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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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OP
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Songs with RT's that I have been playing for years are now starting to stutter using 2016 and BIAB seems to load songs more slowly. The stuttering occurs at exactly the same point in the song every time I play them. I haven't changed anything other than installing 2016. I use MME drivers and an external synth.
Any ideas?
Tony
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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I suspect that the new layered chord sheet takes much more time to be drawn by the program, causing this problem: http://www.pgmusic.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=323567#Post323567I had to increase the audio driver latency from 100 (which worked fine in BIAB 2015) to 500ms to solve the problem in v2016.
Latest BIAB version, latest build.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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PG Music Staff
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PG Music Staff
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Try setting a higher buffer setting in opt midi driver . The default is 499. Try 999.
Also, tell us the "same place" that is happening, ideal on one of our demo songs.
Have Fun!
Peter Gannon
PG Music Inc.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Journeyman
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I now realize that, as others have found, the stutter happens when the song reaches the bottom of the page and refreshes. That is why it happens at the same place every time. It doesn't happen with midi styles and is worse with Real Styles.
I'm afraid I am a little confused by this talk of latency and buffer - are they the same. I cannot find any mention of buffer in the midi options menu. Can someone walk me through what is being recommended to solve the problem. I am using an external hard synth and MME audio, if that makes any difference.
I am playing at a Xmas party this weekend and need to solve this problem immediately.
Thanks
Tony
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Click "opt" (top-left menu)
Then "Midi/audio driver setup"
The problem with increasing latency is that you'll get a delay, but sometimes it's the only way to give the computer enough time to breathe when it updates windows/screens and such (the problem you describe)
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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I'm afraid I am a little confused by this talk of latency and buffer - are they the same. I cannot find any mention of buffer in the midi options menu. Can someone walk me through what is being recommended to solve the problem. I am using an external hard synth and MME audio, if that makes any difference. Options -> Midi/Audio Drivers Setup -> Change this to a higher value  The good new is that Peter said they plan on optimizing these routines. Maybe in future updates...
Latest BIAB version, latest build.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Thanks for the info.
Unfortunately it makes no difference even if I increase latency from 0 to 2000.
I am really peaved by all this. I upgrade evry year and have spent $1000's over the years. How come the beta testing doesn't pick up glitches like this?
Can I just reload 2015 over the top of 2016?
I realize the new styles may not show in stylepicker.
Tony
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Can I just reload 2015 over the top of 2016?
I realize the new styles may not show in stylepicker.
Tony
Yes. I've never done it, but I believe you just look in the /bb/bb2015_backup folder and copy the newest-dated file ending in bbw.exe to the /bb folder (one level up) and overwrite the bbw.exe that's there. I think I would first rename that file such as bbw2016.exe
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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I'm having the same problem. I set the Driver Latency to 999 as suggested (though when I exit the MIDI/Audio Drivers Setup and then go back in the system resets this value to 987 every time). When I click Play on my song (all tracks are RT) I get the most gawd awful stuttering of all instruments. I then click Stop but the song keeps playing badly for a minute or two until the Stop command catches up and halts the song. I randomly selected other all-RT songs in my library and some play fine. I haven't tested them all yet.
I have a fast PC with Intel Core2Duo CPU @ 2GHz and 4Gb RAM using Windows 7. I have BIAB 2016 Build 427.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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rpuff, As a test, could you please try the following... 1. Open 'Options | Preferences' ("Prefs" button). 2. Click on 'Realtracks'. 3. Disable the option "High Quality Tempo/Pitch Stretch" that I've numbered 1, below.  4. Regenerate the song and play. If that doesn't help... 5. Re-enter the Realtrack settings and disable the option "Speed up generation of Realtracks" (#2 on image). 6. Regenerate and play. Regeneration will take a little longer now because the song will fully generate before starting (as opposed to partially generating before starting). Let us know the outcome. Out of curiosity, is the song you're having issues with a particularly fast song (say 165 bpm)? Regards, Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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I now realize that, as others have found, the stutter happens when the song reaches the bottom of the page and refreshes. Tony, By today's standards, my music computer is a little antiquated even though it runs BIAB fine. I have also noticed that when in chord sheet view and the view moves to a second page of chords, there's a little glitch as the screen refreshes to show the new chords. It's not consistent for me, though. It seems to happen more often with the first song I open and regenerate after starting BIAB. Have you noticed any consistency? I've been trying to work out how to make it reproducible so that I can let PG Music know. Regards, Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Noel
It only happens with certain songs, the ones with 5 or more RT tracks but sometimes it doesn't happen so it is not 100% consistent. PG should be able to easily reproduce it.
I thought of seeing what happens when I increase the number of bars per page to eliminate the refresh for those songs but I am also suffering from the 2016 "display options" glitch so cannot change the chord sheet!!!
Tony
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Tony, check that you have 32-bit video set. Here is a message from Dr. Gannon:
... setting windows colors to the usual 32 bit fixes it, and most people have this set as the default.
Start > Control Panel > Display > Change display settings > Advance settings > Monitor, and look at the "Colors" drop-down menu at the bottom-left.
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Tony,
Also, have you tried the different screen resolutions offered by your video card (in relation to the display issue). Some who have had this problem have reported different resolutions made display options work properly.
Regards,
Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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Tony,
In relation to the glitch, are you running an ASIO driver for the audio or the MME one?
Regards,
Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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My colors are set to 32 bit.
Trying different resolutions up to the max of 1366X768 makes no difference.
I use MME, I gave up on ASIO years ago due to latency problems and unpredictable behaviour.
Tony
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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ASIO drivers are only as good as the vendor making them. There is not one universal performance for ASIO; you have to keep trying and comparing to the WDM driver (MME setting in BIAB). If you changed equipment or updated sound card drivers, experiment again.
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Tony,
Have you checked to see if there is a driver update for your video card? (The reason I ask is because it seems that video card settings have been a stumbling block a couple of times with 2016.)
Regards,
Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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ASIO drivers are only as good as the vendor making them. I disagree. I use my ASIO driver in all my audio programs with 0 problems, but I don't use it on BIAB because it causes a lot of problems, that have been reported for years. In my experience, ASIO support in BIAB is really poor. On the other hand, the stuttering problem has nothing to do with the video drivers, in my opinion. Since its introduction in 2014, the new GUI is causing a lot of (reported) problems to many users because its fixed resolution and its lack of flexibility, and it's pretty obvious that the new chord sheet window video routines on 2016 are in beta stage and need much more work. I think that, as customers, we have the right to ask for that.
Last edited by Cerio; 12/10/15 06:24 AM.
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Have you checked to see if there is a driver update for your video card? (The reason I ask is because it seems that video card settings have been a stumbling block a couple of times with 2016.)
Noel I appreciate you trying to help but why the heck should I have to resort to updating my video driver? BIAB has been running perfectly on my laptop for years and now they have unveiled their latest and greatest. Is it up to users to start analysing their system and make changes or is it up to PG to do a better job with their design and testing? Do we all have to become computer geeks in order to use their product? We loyal users have spent $1000's following PG every year, it's now up to them to start appreciating their loyal users. Tony
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