Topic by Tarek

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Topic: Is Pianoteq not compatible with Focusrite soundcards?

I had a thread earlier about pops and clicks with a very powerful new laptop which I couldn't resolve. I ended up returning the laptop and the sound card (M-Audio M-Track). Here's the thread: http://www.forum-pianoteq.com/viewtopic.php?id=4744

I just got a new ASUS (i7 7700, 16GB RAM) and a Focusrite Solo (2nd Gen) soundcard. I was amazed that pops and clicks are still happening so this is DEFINITELY not a PC problem. It must be pianoteq's compatibility with the audio interfaces I'm getting.

I did a test where I played for a while from the PC soundcard and for a long while I didn't hear any of the clicks I heard with the Focusrite.

Anybody has any experience in this? Are the M-Audio and Focusrite not compatible with Pianoteq?

This has become a nightmare as I use pianoteq in recordings and concerts and haven't been able to play without the clicks for months. I guess I should start thinking about how to incorporate these "sound effects" into my music.

Reply by Stephen_Doonan

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Re: Is Pianoteq not compatible with Focusrite soundcards?

Pianoteq works great with a Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 in Linux (that's what I used until recently).

There are numerous online resources about how to deal with and rid one's audio chain of xruns for Windows, MacOS and Linux. The problem may be with the activity of the underlying operating system, rather than with Pianoteq or your audio interface.

--
Linux, Pianoteq Pro, Organteq

Reply by Tarek

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Re: Is Pianoteq not compatible with Focusrite soundcards?

Stephen_Doonan wrote:

Pianoteq works great with a Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 in Linux (that's what I used until recently).

There are numerous online resources about how to deal with and rid one's audio chain of xruns for Windows, MacOS and Linux. The problem may be with the activity of the underlying operating system, rather than with Pianoteq or your audio interface.

Well this happened on three different PCs and 2 different sound cards. When I use Pianoteq without the sound card, I'm not getting any issues. Just today I tried it on my old Acer's internal sound card and I didn't get any glitches. Something strange is going on here.

Reply by Lucy

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Re: Is Pianoteq not compatible with Focusrite soundcards?

I know that what I will be writing will not be shared by most... but I'll write it anyway.

Can you return your soundcard? In your place I will not waste my time... I would not care if it is some obscure driver issue,... if you do not have that problem with no soundcard, just use it as-is, and if you want a sound card anyway... that will give you the time and patience to find one which will satisfy you.

Reply by rAC

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Re: Is Pianoteq not compatible with Focusrite soundcards?

I would also suggest its time to look at the software and hardware setup you have - what version of Windows/Linux, what background processes, what else is plugged into the computer and on which USB hub etc etc.

Reply by stamkorg

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Re: Is Pianoteq not compatible with Focusrite soundcards?

Tarek wrote:

I had a thread earlier about pops and clicks with a very powerful new laptop which I couldn't resolve. I ended up returning the laptop and the sound card (M-Audio M-Track). Here's the thread: http://www.forum-pianoteq.com/viewtopic.php?id=4744

I just got a new ASUS (i7 7700, 16GB RAM) and a Focusrite Solo (2nd Gen) soundcard. I was amazed that pops and clicks are still happening so this is DEFINITELY not a PC problem. It must be pianoteq's compatibility with the audio interfaces I'm getting.

I did a test where I played for a while from the PC soundcard and for a long while I didn't hear any of the clicks I heard with the Focusrite.

Anybody has any experience in this? Are the M-Audio and Focusrite not compatible with Pianoteq?

This has become a nightmare as I use pianoteq in recordings and concerts and haven't been able to play without the clicks for months. I guess I should start thinking about how to incorporate these "sound effects" into my music.


Focusrite makes good audio interfaces and the drivers are ok. There is no problem of compatibility with Focusrite.

Do you have pop and clicks when you hear music (from a player, from youtube...)? If yes, there is probably a problem with the soundcard. If no, probably a problem with your setting.

What is your Asio setting? Sample rate? Buffer?

Do you have optimized Windows to suit the realtime need?

In the Bios, do you have disabled Intel Speed Step (or other power economy options)?


Keep us informed

Reply by Tarek

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Re: Is Pianoteq not compatible with Focusrite soundcards?

rAC wrote:

I would also suggest its time to look at the software and hardware setup you have - what version of Windows/Linux, what background processes, what else is plugged into the computer and on which USB hub etc etc.

I have Windows 10. Nothing plugged into the computer except for the digital keyboard and mouse (USB hub is Trendnet but problems happen even when no hub is used). I got the PC the day I wrote the post and I fresh re-installed Windows so the PC is super clean at this point.

Reply by Tarek

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Re: Is Pianoteq not compatible with Focusrite soundcards?

stamkorg wrote:
Tarek wrote:

I had a thread earlier about pops and clicks with a very powerful new laptop which I couldn't resolve. I ended up returning the laptop and the sound card (M-Audio M-Track). Here's the thread: http://www.forum-pianoteq.com/viewtopic.php?id=4744

I just got a new ASUS (i7 7700, 16GB RAM) and a Focusrite Solo (2nd Gen) soundcard. I was amazed that pops and clicks are still happening so this is DEFINITELY not a PC problem. It must be pianoteq's compatibility with the audio interfaces I'm getting.

I did a test where I played for a while from the PC soundcard and for a long while I didn't hear any of the clicks I heard with the Focusrite.

Anybody has any experience in this? Are the M-Audio and Focusrite not compatible with Pianoteq?

This has become a nightmare as I use pianoteq in recordings and concerts and haven't been able to play without the clicks for months. I guess I should start thinking about how to incorporate these "sound effects" into my music.


Focusrite makes good audio interfaces and the drivers are ok. There is no problem of compatibility with Focusrite.

Do you have pop and clicks when you hear music (from a player, from youtube...)? If yes, there is probably a problem with the soundcard. If no, probably a problem with your setting.

What is your Asio setting? Sample rate? Buffer?

Do you have optimized Windows to suit the realtime need?

In the Bios, do you have disabled Intel Speed Step (or other power economy options)?


Keep us informed

I only hear pops and clicks with Pianoteq, otherwise everything sound fine. I just checked the ASIO setting: Sample rate 48kHz, buffer size 256.
I haven't optimized windows, what you exactly do you mean?
I also haven't disabled Intel Speed Step, more info about that would be appreciated.

Reply by stamkorg

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Re: Is Pianoteq not compatible with Focusrite soundcards?

Tarek wrote:

I only hear pops and clicks with Pianoteq, otherwise everything sound fine. I just checked the ASIO setting: Sample rate 48kHz, buffer size 256.
I haven't optimized windows, what you exactly do you mean?
I also haven't disabled Intel Speed Step, more info about that would be appreciated.

Ok,

Your pc is ok to run at 48kHz and 128, maybe 64 samples of buffer.

For windows optimisation, go there and follow these instruction, to begin:

https://support.focusrite.com/hc/en-gb/...Windows-10


Disable Intel Speed Step will prevent for processor floating.
Some more informations there:

https://www.steinberg.net/en/support/kn...-daws.html


Good luck and keep us informed.

SK

Reply by dklein

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Re: Is Pianoteq not compatible with Focusrite soundcards?

Tarek, though I have a Windows Surface Pro4 and not a Dell Inspiron, I also had problems with pops and clicks.

A week or so ago, I watched sections of a video on a website called Surface Pro Audio, and made the changes that he suggests:

http://surfaceproaudio.com/surface-pro-...roduction/

This is a fairly long video, but thankfully, it comes with a table of contents. The heart of the matter starts at seven minutes 37 seconds under "tweaking windows". He gives some changes to the power settings, and other changes that are only possible after making a modification in the Windows registry.

After I did what he said, I found a significant improvement. I am now able to run Pianoteq at 48 kHz with a buffer of only 64. Even with the sustain pedal held down, and a five-microphone instrument preset, I rarely push past 40% of the processor as seen on the graph of the performance section of the Pianoteq options. For me, this is fantastic (and I am convinced that it even sounds better and more musical and realistic than what I was getting with the sampling frequency of only 29 kHz – whether it makes any difference to do 44 kHz or 48 kHz is debatable, as CD-quality audio sounds pretty darn good to me, but I was in fact able to push Pianoteq up to 48 kHz without any problems). So far, I have heard no snaps, no pops, and no crackles.

Even though this is Surface Pro related, you might find the Windows changes to be helpful on your system. Also, I 'solved' my horrendous earlier latency problem two years ago by purchasing a Steinberg UR22 mkII as an external sound card, but then saw a video by the same guy who showed how to tweak the internal ASIO driver such that I can get almost the same latency without the external box.  He has a lot of information on the website, even if you take it strictly as Windows settings and tweaks.

Last edited by dklein (11-09-2017 10:57)
- David