Audio Cuts Out: Audition With Focusrite Scarlett 8i6 on Windows

[jgbutler6534]

For years now I've been irritated by a transient issue with audio cutting out while I'm using Audition (currently build 13.0.6.38 on Windows 10).

The strange thing about it is that the playhead indicator continues to move along the waveform and levels continue to be displayed. It's hard to replicate, because it doesn't happen immediately or consistently. Just now, for example, I was working on a session for about 30 minutes and, with no apparent trigger, the audio just stopped (but the display was NOT frozen).

Here's one more clue: when the audio cuts out in Audition, it also cuts out for all other Windows system sounds. When I close Audition, the system sounds return. And when I restart Audition, the audio plays correctly.

Here are a few details about my set-up:

• Windows 10 on a Dell/Alienware machine
• NVIDIA High Definition Audio
• NVIDIA Virtual Audio Device (Wave Extensible ) (WDM)
• Realtek Digital Output
• Focusrite Scarlett 8i6 audio interface (and I've had the same problem with the Scarlett 18i8)
• Device class: ASIO
• I/O Buffer Size: 16 (and I've tried much higher buffers)
• Sample rate: 44100Hz (and I've tried higher rates)
• Attempt to focre hardware to document sample rate: off

I've done my best to test this with various troublemakers turned off (cloud services, external drives, etc.). No luck.

Thanks for any help!

Jeremy

[emmrecs]

Here's one more clue: when the audio cuts out in Audition, it also cuts out for all other Windows system sounds.

The advice always is: turn OFF Windows System Sounds when running Audition.  Indeed, on my system, Windows Sounds are permanently off.  And I've never experienced what is happening on your system.

HTH

Jeff

[jgbutler6534]

Thank you for the suggestion.

I set the Windows "Sound Scheme" to "No Sounds" and I still have the same problem. 

I have finally figured out a way to replicate it. If I open a session and just let it play, the sound will eventually cut out--sometimes after 20 minutes, sometimes a bit longer. Here is a screenshot of what my session looked like when I lost audio just now.

One additional thing I've tried is to disable all the other sound devices in my computer other than the Scarlett. (See second screenshot.)

Thanks for any other suggestions.

[emmrecs]

Looking at your screenshot and specifically the point where the cursor is, the only track in use, Track 1, the waveform representation clearly shows the audio as "fading out".  Is that one of your "silences" (although the meters clearly show audio is being output)?

Further along the same track, again there are "gaps" and some degree of discontinuity in the waveform; are these the "silences"?

[jgbutler6534]

Thank you for the response.

What you are looking at is a radio program I was editing. There are some fades from one song to the next, but no silences or gaps of more than a second or two. The problem I'm describing is one in which the audio is totally dead silent while the playhead cursor continues to move along tracks where audio definitly exists.

Sorry that the screenshot is a little misleading in that regard.