I was just using muting an input as an example. When using the routing program, I was getting confused when settings I made weren't having an impact. At first I thought I was misunderstanding how it all worked. Muting an input is an obvious operation and when I realized that wasn't working, I exited the program and restarted it and found it to work as it should again.

I like to mute inputs I'm not using to minimize any noise. On this device, it may not matter as much since the inputs are routed directly rather than be mixed into a 2 channel output like my Yamaha Audiogram 6 did.

Based on this thread and MikeB's thoughts, I ordered an 8i6. Got it set up and recorded with it yesterday. I'm using my Mac and Garage Band so I went the quick setup, no accounts/minimal software install route. Fast, easy, none too painful an experience and it sounds amazing (when I do my part).

Thanks!

Scott

Good to hear! I got as far as taking mine out of the box.

Had no issues installing//downloading the Focusrite, could not register it on their site though as mine has a 14 character serial number, the site seems set up for older models with 12 or 13 characters! Even the help videos they link are old.

But.... my old Win 7 computer seems to have fallen on hard times - all of a sudden everything I record (and old recordings I listen to) have crackling/popping that adjusting the buffer to the max of 1024 (horrible latency) don't get rid of.

If you can find the correct Y cable arrangement you can double up your single stereo output so that you end up with 2 left and 2 right outputs from the stereo source. Plug one parallel pair to your powered monitors and the other parallel pair into your subwoofer(s).
That way when you adjust the volume both subwoofer and main speakers will track the volume correctly.

Interesting about the serial number...I don't recall having any issues like that.

Can you glean from Windows Task Manager what's causing the buffering? Is the CPU getting pegged? Is the hard disc getting bogged down? Maybe try a different USB port on your PC?

Thanks for the suggestion. That's actually how I'm set up. I'd rather not have the splitters, but I don't have a choice.

You might want to check an article like this one:

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...3-40d3ef267a11

Sometimes when you identify what is causing the spikes you can do something to fix it.

It's one of those things that drove me away from Windows when I was looking for stable low latency audio and I ended up going the Apple way.

I checked, and nothing was running in the background that was using any CPU/RAM more than usual stuff. This computer has been my recording computer for 8+ years. No changes made prior to/on the day the crackling started. I had recorded a few quick single tracks last week with no issues. I didn't notice the crackling gin the tracks I was recording on Saturday because I wasn't monitoring carefully, had the head[hones set low while I laid down track after track. Turning up the volume is when it can be heard.
Listening to old tracks, there is still crackling, but on tracks recorded over the weekend, the crackling is recorded - I can see the blips on the waveforms. This is true even when there are no VSTis or plug-ins running in Reaper.
The cracking seems to follow the peaks of the sound - after a quick ending, there will be a few crackles within a second or so of the end.

Got an email back from Focusrite regarding the registration/serial number - they got it registered for me. Haven't logged in yet to d/l other software because I'm trying to resolve my computer issues first.
Could be a hard disc problem or RAM going bad (?), I really don't know. CPU usage does not seem to be a factor.

They have made a few firmware upgrades since the product was released. Now that you have it registered you can try upgrading it to the latest firmware if you weren't able to do that before. I was having routing issues that a firmware update resolved.

It's a shame you are having these problems. I hope you get it sorted out.

It could be the case that Win 7 has updated some of it's drivers since it last worked without pops and crackles.

I would recommend trying that Latencymon program if you can to try to see which driver or class of drivers is causing DPC delays.

You could just try disabling wi-fi since that is a common source of these problems on Windows.

Drivers would be my first thought. Is there crackling if you play back good sound files through the normal windows driver (computer speakers or headphones into the computer's headphone jack), and not through the interface?

If not, then the Focusrite drivers may be the culprit.

The Focusrite 8i6 looks like it would be a good choice for me then, since all I need is to connect my converter outs to the spdif ins on the Focusrite, then connect to my Macbook Pro using the USB-C cable. I use a similar connection scheme with my older Macbook Pro with the M-Audio Profire 610 interface, works great! Also, the price is very reasonable! I don't need an interface with nice pre's, because I already have nice pre's and don't plan on ever using it as a standalone interface for recording, just as a throughput, unless anyone has any input concerning this that I haven't thought about. The only other thing I can even think about is, is there an advantage to using an interface with ADAT and/or AES inputs?

I was surprised to see Motu doesn't offer a a more affordable USB-C interface with spdif input.

Also, what about Presonus products? The PreSonus Quantum 2626 26x26 Thunderbolt 3 Audio Interface has L/R returns, which I thought would come in handy for patching in an outboard effects processor (send/return). Am I right about this? Plus, it has spdif ins/outs, as well as ADAT ins/outs, not just spdif ins. Lots of connectivity options.

Rick

Wifi is not normally connected with this computer - I use a USB dongle, and only plug it in to d/l. I will look at the Latencymon thing to see if it finds anything that Task Manager didn't spy out.


I downloaded the Focusrite drivers the day after the problem started. Yesterday I listened to video/audio thoruhg headphones and the built-in soundcard, no crackling.

I was able to d/l the updated drivers before registering, so that's not the issue.

I appreciate all the suggestions, keep 'em coming. I am tempted to just order another computer (Amazon or Walmart refurbished with SSD) because returning it (if the problem persists) would be easy.

It seems like the PC you've been using has served you well and updating to a new PC is certainly not unreasonable. Sometimes you just need an excuse to push you over the edge to upgrade :).

I was on a Windows 8 machine until recently. It served me well for 6 years but it's time had come. My new PC is much snappier.