Crackling static noise

[willyjacksonjs22]

Hi guys i have this noise problem with helix native. Is like crackling static noise when i palm mute. But it only happens with certain amps.it all happen when i downloaded ola englunds 5150 patch. Idk but this is wierd, if i use and od pedal and a noise gate and nothing else the noise is gone like 90% but if i use eq pedals racks and such like on the patch the noise is back!

 

Im using a scarlett studio first gen with unbalanced output, Daw is studio one 3 and logitech z623 speakers.

[Triryche]

Did you try adjusting the level coming into the plug-in?

[willyjacksonjs22]

All levels are fine. its wierd on my 6 string, if i turn the tone knob off the noise is gone. on the 7 is not that bad but its sound muddy. i tried a real amp to see if it was the pickups. and no noise, the 7 string sounded good like it was alive lol.

[Triryche]

Can you post a sample?

[willyjacksonjs22]

 

Can you post a sample?

 

no tone knob.mp3

[willyjacksonjs22]

tone knob on, on the 6 string.

 

on the 7th you could barely hear it. and still annoying lol. but the low end sounds muddy.

tone knob set on 10.mp3

[willyjacksonjs22]

idk if you guys wanna try the rhythm presets and see if its my gear or the presets. thanks

 

https://feared.wetransfer.com/downloads/ed94c76262ef06684b9089c973b844bd20160916103023/060340

[Malibu1328]

I am also getting a bunch of static on Helix Native.

I know in Guitar Rig 5 I can eliminate that static with the Gate nob at the top.

I also have the Helix Rack and don't get the static sound.

Thanks in advance.

[ChaosNone]

So I found what the issue is. Apparently this plugin is not multithreaded. I have a new i7 and this plugin maxes the processor when your patch has a lot of low end. I was using sonar and you can see the first core of the i7 processor max out and start crackling. This is very noticeable with the sandman patch on the 2nd play list. L6 please make this processor multi core supported and fix the low end maxing the processor. Something that helped me was cut the low end frequency in your patch. Other than this the plug in sounds great!

[willyjacksonjs22]

 

I am also getting a bunch of static on Helix Native.

I know in Guitar Rig 5 I can eliminate that static with the Gate nob at the top.

I also have the Helix Rack and don't get the static sound.

Thanks in advance.

 

 

yeah, same with Amplitube it works fine. what interface are you using?

[willyjacksonjs22]

I am also getting a bunch of static on Helix Native.

I know in Guitar Rig 5 I can eliminate that static with the Gate nob at the top.

I also have the Helix Rack and don't get the static sound.

Thanks in advance.

 

So I found what the issue is. Apparently this plugin is not multithreaded. I have a new i7 and this plugin maxes the processor when your patch has a lot of low end. I was using sonar and you can see the first core of the i7 processor max out and start crackling. This is very noticeable with the sandman patch on the 2nd play list. L6 please make this processor multi core supported and fix the low end maxing the processor. Something that helped me was cut the low end frequency in your patch. Other than this the plug in sounds great!

 

 

wow so that is the issue. thanks for the help! i hope u can help me with this other thing i know is not line 6 related. but i have bought their gear lol. anyways i have two guitars one ibanez and one jackson. both sound great on my peavey vypyr amp. but on amplitube is different. you know that metallic aggressive tone we get when we palm mute power chords ( ola englund type, metallica etc..) ? well with the ibanez it seems i cant achieve it on amplitube when theres allot of low end and its been equalized by others.( its a patch a downloaded from youtube) to much bass and noise that i have to make my own adjustments and problem solved. but its wierd that both can manage the tone pretty well on the vypyr and that the ibanez cant on amplitube with amps being equalized differently. could it be my pickups that cant manage well the low end or something, or the interface? thanks

[DogsoverLava]

I'm getting this same static issue on my rig --- and all the usual suspects have been checked and this is not related to my gear.  Not sure what the issue is - I have an older i7 -- boatloads of RAM -- running Reaper ---- Can run GuitarRig and Amplitube and every plugin known to man simultaneously without any issues -- a single instance of NATIVE and I get load grade static and crackle on all the sounds.

[willyjacksonjs22]

I'm getting this same static issue on my rig --- and all the usual suspects have been checked and this is not related to my gear. Not sure what the issue is - I have an older i7 -- boatloads of RAM -- running Reaper ---- Can run GuitarRig and Amplitube and every plugin known to man simultaneously without any issues -- a single instance of NATIVE and I get load grade static and crackle on all the sounds.

Yeap line 6 should fix that issue. Good thing that i only downloaded the trail. I was about to buy the full version.

[GilmourD]

I've got the crackling issue on my box, too. It seems to have lessened when I changed some clock settings in my BIOS (run at max clock all the time instead of throttling, although that still seems to not actually be happening). No individual core seems to be maxing out. I toggled between Helix and Pod Farm 2 to make sure it wasn't a newly occurring hardware issue or something but PF2 is OK.

 

Running in the latest Reaper.

 

My rig is: 

Desktop: [Processor: Intel Skylake i5 6600K (stock for now)][HSF: CoolerMaster Hyper 212 EVO]

[PSU: EVGA SuperNova 750 B2][Case: Corsair Carbide Series Air 540 Silver]

[Motherboard: AsRock Z170 Extreme4][RAM: 2x8GB Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4-2666]

[Video: eVGA GeForce GTX 560 Ti DS Superclocked 01G-P3-1567-KR]

[Hard Drives: Samsung 850 EVO 500GB]

 

All that said, damn, these tones are nice.

[Torray654]

Having the same issue here, popping and clicking noises, on every pre-set I have tried, crunch, clean, etc... I do not have this issue with any other pluggin I am using. I have Pro-tools 12. plenty of processor, ram, blah, blah, blah.

[robvde]

I have the same issue here with Reason 10. Moved audio interface from Asio4All to a native Asio driver but that didnt solve it. The only thing that seems to help is to increase the amount of samples in the buffer even up to a point where with a "smaller" buffer size the playback of a song slows down. This all happens as soon as i enable the helix native effect, switching off the effect in Reason brings it all back to a normal state.

 

I'm using the latest Lenovo Yoga, i7 and 16GB. Interfaces tried: Shure MVi with Asio4All drivers and the Roland Duo Capture MKii with native Asio drivers.

 

Any suggestions are welcome but  at this point the Helix Native is pretty much useless .

[FortyPsi]

I had exactly the same problem.  It was completely unusable.  Cracking, spluttering fizzing and popping.

 

I did a little searching on latency and found various ways to detect problems within my system.

 

I can't remember which free latency check programme I used but it identified a few areas of concern.

 

Then I read that power saving plans can schedule operations and this could cause latency issues.  I changed my power settings from Balanced to Maximum performance.

The Latency check program reported that my system was now fine and Native now runs perfectly with a lot less CPU usage.

 

So it may be worth checking your power plans.

If that fails try one of the free latency detection programs and it hopefully it be able to tell you what is interrupting the process.

 

An i7 if far more than capable of running Helix Native.

It runs fine on my i3 with 4 gig or ram.

 

Sorry if I'm teaching you to suck eggs.  I hope this helps.

[soundog]

On a related topic ....  i recently started recording new projects (Logic Pro X) at 88.2 KHz, 24 bits bits (used to use 44.1 KHz). I started having problems with crackling and midi/audio synch. This is on a newer, potent computer with lotsa RAM. After reading some white papers showing experienced listeners often couldn't distinguish differences between 88.2 and 44.1, 24-bit classical recordings, I've gone back to 44.1 KHz, 24 bits and things have improved. Interestingly, many sample-based VI's work better at 44.1 anyway.

 

I don't want to start a debate about 44.1 v 88.2 v 96 KHz, but there are complex decisions to be made these days (sample rates, CPU, chip set, RAM, DAW, CPU-hungry plug-ins like Helix, audio interface, hard drive speeds, on and on). Trade-offs have to be weighed. The last thing I want to do is reset buffer sizes or freeze tracks when I'm heads down in a mixing session.

[Lachdanan0121]

On a related topic .... i recently started recording new projects (Logic Pro X) at 88.2 KHz, 24 bits bits (used to use 44.1 KHz). I started having problems with crackling and midi/audio synch. This is on a newer, potent computer with lotsa RAM. After reading some white papers showing experienced listeners often couldn't distinguish differences between 88.2 and 44.1, 24-bit classical recordings, I've gone back to 44.1 KHz, 24 bits and things have improved. Interestingly, many sample-based VI's work better at 44.1 anyway.

 

I don't want to start a debate about 44.1 v 88.2 v 96 KHz, but there are complex decisions to be made these days (sample rates, CPU, chip set, RAM, DAW, CPU-hungry plug-ins like Helix, audio interface, hard drive speeds, on and on). Trade-offs have to be weighed. The last thing I want to do is reset buffer sizes or freeze tracks when I'm heads down in a mixing session.

Not debating, as you are correct. Just including below why you are correct.

 

For end user listening 44.1khz is plenty. It encompasses the entirety of human hearing.

Humans hear in the 20hz to 20khz range, though as you get older, and depending on environment, as you become an adult that is reduced down to about 17khz.

 

The 44.1khz has a freq range of 1hz to 22.05khz. That encompasses the entirety of human hearing including babies, and children. Anything more would only be noticeable in the studio with expensive high-quality equipment, and there is a large chance it won't be that noticeable even there.

 

Also 12bit was cassette. 16bit was CD. 16bit is plenty for consumer audio. The only real benefit to 24bit, 32bit float, (or higher) is more headroom in the mix (in the studio) when the mixing/mastering engineers are still working on the project. When they get finished it will be out at 16bit, 44.1khz on a disc.

[soundog]

...thanks for all the interesting data; it gives me more confidence in going back to 44.1 kHz. And it gives me more disk space!

[adamqlw]

So I have now unfortuantely run into this issue. I have a 13.5" Surface Book 2, which should be plenty powerful for Helix Native. I made a complex patch utilizing 2 chains, the top has amp+2048 IR+2 EQs+delay, and the second chain has amp +2048 IR+EQ+Mod+delay. This patch seems to be maxing out a single core, causing a bitcrush type effect and clicks/pops. Raising the buffer helps just a little bit... but if I split the patch into two seperate patches, each being just one chain, it works fine. 

 

Initially I had planned to use scenes to treat a single patch as a stereo rig... this has brought my system to its knees for the tones I'm going for. So I've gone back to use 4 seperate patches. It's good enough for now, but it does make me wonder whether more optimization needs to be done, or if there is some way to make the plug in multi-threaded... or if there's just something wrong with my config. 

[soundog]

Its most likely the way your system and DAW handles multi-threading.

 

 

[adamqlw]

I managed to get this permanently sorted for myself, sharing the tips so everyone else can avoid the same user errors I did. I am running a Surface Book 2, FYI.

Firstly, it does not like being made to run high performance in clamshell mode, as heat dissipation is not optimal. This causes the system the throttle the CPU, in my case down to 0.8 gHz… meaning there was no longer enough processing power for real-time processing. Cue the emergence of clicks and pops. This is exacerbated by moving the power slider to “best performance”, which you need to. When not in best performance mode, the CPU frequency is throttled dynamically to conserve power. As it throttles up and down to meet shifting demands, it hits the point where real-time output suffers, creating the odd click and pop.

Also, my CPU has 4 physical cores and 8 logical ones. Cantabile and Reaper identified this as 8 cores, and defaulted to running multi-threaded with 8 cores. However, because real-time processing is critical for audio, this actually resulted in more clicks and pops. Manually setting this to the number of physical cores (in my case 4), solved the problem.

In summary:

Clicks and pops were related to CPU throttling down due to heat, CPU throttling down due to power conservation, and the DAW trying to make use of all logical cores instead of all physical cores. Making sure your mobile system is sufficiently ventilated, your power setting is on “best performance”, and your number of cores is the same as your physical number fixed this for me.

Previously, I was unable to run a single heavy load patch (drive pedal, compression pedal, 2 amps, 2 2048 IRs, stereo delay, reverb, chorus) without clicks and pops. Once I had all that sorted out, I managed to get 8 instances of that heavy-duty patch running at a buffer of 96 with 2 ms latency… Now I’m satisfied (also, embarrassed of my user error and pleased with having resolved it).

Hope this helps anyone else who’s run into problems.

 

[deparko]

I'm running into this "Clicks and Pops" problem and wonder what the fix is on Mac?

 

It seems to happen when I'm running Helix Native and also VLC running a video/audio track which I'm following. Would that cause this issue? I don't seem to have the problem if I run a single instance of Helix Native but if I introduce other work on the system we seem to run into this. Any advice?

 

I'm assuming this would not happen if I was running a Helix LT or HX Stomp since the processing would be outboard.etc

Thanks

Deparko

[soundog]

Increase your DAW's buffer size. Or, yes, using your Helix hardware as an external processor would work.

[olivierJez]

I have that same problem. It crackles all the time. and on high gain patches there is so much noise when i stop playing that it is unberable.

I tried to increase the buffers, lower the input gain, forcing number of processors to match physical ones.... no difference. The gear and patches are fine on helix hardware.

And Using helix hardware is not why i bough native too. Clearly there is an issue somewhere. It kind of ruin the fun a bit. Even with no guitar plugged, high gain patches always have a lot of static noise.

[soundog]

On 2/22/2019 at 3:14 PM, olivierJez said:

I have that same problem. It crackles all the time. and on high gain patches there is so much noise when i stop playing that it is unberable.

I tried to increase the buffers, lower the input gain, forcing number of processors to match physical ones.... no difference. The gear and patches are fine on helix hardware.

And Using helix hardware is not why i bough native too. Clearly there is an issue somewhere. It kind of ruin the fun a bit. Even with no guitar plugged, high gain patches always have a lot of static noise.

Does your computer have plenty of horsepower? If its lacking, even increasing the buffers won't help with crackling if you're overloading your system. Try a fresh DAW project with just a single Helix Native track and nothing else running on your computer, with I/O buffer set to max. Does the crackling go away or diminish?

[zkphill]

Check your sample rate, bit depth, and block size. Make sure that they are the same in your DAW and in your computer's sound settings.

Make sure they are the same everywhere. I did that and it eliminated the crackling noise.

My settings are 48 kHz, 24 bit, block size 512. 

[eriksan007]

I've run into this issue as well in Cubase and Reaper,  see my thread for the problem description, but no solution yet.

[olivierJez]

I kind off solved it, I still think it is more noisy than the hardware, but the main problem is that i was coming in way too hot. When direct in, i was using the old rule of play hard and use the input until it is not clipping. But when your record  raw track from helix, you realise how quiet the levels are, so i matched that. there is still a lot of static but when i add a noise gate at the start it is all fine.

I haven't done an in depth solving of why so much static, probably an accumulation of many things, but now i can play : Keeping my input level in check and noise gate.

 

try that

[soundog]

There are more ways for noise to get introduced into the signal using plug-ins/DAW than using Helix hardware. On top of that (as you have discovered) you have more places where you have to make sure you're not introducing digital clipping or overloads.

[eriksan007]

If you have a laptop, it could be due to faulty battery.

[letterk]

On 2/22/2019 at 3:14 PM, olivierJez said:

I have that same problem. It crackles all the time. and on high gain patches there is so much noise when i stop playing that it is unberable.

I tried to increase the buffers, lower the input gain, forcing number of processors to match physical ones.... no difference. The gear and patches are fine on helix hardware.

And Using helix hardware is not why i bough native too. Clearly there is an issue somewhere. It kind of ruin the fun a bit. Even with no guitar plugged, high gain patches always have a lot of static noise.

 

Just installed Native tonight. Using in Garageband. The noise on high gain amps is unbearable. Matchstick Jump isn't usable. I see the noise on the mains, not input, so I don't think it's anything before the computer. Computer is an iMac with an i7 and 32GB of memory. Plenty of horsepower and most cores not even working much.