more CPU power = less "clicks" ?

[gilwe]

Using FM7 softsynth - when playing I can hear much of "click" sounds. Will this be solved if I use a faster CPU or moe memory ?

My current system -

64Mb RAM
P2 400
SB Live with KX drivers (3ms latency)
XP Pro

thanks

[Rimmer]

Originally posted by gilwe
Using FM7 softsynth - when playing I can hear much of "click" sounds. Will this be solved if I use a faster CPU or moe memory ?

My current system -

64Mb RAM
P2 400
SB Live with KX drivers (3ms latency)
XP Pro

thanks

3ms with the SBlive... that sounds well off...

I would upgrade your ram IMMEDIATELY. I suspect that is the problem. I use CPU meters expensively in Logic on the Mac as it gives me the idea when to back off from over doing the software synths and especially general fx plugins.

I don't know how much XP requires to run but I suspect it's pretty heafty. I hear XP is a bit of a dog..

SteveR

[GrammarCop]

XP requires 64MB RAM, but strongly recommends 128MB or more--I've heard without a pretty fast CPU (700Mhz+ range) it really doesn't run well. I use 98 on this computer (about 5 years old, 350 mhz AMD K6), XP on a new one (1.53 GHZ Athlon XP 1800+), and 2000 Pro on an 800 mhz laptop--2000 pro is damned slow on that setup. XP runs very well with fast processors.... I would recommend ME for a P2 400 since it's basically the third version of 98.

[gilwe]

Yes, of course this is a slow computer and definatley doesn't have enough power to run all these type of softwares ... that's obvious ...

I was just curious if the clicks were result of low memory / CPU speed or the sound card. But I think it is the PC specs as looking at the FM7's minimum requirements it says it need at least 128Mb with 450MHz CPU so I guess this is the source of the problem ...

For exmaple, the B4 (GRRREEEAAATT !!!) runs just fine over this PC when it's minimum requirements are 266MHz w/ 64Mb ram.

By the way, the KX drivers are just superior !!!

With a 40$ simple SB Live Value card I got as low as 2.66ms latency !! A friend which is using the EMU APS card gets "only" 10ms latency with it's original drivers ! (SB Live original drivers gets only 30ms latency) Try it !!

[Styrerra]

Locate your buffer settings in FM7 and increase.

You may be getting 3ms *coff* with your SB but the trade off is snap crackle and pops

[Boom]

You need to turn your latency up. 3ms would give even the best cards problems. A faster CPU would help, but you need a better card, or turn up your buffer size.

[gilwe]

What your saying is that even if I use a P4 1.7 with 256Mb memory, I'll still have pops if I stay with this sound card ??

BTW, I checked the buffersize - it is maximun (128 samples).
Will this maximum buffer size parameter increase if I use more ram ?

[Boom]

Originally posted by gilwe
What your saying is that even if I use a P4 1.7 with 256Mb memory, I'll still have pops if I stay with this sound card ??

BTW, I checked the buffersize - it is maximun (128 samples).
Will this maximum buffer size parameter increase if I use more ram ?

Its possible you could still have the clicks no matter how fast your CPU. The card is more important than the CPU power for pop/click issues.

Thats really odd that a card has a max buffer size of 128 samples, I think the minimum on my card is 128 and I run at 256 for about 13ms of latency. It would not increase with more RAM, the buffersize choices are set by the audiocard driver.

BTW, Windows XP needs 256mb to perform well. I noticed you have 64mb which is way too low, especially for audio. Id really consider getting 512.

[gilwe]

Yes, of course these are very low system resources for running XP and audio softs ...

Anyway, I noticed that when increasing the latency, the buffersize get larger as well ...

[P.Sound]

Originally posted by gilwe
What your saying is that even if I use a P4 1.7 with 256Mb memory, I'll still have pops if I stay with this sound card ??

BTW, I checked the buffersize - it is maximun (128 samples).
Will this maximum buffer size parameter increase if I use more ram ?

I think what is being said is that first try to increase the parameters of the sound card and see if anything gets better?

Going to a P4 is most likely not as much of an issue as will be the chipset its paired with and amount of RAM. XP does not really run well with less than 256MB for anything audio. Chances are, its going to be a package deal. No sense just upgrading the motherboard and CPU if you can't do it right. The Soundblasters have well known problems with VIA chipsets. So if you go to an Intel 845 based motherboard, you may well be able to use your card.

Maybe this thread (http://acapella.harmony-central.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=25915) will help?

[gilwe]

Checked it once again ... when increasing the latency parameter - buffer size increases as well and less click are being heard. Now with latency set to 10ms almost no click is heard.