Show Cue System

In the last two shows I've done, I've occasionally had a problem withtracks pausing briefly (less than a second) unexpectedly. It wasn't the same track every night (In fact it didn't always happen) and it wasn't at the same point in the track.

Has anyone else experienced this problem? Does anyone have a solution?

What do you have for the pre-buffer and playback buffer settings under View / Options / Audio Driver?

They were set at 500. I increased them to 5000 last night, and the problem didn't occur (Although, as I said it didn't happen every time, so I'll see how it goes tonight.)

Also, I'm running SCS on a laptop, and I was using a USB mouse, which I unplugged - so that could have been part of the problem.

If it occurs again, I'll post details.

Thanks for replying

Jack.

OK. I don't know what version of SCS you are using, but some versions did not remember between sessions changes to the playback buffer length. Just check that the playback buffer length is still 5000 when you restart SCS.

I'm using v9.2.6

I had manually set the buffers to 500, because in the last show I did, I had a very short loop (about 2 seconds) and with the buffer at 5000, it didn't release when the SFR cue was hit - it did another one or two cycles which was throwing the singers out of sync. The short buffer fixed this, but the unexpected pauses were happening in the last show with the buffers at 500 and 5000. (I was still on v9.1.5 when I did that show).

I don't know a great deal about how computers and Windows OS work, but the show ran fine on Saturday with the USB mouse unplugged again - could it be something to do with a driver conflict between that and my eMagic USB sound card?

Cheers.

It could be a conflict, not exactly a driver but more likely an interrupt (IRQ) conflict. My first thought was that your Emagic card was USB2 and plugged in next to your mouse, which is probably USB1 or 1.1 and would slow down the USB2 port (assuming it is one) to that speed.

However, I see that the Emagic 2/6 USB (you mentioned it in another post) predates USB2, so that is not the answer.

You do not specify your laptop, but how many USB ports has it got? USB ports with peripherals plugged in are polled regularly in turn to see if there is data to collect. All USB devices are often on IRQ11. You can check this in Device Manager. It is possible that if you change the USB port you may get a satisfactory result.

You will probably find that your integral pointing device (touch pad) is on IRQ12. If you wish to use your mouse, you could try connecting it to the PS/2 port (if you have one) using a USB to PS/2 adapter. It will probably then appear on IRQ12 and this may solve the problem. Don't forget that PS/2 connections should not be hot-plugged; switch off first.

If you don't have a PS/2 port you could acquire one by using a USB port replicator that also has PS/2 connections for keyboard and mouse on it.

I don't know if any of that will help. I expect Mike will correct any errors of fact.

Malcolm

Hi Malcolm,

My laptop is basic, but (usually) stable. It has 4 USB ports, and a PS/2 port - I'll try putting the mouse in there and see what happens.

As you say, the mouse and Sound Card are both USB 1.1, although the laptop ports are USB 2.

Laptop specs:
1Gb processor, 40Gb HDD, 256Mb RAM, Windows XP.

Cheers,

I had manually set the buffers to 500, because in the last show I did, I had a very short loop (about 2 seconds) and with the buffer at 5000, it didn't release when the SFR cue was hit - it did another one or two cycles which was throwing the singers out of sync. The short buffer fixed this, but the unexpected pauses were happening in the last show with the buffers at 500 and 5000.

Interesting point. I'll have to do some testing of this scenario. The main problem is that the playback buffer size is 'global' so affects all cues. I could try dynamically cutting it back (if necessary) to the minimum loop length.

Sounds like a good idea.

I've found the loop/loop release really useful for a few shows where singers have had songs with a section in the middle where they interract with the audience and the length of time this takes varies every performance. SCS has made this simple - almost as good as working with a live band. (And I'm a semi-pro musician, so its putting me out of work!)

Cheers,