"Skip" during Playback

[msnead]

Our show opens tonight, and I'm having trouble fixing an issue. When the song starts, it will "skip" about a half-second after a few seconds of the file playing. It only skips once and it kind of sounds like a CD or record skip--to give you an idea.

I've read the Help and tried changing some settings to modify the amount of data that is buffered but that seemed to make it worse... Everything else seems to be working fine and it isn't always the same song/audio file that it skips on.

Here's my system config: Dell Laptop, Intel Core 2 Duo at 2.4Ghz, 2G RAM, SigmaTel High Definition Audio card, Windows Vista Business Edition. I've killed all unnecessary processes, etc., before launching SCS but that doesn't seem to make a difference.

I haven't tried looking for a new Sound Card driver--I'll try that next unless that is a bad idea...?

Any ideas are greatly appreciated!

[Theatre III Sound]

You didn't indicate what version of SCS you are running that exhibits the "skip" problem. Read the topic with the title "SCS 10 glitching..." about 20 topics down from this one. In the latest version (10.3.1), you can turn off the internal mixer under permanent options if set and see if that fixes your problem. Also, don't use the "Preload Whole File" checkbox for audio files if running on a laptop.

I just finished a run of 8 performances of "The Nutcracker" running sound using SCS on a 650MHz laptop with 320MB of memory without a hitch.

Bruce

[msnead]

Sorry, I'm on 10.3.1 (Build 2008/12/18). I tried turning off the Internal Mixer as the Help suggests but didn't see any positive results--it got worse.

I am using "Preload whole file" on a few of my HotKey cues--my thoughts were that they needed to be "instantly available". Is this wrong? (We have a Gameshow Bell and Buzzer for a gameshow bit we do during this show. Depending on the answers from the audience member that is brought on stage, we need to use one or the other immediately.)

We just finished opening night a few hours ago and had no issues--including skips...so, maybe it is a non-issue.

Thanks for your help!

[Mike Daniell]

I am using "Preload whole file" on a few of my HotKey cues--my thoughts were that they needed to be "instantly available". Is this wrong?

It is 'wrong' in the sense that it is not necessary. When an audio file cue is shown as 'Ready' then (a) the file has been opened, and (b) a portion of the file has been pre-buffered. This pre-buffering is so that you get instant starts - it is therefore not necessary to pre-load the whole file. When you start SCS and open or create a cue file, all hot key cues are opened and pre-buffered. When a hot key cue has finished playing it is immediately re-buffered ready for instant playback.