recording problems in Live 1.5.2 and 2.0.2 under OS X

The Benjamin · Post by **The Benjamin** » Thu Feb 20, 2003 5:35 pm

I am having difficulties when recording audio into Live. Specifically, I get intermittent bursts of static-like distortion that, while occurring, totally overwhelm the source audio. This distortion is not clipping--it doesn't seem to have anything to do with the source volume at all.

My set-up:
Mac iBook g3 333Mhz w/ 320 mb ram, running OS X 10.2.4. (I had the same problem in 10.2.3).
Live 1.5.2 and 2.0.2
An Emagic Emi 2|6 usb audio interface.

The problem seems to be with Live, not anything else in my set-up. When I monitor the recording through the Emi's headphone jack, there is no distortion. Furthermore, I have done simultaneous recordings using Live and Cacophony (stereo audio editor) running concurrently. The Cacophony recording shows no distortion, while the Live recording does. I have tried making changes in the audio buffer settings in Live's Preference panel, including finding the proper value for the "Overall Latency" box, but to no avail. I should note that Live does not give me any opportunity to change the input buffer settings: the buffer slider only seems to affect the output buffer.

I think that is all the information I have. Anyone have any ideas? I could send files of the same recording done in Cacophony and in Live if that would be helpful. Also, is there any other information that would be helpful?

dur · Post by **dur** » Wed Mar 05, 2003 5:55 pm

I have the same problem with my setup. The "distortion" comes and goes, begins gradually, intensifies, then dissapears after a minute or so only to return after a few minutes.

My setup is as follows:
Powerbook G4 550Mhz, 768mb ram, 10.2.4 (also happened under 10.2.3)
Live 2.01 and 2.02
imic usb audio adapter

I also tried properly configuring the latency settings, which did not solve the problem. I can record rewired input from reason with no trouble, likewise, through the built in mic with no problem.

geargasm · Post by **geargasm** » Wed Mar 05, 2003 10:26 pm

I get the same thing. Run a top in a terminal window and see what your CPU usage looks like.

I can eliminate any recording "static" by taking out any effects I may have applied and crank the sends down (read: taking out any effects I may have applied) which brings the CPU usage down. Then it records just fiiiine.

Try recording with no effects and nothing else going on. See if you still have the same problem.

2.x is driving me up a wall, the different stretching algorythms are great, it's just that the software as a whole is buggy, and Ableton isn't the greatest company in the world to deal with.

The Benjamin · Post by **The Benjamin** » Mon Mar 10, 2003 5:18 pm

I tend to record samples from TV shows and such, so when I'm recording I'm not running anything else--no effects of any sort, no playback, nothing. If it actually worked without distortion, Live would be just about perfect for that sort of thing--just give the track the name of the show and boom: a whole slew of clips, conveniently named.

The way you decribe the problem, dur, is exactly what happens to me. Have you ever tried booting up in OS9 and seeing if it works better there? (I haven't--I want the program to work under an OS I actually like.)

I sent some clips of problem recordings and my logs to Christian at Ableton about two weeks ago, and haven't heard anything yet. I'll let you know if I do.

Ben

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Tue Mar 11, 2003 11:25 pm

I also get break-up and static on all my songs, once I get over two or three tracks. Thankfully, when rendered the problem is not there, so I've just learned to live with the crappy sound till output. I don't know what I'd do if I was actually using the program for a live performance!

skeletunes · Post by **skeletunes** » Thu Mar 20, 2003 2:38 pm

Geez, this problem has been bugging me for some time...assumed it was my sound card or random OSX madness.

Here's my post to OSXaudio.com with a link to a mp3 file of the distortion in progress:

***************

http://www.himandthedrinks.com/noise_issue.mp3

I'm trying to resolve a noise issue that I hope someone here can shed some light on. I've searched the archives, but most of the threads about this are a little old and don't really have any resolutions. So, I'm curious to see if anything new has been discovered noise problems in OSX 10.2.4

First, let me describe my set up:

Keyboard: Korg Triton

Cables: Monster cables, 1/4" to RCA

Machine: G4 1.25 GHz Dual Processor with gig of RAM running OS 10.2.4

Soundcard: M Audio Delta Audophile 2496 soundcard, current driver installed.

Software: Ableton Live (2.0.3) for OSX

Speakers: Harmon/Kardon Soundsticks

The Triton and Mac are connected from the Triton's 1/4" left and right audio outs to the RCA's audio-in ports on the sound card.

What I'm experiencing is that the sound will fuzz out for 10 - 20 seconds, then return to normal. It will do this randomly throughout my recording process (every couple of minutes or so) and only occurs on audio coming in through the soundcard.

This situation has followed me from my G4 450 MHz setup to my just-this-week purchased Dual Processor model. The G4 450 used the same setup situation as my new one does. This noise situation did NOT occur on my Beige G3 using its built-in audio card and running OS 9.

So, I'm left thinking that it's either an issue with my soundcard, or an issue with OSX.

Can anyone help me out here? Anyone having the same problem? Again, if you'd like to actually hear what I'm talking about: http://www.himandthedrinks.com/noise_issue.mp3

**********

So...has Ableton spoke of the existence of this problem, here or elsewhere?

Thanks for any info!

- martin

Alex Reynolds · Post by **Alex Reynolds** » Fri Mar 21, 2003 2:22 am

The problem seems to lie with Ableton Live, either 1.5 or 2.

I have now recorded sound running Prop. Reason and Applied Acoustics Tassman in standalone fashion and there are no recording glitches with these applications. This effectively removes the operating system as the cause.

For what it is worth, to record Live works successfully, I've found it necessary to use an external MD recorder and record back to hard drive afterwards for mastering.

-Alex

Pachinko · Post by **Pachinko** » Sat Mar 29, 2003 6:28 am

Hello all, i am new to this list, great to finally get a piece of software that does what I want.

okay, so I am having issues too. I want to use OSX 10.2.4 as well, but I am having problems with my recording as well.

anyway, I am using numerology with my external hardware that I am trying to record into my computer to tweak it out in ways that I can't with the hardware and it goes from a perfectly clean sound to a gradually increasing clipping, like the sampling rate is decreasing or something. I use iMic and it never gave me problems before. Anyone have a solution?

peter

PS
anyone know why OSX's Safari posts this forum in black?

risome · Post by **risome** » Mon Mar 31, 2003 9:33 am

I too have had the crackle but i assumed this was to do with the amont of plugs running when recording and or cpu over loads.I just installed a new
80gb hard drive with 8meg of cache and have had little problems since with crackle.Another thing i do also is to record all my clips for a track
before i start filling up the arranger/mixer with tracks plugs etc.
Running G4@800mhz with 572meg ram
40gb drive
80gb drive with 8meg cache
OSX 10.2.3

Post by **Alex** » Mon Mar 31, 2003 3:17 pm

Hi folks,

meanwhile a lot of different things are discussed inside this thread.
But concerning the distortions some of you get from time to time in audio in/or and audio out (on OS X), I just want to let you know that we're trying to get closer to this problem.

Like in some other case the main problem is to get reproduced this behaviour. But I just want to let you know that we're on that issue.

regards,
Alex

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Apr 01, 2003 6:00 am

awesome to hear your working on this. to reproduce just use a g4 with os x and an imic. i guarauntee it will happen.

Sal Randolph · Post by **Sal Randolph** » Mon Apr 07, 2003 3:18 am

Yes, I'm having the same problem, and oddly it seems to be getting worse. I'm running a mac powerbook g4, OS 10.2.4, and an emagic emi 6/2 (but it also happens with the iMic) using live 2.0.

I used to be able to work just fine, recording in live sound and using it looping on many tracks with multiple effects rewired to Reason -- all good.

Then things got yucky, more and more distortion. At first it seemed to solve the problem just to stop using Reason, but just this afternoon I was doing a performance, no reason, almost no effects, and the problem cropped up again -- I could only get rid of it by eliminating the recording in channel altogether and just using the hardware monitoring on the emi -- not very satisfactory as I ordinarily use the newly recorded clips in performance.

I'm not 100% sure about this, but I'm guessing that the problem has to do with using any usb audio interface. The audio output jack on my powerbook got screwed up recently, and I went over to using the usb interface all the time, and certainly since then I can't get rid of this problem. I wish I could go back and test it with just straight audio out.

I really really love live and now I actually need it!

I'm glad to hear you're on the problem & wish you speed and luck.

Pachinko · Post by **Pachinko** » Mon Apr 07, 2003 8:26 am

See, I don't know. I started using OS9 because I don't have problems with OS9. it actually works. I think maybe it's an OSX issue, cause it happend with final vinyl which can be downloaded from www.griffintechnologies.com.

go figure.

mikelevins · Post by **mikelevins** » Thu May 29, 2003 8:00 am

I just received Live 2.0 and I like it very much, but am seeing the same audio input problem that others seem to be having.

My setup is: iBook 700MHz, OSX 10.2.6, Tascam US-428 (I've also experimented with an Edirol UA-30, which shows the same problem, perhaps a little worse).

The problem sounds very much like what others are reporting: after I arm a track for audio recording I can begin to record with a clean signal and then, after some time , I hear nasty artifacts that increase in intensity, beginning with intermittent pops, progressing to a worse and worse crackle, ending up with some very spectacular distortion and aliasing effects.

Adjusting the latency in the Live Audio Preferences reduces the problem slightly but does not solve it, and of course large latency is very troublesome for sound-on-sound recording (e.g. recording one instrument to accompany another).

Turning off all input monitoring also seems to solve the problem, but that's hardly satisfactory for sound-on-sound!

It's also worth noting that I hear the problem growing very bad without any flashing from the 'D' disk status marker, and with CPU load below 40%.

Very troublesome. At the very least it severely reduces the usefulness to me of an otherwise very exciting product.

The Benjamin · Post by **The Benjamin** » Thu May 29, 2003 4:38 pm

I've experimented with a few other audio recorders under OS X and they all seem to be exhibiting the same problems. (I don't know what it was about Cacophony that made it work better.) I've seen some people suggest, here and on other message boards, that there is something wrong with the way OS X handles USB audio, and my tests seem to bear this out.

I'd talk with Apple about it, but they're not exactly the most responsive company. I was wondering if you folks at Ableton had metioned the problems to them?

(Of course I'm not sure you're monitoring this thread, Ableton folks, but...)

recording problems in Live 1.5.2 and 2.0.2 under OS X

recording problems in Live 1.5.2 and 2.0.2 under OS X

usb input problem with live

problem doesn't appear to be CPU usage

Have learned to live with it

SO glad I found this topic...

my own recordings

More on recording distortion

another user with input crackle

more on this problem