Topic: When CPU frequency screened inside Pianoteq changes, sound crackles

Hello,

When i open a new windows session and i start Pianoteq, i have this :
http://stash.reaper.fm/29200/good.png
The sound is great, CPU frequency is 33101, Performance index is 98


Then, some little time after (it's happened even if i don't play with Pianoteq), the screen changes to this : 
http://stash.reaper.fm/29201/bad.png
The sound crackles, CPU Frequency goes to 12000 to 33101, and Performance index drop to 66

If, i restart Pianoteq, i have the same issue. If I want to come back to the first statement (the good), i have to restart my computer. I use ASUS Dual Intelligent Processor 5 and my computer is overcloked to go always to 45000 MHZ (performance mode).

The midi track which is played is the same...

Why ?

M-track 2*2
Windows 10 anniversary
I7 5820K
ASUS X99A/USB3.1
16giga DDR4 32000

Last edited by Ovnis31 (17-12-2016 05:25)

Re: When CPU frequency screened inside Pianoteq changes, sound crackles

On your motherboards bios, do you have something called "Intel Spdeedstep" or "Power management" or something like that?
If so, disable it and try again.

Re: When CPU frequency screened inside Pianoteq changes, sound crackles

Well the fi8rst observation I'd make is that you don't need that 98 performance indicator ( which you'll only get if your OS and CPU decide you need the CPU powered to max frequency, which they'll do if they detect a heavy workload ).  When it drops down to 66 that's STILL a very good performance index for Pianoteq and it's extremely unlikely that Pianoteq would have any issues at that level of performance.

Polyphony of 139 is huge, more than you'd need in any real world situation IMO.

The sound crackles, CPU Frequency goes to 12000 to 33101, and Performance index drop to 66

Ignore the performance index drop - it's a non-issue.  Even the lower level is still way more than you could need.

The CPU frequency drop is due to the power saving mode your CPU ( and most CPUs from Intel ) use.  Even with this on your performance index, sample rate and polyphony are fine ( very high ), so again ignore this non-issue.  People run Pianoteq quite happily on much less powerful CPUs.

The source of the crackles and pops might be due to that M-Audio 2x2 and it's drivers and/or cabling.  Try running Pianoteq without that device and see if the pops and crackles go away.  If the issue goes away look for updated drivers on the M-Audio website.  When in doubt, remove hardware and see what happens is the general rule.  You might try googling just "Windows 10 pops crackles" and see what you get - I'd always suspect Windows first and everything else later, honestly, and I think you'll find there are many people with that issue who use neither Pianoteq ( or the M-Audio 2x2 ).

If there's an issue with latency try raising sample buffer size ( in the devices tab of the options window of Pianoteq ).  I think 64 is the lowest and you may be pushing your overall system into unrealistic levels.  I've seen no data about typical settings for this, but it's worth trying and easy to undo.

StephenG

Re: When CPU frequency screened inside Pianoteq changes, sound crackles

Thx for your help !

On your motherboards bios, do you have something called "Intel Spdeedstep" or "Power management" or something like that?
If so, disable it and try again.

Bingo !