Noise and hesitation when playing audio and video files

[Fabio]

Ron:

Here's how you might be able to fix it on your home speakers:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5ruAZ4Useg

I've never tried it so I don't know if this works.

-Fabio

[vcationguy]

Hi Fabio,

Thanks for the info.  Unfortunately, that wasn't it.    I had both cell phones turned off and it still did it.

When I was talking about external speakers before, what I meant was speakers through an amp.  I use a Bose L1 Compact system and it makes the noise when it's hooked up to it too.  I don't know what to do.  I'll keep trying different things.  My old computer is a Dell Latitude D800.  It has 2 GB of RAM, 1.66 GHz processor and only 59 MB of available video memory.  It does ok with VDJ 5.3 but I find it gets bogged down and even hesitates sometimes with VDJ 6.X with all of the other things that it can do.  This Lenovo handles the program great but it makes this danged noise!!!

Ok, now I'm venting.  lol

Thanks again for all of the suggestions.  I keep searching.

Ron

[Fabio]

I had both cell phones turned off and it still did it.

It may not be your phone...it maybe your neighbors...I've heard it can generate interference up to 40 feet away.  I've never confirmed this but I read it somewhere.

I know it's random but if you can, record it and post it for us...it might help.

-Fabio

[vcationguy]

Hi Fabio,

I don't think that's what it is.  The noise only happens when I'm playing audio or video, like when I'm playing music, watching You Tube or listening to internet radio.  When I'm not doing anything like that there is no noise.

Ron

[Justin]

I'm starting to agree with Ron - the amplifier is always on even when not playing audio, so it would be picked up with nothing playing...

So it seems we're back to a Windows and/or driver issue, and I'm running out of ideas...

[Fabio]

Me too, aside from a clean install, I'm out of ideas...

-Fabio

[vcationguy]

I emailed RealTek but never heard back from them.  I did see on a site where somebody downloaded a different version of the audio driver for a different model/mfgr that had this issue and it seemed to work.  I found the version they used and downloaded it.  There was a message on the site that said you should download the driver from the computer manufacturer because things from the computer mfgr might not work.  I haven't installed it yet but am getting closer to it.  I thought I'd wait until I was about to do a clean install before doing it in case it messed something up.  Do you guys have any suggestions or thoughts about installing this driver that was from the audio mfgr but not the computer mfgr?

Thanks,

Ron

[Justin]

I've done it before, especially with audio/video drivers. They always warn you to use the driver from your manufacturer, but sometimes the manufacturers don't keep up-to-date on older models. Even if they "support" the model, they don't really put any work into updating a driver for new Windows releases, etc. Just look at the release date of the driver offered by Lenovo and it's probably  older than Windows 7...

It's possible it won't work correctly, but it's not that difficult to revert back (set a "restore point" first). Just make sure it's written for the particular audio chipset and you should be good to go.

Realtek chips aren't great quality but they're pretty simple, which is why they are so easily supported in Linux. Which means the driver software is simple too...

[Justin]

One other thing, on my laptop I chose to install the AMD/ATI video driver rather than HP's driver. It's not that the HP driver is bad, it just bundled too many "tools" that were just in the way of the normal Windows dialogs for configuring the displays. I like what ATI offers, without the HP stuff tacked on.

For everything else I really like HP's support and drivers, especially for the business models (I have an HP Compaq 6910p that I absolutely love. Even though it came with Vista originally, they fully support 7 and 8 with new drivers on this machine). My last 3 laptops have been different HP business models and I will never go back to "consumer" models, or any other brand for that matter... just my opinion though

[vcationguy]

Well, changing the driver didn't do the trick either.  It still made the noise.  Looks like I'm going to have to find some time to do a clean install. 

Ron

[vcationguy]

Hi Guys,

Ok, here's an update on my noise situation.  I ended up taking the computer back to fresh out of the factory status.  I've been installing a program at a time and playing the internet radio and watching videos afterwards.  I've put most of the programs that I really want on this computer back on and so far, no problems!    (Hope I didn't just jinx myself!  lol).  Not sure what it was.  I'm wondering if possibly a program that was made for a 32 bit machine could have corrupted something on a 64 bit machine?  What do you think?  I don't know but I'm trying to figure this out.

Fabio, the Bose L1 Compact claims it's for crowds of up to 100 people.  It has a 6 speaker array and sounds pretty good, but like I said earlier, I like hooking the Fender floor speaker to it also because it really helps fill in the bass and overall sound.  It still sounds good without it.  If that wouldn't be big enough for you, check out the L1 S or L II.

Ok, I'm going back to playing with this computer and make sure it still works.  I still ordered a 32 bit back-up computer to have at gigs.....just in case! 

Ron

[Justin]

Well I'm glad that so far your system is working properly. Running 32-bit apps on a 64-bit system will NOT cause problems, however running 64-bit Windows is known to do so... only because 64-bit Windows itself is buggy. It has nothing to do with the hardware. I've been running 32-bit Windows on a Core2 Duo 64-bit laptop for a while now with no problems at all, except that Windows 32-bit only recognizes and uses 3 gigs of my 4 gigs of RAM (Linux does not have this problem...)

As for the L1 speakers, I'm curious and would love to hear them one day. A friend used to have the Bose 802 PA system and it was fantastic, both in quality and loudness... right now I just made an agreement to buy the speakers I "borrowed" from my buddy Rick Time to book some gigs...

A backup computer is always a good idea in any case. I always have my iPod Nano 5th Gen handy, and I usually have my step-son/roadie with me, and he has an identical computer to mine, with VDJ installed and ready, but thus far I haven't needed either. We got the same computers for Christmas last year (HP-Compaq 6910p). $200 each on eBay, and mine came with the docking station and a valid "refurbished" Windows 7 Home Premium (32-bit) license

[Fabio]

Ron:

Glad you got it fixed!  A clean install will usually fix most problems.

Justin, is correct, the 64 bit system is probably not the guilty party on this...although the Windows OS 32bit limitation of only addressing 3GB does have do with drivers.  Apparently MS discovered a driver compatibility issue while testing and imposed the 3gb limit even though the CPU is capable of addressing more than that....so the memory issue at least is a workaround for a compatibility issue.

I do believe, as Justin, mentioned that the 64 bit versions of Windows need to do a bit more maturing.

[Justin]

...although the Windows OS 32bit limitation of only addressing 3GB does have do with drivers.

Actually I researched the heck out of this the day I put two 2GB sticks in my computer... this has to do with Win32 still using 30+ year old legacy code, where it keeps the BIOS information at a specific address in RAM. Thus, anything beyond that point is inaccessible to any program or the OS.

There happens to be a hack available to change this, but it involves hex-editing the kernel, and since I don't feel like carrying around an 8 pound paperweight, I haven't tried it... plus any Windows update or service pack will render the hack unusable anyway...

But yes, it is a limitation within the OS itself, not the hardware. Linux (even 32-bit versions) will access the entire memory range up to (I think) 64 GB without any issue. Heck this GoDaddy web server that hosts my site has 24GB, and of course runs Linux It also has 8 processor cores...