Hi aSiNe,

did you analyze all your tracks?
Do you have any corrupt file in your library?
Where did you set the USB buffer in your setup settings?

Cheers!

Yes.. sounds like you need to analyze your files. Once they are analyzed SSL won't need to build that waveform when you load the files.

Hi,

Yep they've all been analysed (quite a few times!), and have removed corrupt files. I'll try and record a video perhaps of it happening perhaps?

Thanks,

Paul

If you don't see the full waveform when you load a track its going to be because it hasn't been analyzed or its not able to save information to it such as overview info.
If and when you run into another file like this please upload it to this post and I'll have a look at it.

Hi Zach,

Here's a youtube video of mp3 I've recently added - overview is built and bpm info saved (sorry about quality, but hopefully you can see the problem):

Watchwww.youtube.com

In this example the tune is playing ok, but sometimes the waveform goes blank around the play marker and audio drops out.

I've attached the file that is playing too.

Thanks

Paul

Ah I see.. its not that the file isn't overviewed its that its not buffering fast enough.
This is probably graphics related.
I would suggest boosting the Audio Cache in the Display tab of Setup and try zooming out of the waveform. Also try changing to vertical waveforms.

If the Audio Cache is already set to 60 move it to 15.
I would also uncheck the 'auto fill overviews' and 'hi-fi resampler' options in Setup.

Really? I've got a quad core i7 2.2 GHz 6 GB RAM Nvidia GT540M 2GB RAM - seems a little crazy that im having to scale things back wouldnt you say?

and a 7200RPM internal hard drive.

I would think not but if its not buffering fast enough it would seem to be performance based.

does this thread contain similar issues to me?

serato.com

Yes.
If you haven't done so already I would add your information to that thread.
The more info Serato has the faster that issue will get a fix.

ok thanks Zach

I had an interesting experience last night - my friend who was also using my laptop plugged in his external hard drive into my laptop. ALL of the songs that he played from the external hard drive did not have a single audio drop out, whereas all of my tunes struggled to 'keep up' with regular drop outs. could this mean that my library is some how corrupted? Really need help sorting this out as using it as a professional product is becoming really difficult at the moment.

Is your library coming from your internal drive or an external?

My library is from the internal hard drive. My friends from an external.

So if his drive worked flawlessly and yours was struggling it may be an issue with your drive?
Try moving your library to an external and see if you still experience the issue.

scanned hard drive and detected no problems or bad sectors.

i honestly have no idea why my friends worked ok. one thing i know is that he would have analysed the files with an older version of serato.

the version he uses is 2.4.2.

I've now moved the library to a USB 3 hard drive (laptop supports USB 3 too) and still getting similar issues with the wave form not building correctly.

I think the info in this new post by Serato will help you remedy the issue --> serato.com

I'll try and reduce the file path length.

I did create a fresh library (renamed _Serato_ folder) and imported a file and still encountered the same problem with no crates.

I dont use iTunes.

Definitely let me know if reducing the file path length helps at all.

I've tried it and I couldn't see any improvement.

Just saw this. If you haven't already, I would definitely suggest reanalyzing your entire library using the version you now have installed.

hasn't appeared to have made any difference. ive got another video of it happening if any use?

I actually had it happen really badly last night - had to stop music, and swap in a new laptop. sucks.

I reinstalled Windows 7 Home Premium on the laptop.

Still have drop outs happening although it is better. I can see that the waveform appearing much quicker.

I have downloaded HDTune and have analysed the drive, which it is showing as 'OK', however there is a yellow line through the 'Pending Sector Count'.

Perhaps I should post up results here?

If I need to buy a new hard drive then confirmation that it is causing the drop-outs would be great.

Also should I be testing hard drive access using the Win 7 Resource Monitor?

If you don't see the full waveform when you load a track onto a virtual deck than the file hasn't been analyzed. This will slow down your computer and create the problem you are having.
If this is the case, I would suggest analyzing your entire library using the version you currently have installed.
You do this by unplugging your Rane hardware, holding down the ctrl key, and clicking on the 'analyze files' tab.

I have re analysed the entire library using 2.5.0

Still encountering drop outs.

I can see the entire waveform appear, the problem appears to be the 'playing' section that isnt updating correctly. Please refer to my video above.

Is this still only happening with video files?

Sorry where did you assume that?

This is audio related only. No video files are used at all.

The video you linked to above was an issue with MP4 files.

Have a read through this thread --> serato.com

Many are suffering from the same issue but many have also remedied it with some of the suggestions in that thread.

The video I linked to was nothing to do with a mp4. Can you please post the link that I posted that links to a problem with an mp4 please?

Yes I've read that thread. It's not exactly solving any of my issues is it? I've been through every single one.

I suppose you've got a choice here, help me solve the issue here, which means spending my own time to help you solve what is quite apparently an increasingly common problem with serato or just tell me that all the people in that thread have sorted the problem and here is how to solve it.

Well that is very confusing and weird.
The last time I clicked on that link it took me to an entirely different video.
I see the right one now though.

I wish it were that easy.

This issue has been around for a really long time and it could have to do with many variable.
Here are some questions Dave from Serato has asked regarding this issue:


Let me know.

Don't worry about making a video. I can see what is happening in the one you already created.

take a look at this video. shows exactly what happens. this was recorded at home, but it has happened in live situations

youtu.be

Thanks Zach, I will got through the list and post back here with results.

Ya wow.. that is really bad.

I'll keep an eye out for the answers to those questions.

How many playing files are loaded to the virtual decks at once?

2 - one on each deck

Also, are they all on the same physical drive, including logical partitions on the same drive?

Yes - both on an internal 7200 rpm 16 MB hard drive

What is your CPU usage like? (It shouldn't be high if the disk is working hard it may increase the overall load).

Between 5% and 15%

How long does a dropout last (waveform disappearing)?

youtu.be - this is about at its worst

Does it seem to be just having trouble keeping up, or does the end of the buffered audio come up like running off a cliff? (Which suggests that buffering may have temporarily stopped). Please if possible record a video of this for us to see your issue visually this can help us understand a lot about why it maybe happening to you.

Refer to above

Does this only happen in a club environment? Is it a place with a lot of bass or vibration?

No. The video was recorded at home

Is an external drive powered over USB or Firewire?

No external drive in use

Is it receiving enough power to keep up?

No external drive in use

What USB speed is it?

No external drive in use

A drive on a bus that is forced from USB 2.0 down to 1.1 (sharing with a 1.1 device) will only stream at 1.1 speed hard drives however there isn't always a simple answer if this is the case.

No external drive in use

How many playing files are loaded to the virtual decks at once?

2 - one on each deck

Also, are they all on the same physical drive, including logical partitions on the same drive?

Yes - both on an internal 7200 rpm 16 MB hard drive

What is your CPU usage like? (It shouldn't be high if the disk is working hard it may increase the overall load).

Between 5% and 15%

How long does a dropout last (waveform disappearing)?

youtu.be - this is about at its worst

Does it seem to be just having trouble keeping up, or does the end of the buffered audio come up like running off a cliff? (Which suggests that buffering may have temporarily stopped). Please if possible record a video of this for us to see your issue visually this can help us understand a lot about why it maybe happening to you.

Refer to above

Does this only happen in a club environment? Is it a place with a lot of bass or vibration?

No. The video was recorded at home

Is an external drive powered over USB or Firewire?

No external drive in use

Is it receiving enough power to keep up?

No external drive in use

What USB speed is it?

No external drive in use

A drive on a bus that is forced from USB 2.0 down to 1.1 (sharing with a 1.1 device) will only stream at 1.1 speed hard drives however there isn't always a simple answer if this is the case.

No external drive in use

How many playing files are loaded to the virtual decks at once?

2 - one on each deck

Also, are they all on the same physical drive, including logical partitions on the same drive?

Yes - both on an internal 7200 rpm 16 MB hard drive

What is your CPU usage like? (It shouldn't be high if the disk is working hard it may increase the overall load).

Between 5% and 15%

How long does a dropout last (waveform disappearing)?

youtu.be - this is about at its worst

Does it seem to be just having trouble keeping up, or does the end of the buffered audio come up like running off a cliff? (Which suggests that buffering may have temporarily stopped). Please if possible record a video of this for us to see your issue visually this can help us understand a lot about why it maybe happening to you.

Refer to above

Does this only happen in a club environment? Is it a place with a lot of bass or vibration?

No. The video was recorded at home

Is an external drive powered over USB or Firewire?

No external drive in use

Is it receiving enough power to keep up?

No external drive in use

What USB speed is it?

No external drive in use

A drive on a bus that is forced from USB 2.0 down to 1.1 (sharing with a 1.1 device) will only stream at 1.1 speed hard drives however there isn't always a simple answer if this is the case.

No external drive in use

In Windows run the Event Viewer (in Administrative Tools) and analyze Critical, Errors, Warnings - best during when having the problem and see which entries will be done.

I'd a problem with USB 3.0 and a external hard disc which supports UASP and using Windows 8. The Windows 8 driver had a problem with it and always fail down to 5 MB / s (and Serato didn't get the WAV files fast enough - no waveform and audio anymore).

The driver always reseted the USB hard disc every 25 - 30 seconds. Sad that there is/was no option for me to contact Microsoft anymore to report the bug without paying fees. :-(

So I hope you have all the latest drivers (or not!).

You can export the logs and give a Serato expert which might see any problems.

Also check the Resource Monitor in Windows. All tabs - specially the tab "Disk" if you notice any performance problems.

Also check the consuming CPU from other software. E.g. I'd open a website which did extensive JavaScript (software bug - or old browser!) and cost 25 % CPU. After closing the site/tab the CPU cost was 1 % or so ...

Thanks for that aSine.

Have you gone through all the optimization tips here --> serato.com

If you open the Task Manager how many processes do you have running?

You said you tried to shorten the file paths... what is the path of your files now?
(please list the exact file path)

The file I've uploaded shows the disk monitor with a file that is dropping out - hopefully some use? Also shows the file path.

I've performed the optimisations, disabled antivirus, CPU utulisation about 10-15%, 2.5GB or RAM in use (out of 6GB).

I can't see that picture. Way too small.
Please try uploading again. Also.. I'd like to know how many processes your computer is using. This can be found in the Task Manager.

hmm yeah no image was uploaded for some reason. try now.

70 processes running.

I can see the image but the text is way too small to read:(

70 processes is still a lot.
If you go through an optimization guide you should be able to get that down to the upper 40s to lower 50s.

There are many optimization guides on the internet.
Here is a really good 2 part video:

--> Watchwww.youtube.com
--> Watchwww.youtube.com

Try to get those processes lower.

www.dropbox.com

Hey aSiNe,

I've had a good read through this thread and I have some more questions for you. thanks Zach for your support in this thread.

As you know i've been investigating this issue for sometime and it has been a hard one to crack. There are many variables which makes it very hard to define. Just to be clear this is not a wide spread problem. The small group of users experiencing this issue have had a really hard time with it however some have found resolution around hard drive's but it's not a defining factor. I think we need to look at your USB 1.1 Rane device and also your computer spec's and BIOS.

Does this happen in offline mode without your Rane hardware connected?
Have you had these dropouts happen when using another Rane hardware device such as a Rane TTM57 or Sixty-Two mixer, or another Rane SL Box? I'd like you to do some tests around this for me. If you can get hold of another Rane hardware device to test this would be very helpful.

I'd like you to check the model of your computer and go to the manufactures website and search for a BIOS update for your computer. This could possibly help.
Your computer spec's are good so I don't think it isn't that however make sure that you DON"T use the USB 3.0 port of your Rane SL 1, use the USB 2.0 only. That device is a USB 1.1 device and could be causing this issue.


Lets start with these tests and move forward from there.

Regards
Dave W

Hi Dave,

When you say 'DON"T use the USB 3.0 port of your Rane SL 1, use the USB 2.0 only' do you mean, on my laptop?

I'm cant recall if I have encountered this problem with an SL3 or not. I will see if I can test on a TTM57 or an SL3 and report back.

I've run a few a more tests, this time using HDTune. Check out the two images. One is with nothing running, the second with serato running. the big drop in transfer rate correlates with audio dropping out. hopefully some use?

Yes sorry i did mean to say with your laptop USB ports. I can see a difference in the images you have attached. It seems now more likely related to a transfer of audio via USB. Did you do a BIOS update yet?

Dave W

Yes the bios is up to date. The laptop is a dell xps 15 l502x and has been using the latest bios since it was released.

So the drop in transfer rate for the hard drive is related to slow transfer via usb?

I'm using the usb 2 connection on my laptop.

It could be, are there any driver updates you can run for your usb chipset?

yep updated everything.

not sure if this is any use, but this is the chipset with this laptop:

www.intel.co.uk

there appears to be quite a few usb related bugs.....

Not so sure its USB related anymore. Just been playing some tunes back in offline mode and there were certainly a few 'dead spots' when flicking through for a second or so....

Can you clarify what you mean by deadspots? Is it dropping out as seen in your videos?

Yes. The same but not as bad. Seems to be struggling with the buffering. I'm going to roll back through older versions and see if I can sort it that way.

O.K, please keep us up to date with your testing. Hopefully that helps.

After all this messing around, I think I may have found something. In the BIOS for this dell, there is a USB Emulation switch and a USB Powershare. I switched both of those and it *appears* to have stopped this problem. I'm playing out this weekend so will give it a try and report back. Fingers crossed its this.

Fingers crossed mate. Please if this does solve it if you could forward this information through to us to read and explore. This may also help other users.

Dave W

Yep finger crossing didnt work. Just used it hard for 4 hours and it started dropping out. borrowing another laptop. lets hope it doesnt do it on this one.