Strange distortion when recording

[Ryouni]

Hi all!

Having a strange audio issue with Audition CC. It started a couple days ago. When I try to record voiceover, I get distortion like this: https://youtu.be/D-taVDR-FB0 

It'll go away if I restart the program or I change the audio hardware/buffer size, but then it'll start right back up again. I've tried upping the buffer size to 1024, I've updated all my drivers, reinstalled the drivers for the pre-amp, but nothing seems to fix it. It gets really frustrating when I record 15/20 minutes of material and then find out it's all unusable. 

If it matters, I'm using a Lexicon Omega pre-amp and a Rode NT1-A mic. 

Any thoughts on how to fix this or what might be going on?

[SteveG_AudioMasters_]

Are you using the latest Lexicon driver?

[Ryouni]

Yes, uninstalled everything and reinstalled with the latest driver. Everything was fine until a couple days ago when this problem just started happening.

[SteveG_AudioMasters_]

Which driver class are you using? I don't know if there's an ASIO driver included, but if there is, that's the one you should be using on a PC. (You haven't said what you are using - it makes a huge difference with sound devices!)

[Ryouni]

I'm using a PC (Dell XPS 1550). This is the driver that I downloaded. I assume it's an ASIO driver, but I'm not actually sure.

[SteveG_AudioMasters_]

That all looks pretty much correct - which leaves me wondering what else it is in your computer that has the capability to override pretty much everything as an interrupt. Two hot favourites are anti-virus software - it shouldn't be scanning drives you are trying to record to, and sometimes wifi polling can have similar effects. It has to be something that can take over a lot of resources though, as ASIO cuts through most of the OS in order to work with low latency.

You might want to try running something like Microsoft's ProcMon to see what it is that's causing this, because it shouldn't be happening with those settings.

[Ryouni]

Thank you. I'll check it out. I'm not terribly sure how to use it. It seems weird though that just switching the buffer size will immediately fix the problem. It doesn't matter if I make it bigger or smaller. Which makes me question if it's a resource issue or something else. I haven't uninstalled and reinstalled Audition yet, which I probably should do too.

[Ryouni]

I'm not sure I know enough to navigate my way through process monitor. Here's an image of what happens after about 10 minutes, whether I'm recording or not. The waveform will suddenly become intercut, like this.  

Then, if I change the buffer size either up or down or restart Audition, it records normally again for about 10 minutes, then does the same thing. 

[DavidStoneDJ]

I am having this exact same issue, I'm using a 2020 Macbook Pro 2.3 GHz 8-Core i9 with 32 GB RAM - and it's often the only thing running outside of Safari (which sips memory as opposed to Chrome). I have absolutely no lack of horsepower. It's incredibly frustrating, as I'm not aware of the issue until after I've been recording and I listen back. It's really taking down my confidence in this software, especially since I have not had any similar issues using something like Ableton Live.

[DavidStoneDJ]

I will add that I'm using the following:

- input from Pioneer DJM 900nexus (input via USB - it has a Core Audio compliant sound card, and drivers are up-to-date)

- Scarlett 2i2 for output monitoring

I am usually recording two - three channels through the DJM 900nexus into the multitrack

It is intermitent and unpredictable, I could be recording fine for one day, then the next day under the same circumstances and the audio is ruined.

[SteveG_AudioMasters_]

Same symptoms, Mac and PC... Doesn't happen to other people (certainly not reported here, anyway)... Leaves buffer-sized gaps...

Yes I'm pretty sure it's a buffer issue of some sort. Go to Edit>Preferences>Media and Disk Cache and ideally create a separate folder on your HD for the primary temp file - the secondary isn't so important (I manage fine without one). Also whilst you're there, click on the 'clean' button in Shared Media Cache Files. Depending upon what you've been doing, that can easily get clagged up with stuff that really doesn't need to be there.

If none of that fixes anything, report back and I'll escalate it.

[simmo94]

Hey Steve,

I have also been regularly encountering this weird issue for the past few months and just stumbled across this support forum. My recordings sound identical to the YouTube link above. Also using a Mac. Followed your instructions but the issue persists. I should also note that the issue is totally random and sometimes crops up on one day but then not the very next. It is extremely frustrating and I am totally lost for a solution.

[SteveG_AudioMasters_]

I still have no idea what it is, but enquiries have been made...

[_durin_]

Hi there.  I reached out via email to see if we can troubleshoot this over a screenshare sometime soon.

[defaultm8a3nku3g8iv]

any chance of a post to fix this? It's been happening on and off in Audition only for me, no other programs. Thanks!

[defaultxh9wb4m7zsnq]

Im having the same issue, running a Komplete Audio 6 with a board going in. Sounds fine in other programs like OBS but not Audition. What is stranger is that this seemed to work just fine a month or 2 ago. 

Has anyone found a solution? 

[Regina245385439z0p]

I'm having this issue as well.  The recording made by the original poster is spot on. I run a scarlett 4i4 into a Dell Optiplex i5 in an education setting. The weird bit is I am recording 20 different classes.  This is only happening to one class.  All of the files for that class are "infected".  I have had to go through and delete the entire file and start again. There is some connection somewhere that this particular file is making that I can't find.

[filip23592753zxfk]

Hello everyone! I was having this problem and I was troubleshooting all night! I mild distortion and I noticed that my mic didn't pick up when I snapped my fingers. The mic worked fine on other computers  though. So the distortion came due to some sort of noise reduction. My soundcard had some sort of audio console software where an AI noise reduction was turned on. I turned this off and no more distortion and I can snap my fingers again. Hope it helps someone, cause this has bothered me for a month!