FL Studio playback issues (really need help!)

DJkebu

New member
Hey guys,
ill cut to the point. Every time i play the song ive been working on in FL, i get serious crackling sounds and stuff. like tzz tzzrzz, then the song continues normally, then suddenly again trzzztrzz sounds :S everytime the sounds come the CPU load goes to full, and underruns get bigger. I have tried different settings with ASIO driver, and i even changed to primary sound driver and put the buffer length to like 8k and STILL it didnt play smoothly! When i press 'play' in song mode, it also goes trzz at first, then it goes normal and then suddenly again rtzz. also when i change the time in song by clicking on different times in playlist, i get the crackin sound. i only get this while playback. if i press any key on sylenth or anything, i wont get any problems.
i have a Realtek High Definition Audio soundcard, and 3GB ram..
AMD Phenom(tm) 8450 Triple-Core Processor, 2100Mhz

sry for long thread but i wanted to give every info i know lol, really hope i get solution to this, its soo annoying!
 
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i have this problem sometimes as well.. Its an issue with memory.

Sometimes, yes, changing the ASIO buffer settings does take care of the problem...But i guarantee its an issue with your computer's memory.

I had one computer that was like 512MB RAM....lol...and if I would load up a couple plugins for mixing, along with a vst synth or 2...I would have the problem real bad.

Then I had a computer with 1GB RAM...most things that would cause the problem in the old computer, did not cause it in the new computer..although when I would load up even more plugins, the problem would come back

then I finally got a laptop a few years ago with 4GB RAM...And never really had the problem again..Sure if I load up enough plugins, my CPU will eventually drain, and the problem will occur..

Hit CTRL-ALT-DEL and pull up your Task Manager..

Run FL Studio....and when you run into the crackling problem, notice how much memory is being used via your Task Manager....it's probably using close to all of your computers memory.


Keep in mind some VST Plugins are CPU hogs...so it might be something as small as 1 particular plugin...For some reason, I have this problem when I run more than 1 instance of Sawer... I love producing sounds with that synth... But I can only run about 2 at the same time...more than that I usually get the crackling.. But then on the other hand, I can have 10+ instances of 3xOsc with no problem..

As for mixing, I mostly use FL Studio's own Parametric EQ2, Limiter, and TheGlue (Compressor)...and usually when I use delays/reverbs/flange/phaser/etc I also use FL Studios native plugins.. And for the most part, they're CPU friendly.

So do what I said, and see if you can narrow it down to a particular plugin..if so, the good thing about that is, there are so many VST's out there you shouldn't have a problem finding some that are more CPU friendly that can produce the same sounds
 
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How many plugins are we talking about? because im still pretty noob at FL, I have loaded up like 18 sylenth1s lol. Though i just tested, i deleted most of em and had 7 left, the problem still occured. soo how many plugins should i have loaded, to make it normal to get those trzzz trzz sounds
 
I would think having that many instances of Sylenth running would drain your CPU...unless you have a bit more RAM than you mentioned.

Just keep messing with it and see what works and what doesnt...I'm still thinking that its just your computer being drained of memory due to so many processes and VST's running
 
yeah i believe ur right, since (i forgot to mention) when i opened a song that came with FL studio 9, it didnt crackle at all
 
Thats all it is....it really does suck when you get into a track and then bam....you get the crackling non stop... all you can really do is check the ASIO settings.. that may, or may not work......you can upgrade your RAM if your computer is capable of more.....or you can substitute plugins with others that use up less CPU.......thats all the advice I can personally give you. Like I said, I've had the problem in the past...and still get it sometimes now when I have a lot going on...it can be annoying to work around...but, those are the only options I've come across. Its not much to do with the program itself, since even in other DAWS, such as Adobe Audition, I would have the same problem when I have too many plugins and what not loaded. Its just the computer not being able to keep up.
 
You both are probably doing the same thing wrong...Since neither of you mentioned interpolation or sampling rate, I'm assuming this is your issue...

There is probably no need to set your buffering anywhere past 500...

You should be looking for something with under 21ms latency, but it's quite possible to get something under 10 or even down to 3-6ms with a great computer...

You have to have different settings for PLAYBACK/RECORDING/MIXING vs. EXPORTING. This is in the manual if anyone out there reads these things...

You are probably mixing and recording in the exporting settings.

When you playback, record or mix, you should be doing this with 64 interpolation or less. My cpu is capable of actually performing at 256 (It will crackle once I get into my 6th instrument or so...) But i actually do ALL of this with LINEAR interpolation. Only when exporting do I crank it all the way up to 512.

Also, depending on your driver and cpu, you may not be capable of recording at anything above 44.1k.

Don't worry about what you hear about recording at higher sample rates. CDs are 44.1k. If you know how to mix, then this really is perfect quality. I can hear slight differences and prefer 88.2k when I'm recording (my cpu is capable). But in all honesty I feel like all its doing is allowing me to use more subtle settings with my fx to get the feel I want, but I can still achieve the same thing with just a little more mixing at 44.1k (it won't be identical, but you will like both versions equally.)

I typically make my entire beat at 44.1k with linear interpolation and record with 6ms latency at 256 buffer rate. You will notice that if you record with 88.2, your buffer rate latency actually changes quite a bit (cut in half, obviously if you do the math)...

So what happens is, you will hear intense pops and noise. Which is fine because once you are done recording, you can now crank that buffer rate to the max and eliminate all of that. I recommend above 1,000, around 1,500. These are my MIXING settings. FL has the ability to resample your project to whatever sample rate you chose if you save the project, change it to 88.2, and reopen the project.

I will then export my stems (no fx on the master) with 512 interpolation at 88.2 and import into Studio One (I used to use Sonar). Then I record vocals and do the final mix and master in S1.

So the final project is 88.2 but I will then mixdown to 44.1 when I export the song out of S1.
 
Well, my interpolation is 6-point hermite, and i have 44.1khz sample rate and ive tried the buffer size anywhere from 64 to 2000 in asio, and i still get those sounds (depending on the buffer size, the crackin sound is more high pitched or less pitched) and i get like 300-600 underruns
 
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I don't have any experience with that plugin. If it's as processor-intensive as FL's other newer plugins within the last couple of years, then it's probably very processor intensive. The Sawer synth can push my Q6600 with only a few instances of it. It depends how many voices you enable but they're definitely capable of bringing more systems to their knees.
 
What Nova said is very informative, but I still stand by my previous statements... Its your computer being drained of its CPU...you're simply running out of memory.
 
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