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Forum: VirtualDJ Technical Support

Topic: Intermittent Audio Stuttering - My Opinion - Page: 3
sumanl71 wrote :
Hey I have a top of the line gaming laptop and I have everything that's the minimum to having more then the requirement for Virtul DJ so what is the problem why it's stuttering how can this be fixed I had my computer support team go through my laptop and made few adjustments and said my laptop is fine and it runs the program with no issues but yet I still get the stuttering on my karaoke songs when people sing so what can I doo to fix this stuttering issues.

The problem - simply put - is that VDJ is not getting the resources it needs when it needs them
This can happen on even the most powerful laptop
Figuring out what is taking up/blocking resources is unfortunately a bit of a bigger task, as you can probably tell from the replies
 
I'm convinced it's a Windows 11 issue as far too many people are having problems. I bought a maxed out Legion and the audio was cutting off randomly despite no obvious resource issues.

That was both on the Denon ASIO driver and Wasapi so not the drivers either.
 
I have same issues. Virtual DJ on my laptop when not using any controller. But when I connect the Denon MCX 8000 to my ASUS laptop, stuttering and crackling starts. Now comes the clue. I connected the MCX 8000 to a Macbook Air and everything works allright. I bought this computer to check if this would work. And it does OK. Guys this is a real big issue! I work with Windows 10.
 
As I've said previously I'm sure it's an issue with a Windows update but probably impossible to diagnose.

People with different controllers and DJ software all reporting the same thing.

I've had updates on my Windows 10 DJ laptop disabled for probably 18 months now ad it all works perfectly with the MCX8000
 
No issues here when using Windows 11 for VDJ, Resolume, Ableton Live....you name it. Audio and video all absolutely fine on two different computers - desktop (older) and laptop (newer), so not an issue with the OS.

Strictly speaking the desktop shouldn't even be running Windows 11 as I installed it when it was a beta before the tighter hardware requirements.
 
Maybe it's only affecting certain CPUs or drivers? Certainly a lot of people suddenly having this problem lately. I had a brand new Lenovo where the music woukd stop completely both on ASIO and Wasapi (ran out of buffer) but the same config and controller works on another laptop with VDJ

Can't see how VDJ could be the issue here.
 
Hello All,

Glad to hear some of you got their issue fixed, but unfortunately I'm having a very similar issue and got very little help or due dillegence troubleshooting from VDJ support.
What I have found on my RANE 12 MK2 is that the timecode signal itself have a clitching popping noise in it when it is in VDJ DVS mode, but SERATO DVS mode has not clitch in it all all and sounds smoother.
I have found that when ever that glitch happens in the timecode signal, it will distort and sometime make the track itself jump to a different time slot on the track itself. I can actually scratch the glitch and see in the timecode monitor wave jump and distort.
The place were the glitch happens can also move so I dont think is a hardware issue and also can rotate 9x before another pop or glitch happens. I will contact RANE 3/29/24 and see what they have to say about this and come back with an update.
 
Putting my oar in the water.
I've also been having this issue ever since purchasing a Lenovo V15 ABP (Ryzen 5 5500U) last November. I've been doing some proper troubleshooting this week including:
- disabling core parking with ParkControl
- reducing visual effects
- (a few other things I don't recall at the moment)

Later this week I plan on seeing if it may be an audio interface issue with a USB Interface I got a while back. I'll update how that goes.
 
Working in IT for over 20 years the one thing we have seen over the last 5 years, (especially in the retail consumer laptops space) is that the Win OS and OEM software out of the box is setup to be as efficient as possible. Regardless of the huge spec you select the OS/BIOS and software will be setup in the most efficient modes. This is because world governments try to enforce that each manufacturer isn't trying to destroy the planet!!

My everyday job is to create corporate build images for large organizations where they deployed on enterprise level laptops to end users. We never, i repeat NEVER leave a device as OEM ever. First step is to always wipe the device completely, configure appropriate BIOS settings that prevent throttling (i.e. power plans, Intel Speed step etc) then install a fresh copy of Win 11 (in our case it would the enterprise version but at the very least we would use PRO) and install the OEM certified drivers required. in most cases you really only need the nic drivers only, as once you can connect to the internet windows update does a pretty good job on installing most of those. We would never ever install any Laptop Manufacturer software.

The single handed biggest improvement we see when comparing how a laptop performs is by making sure you can install the windows default power plans. Normally when installing a retail copy of windows (i.e. not what the laptops comes with as that is an OEM version and this are disabled or not installed) these power plans normally are available and by using "High Performance or ideally Ultimate power (if your bios can support it) will make huge difference on how the laptop will behave.

I would urge everyone of you who suffer audio drops to find a way of installing the default windows power plans on your devices, selecting highest/best option available. 100% disable any sleep settings (make a point of checking you do not have "Hybrid Sleep" enabled in your power plan) and additionally going through device manager to check your wifi/network card and across all USB ports and disable any power management on them. I make a point of connecting all my USB devices first before changing USB power settings, as sometimes they are not visible without a device connected.

Now i will caveat there are some exceptions to this, as for some designs of laptops they will route audio in a specific way which will cause high latency regardless of the changes above, but even so the above can be used a rule of thumb for 90% of windows based laptops on the market.

I generally steer away from gaming laptops as they generally do not offer much (if any) performance gain over another laptop. I look out for the best spec processor i can afford, 16/32gb of Ram (16gb should be a minimum in my opinion for W11), enough storage space via an SSD (NVME drive preferred) and a dedicated graphics card that has at least 6gb capacity and is at least 60w.

I currently use a Dell inspiron 7620 plus 16" not a particular expensive laptop but meets the criteria above in terms of spec and for the last 2 years has performed flawless at every single event and i use real time stems all time. I do not need to ever leave wifi off and in fact i am usually connected to the event space public wifi or hotspotting my phone.

I have not referenced any articles here to point you on how to do this, but with the likes of google and chat gpt im sure you are all clever enough to work this stuff out of your own.

Unfortunately with the advancements of djing tech over the years (this is a great thing btw) also comes with the trade off that you also need to know a little more about how the technology it's used on too (i.e. knowing how to configure a laptop for the use you need, rather just powering on clicking open on the software and away you go). If you think racing cars 50 years ago needed a set of spanners and someone that knew how to tune a carburettor, but nowadays that same person would get nowhere unless you they became an expert at ECU mapping etc (really hope that made sense). In the same way we used to just have a vinyl or a CD and hit play and that was it (yes i'm that old).

So moral of the story here is a badly configured laptop (read out of the box settings) will 90% of the time be the cause of your performance audio dropouts and instead of pointing fingers at software your first step should always be to ensure your laptop is as optimised as possible.

Hope some of this helps on your journey in getting all your problems resolved.
 
@Mr DJ Mel
I will give it a try, thank you.
 
Mr DJ Mel - Thank you for taking the time to write the long post
I've copied it to the VDJ FB group. I hope that is OK

I do have a question regarding this section:
Mr DJ Mel wrote :
I generally steer away from gaming laptops as they generally do not offer much (if any) performance gain over another laptop. I look out for the best spec processor i can afford, 16/32gb of Ram (16gb should be a minimum in my opinion for W11), enough storage space via an SSD (NVME drive preferred) and a dedicated graphics card that has at least 6gb capacity and is at least 60w.

Do you mean that the new CPUs are now fast enough that we don't need the GPUs for live stems 2.0 separation?
Or do you by "a dedicated graphics card" mean one of the supported graphics cards for stems 2.0 separation?
 
klausmogensen wrote :
Mr DJ Mel - Thank you for taking the time to write the long post
I've copied it to the VDJ FB group. I hope that is OK

I do have a question regarding this section:
Mr DJ Mel wrote :
I generally steer away from gaming laptops as they generally do not offer much (if any) performance gain over another laptop. I look out for the best spec processor i can afford, 16/32gb of Ram (16gb should be a minimum in my opinion for W11), enough storage space via an SSD (NVME drive preferred) and a dedicated graphics card that has at least 6gb capacity and is at least 60w.

Do you mean that the new CPUs are now fast enough that we don't need the GPUs for live stems 2.0 separation?
Or do you by "a dedicated graphics card" mean one of the supported graphics cards for stems 2.0 separation?


Hey Klaus - always happy to help where i can so great right head and post it.
Appreciate its a long read and for some it will go over their head, but i hope it at least helps a couple of people. Unfortunately with technology nowadays it's no longer the straightforward science it was a few years back.

The advice is completely targeted towards selecting a good base spec for a Windows laptop for VDJ use (but could prob read true for most dj software too). Ultimately Gaming laptops although generally higher spec, they are more of an aesthetic appeal target audience rather than the function which they provide and in most cases at a higher cost.

My Laptop is a perfect example that high cost does not always equal good performance and spec.
I have a Dell Inspiron 16" 7620 plus, which i bought via Dell Outlet (so was not brand new but was in new condition) It's an i7 12th gen processor, 16gb ram and RTX3060 6gb GPU (although limited to 60W, it's plenty for running stem 2.0). This cost me a grand total of £957.00 with 2 years warranty direct from Dell.

Very good tip from me is always checkout manufacturers Outlet sites, the stock changes weekly, in some cases daily so do not check only once and then disregard it. Some amazing deals appear now and again on them, especially around BF deals etc where even more discount can apply.

Additionally i would look at some of the reviews on https://www.notebookcheck.net/ as they are a good baseline to read from. For me i'm in the obvious advantage that i work closely with some of the main brand manufacturers through my work and can get a good understanding on how some of the comms work on the motherboards they build between components. In most cases the gaming laptops offered will have pretty much have the same components internally as the rest of ranges, so there is no real advantage purchasing a gaming device unless you want your laptop to have an endless amount of coloured LEDs all over it :D.

So base rules for me is :-

Good spec processor. I stick with Intel, but go with what you want can afford. some of the new AMDs are really good. But i would take a slightly older gen i7 processor than the latest spec i5 (if that makes sense).

RAM - 16GB is an absolute minimum for W11. Yes it can run on 8GB in the same way your car can run on the worse fuel, but it wont do it very well. The more the better in this case but no need to go crazy. Many DJ applications are not RAM intensive i would never bother with more than 64GB ever, 32GB is a great sweet spot.

Storage Drive - go for the quickest technology possible here over the size - SSD as a bare minimum, but NVME is far superior. Do not look at any devices that offer hybrid options as the bus will be throttled by the slowest device. Slow disk speed is a killer for me, especially those with external drives, 100% stay away from your old mechanical SATA drives.

GPU - Its well known you need a good GPU to run Stems, but not all GPUs are implemented the same. For instance you can find 2 laptops with the same card let's say an RTX4070 as an example. It should offer 115W of compute power, but depending on the motherboard design it could well be limited to say 80W. Which would massively effects its performance. So choosing a GPU which isn't power throttled would perform better than a high spec card which is.

Then lastly ensure you make the appropriate tweeks to run the best it can. The OEM build on any new device is 90% ot the time, horrendous at performing well. So even with a lower spec laptop paying attention to getting it set up correct will see it perform superbly.

Looks like this reply has ended up being another long read (sorry) but the hope is that some of it was easy to understand, and of course this is all in my opinion and should not deter you or be used a rule book for anyone who has a great working setup.

Thanks
Mel
 
Mr DJ Mel wrote :
Good spec processor. I stick with Intel, but go with what you want can afford. some of the new AMDs are really good. But i would take a slightly older gen i7 processor than the latest spec i5 (if that makes sense).


The most recent Intel processors don't seem to be very good at all. They have throttled them back for "efficiency" rather than making them full fat performance.

My son just got a custom build gaming laptop made and he opted for a Ryzen processor instead. It seems to benchmark far higher than the intel equivalent and doesn't have all the power saving baloney baked in either.

My DJ machine is a mid range 10th gen i7 and it's more than capable. With everything running at a gig (VDJ with video out, remote connection, DMX software etc. the CPU is running about 3 or 4 percent. No audio issues with the Denon or Pioneer ASIO drivers at all.

In contrast I tried a Samsung Galaxy Book 3 last year and it was horrendously bad. Latency was terrible and it couldn't even play from the FLX10 without sklipping all over the place.

My home machine however is a Asus Zenbook Pro 16X OLED and it has the 13th Gen i9 and it's fantastic but had to be tweaked as it wasn't great out of the box.

It's all just a gamble but some of the more up to date laptops are really terrible IMO.
 
kradcliffe wrote :
The most recent Intel processors don't seem to be very good at all. They have throttled them back for "efficiency" rather than making them full fat performance.



Indeed the latest gen Intel Ultra CPU are terrible, again geared towards efficiency and cost and not performance. The architecture the run on is just as bad. 100% agree, some of the newer Ryzen are great.
 
I'm finding the issue to be the video card. NVIDA Also has a sound driver. And it routs sound thru the HDMI but.....ties into every aspect of the OS. NVIDIA hogs the resources. It's been an issue since 2024 Q2 builds. When windows stopped you from booting in save mode to do a clean install. To boot into safe mode, I will corrupt your OS files, leading to a no start up situation and like me, deleted the HD drivers.
For me, it starts to crackle, skip, then silent untill you hit APPLY in VDJ to reactivate the sound card, then you can play anywhere from 5 minutes to 90.
Dell now has so many sound devices, Dolby, realtek, NVIDIA, Intelligo....its nuts finding and tracing the audio. But in the end, I'm finding Q2 2024 builds to ALL have the latency mon show NVIDIA as the issue.