Pops/Clicks during T-Racks 6 operation and in the exports

[randysalo]

Been a user of T-Racks since version 3 and was very excited to dive into the new features in 6. So I used the standalone app to master a 30-song soundtrack and the operation was pretty smooth, except I noticed some pops when switching between tracks and when the fade outs would happen. I played around with the sample rates but nothing changed. When I went to export the songlist, I noticed in several exports that I had burned in those pops and clicks either during the intro fade or the outro fade (so far I didn't spot any pops within the songs). Tried re-exporting the problem files, changing the format, changing bit rates, sample rates, adjusting the fades but nevertheless the problem was still there. Then I tried importing a fresh mix file and adding my plugin chain to the new file and still had the problem. Tried singling out individual modules (at first i thought the culprit was One but I ruled that out). To work around this, i rebuilt my signal chain in T-racks 5 and exported there with zero issues. To note, every time I export a file (WAV, AIFF or FLAC) i get pops at the end of the export process as well. So there are pops switching between files, when the songs come to end, during the export process and in the exported files and when applying presets or loading or deleting modules. Anyone else running into this problem? Thanks for any feedback!

System: Mac Mini Sonoma 14.6.1 (have not made the jump to Sequoia out of fear of compatability issues).

[randysalo]

By way of example, I brought the exported masters into cubase and sure enough, every single file has a pop at the beginning. However, as you can see in the T-Racks Waveform view, there is a fade added and no visible pop in the original audio.

Cubase:
https://imgur.com/a/kWqzXDC

T-Racks
https://imgur.com/a/F2Dhl0p

[randysalo]

Finally, I have now completed a test where I saved the preset of one of my chains and opened the T-Racks 6 plugin in Cubase. I processed the raw mix file (adding the fades directly in cubase) and exported without issue. My problem seems to be in the Standalone app only.

[DarkStar]

Check the audio interface settings in Cubase and in the T-Racks 6 standalone program.

[randysalo]

Check the audio interface settings in Cubase and in the T-Racks 6 standalone program.

Thanks. Yep, everything is identical and in fact Im using IKs Axe I/O interface to boot

Interface settings:
https://imgur.com/a/DfmzaUx

[randysalo]

I found it!

After testing T-Racks 6 on my macbook air with the same OS (14.6.1) i had exactly the same problem and I finally realized that it had something to do with the chain. All of the tape machines, Tascams and TEACS are producing a popping sound when added to the effects chain and they are causing the pops in the export. When I remove that from my chain and export there is no pop. And the pop is clearly there when dropping any of the tape emulations into the chain. Anyway to run this up the flag pole?

[Peter_IK]

I found it!

After testing T-Racks 6 on my macbook air with the same OS (14.6.1) i had exactly the same problem and I finally realized that it had something to do with the chain. All of the tape machines, Tascams and TEACS are producing a popping sound when added to the effects chain and they are causing the pops in the export. When I remove that from my chain and export there is no pop. And the pop is clearly there when dropping any of the tape emulations into the chain. Anyway to run this up the flag pole?

If you believe you've found a bug or are having a technical issue of any sort please open a ticket with IK Support via https://www.ikmultimedia.com/contact-support/

However, the suggestion to look at your settings implies that you should also make sure you have a large buffer size set up when using mixing or mastering plugins as they will be more intensive. Mixing and mastering plugins are not typically used for tracking / realtime recording as they require more system resources that can cause issues like popping and crackling. In the mixing and/or mastering context you'll need to use a fairly large buffer size on most audio interfaces even on powerful systems. 512 does not appear to be large enough a buffer size on your system. I know on my most powerful system I have mine set to at least 1024.

[randysalo]

Thanks Peter. I have opened a support ticket. As I wrote, I checked the issue at multiple buffer sizes up to 1024 (its just the screenshot showed 512 in that moment) and the same exact process works fine in T Racks 5 on both of my systems. Also, this occurred in the standalone app while mastering. As I wrote, there seems to be an issue in specifically the Tape Machines (plus Tascam/TEAC) within the Standalone app. Having owned every version of Tracks since version 3 this is the first time I have ever come across an issue like this.

[xtdmusic]

I have sometimes problem with sound when using T-Racks 6 and I realized that these plugins works ok if fixed size buffers are enabled for them (tested on two different DAWs with that option). Is not option recommended by developers, but still - when dynamic size buffers are not proper handled, this option fixing the problem (but also can increase delay).