BrainModular

Hi:
I am a hobbyist guitar player and I recently downloaded Hollyhock to trial the software. I am impressed with the product and would like purchase it but I have encountered a problem when using Hollyhock.

The problem I am having is random noise and pops when using the software. Hisses and pops occur under medium CPU load (50%).


My system configuration is:

Lenvovo Z50 Laptop
OS: Window 10 (64)
AMD FX-7500 Radeon R7, 10 Compute Cores 4C + 6G
Processor speed: 2.10 GHz
16 G of Ram
1 Tetra G of Hard drive space(Hybrid drive)

Midi interface is a product by JamOrigin called Midi Guitar.

Audio Interface is the IK Multimedia Stealth Pedal (ASIO drivers – by IK Multimedia)

VST’s used include:

Amplitube 3 and 4
SampleTank 3
Pod Farm 2.5
SynthMaster Player and others from the KVR website.

I have used this system configuration and software without any hiss or pops with Reaper and Cantable Lite but I would prefer to use Hollyhock.

Can this problem be solved?

Regards,

John

Yes. Under Settings | Global and Settings | Audio there are some parameters that may be adjusted.

I'd start with the Settings | Audio and make sure your device driver is setup the way you want it to be setup.

The next thing I'd do is look at the Usine blocksize under Settings | Audio. This made a HUGE difference for me - just upping the blocksize one size larger above the default.

I'd only start to mess with the items at the bottom of Settings | Global if truly desperate...

Block size is 256.

Problem still exists.

What should I try next?

I'd try increasing the ASIO buffersize/latency next.

If HH blocksize can go up again, I'd try that next.

*** I'll defer to the Usine folks for any input on the options under Settings | Global... I generally leave those alone.

After that, I'd start looking at various latency monitors to see if something else is impacting the system. A couple of freebie latency checkers are out there for Windows. These will tell you if your system is being overworked:

DPC Latency checker
This tool provides a quick yes or no - are you going to have issues:
http://www.thesycon.de/deu/latency_check.shtml

LatencyMon
This tool provides much more depth, and even helps you ID drivers & conflicts that may be causing issues on your system:
http://www.resplendence.com/latencymon

LatencyMon comes with plenty of help & recommendations. LatencyMon pointed out to me that my biggest issues were (a) wireless drivers and (b) network drivers.

If you see a bunch of red on either of these tools, you need to look closely at what else is running on your system. Or, depending on how old your system is, consider an upgrade.

I'm curious: What version of HH are you running?

There was a significant MIDI performance improvement in the early days of HH2... I'm not sure there is a freebie download verison of HH2...

Problem solved.

I bought a new interface. Steinberg UR 22 mkII.

No issues with Hollyhock.

Good news !

@shawnb: no freebies version, but the version you can freely download is a full one, you can save your work, load workspace and so

Thanks.