Good morning, everyone! I did search the forum before creating this, and couldn’t find anything that quite reflects what I’m experiencing. But I’m also notoriously bad at searches, so if this has been brought to the forum before, I’m fine with being linked to it and having this thread closed.
SHORT VERSION (all you need to read if this tells you everything you need to know): I have periodic and semi-random cut-outs in audio during playback (monitoring) in Ardour in Ubuntu Studio Linux using ALSA. No other audio sources experience this cut-out (including Audacity), and audio files exported by Ardour are likewise unimpacted - only playback during monitoring / production. Also, I am using this set up on two different computers, and only the one computer experiences the issue.
If this is all the info you need, please feel free to stop reading here. Otherwise, see below for more info!
MORE INFO (aka LONG VERSION): I’m using Linux (Ubuntu Studio 21.04) on two different computers:
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a “DIY” Gaming PC (salient specs: Kaby Lake i5 7600K, 16GB DDR4, 256GB M.2, GTX1070 - audio outputting via HDMI through the GTX1070), video output 3820x2160 60hz 1:1 resolution scale Chroma 4:4:4 into a Sony X800D 4K TV.
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a Dell Latitude 7480 laptop (salient specs: Kaby Lake mobile i7 7600U, 16GB DDR(?), 512GB M.2, Intel HD620 - audio outputting via various sources depending on context, video output when hooked to the Sony X800D the same as the Gaming PC except only 30hz, native laptop display 1440p 60hz touchscreen).
I am -ONLY- experiencing the audio cutouts on the Gaming PC, and never ever on the laptop. Also, it is -ONLY- happening in Ardour, and only during playback (monitoring) / production. Never in the stuff it exports.
The settings in Ardour are the same on both computers: ALSA, All available channels, etc. Both computers have pulseaudio installed, and both computers have JACK installed. To the best of my awareness, the ONLY differences between the two computers is that the HDMI (through which the over all PC audio is routed) on the Gaming PC is running through the GPU. I am aware of no other differences in set up between them, and again, the cutouts impact literally absolutely nothing else on the device, no other audio sources cut out. Only playback in Ardour during production.
It’s a “nuisance” rather than a “crisis”, because, again, it doesn’t impact the final exported audio files, and because the cutout never lasts for more than two to three seconds at a time, and often only occur once every few minutes or so. If the cutout happens at a time where I REALLY need to hear what’s happening (at a transition for instance), I can always pause playback for a few seconds and then resume, and I have sound again, and if it’s at a time where I don’t really need to hear what’s happening (such as in the middle of a piece of music), then I can simply wait it out and let it run.
Does anyone have any ideas? Again, this bug doesn’t “break my process”, but it sure is annoying, and I’d love to learn a way to make it go away.
Also, I realize that I could always circumvent the problem simply by moving production work back to the laptop, but I really want to do the majority of my production on the big rig from now on, so I don’t have to mess with temporary set ups that I have to hook and unhook, etc. Plus, outside of graphics (where it is HUGELY more powerful than my laptop), and boot drive storage (which is only half as big), my gaming PC is a little bit more powerful, and outputs video at 60Hz, which is not only nicer on the eyes but also easier to produce on than 30Hz.
So hopefully there’ll be a fix for the big rig!
Thank you so very much in advance for all the help!
Cheers!