Has anyone had distorted/crackling audio while using any synth apps in iPad 2? I notice this after I have auditioned a few apps and moved on to another app. For example, I'll test out some new programs in Sunrizer synth, move on to Addictive synth, to Alchemy etc., then to Gadget or Module and after one key, the sound is distorted static or crackling.
If you have experienced this, what have you done to rectify this situation? Thanks for any advice.
Distortion/crackling sound with iPad 2
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EJ2
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Distortion/crackling sound with iPad 2
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Jim (aka EJ2) Karma-Lab Associate Combi Developer
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Jim (aka EJ2) Karma-Lab Associate Combi Developer
CATALYST v 2 Blast of Inspiration for KRONOS & OASYS: http://www.karma-lab.com/sounds/catalyst2.html
CATALYST v 1 Combi Explosion for KRONOS, OASYS, M3, & K-M50: http://www.karma-lab.com/sounds/catalyst1.html
CHEMISTRY 3, a Groove Injection for Your Karma: http://www.karma-lab.com/sounds/chem3.html
SoundCloud MP3 Demoshttps://soundcloud.com/ej2-sc
Re: Distortion/crackling sound with iPad 2
I think the crackling is because the cpu of iPad 2 is too weak for these cpu-heavy modern apps like korg Gadget.EJ2 wrote:Has anyone had distorted/crackling audio while using any synth apps in iPad 2? I notice this after I have auditioned a few apps and moved on to another app. For example, I'll test out some new programs in Sunrizer synth, move on to Addictive synth, to Alchemy etc., then to Gadget or Module and after one key, the sound is distorted static or crackling.
If you have experienced this, what have you done to rectify this situation? Thanks for any advice.
Current Gear:
Korg Gadget, iM1, iMS20, iKaossilator, iElectribe, Korg DS-10, Korg Volca Keys, Minimax ASB, Roland TB-303, TR-606, Novation Drumstation, x0xb0x alu, Yamaha CS2x, Ableton Live 9, Les Paul Cherry Sunburst.
Past Gear:
Electribe MX-1, Kaossilator Pro, AIRA TR-8, Novation Bass-Station, Roland JX8P, Roland Alpha-Juno 1, Roland MC-303, Yamaha RM1X.
Korg Gadget, iM1, iMS20, iKaossilator, iElectribe, Korg DS-10, Korg Volca Keys, Minimax ASB, Roland TB-303, TR-606, Novation Drumstation, x0xb0x alu, Yamaha CS2x, Ableton Live 9, Les Paul Cherry Sunburst.
Past Gear:
Electribe MX-1, Kaossilator Pro, AIRA TR-8, Novation Bass-Station, Roland JX8P, Roland Alpha-Juno 1, Roland MC-303, Yamaha RM1X.
iPad 2 limitations
I have pared back everything on the iPad 2 that I can.
swiped off all other apps, turned off background app refresh and activated aeroplane mode. and have a blank project, just trying to play the live keyboard
All the in app instruments work fine.
The iM1 also works fine
All the module sounds have problems from within Gadget but are OK when played directly from the module. The Alexandria is the gadget with the least noise artifacts, all the rest are horrible.
Everything works properly on my iPhone6.
It just looks like an iPad 2 issue. There are a number of presets on Synthmaster that break down and crackle / go static. I haven't had a problem quite like the one with the module before where the entire sound is just noise (except Alexandria) but it really does just look like a resources problem on the hardware itself.
swiped off all other apps, turned off background app refresh and activated aeroplane mode. and have a blank project, just trying to play the live keyboard
All the in app instruments work fine.
The iM1 also works fine
All the module sounds have problems from within Gadget but are OK when played directly from the module. The Alexandria is the gadget with the least noise artifacts, all the rest are horrible.
Everything works properly on my iPhone6.
It just looks like an iPad 2 issue. There are a number of presets on Synthmaster that break down and crackle / go static. I haven't had a problem quite like the one with the module before where the entire sound is just noise (except Alexandria) but it really does just look like a resources problem on the hardware itself.
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Hankastral
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latency and voice number settings have no effect
Hi Hankastral
I hadn't tried changing these settings so thank you for suggesting this (fixed my Synthmaster issue
)
Unfortunately even choosing the highest latency for both Gadget and module and the lowest voice number makes absolutely no difference.
This does seem odd as I would expect things to improve just a little but I still get white noise on everything except Alexandria.
If I change latency and polyphony setting on Synthmaster then I can play properly even the sounds that would normally break up badly.
Looking closely at the actual issue when Synthmaster breaks down it is more like crackles and drop outs but it does start to play the sound if even for only a moment. When gadget + module plays there is just white noise, never even tries to render the sound except for Alexandria which has mostly white noise with a hint of organ behind it (nothing like the real sound) .
Maybe it is a bug rather than a resources issue??
Not sure.
I hadn't tried changing these settings so thank you for suggesting this (fixed my Synthmaster issue
)Unfortunately even choosing the highest latency for both Gadget and module and the lowest voice number makes absolutely no difference.
This does seem odd as I would expect things to improve just a little but I still get white noise on everything except Alexandria.
If I change latency and polyphony setting on Synthmaster then I can play properly even the sounds that would normally break up badly.
Looking closely at the actual issue when Synthmaster breaks down it is more like crackles and drop outs but it does start to play the sound if even for only a moment. When gadget + module plays there is just white noise, never even tries to render the sound except for Alexandria which has mostly white noise with a hint of organ behind it (nothing like the real sound) .
Maybe it is a bug rather than a resources issue??
Not sure.
It looks like a bug
If I ramp up the module setting to the maximum or 64 (ie lowest latency) then the module will crackle and drop out.
If I do the same in gadget (best latency is 128) it makes no difference.
I still had the module latency on 64 but I would expect that gadget doesn't use the module settings as I think it loads the module samples into itself for use during the install process. I did however change the module latency to 128 to match gadget and this makes no difference.
The other thing I found out is that the support / bug reporting options are very poor.
1) The links to developer website in the app store are broken (404).
2) You only have the option of doing contact us from the main US website on a form built for their hardware bought from a dealer.
If I do the same in gadget (best latency is 128) it makes no difference.
I still had the module latency on 64 but I would expect that gadget doesn't use the module settings as I think it loads the module samples into itself for use during the install process. I did however change the module latency to 128 to match gadget and this makes no difference.
The other thing I found out is that the support / bug reporting options are very poor.
1) The links to developer website in the app store are broken (404).
2) You only have the option of doing contact us from the main US website on a form built for their hardware bought from a dealer.
Decreasing the latency will make things worse. Try setting it to 512.
I encountered some crackles with the Madrid gadget running on an iPad-2, but with an audio latency of 256 they were mostly gone and at 512 there was no problem at all. Module hasn't caused any sound glitches for me.
However if I try to switch between Gadget and any other app, the iPad's CPU starts struggling noticeably. And running more than 3 gadgets without freezing is hopeless.
iPad-2 32GB, iOS 9.3.2
I encountered some crackles with the Madrid gadget running on an iPad-2, but with an audio latency of 256 they were mostly gone and at 512 there was no problem at all. Module hasn't caused any sound glitches for me.
However if I try to switch between Gadget and any other app, the iPad's CPU starts struggling noticeably. And running more than 3 gadgets without freezing is hopeless.
iPad-2 32GB, iOS 9.3.2
I guess I didn't explain why I tried with the lowest latency setting. i was trying to find the worse case scenario with highest CPU load. ( tried 128 and 2048 so a 16 times difference in loop rate for processing samples within gadget)
My point was that the module works as expected. It's latency rates are 64 to 1024 and setting it to 64 you get sound but with crackles and dropouts when you play anything more than 1 note at a time. When I use module sounds within gadget the white noise is always there regardless of latency setting.
To me it looks like the problem with module on Gadget isn't resource related it is something else, possibly a bug.
The module has high quality sounds so that either means greater sampling rater or bit depth (possibly both). Maybe the guys programming gadget didn't allow for a difference in the iPad 2 sound processing which the module programmers did (ie gadget is processing the sound assuming it is a certain bit depth and rate and it isn't).
Every resource related problem I have seen on the ipad provides some sound and crackles and drops out. you don't get solid white noise. Would like to know if everyone else's experience is similar.
My point was that the module works as expected. It's latency rates are 64 to 1024 and setting it to 64 you get sound but with crackles and dropouts when you play anything more than 1 note at a time. When I use module sounds within gadget the white noise is always there regardless of latency setting.
To me it looks like the problem with module on Gadget isn't resource related it is something else, possibly a bug.
The module has high quality sounds so that either means greater sampling rater or bit depth (possibly both). Maybe the guys programming gadget didn't allow for a difference in the iPad 2 sound processing which the module programmers did (ie gadget is processing the sound assuming it is a certain bit depth and rate and it isn't).
Every resource related problem I have seen on the ipad provides some sound and crackles and drops out. you don't get solid white noise. Would like to know if everyone else's experience is similar.
Happy news finally.
Many thanks Tim7.
I now have functional module sounds in gadget on the iPad 2 64 Gig iOS Ver 9.3.2.
Deleting and reinstalling both/either module and/or gadget did nothing, I still had white noise on every module gadget. Restarting the iPad after deleting made no difference (even the hard reboot holding down both home and power buttons). Also increasing free space to over 2 Gig made no difference.
I turned off autolock so the app wouldn't background (perhaps turning on background audio would also work).
You have to go to settings -> other settings -> utility -> Remove Module gadgets and turn that on.
Make sure module is running in the background
restart gadget and then go to add a module gadget and choose install (you can't just restore, have to push the module buy window and then instead of purchase it will say install).
And (big cheer), it works now.
Looks like the initial install got corrupted somehow and this was the only thing that got the module sounds working in gadget (short of perhaps a full device restore)
Many thanks Tim7.
I now have functional module sounds in gadget on the iPad 2 64 Gig iOS Ver 9.3.2.
Deleting and reinstalling both/either module and/or gadget did nothing, I still had white noise on every module gadget. Restarting the iPad after deleting made no difference (even the hard reboot holding down both home and power buttons). Also increasing free space to over 2 Gig made no difference.
I turned off autolock so the app wouldn't background (perhaps turning on background audio would also work).
You have to go to settings -> other settings -> utility -> Remove Module gadgets and turn that on.
Make sure module is running in the background
restart gadget and then go to add a module gadget and choose install (you can't just restore, have to push the module buy window and then instead of purchase it will say install).
And (big cheer), it works now.
Looks like the initial install got corrupted somehow and this was the only thing that got the module sounds working in gadget (short of perhaps a full device restore)