Maschine Plus sound crackling (2024)

November 21

I'm a little confused on a couple of things. Is this in the Maschine desktop software and using the Maschine Plus as a soundcard? Or is it in the Maschine Plus standalone when it is plugged to your computer by USB?

Is this happening on all projetcs? Any sound?

King swen Member Posts: 44 Member

November 21 edited November 21

November 22

Ok, have you tried with another sound output than the Maschine Plus? Even with the onboard soundcard, do you witness the same crackling? What are your audio settings in the Maschine software?

November 22

King swen Member Posts: 44 Member

November 23

I don't have another soundcard to try. Here are the settings that it's at. I reinstalled the driver and it seems to work a little better but the issue is still there. It's only when it's stopped. I tried adjusting the buffer size and sample rate and the problem persists.

DiosGnosis Member Posts: 196 Helper

November 23 edited November 23

I don’t know if this info helps, but I’ve noticed a significant noise floor when using NI hardware on Windows based PCs, at least, ones I’ve owned in the past.

The issue of speakers crackling when idle is something I ONLY experience when using Win & NI together.

This was the case for me more than 10 years ago with the NI Audio 6 MK1 and today with the Audio 6 MK2.

I was never able to establish WHY such a loud/audible noise floor on my Windows PCs and not my Macs but, it is so.

And I’m not Team This or Team That. I own a gaming PC and prefer that for that purpose.

For all my audio/music production, I go with what works with the least hassle. For me, it has been and continues to be Mac OS.

Mark Oxley Member Posts: 317 Pro

November 24 edited November 24

Similar issue as the OP.

Playback in Maschine 2 software is unaffected by pops/crackles caused by CPU spiking.

Playing my Arturia vst instruments through Maschine or Komplete Kontrol results in CPU spikes and the sound distortion.

I've tried both the Maschine MK3 audio interface and a separate interface and the problem remains.

I largely now use Ableton Live to create my music and the CPU spikes/distortion no longer exist when loading the same vst into a track. I've come to the conclusion that this is a windows/NI software compatibility issue that for me has never been fully resolved. There's been many threads in the forum over the years concerning this very subject.

I know that the OP is using Maschine+ but I'm wondering if my findings are related.

King swen Member Posts: 44 Member

November 24

November 25 edited November 25

Not sure. What if you use the Maschine Plus as output for your Windows system audio output and you watch a video for example or do you have another DAW or music program to check?

Make sure to set the sample for your Windows system to the same sample frequency.

Maybe some steps of this article might help: Windows Tuning Tips for Audio Processing

November 25

I'm a little bit confused here, you say you have the same issue then you say that "Playback in Maschine 2 software is unaffected by pops/crackles caused by CPU spiking." Or is it a typo and you are affected? Also OP is using the Maschine Plus and the not Maschine MK3. I would recommend to gather all info and make your own thread and/or contact our support: https://bit.ly/NI_support_maschine

Mark Oxley Member Posts: 317 Pro

November 25

Playback of my projects or demo projects in expansions does not cause any sound anomalies or CPU spiking but playing notes from a vst into a group does produce a fair amount of popping/crackling along with CPU spikes. This happens in Maschine 2 and Komplete Kontrol 2. It gets better with a buffer rate of 512 or higher (not ideal for low latency). In Ableton Live 12 I can reduce the sample buffer setting to 128 without any distortion or CPU spikes.

____________________________________________

Windows 11 home with latest updates

Last versions of Maschine 2 / Komplete Kontrol 2

Intel i5 13600k CPU

32 GB DDR4 RAM

Behringer UCM204HD audio interface.

November 26 edited November 26

The very first thing I check when I hear "crackling" that is unrelated to pre-amp peaks is verify that my device and OS are set to the same sample rate. i.e. I make sure both my sound control panel in windows and the Maschine 2 software, or whatever DAW I'm using are set to the same sample rate. I set both to 48000.

I only lower the buffer size if I'm experiencing latency of any type. Lower setting = more resource intensive, so if it was causing audio glitches, lowering it potentially make it worse. You have a pretty beefy computer, so I doubt the buffer size has anything to do with the crackling.

Mark Oxley Member Posts: 317 Pro

November 26

Ok, I looked at the sample rate setting in windows and it was set to 48000. I then loaded both Maschine and Komplete Kontrol and both were set at 44100. Ableton live was set at 48000. Changing Maschine and Komplete Kontrol to 48000 has made a massive difference. For some reason I thought they would automatically follow the windows audio settings and never thought to check.

A massive thanks for responding and clarifying what NI couldn't do.

November 26

A massive thanks for responding and clarifying what NI couldn't do.

Mind you, I'm really happpy that nother user showed you the way but you know, it was written in this thread, only 2 posts away from your post. Maybe spend more time reading the thread next time.

Mark Oxley Member Posts: 317 Pro

November 27 edited November 27

And maybe you should place an emphasis on having the same sample rate set in both Windows and your audio software mentioned in your windows audio tuning guide as its clearly an important setting.