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SIBELIUS ULTIMATE and a good audio Interface

Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2019 7:23 am
by JorgePaul
I am currently using an old M-AUDIO FAST TRACK audio interface to run SIBELIUS ULTIMATE on two low-end Laptops. (DELL VOSTRO 1710, Core 2, 4G RAM, Solid State Drives) (LENOVO 16G RAM, Solid State Drives)
On both machines I get dropouts and clicks-cracks when the scores are too busy. I've tried already several recommended Windows 10 adjustments and all the usual tweecks.
Question:
A more modern/different brand audio interface could make a noticeable difference?
! Thanks a lot in advance for your opinions!
Jorge

Re: SIBELIUS ULTIMATE and a good audio Interface

Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2019 8:07 am
by MikeLyons
I'm not sure making ay changes other than more RAM will make a difference.
If you are making audio (mp3/wav) files they should be glitch free if you are using sib's export audio options. I have a high end Vaio with a a Scarlett interface and I have noticed considerably more drop outs and crackles since the change to 2018/2019 versions of ultimate and NP3. Certainly your 4G machine does not really have enough RAM for large scores, but your 16GB machine should eat them.

Check your sound card drivers are up-to-date (use the manufacturer's website, not Windows) and make sure the graphics drivers are also the latest. Also, it might be worth disabling any on-board sound chip. If you have the steinberg generic asio driver, you should uninstall this as it doesn't play nicely with sib.

Re: SIBELIUS ULTIMATE and a good audio Interface

Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2019 3:36 pm
by JorgePaul
Thanks a lot Myke. I will try your advice indeed. Regarding the amount of RAM, both machines have the maximum allowed by their motherboards, but I wonder, if I put newer/faster RAM would it help?

Re: SIBELIUS ULTIMATE and a good audio Interface

Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2019 9:46 pm
by MikeLyons
Mebbe, mebbe not? Not at all sure. It's the quantity that matters with RAM. Normally, I would ask you to check your drive speed (7200 is better than 5400) but you have SSD so that should not be an issue.Is your sound card on USB 3 or 2? Is there anything else using the USB bus?

Re: SIBELIUS ULTIMATE and a good audio Interface

Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2019 11:26 pm
by bobp
Also, in the Sibelius mixer, try turning down the virtual instrument fader and/or the main volume fader. Or if your interface has volume control, also.

Re: SIBELIUS ULTIMATE and a good audio Interface

Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2019 5:44 pm
by JorgePaul
MikeLyons wrote:Mebbe, mebbe not? Not at all sure. It's the quantity that matters with RAM. Normally, I would ask you to check your drive speed (7200 is better than 5400) but you have SSD so that should not be an issue.Is your sound card on USB 3 or 2? Is there anything else using the USB bus?
I suppose they are USB 2. While at home I plug in several things to make my work a bit easier; A bigger external monitor, a mouse, an external keyboard, and the mentioned external soundcard that is plugged to a small home theater system for better sound. Maybe too many things for an old wreck ?

Re: SIBELIUS ULTIMATE and a good audio Interface

Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2019 7:11 pm
by MikeLyons
Are you connecting some of these things through a hub? Avoid connecting your sound card through a hub if you can.