PreSonus Forums

Hello,
Would someone please help? Are there compatibility issues with my PC I don't know about?

I get crackles and clicks during playback. I thought maybe a cable issue, but the only thing connected now is the USB, and my headphones directly into it, and the issue persists. There's no issue with bouncing and playing back on another device, and I'm not sure if there's issues with recording, as I haven't really tried much yet. This happens in Cubase 10 and in any other windows audio (youtube, media player, vlc, etc....). Also playback on the 24.4.2 through a firewire card worked fine (I have uninstalled it since).

Here's a bounce I did from Cubase last week:
https://soundcloud.com/crossfirerecording/hammerdown

I've gone through the recommended steps to optimize my PC for audio. Cubase and task manager show very little system impact when running. It's a brand new computer, and almost nothing else is installed except Cubase, Universal Control, VLC, and Chrome.

All my drivers and BIOS are up to date.

Asus WS C246 Pro motherboard
Windows 10 Pro
Intel 9700k
32GB GSkill Ripjaw RAM
3 solid state hard drives

Please see attached SystemInfo file for more information.

Should I get a USB 2.0 PCIe card, and what could someone recommend? Only ones out there now days are Belkin and StarTech.

Thanks for any help,
Nick

It would be interesting to get to know if you can hear crackling and clicks when you use Studio One or Capture instead of Cubase. If the problem is still there, you could contact Support or ask in "Answers". Support will answer questions related to PreSonus hardware and software, but not about "other" DAWs. I don't think you will find a specialist here, who could answer your question. It might be an idea to ask in the Series III Facebook group. There are guys from PreSonus answering there.

Presonus StudioLive Series III Users
https://www.facebook.com/groups/271981426558794

I am having the exact same problem with my SL32SX. Using Studio One, Windows 10. This is my third Presonus board and I have had audio output problems with every one of them. My last two just stopped putting out audio, had to send back to the factory. They said it was a firmware issue, that they just reset to factory default. Strange that I had already tried the very same thing with no success. I love the board and Presonus, but damn, I just might have to quit it.

There is an article in Knowledge Base dealing with this problem. It might also be an option to contact support. There are problems with new computer generations...

"Pops and Clicks on Windows 10 with Quantum and StudioLive Series III"

https://support.presonus.com/hc/en-us/a ... 0028620552

Commenting because I also was having cracking and popping issues during playback. Bounce it and play it everything sounded fine. Weirdest thing ever. I was first connected to an IBM laptop with Windows 10. It is up to date etc... not too old either. Got noises. Started using older PC that is basically in new condition due to lack of use after purchasing for so long. HP desktop bought in 2012 with Windows 7 on it. I finally up dated to Windows 10 back during December 2020. Got everything downloaded and installed on here and got the noise too. Sometimes it doesn't happen though. I don't get it. I did go through and mess with settings to try and combat the issue. Reading info from other related sources/posts. Maybe the last up date did the fix for me. I don't seem to be getting the noises now. I have StudioLive 32SC Rack mixer Series iii. Bought back in August 2020. Anyway that's my experience so far. Still a great mixer and love the software though.

I can confirm I’ve the same problem with Studio One using StudioLive 16R interface. Anyone have found a solution ?

Thanks

wahlerstudios wroteIt would be interesting to get to know if you can hear crackling and clicks when you use Studio One or Capture instead of Cubase. If the problem is still there, you could contact Support or ask in "Answers". Support will answer questions related to PreSonus hardware and software, but not about "other" DAWs. I don't think you will find a specialist here, who could answer your question. It might be an idea to ask in the Series III Facebook group. There are guys from PreSonus answering there.

Presonus StudioLive Series III Users
https://www.facebook.com/groups/271981426558794

I am having the same problem using reaper .. I also have the problem with studio one.

A quote from one of the Facebook groups from yesterday. Question: "When I set the sample rate to 41.100 everything works out smoothly. When I change it to 48.000 there is a cracking and pooping sound in the playback and in the recording. My computer has an SSD 16gb ram and i7 so I think it can handle it." Answer: "Updating bios on motherboard solved the problem."

Also check the Knowledge article: "Pops and Clicks on Windows 10 with Quantum and StudioLive Series III"

https://support.presonus.com/hc/en-us/a ... 0028620552

Known Issue with Intel 300 Series based USB Controllers. Some variants perform better than others, but all of them have issues. 2020 Macbook's also have the issue, which has been confirmed by two other Pro Audio Companies (Antelope and Apogee).

This is not just a Series 3 issue, it's an Intel issue that all companies are actively looking to fix or work around.

The ONLY workaround is to bypass the USB Controller altogether, which you can only do with PCIe USB Card. Laptops will need Thunderbolt 3 to add external PCIe chassis + USB Card.

Outside of THIS specifically, all other issues are CPU Power Management related (C-States, etc), and is just a matter of tweaking the system or buying one that will work.

So a USB 2.0 PCIe card will fix this?

Have been jumping through the support hoops and they haven't even suggested switching to 44.1 - which 'fixed' the problem.. but I want/need 48 since mine all get synced do videos.

Dell XPS 8930 i9-9900, 64GB RAM

EDIT - Disabling the C-States as shown in the Presonus article linked above a few posts 'fixed' the crackle at 48 kHz... however my CPU fans run at full jet engine takeoff power all the time sooo.. still curious about the PCIe 'fix"

I am having this issue as well with a Gigabyte Z-390M motherboard. I have disabled all C and P states in my BIOS and have got close to solving the issue, but not 100%.

What I notice is that if I change buffer size in S1 it goes away for a few minutes. If it is happening in iTunes, and then I start Youtube it stops for a few minutes, and if I refresh my web browser it stops for a few minutes. But, there is no way to end completely.

I have ordered a PCIe USB card in an attempt to solve it. If that does not work I am buying a M1 Mac Mini and retiring this PC for movie watching in the living room. Intel will never get around to addressing this issue.

Tonight I installed a FL1100 chipset USB 3.0 card in my 300 series Intel motherboard and the issues vanish completely. I am pretty sure this solved the problem. I will post back if this changes, but I am pretty certain this was the cure.

EDIT: Seven days of solid use and the problem is 100% gone. If you have a 300 series Intel Mobo get a PCIe USB card.

Hi. I'm just giving my experience with this issue, in case it could be useful to some other presonus user...
I'm also seeing that most questions are a little older and or not solved.
The issue: crackling while playback (on any DAW soft or windows sounds)

2023-nov-08
Laptop Acer Nitro 16 (AN16-51). i7-13700H, 16GB RAM DDR5, 1 TB NVME, NVIDIA RTX 4050 laptop GPU / Windows 11 23H2
Presonus StudioLive Series III 24 & 24R (both)
My laptop is brandnew. Presonus equipment were older and in use with others PC flawlessly

Obviously my problem was with my new laptop (is a nice laptop, so there had to be "something" to do)

I tried several settings with mixers (44.1/48 - 16bit/24bit - buffer size - compatibility mode - updates). > Nothing

Then tried other optimizations at the laptop. Almost everything (except some functions that couldn't be -dropbox, drive, etc.-) > Nothing

BUT WHAT WORKED for me, was going to: System properties > advanced system settings > Performance Settings > Advanced > Adjust best performance for background Services.
After this, no more crackling while playback.

Hope this could help any one before loosing too much time!