Rare wordclock issue with 4i4 g4 (bug report? settings issue?)

Gig Performer on Windows
1

Very occasionally (4-5 times this year) I play a note and it triggers a very loud buzzing/clicking sound that doesn’t stop until I disconnect the USB from my audio interface. GP then freezes and subsequently crashes (usually, but not always. Once I was able to reconnect the USB and continue playing).

As stated, it’s a rare occurrence, which has made it very difficult to troubleshoot. So far it’s only happened while I’m playing, and it’s always started when I press a key. It’s been happening since I started using GP earlier this year, so unfortunately I can’t revert to fix it.

The sound is similar to a square wave at 10-20hz. The individual waves are audible as clicks. I believe it’s caused by wordclock drift, but I’m not techy enough to know how to substantiate that claim.

Any suggestions are welcome, I don’t really know where to start with this one.

Operating system: Windows 11 home, version 25H2, build 26200.8246
Processor: 11th Gen Intel(R) Core™ i5-11400H @ 2.70GHz (2.69 GHz)

Interface: Scarlett 4i4, 4th gen

GP version: Essentials v5.1.3
Audio settings: Sample rate: 44100 Hz. Buffer size: 64 bits. Device: Focusrite USB ASIO

Things it isn’t:

USB port going to sleep. Selective suspend is disabled.
USB power disruption. The 4i4 4th gen has a dedicated USB power port, which I do use.
Power plan. I’m using a high performance power plan, edited as per the “optimize your PC for gig performer” PDF.
Buffer size is ok. I know what buffer size issues sound like, it’s not that.
Windows audio. I’m definitely using ASIO.

Things it might be:

Bad USB cable. I have a couple different USB cables that I use, and I can’t say for sure which ones have or haven’t been in use when the problem happens. However, I believe it’s happened with multiple cables.
Driver issue. I updated my focusrite driver this morning, hopefully that helps.

I haven’t implemented all the changes suggested in the optimization PDF, since this is my general purpose laptop as well. I’m saving up for a dedicated laptop.

2

Have you tried double-clicking the Panic button on the top right of the main window? Double-clicking resets audio.

4

I didn’t know that! I’ll try that next time.

I have a panic widget mapped to a button on my synth, would double tapping that button/widget have the same effect?

5

Yes !

6

Personally, I would wonder if 64 buffer is too aggressive. Maybe consider trying 128 and 256 and see if it bothers you (after maybe trying to get used to it).

My $.02, feel free to ignore.

Jeff

7

Happened again, double clicking the panic button did nothing.

Switching from 44100 hz to 48000 made the noise stop without crashing GP at least.

8

GP is measuring the CPU load at 20 - 40% depending on the rackspace, and the laptop fan is barely going. I’m not super techy, but I don’t think buffe size is the issue?

9

How do you know it’s a wordclock issue?

10

I don’t know for sure honestly, it was just my best guess based on the research I’ve done so far.

11

Agreed - though 64 buffer size is rarely needed - 128 is usually fine with no noticeable difference.
You may have to contact Scarlett – maybe it’s a driver issue or maybe Windows is running something intermittently that is interfering. Hard to know. But GP has no control over the interface, it doesn’t even know about it - GP is using the OS interface to your interface

12

Alright, I’ll see what they can do about it. Thanks for the help!