SD3 producing clicks in bounced tracks

[Rainer]

Hi there,

first of all: I really like the new sounds in SD3. I used the SD and SD2 for years and it’s getting better and better.

But here is an absolutely major issue in SD3, which makes it COMPLETELY UNUSABLE!!!

After recording the MIDI into SD3 and bouncing it down (Mics to single tracks, 24bit, bleeding integrated into close mics), I ALWAYS have CLICKS (sound) in some tracks. It also doesn’t matter if I use it as a plug-in or in stand-alone mode. And it also doesn’t matter which drumsounds I use and also I installed the latest update on Okt. 5 2017.

DAW: Pro Tools 12.7 on Mac

This is REALLY a serious problem, guys!

Some other issues I found:

– When the MIDI track is over the bounced sounds are cutted off – Absolutely useless!
– Why is there no menu to select the bounce-tracks? I don’t need surround and the ambient mics but I always have to bounce them, too.

Please fix at least the clicking problem soon!!!

THX

Topic

[Rainer]

Update:

I made another test and it’s clear that the clicks were produced mainly in the bleeding tracks and the right channel of OH Cond. So maybe it’s just a bad cutted audio file in the bleeding library.

If you need a short example, please tell me how to upload it. Filesize is about 2.3 MB.

[John]

Hi,

could you please ZIP a copy of your Session file (just that, not the Audio Files) and attach it a post here, so I may have look at it?
I am a Pro Tools user myself and I can’t say I’ve encountered what you’re describing.

@Rainer said:
– When the MIDI track is over the bounced sounds are cutted off – Absolutely useless!
– Why is there no menu to select the bounce-tracks? I don’t need surround and the ambient mics but I always have to bounce them, too.
 

Please make sure your last MIDI block is extended for as long as you want the ringing end sound to last and that you do not have a loop area selected and the ‘Enable Bounce Loop Area’ checked.

As it works now, the ‘All Bleed On’ ignores the Mixer settings and enables all bleed which includes the Surround microphones (if you have them installed).
If you never use the Surround microphones, you do not need them installed.
The other option is to de-select ‘All Bleed On’ and make your bleed selections in the mixer. Or simply delete or ignore the Bounced Surround mic files.

BR,
John

John Rammelt - Toontrack
Technical Advisor

[Rainer]

Hi John,

the “workaround” of extending the recorded MIDI block is the way I did it, but this seems to be not very professional in my eyes. I mean there is no situation where I need to cut the bounced audio files by the length of the MIDI file, so this seems to be a bug or lack of programming. If there is a need to cut off the bounced files I do it manually and set a desired fade-out.

I do understand the new mixer, but that is not what I mentioned. I do want to have all sounds installed, because sometimes I will use the surround files. But for a stereo only production there is no need for these bounces, so it would be nice to have a menu, where you could select, what to bounce. Maybe a grid with channels on the left and close mics and bleeding on top. This would be a very nice feature.

I will send you the requested session as soon as I’m back in studio.

THX

[Olof Westman]

>the “workaround” of extending the recorded MIDI block is the way I did it…

When you bounce through the mixer there may be all sorts of effects like
delays and reverbs with feedback built in so that there will be potentially
useful sound long after the last voice has stopped rendering. There are
also plenty of effects that put out sound/noise of their own making it
impossible to generally detect when ‘the signal is gone’. That is why
we leave it up to you, the user, to decide how long you want the bounce
to be.

>…sometimes I will use the surround files. But for a stereo only production
> there is no need for these bounces…

True. I have been thinking the same thing myself.

Olof Westman - Toontrack
Coder

[Henrik Ekblom]

@Rainer said:
the “workaround” of extending the recorded MIDI block is the way I did it, but this seems to be not very professional in my eyes.

You can set the start and end of the bounce region by using the loop area as a bounce marker too.

Henrik Ekblom - User Experience Designer
Toontrack

[Rainer]

@John said:
could you please ZIP a copy of your Session file (just that, not the Audio Files) and attach it a post here, so I may have look at it?
I am a Pro Tools user myself and I can’t say I’ve encountered what you’re describing.

Hi John,

I attached the SD3 project (I had to zip it), a screenshot where I marked the clicks and a mp3 downmix of bar 52 and 53 where the click is clearly hearable. There are also clicks in the rest of the audio and after compression etc. very clear to hear.

As you can see in the screenshot, the clicking appears again long after the song has ended. So maybe it’s a recurring error by the sample downmix engine.

By the way: Songtempo is 85.

THX

[John]

Thanks,

I’ll have a look.

BR,
John

John Rammelt - Toontrack
Technical Advisor

[John]

Hi Rainer,

we most likely have found the cause and we are hoping to find a solution as soon as possible.

BR,
John

John Rammelt - Toontrack
Technical Advisor

[Rainer]

Hi John,

thanks for the reply.

I have an additional information: If I freeze the track in Pro Tools there is no clicking. At least I couldn’t recognize some. So this might really be a problem to the baking algorithm. Maybe a procedural one, because if I change the tempo of the project, the clicking dissapears or happens at a point in the song, where I didn’t recognize it.

I hope this helps you figure out, what it is.

Greets.

[PAUL]

The pops and clicks are most likely do to your DAW and maybe a weak computer.Export your midi drums to a midi file.Open that midi file in SD3’s standalone app.Then export as you wish.Here is a good tutorial:

[Rainer]

Hi Ken1,

@KEN1 said:
The pops and clicks are most likely do to your DAW and maybe a weak computer.Export your midi drums to a midi file.Open that midi file in SD3’s standalone app.Then export as you wish.Here is a good tutorial:

As I wrote before, I did this. The clicks still appear when I bounce the track from MIDI in the standalone mode. Please READ what I wrote before answer …

Running on a 8-Core Mac Pro with all updates (OS, PT, drivers, SD3) … This is NO weak system … Also the bouncing process is an offline process and it shouldn’t matter how strong or weak your PC/MAC is. If your DAW is slow the bouncing just needs more time and doesn’t produce audio clicks.

By the way: When I freeze the SD3 track in Pro Tools I found out, that there were rendering errors causing in clicks and hiss. Much more ressource needing software instruments don’t do that. Audio channels with round about 6 to 8 plug-ins don’t have that problem either. So what do you mean, Ken1? My machine is only weak when using SD3 because my MAC don’t like SD3 or what?!?!?!? I guess not …

[Olof Westman]

As John wrote, we have found the reason for those clicks. There is no
reason to speculate about their existence. They are there.

Olof Westman - Toontrack
Coder

[Rainer]

Hi guys,

did you find a solution for the clicking problem?

Greets

[Damian Blunt]

Hi,

Thanks a lot for all your help in locating the problem. A fix for the clicks will be provided in a forthcoming update.

Damian Blunt - Toontrack
Quality Assurance
Betatesting

[Author]

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