume knob. Have you tried plugging in your headphones there?

Yes, but that seems to be a direct (dry) output that doesn't reflect what I hear in AmpliTube... whereas the Amp Out does.

I missed a step in my troubleshooting.

The [MONITOR] knob to the left of the [HEADPHONES] knob needs to be turn all the way to the right towards [DAW], then you'll only hear the Amplitube 4 output. You'll probably need the knob turned that way as well when you hook up your monitors.

Glad everything's working.

Dave