Midi: Occasional pops, crackle (NOT using AMD/VIA)

Asterra · Nov 1, 2009, 01:57 PM

Greetings. I just today decided to stop using my onboard audio (Realtek) and start using my good old Audigy2 ZS Platinum, primarily because the only MIDI solution afforded by the onboard audio was Windows' built-in synth, which is a 3MB soundfont using a different (and rare) standard. I could never find a replacement for it. My box is a Core i7.

Lots of soundfonts out there, though.

So anyway, I've gotten my hands on about a half dozen different soundfonts, and a couple sound pretty good. But all of them have the same problem: Whenever I'm actually playing MIDI music, there's a chance the playback will emit a disconcertingly loud pop. I'd say it happens two or three times per minute. Associated with these pops is occasional, subtle crackle. The pops SEEM to occur (in terms of stereo spatiality) specifically wherever one of the MIDI instruments is playing, implying that the fault is in playback of individual MIDI voices, rather than the final mixdown. I've already tried giving every available buffer as much extra room / time as the driver settings allow, to no avail.

An observation: The pops have reverb, a-la the "Reverb Lite". So they're being generated somewhere before that process.

Any suggestions? While I love the way the music sounds now, the pops are jarring and probably damage my ears (using headphones). Barring a solution, I'll have no choice but to return to the onboard Realtek / 3MB MIDI.

Enhanced_Interrogator · Nov 1, 2009, 04:10 PM

Whenever I had pops, I muted all the outputs that I wasn't using. So I turned down everything except the rear and spdif outputs. Pops stopped immediately.

Asterra · Nov 1, 2009, 05:16 PM

Thanks for the reply. Tried it. Killed every speaker, output, everything but wave and midi. Still just as many pops as before, unfortunately. Also killed every application and process that wasn't 100% essential.

Russ · Nov 1, 2009, 05:27 PM

Did you try unloading Reverb Lite (and Stereo Chorus) to rule it out?

Asterra · Nov 1, 2009, 06:13 PM

Good suggestion. Tried it just now. Only difference is the pops don't have that tiny echo (which lasts maybe 0.3 seconds, not the 2.7 seconds indicated by Reverb Lite, but that's a different facet of discussion).

Russ · Nov 4, 2009, 03:31 AM

Is it just MIDI playback, or is it with wave playback too?

Could it be related to those specific soundfonts? Does it do it with the Creative soundfonts that came with the card (they can be found on your Creative install CD)?

What version of kX and Windows are you using?

Nov 1, 2009, 01:57 PM	#1
Asterra DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Nov 2009 Posts: 3 Rep Power: 0	Midi: Occasional pops, crackle (NOT using AMD/VIA) Greetings. I just today decided to stop using my onboard audio (Realtek) and start using my good old Audigy2 ZS Platinum, primarily because the only MIDI solution afforded by the onboard audio was Windows' built-in synth, which is a 3MB soundfont using a different (and rare) standard. I could never find a replacement for it. My box is a Core i7. Lots of soundfonts out there, though. So anyway, I've gotten my hands on about a half dozen different soundfonts, and a couple sound pretty good. But all of them have the same problem: Whenever I'm actually playing MIDI music, there's a chance the playback will emit a disconcertingly loud pop. I'd say it happens two or three times per minute. Associated with these pops is occasional, subtle crackle. The pops SEEM to occur (in terms of stereo spatiality) specifically wherever one of the MIDI instruments is playing, implying that the fault is in playback of individual MIDI voices, rather than the final mixdown. I've already tried giving every available buffer as much extra room / time as the driver settings allow, to no avail. An observation: The pops have reverb, a-la the "Reverb Lite". So they're being generated somewhere before that process. Any suggestions? While I love the way the music sounds now, the pops are jarring and probably damage my ears (using headphones). Barring a solution, I'll have no choice but to return to the onboard Realtek / 3MB MIDI.

Nov 1, 2009, 04:10 PM	#2
Enhanced_Interrogator DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 13 Rep Power: 0	Re: Midi: Occasional pops, crackle (NOT using AMD/VIA) Whenever I had pops, I muted all the outputs that I wasn't using. So I turned down everything except the rear and spdif outputs. Pops stopped immediately.

Nov 1, 2009, 05:16 PM	#3
Asterra DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Nov 2009 Posts: 3 Rep Power: 0	Re: Midi: Occasional pops, crackle (NOT using AMD/VIA) Thanks for the reply. Tried it. Killed every speaker, output, everything but wave and midi. Still just as many pops as before, unfortunately. Also killed every application and process that wasn't 100% essential.

Nov 1, 2009, 05:27 PM	#4
Russ DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 4,836 Rep Power: 41	Re: Midi: Occasional pops, crackle (NOT using AMD/VIA) Did you try unloading Reverb Lite (and Stereo Chorus) to rule it out?

Nov 1, 2009, 06:13 PM	#5
Asterra DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Nov 2009 Posts: 3 Rep Power: 0	Re: Midi: Occasional pops, crackle (NOT using AMD/VIA) Good suggestion. Tried it just now. Only difference is the pops don't have that tiny echo (which lasts maybe 0.3 seconds, not the 2.7 seconds indicated by Reverb Lite, but that's a different facet of discussion).

Nov 4, 2009, 03:31 AM	#6
Russ DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 4,836 Rep Power: 41	Re: Midi: Occasional pops, crackle (NOT using AMD/VIA) Is it just MIDI playback, or is it with wave playback too? Could it be related to those specific soundfonts? Does it do it with the Creative soundfonts that came with the card (they can be found on your Creative install CD)? What version of kX and Windows are you using?