Do Soundcards have Any Effect on DSP Power?

Gear
#1

I typically set my latency to 256, but using Neural plugins can cause all types of clicks and noise because the computer isn’t strong enough to handle it. I have a Intel(R) Core™ i9-9940X CPU @ 3.30GHz 3.31 GHz and a 1080, 64 gigs of ram and 2080ti.

I have an apollo twin soundcard, but Im curious if I get a “better” soundcard, if that can allow me to lower the latency to 256 without clicks? What can I do to lower the latency, without freezing effects, bouncing, etc. ?

#2

Oh man, I am not an expert on plugins so some other people will definitely help you more than I can, but are you sure everything is setup right?

I have like a 5+ year old i5 and a GTX 1660Ti (not that the GPU gets loaded) and 64 gigs of RAM and I can have multiple instances of the plugins (Petrucci, Tim Henson etc) open at once and set to 144 (3ms) without issues and that is usually with Twitch/YouTube vids playing on Chrome or with a game running in the background?! I just have a super basic soundcard that shipped with the system.

Occasionally I find that if I have been jumping back and forth between a lot of programs that all use audio, I start to hear some clicking noises but changing the sample rate to another rate then back again clears it up.

#3

I recently upgraded my computer and had similar issues (upgraded to a i7 12700, 64 gb ddr4). On my old computer I could easily set the buffer size to 128 without issues but on my new computer there was a lot of clicks and noise… I found this link and it helped med fix the issue. Especially:

Ensure your interface has its own dedicated USB port

USB hubs are known to cause issues with audio devices. These issues can include noise, disconnections and even the interface not being detected at all. Therefore, it is recommended that your interface is connected directly to its own USB port. (I put it in a USB 3.2 port)

Disable USB selective suspend

This feature can cause problems with devices connected via USB.

  1. Search for ‘Edit power plan’
  2. Click ‘Change advanced power settings’
  3. Click ‘USB settings’
  4. Click ‘USB Selective suspend setting’
  5. Click ‘disable’

I also changed my computers power plan to “High performance”.

I don’t know if this will fix your problem but it did fix mine so I thought I’d share it.

Now I set my buffer size to 64 @ 48 kbit and I don’t get any crackling sound anymore (not even when using multiple instruments in my DAW).

Good luck!

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