OK. This is SOLVED.

The static was the Amplitube plugin used on the demo song. It was not registered. And no window or message popped up saying there is a plugin that needs to be registered.

So I was left with this annoying bursts of static sound and no way to know what it is. Thank God I did not fiddle with Windows and screw it up or go buy a new sound card, etc.

To help others with this problem, here is what it sounds like. No message pops up.

https://youtu.be/mpL3CJW5byA



Original post follows:

Installed BIAB 2018 yesterday upgrade from 2015. But not all real tracks. Ran fine.

Then I installed all the latest real tracks on my fast SSD drive. Still has 25GB free.

Also installed Build 509 this morning.

Now I get random static. Also saw an "Error opening windows streaming -9998" when I was trying out the WAS driver.

Went to MME, set latency, got setting from audiophile 2496 soundcard.

Still have static.

This is a fast Intel i7 CPU with eight cores and 16GB RAM.

It sounds like you did the right things.

Did it work OK yesterday on Build 508 (the supplied build)? You could revert.

I know you used BIAB to get the soundcard buffer settings, but go into it manually and increase the buffer size and try that.

Also ran a check of the SSD, and it is good, according to Intel tools.

I will try reverting.

Reverted to 508. No luck.

Still static and a "windows cannot open stream" error when trying to set up as WAS.

What is the Operating System, Glenn?

Glenn, you probably know this, but the backups moved in version 2018. They are now in /BB/Data/Backup. Find the latest dated .exe file and copy that over BBW.EXE in the /BB folder.

EDIT: Nevermind, you found it.

What happens when you change the audio driver from WAS to MME? I could not get good results on my system with the WAS drivers. Every system is different...

Matt,

Moving to MME doesn't help. Also, in MME the audio stuttering green box sometimes appears and suggests adding to the audio latency setting. I tried that at 500 and then at 2000. But still get static.

One thing I notice is the timing count off is not even. The first two clicks seem faster.

I wonder if there is an internal clock issue.

Does Process Explorer or Task Manager show other CPU or other I/O intensive activity?

OK. Tell us about your operating system and about what you use for sound. Someone here may recognize something specific. Otherwise, after we've had some time to solve it, or not, call PG Music Support.

About that uneven count-off, I've had that off and on for years. Never did figure it out. In a standard swing type 1,2, 1234, the first half note is cut off or late, then the rest is OK.

Highly unlikely.

Windows-10 Creative Edition. Has been running all DAWS fine with the Audiophile Delta 2496.

I am going to try and move all the realtracks I installed before the static began, over to another drive for a bit and see if that makes any difference.

If I saw this correctly on the M-Audio Legacy devices page.... this PCI card supports ASIO.

Have you tried loading and using the ASIO driver for it?

WAS & MME are not good drivers for some of the audio gear we use. I use MME for BB on some of the machines but prefer ASIO depending on what I'm doing. MME is generally OK if you have all audio but mix in some midi and a real time synth and latency goes through the roof. I can't speak for WAS since I have never used it.

Guitarhacker, yes, I am trying everything. ASIO did not work either. Has static.

In ASIO did you change the buffers and latency settings?

Of all the drivers, ASIO should work the best.

Agreed. That was my first suggestion, but I don't think we have a report on that.

Hi, have you checked your devices to see if you are loading up an onboard audio device as well as the intended device. I found I had both devices loaded after upgrading to Win 10 1709.

For what it is worth

Tony

So, yes, ASIO fails as well, even with largest buffer possible. BIAB popup notes that latency is not used in ASIO.

Did a performance test, and the SSD is hardly breaking a sweat. No correlation between the static and any spike in CPU or drive data transfer.


I even tracked in performance monitor the realtracks files being used for disk transfers and there was no correlation there between static and the data transfers during the song playback.

I guess I will have to call support, but I expect to be led through trying all the audio drivers, etc. Which I did.

Perhaps I will just wait for a new build.

Not sure what you mean. Can you rephrase? Thanks.

Glenn,

Just to doublecheck some very basic stuff (and it pays to set the driver to MME to do this as BIAB usually works better with MME when problem solving).

Also, if there are any USB sound-related devices plugged in into your computer, disconnect those during the initial problem solving process.


1. Have you restarted your computer and not simply logged off? This has solved a number of sound issues just recently on this forum.


2. Have you confirmed that you soundcard playback is set to allow BIAB to take control of it when running? On Windows 7, I do this as follows...

(a) Rightclick on the speaker icon in the taskbar

(b) Select "Playback Devices"

(c) Rightclick on "Speakers" (#2 on image below) and select "Properties"

(d) Select "Advanced" (#3) and activate the two checkboxes (#4).


3. Restart the computer after setting the speaker as mentioned in (2) above. This guarantees that all memories are fully cleared.

In Windows right click on the Windows sign usually bottom left. Select DeviceManager when that comes up look down the list for sound devices check that only the audio device is running. Turn off the internal card which is done by right clicking on the unwanted card and selecting the turn off option.

What I did before that is in the same place delete the audio card you are using. If it is an external card make sure it is plugged in then reboot. This will force the device driver to reload. Then check in the DeviceManager to ensure you are only running one audio card.

I had to do similar to my Ethernet card which had some minor issues. There are heaps of comments in general in Microsoft forums about drivers failing after 1709 Windows answer is usually reload drivers.

Tony

Thanks everyone.

The thing is, BIAB 2015 realtracks ran fine on this computer.
So I really feel like this is a 2018 version issue, and not my Windows or device driver setup.

All I did was upgrade to 2018. Then the static started.

I tried all drivers, I adjusted latency on MME. MME gave static. I adjusted buffer on ASIO. No luck. Static. The Windows WAS-driver reported an error -9998 that it couldn't stream.

Thanks for the suggestions. Somehow when BIAB is loading realtracks parts, it losses the stream, I am thinking.

Tony refers to the odd habit of Windows to add back disabled devices after an update. This often includes an audio device for your monitor, for example LG HD Audio appears for my LG monitor. Useless. Anyway, bring up the Windows Control Panel, then Device Manager, and look at the Sound category. You will see your soundcard listed there. Anything else might be a candidate for being disabled.

Glenn,

Because BIAB set WAS (a new Windows driver) as the default audio driver with the update from 2015 to 2018, it's not safe to assume that all audio settings have remained the same after the update. Hence my post above. In 2015, the default driver was MME.

I've discovered over the years, updates that involve changing driver settings often impact on previous settings and everything needs to be re-checked.

Also, many times over the years, users on these forums have found that updating drivers for audio cards and video cards has often solved sound issues, too. (Just in case you haven't tried this yet.)

Lastly, if I recall correctly from an earlier comment of Peter Gannon's, the WAS error of 9998 is related to the fact that BIAB runs at 44.1 KHz and 16 bit, and the computer's soundcard is set to a default that does not match this (hence my suggestion in my previous post regarding checking that "Allow applications to take exclusive control of this device" is active because then, when BIAB is running, it will drive the soundcard at the audio values it needs.)

Regards,
Noel

I checked the M-Audio 2496. It is matching BIAB 44.1K 16bits. Only the Audiophile card is enabled. It has the latest driver. And it works fine with every other application on the computer that uses sound: Sonar X3. Spotify. YouTube.

Here is the sound I am experiencing. This is using good old MME.

https://youtu.be/mpL3CJW5byA

A couple of things to check. Are any of your sounds or your BiaB in Demo mode? This sound is used in demo mode for a lot of software.

Do you have WiFi or Bluetooth on? These can also cause these types of problems. I have had problems if my audio monitors are close to my router.

Is anyone using a CB or ham radio near you? Another source of sound problems.

Are you audio interface and video drivers up to date?

One last thing is to check for IRQ problems. Another piece of hardware may have the same IRQ as your audio interface and interfering with it. This is rare today but maybe it is a problem.

It only happens with BIAB. And it does not happen in BIAB when Chord Analyzing a WAV file for chord detection.

The static appears on a rendered wav.

If I turn off all tracks in the mixer, the static still appears over the silence.

I have been using BAIB for about 24 years, interrupt issues were a long time ago, as I recall. (Thank goodness).

Glenn,

Those periodic white noise sounds in your youtube clip sound like those created by a plugin that is not registered and it's being used outside its 'free trial' period. This is the way that plugins like Amplitube, Coyote Forte, etc. remind people to register.

Regards,
Noel

That's an interesting angle. But I don't know of any plugins that are unregistered.

I think a developer who knows what BIAB is doing during realtracks playback is needed. I will have to call support.

I agree with Noel; it sounds like a trial plugin that expired.

It sounded regular, as in every so often.

I was going to suggest DPC Latency Checker, but the playback never varied. Just in case, try downloading DPC Latency Checker. It says it isn't for Windows 10 but run it anyway and see if you get red spikes where you hear static.

Thanks Matt. I will make a close check of any plugins. I don't remember it happening in 2015 band in a box. But I'll take a look. And I should take a look at that latency checker.

Glenn, you should have posted that clip in the very beginning, just saying "static" doesn't mean anything. That noise has nothing to do with Biab or any of it's internal audio settings imho. And when you get this fixed, let Biab use the default WAS, it works great. The only time you might need the lower latency you get from ASIO is when you're playing/recording a softsynth LIVE in real time. If you're recording audio (as in you plug an audio cable from a guitar or keyboard into your M Audio card) there's no need for ASIO because you're not playing a softsynth.

One thing that jumped out at me is your comment saying you have 25 gigs of free space on your main system drive. To me that's not enough but you're saying everything else is running good but I would increase that free space anyway. Here's an article about it and yes, it's not a definite answer concerning SSD's so your guess is as good as mine but 25 gigs still sounds low to me:

https://www.howtogeek.com/324956/how-much-free-space-should-you-leave-on-your-windows-pc/

Do you realize that when Win 10 does updates it keeps a copy of the OS that's about 64 gigs by itself? It's perfectly fine to let the disc cleanup utility delete that. I just finished researching that last week so I let my Avast disc cleaner tool do it with no issues and my free space went from about 35 to over 100 gigs. Is that really necessary? Who knows but it can't hurt.

Bob

Glenn,

When you installed BIAB, did you do the full install? If so, I suspect that you have (re)installed Amplitube and it could be this that's causing the problem. (This is just an educated guess, though.)

While it's a free plugin, it does require registration.

Have a look at the below recent thread regarding Amplitube. The last couple of posts by Andrew (at PG Music) provide useful information.

www.pgmusic.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=449100#Post449956

Regards,
Noel

No I have a second solid state drive just for the sounds that stream. It's 250 gigabytes and it has 25gb free. The main system Drive still has about a hundred gigabytes free.

When I installed 2018 I just did the upgrade install. I did not add any amplitube plugins but maybe the demo song used the plugin. I will check.

I appreciate people taking the time to throw out ideas.

Well, well.

It WAS the Amplitube plug-in that is used in the demo song.

So do I need to PURCHASE Amplitube to use any of the BIAB realtracks that have AMplitube plugins?

Glenn,

You don't need to purchase Amptibue (unless you want the full version). This audio effect is available as a free lite version (which is what BIAB uses).

The lite version stills need registering, though. That's the only way to get rid of the noise you're hearing.

Regards,
Noel

P.S. If you're interested, here's a link to a thread where I explain how to identify what plugins BIAB sees installed.

http://www.pgmusic.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=451623&#Post451623

Good Lord.

I just spent a day of my life chasing down this problem.
How was I supposed to know? I installed the 2018 update. I ran the program.

Would it not have be better if BIAB popped up a window saying "NOTE: YOU MUST AUTHORIZE THIS AMPLITUBE PLUG_IN" ??

Nobody here knew either until I posted the video. So it wasted your time as well.

And I won't go into what a hassle it was trying to authorize the plug-in. Several software installs just to be able to get the authorization done. Took 20 to 30 minutes.

I am really irritated.

I was a software development manager at a Fortune 250 corporation. I used to tell my programmers "PUT YOURSELF IN THE SHOES OF YOUR USER. What do they know? What do they NOT know? Make the software interface INTUITIVE. What are they likely going to click on? Make it work. It is your job to make it easy for them; it is not their job to make it easy for you by learning your way of doing things."

Glenn,

I'm glad you got it working.

One of the hardest things on a forum like this is to try and solve audio and visual problems with only words. That's why your video clip helped a great deal. Once I heard equal length pulses of white noise occurring at regular intervals, experience kicked in to help me identify the problem.

All the best with 2018! It's a great program.

Regards,
Noel