Audio Latency Problems/Solutions With All Dell Studio & Studio XPS(And any other one) Discussions

[Ramekin]

I've made another observance: (being no audio pro myself)

When a sound is being played after a period of silence (2-3 minutes) on my XPS1640, I hear this small crackle right before the sound starts, often even chipping off the very beginning of the sound. To a non-techie like me, it sounds as if the sound chipset was being turned 'on' before being able to play sounds.
Has anyone experienced this? Could this be a latency-connected issue? Or is it just plain malfunction?

[hjorte]

I asked the same question just yesterday. I'd say it's bad programming of the audio engine.

Annoying audio click - can you hear it?

[Robboman]

I don't get it. The professional audio recording bit... most of you users seem to disqualify the machine based on the DPC Latency tool only and the spikes it reports. But does it really matter in your particular audio setup?

Yes, but first off I can't even get my Presonus FST firewire interface to connect at all. I have the exact same red bars, when I connect my FST the app's tray icon appears and dissapears every 4-5 seconds, keeping a beat with the red bars in DPC Latency Checker.

Here I am. Repeating myself.
Running a mobile sound studio using a Dell Studio XPS1640.
Using an external Firewire audio interface of course.

Connected to the built in 4-pin 1394 > onboard RICOH firewire chipset? Or are you using an addon firewire card in the Express54 slot? I can't find a definitive answer if that could actually help.. I mean I know it won't fix the red bars issue, but could it at least get my FST connected?

Using a second, external hard drive for audio.
Having the same massive latency spikes like you guys.
Using Pro Tools audio software.
Using the dreaded CPU hogging Vista 32bit OS.

And I can record and playback as many tracks as the power of the machine allows -
WITHOUT ONE SINGLE DROPOUT OR GLITCH IN THE AUDIO.

But at what sample rate and buffer size? How low is your latency when playing a VSTi instrument from a midi keyboard controller? If all you are doing is mobile multitracking live bands and micing everything, I guess latency wouldn't matter much, you could use a large buffer size to get smooth audio despite the 'red bars'.

I'll be actively watching this thread for answers, and I'll be sure to report any solutions I find. BTW, I just installed latest BIOS A06 dated Apr 21st 2009... no difference.

[justanothercrowd]

You are probably running a higher buffer setting than most...if you try to lower it you will get drop-outs...

The whole issue with DPC is it keeps you from using the lowest possible buffer size/latency on DAW software....so yes you can make it work but a machine without the DPC latency will run better with a smaller buffer and less latency

This is in response to the pro-tools guy...any DAW can do it but we are 2009 not 1998 so we need not use a large buffer and high latency

[Nition]

Hjorte, which Pro Tools hardware are you using, and is this on low buffer settings? Mine started getting issues with the buffer below 512 on an MBox 2, no matter what I disabled. Someone earlier said their M-powered Pro Tools seemed to be working fine, however.

[hjorte]

@ robboman, I'll get back to you. You have some good points, but I'm at work right now and can't do a couple of test I have in mind.
I'm using the built-in Ricoh fw ctrl.

@ Nition, M-Audio 1814 Firewire. 128 samples buffer, it's the lowest M-Powered will go with the 1814. It's a designed limitation/capping, not a problem locally with my laptop.

[Nition]

128 would be plenty low enough to get issues; seems like M-Powered just doesn't mind the latency for some reason. Oh well, that's a plus.

[SXPS16FTW]

I had the the popping and cracling audio problems when I had Vista on my laptop. Since I installed Windows 7 the audio problems have disapeared.

I think the problem can be traced back to the audio changes Microsoft made with Vista.

[justanothercrowd]

I had the the popping and cracling audio problems when I had Vista on my laptop. Since I installed Windows 7 the audio problems have disapeared.

I think the problem can be traced back to the audio changes Microsoft made with Vista.

Sorry but this is not an issue with Vista...theres millions of vista machines that are have no audio issues.

This has already been tracked down...(do some research if you want to really know) to poor IRQ assignment from the BIOS.

Untill Dell either changes the IRQ values for specific hardware or they create a larger BIOS to allow for proper addressing this will not go away.

[Nition]

It could be something to do with this specific BIOS AND Vista though, since some installing XP have reported the spikes to be gone. Obviously it's not Vista on its own.