Lots of noisy crackling with Micro and mk2!!

[Trazzer]

Hi Paranormal Patroler! I have the latest firmware installed as far as I can tell, 1.1.7. I just have one multisample, actually for testing I'm using one of the presets at a time, like the Pianowarmth. When I go beyond 2 it starts to degrade right away, with nothing else loaded.. I'm using the cord mode on the Five12 Vector sequencer via midi to the Micro.

[Paranormal Patroler]

Trazzer I was having serious issues with polyphony as well, to the extent that the module was unusable for me. Even with a small multisample and nothing else loaded, it would crackle horrendously. I'm on the latest firmware and utilizing the polyphony parameter, set to 8, and it's behaving fine. Using a high quality SD card of course, that is a given at this stage. Give it a try.

[Trazzer]

Hi, "so you can overload them in various ways" is something I'm noticing in polyphony, just using one sample bank alone, even with polyphony set to 2, I can hear degraded audio quality and upwards from that it's just fuzzy and noisy overall. I honestly do not believe there is a "sweet spot" as far as I can see, sorry to be a bit skeptical, but the ability so to speak to find a "sweet spot" in terms of performance and workflow, seems to me a mute statement. The issue here being that I'm assuming generally users don't want to spend time trying to figure out when the audio quality is ok or not, if there is no guideline when the audio is performing within a somewhat normal noise range and when not, how can the polyphonic sound quality of the micro be trusted? I spent a couple hours going over my entire workflow, rack and modules included, because I could not figure out what the source of the noise was to begin with.. And yes I am using a high end SD card.

[Evilheat]

1.1.7 these is the last version ?

[Steve]

which version of firmware are you using?

[Evilheat]

Hello I have a bbmicro a few days ago and there is constant noise in the outputs also when I use the octatrack to control the filter via cc sometimes it also cracks I don't know what to do with the module I like it but it is impossible to use it with so many noises I have a mantis tiptop box and I have tried with different output modules like, rosie and link also different cables but nothing stays the same.

[Paranormal Patroler]

Ok, this is worth a cross-post as I'm facing a similar issue and the Micro can't handle minimal pressure.
I'm on a 4ms Pod, I only have the Micro and a MIDI Sequencer (SDS Digital Melisma), I'm playing 3-4 note chords at the moment and the Micro freaks out at high octave notes. Crackles and digital clipping.

I'm sure this is not a polyphony issue. No other pads are firing, only using on-board samples, and the card that the module came with. Using MIDI, having set pad #1 to poly. playing the same chord progression at low octaves everything is fine, but as soon as I transpose there's unbearable crackling so the bug seems to be related to pitch and not polyphony.

Happy to test this further and bring more details if necessary (including MIDI map) but at this point I'm with mikeleebirds:I can't keep the module if this is how it works. Why is there a poly option if this is how it responds to anything more than two notes?

[Steve]

Please contact us directly at [email protected]

[Gonzow]

I've just chucked into a pod, and it's definitely an improvement. I wonder if the other digital modules are causing the issue. Guess I need to do some deeper investigating and experimentation.

[Gonzow]

does anyone have this without the poly issue?

I sold a bitbox 2.0 in the past because I wasn't keen on the noise.

I completely forgot and was blinded by the new features for the micro - however, I still think it's pretty damn noisy.

I picked up a A2 class 128GB SD card, in hopes it would help, but ultimately it hasn't.

Am I missing something?

I was recording some drums from a small case, mixture of analog and digital, all alternated on the bus chain. I'm getting a noise floor of -50dB - I understand that's part of the pain with hardware, but still seems a little high to me. And the hum from the bitbox doesn't help.

I want to love it, I really do - but its likely im being an idiot, too picky, or it's not for me.

Any advice would be saweet!

[mikeleebirds]

Note stealing would be nice, allowing the user to set a maximum number of voices in poly mode.

That‘s a very good idea. This way you‘d never accidentally overstrain the processor (as I seem to have done).

[erwincoumans]

Just to be clear, I am trying to understand the problem for possible resolution--not trying to get you to change your musical style. Please let us know.

Note stealing would be nice, allowing the user to set a maximum number of voices in poly mode.

[Aaron]

Just to be clear, I am trying to understand the problem for possible resolution--not trying to get you to change your musical style. Please let us know.

[mikeleebirds]

It sounds like you actually maxed out the streaming from the micro SD card. Try playing the notes slower and give the box a chance to cache the audio.

Hm.. from what I understood only long samples will be streamed from the SD card and shorter ones will be loaded into memory. I only used short samples from the factory presets and would assume the SD card is not involved other than while loading thr samples into a pad.

Your suggestion to play slower notes is surprising as that necessity would greatly inhibit musical ideas needing.. faster notes.

Well. I‘ll keep exploring the Micro and see what it‘s weak points are and adjust my usage accordingly. I had imagined Bitbox as being able to be the only (multi) sound module in a mini setup, with a sequencer and some modulation sources next to it.
Let‘s see if that is doable.

[mikeleebirds]

If this main culprit is overlapping notes, then I would prefer some kind of note stealing. Even being able within a single track to set a Poly number which sets how many notes a channel can be allocated before stealing starts. Eg: Poly (3) allows for up to three simultaneous notes.

As it currently stands, it's far to easy to get crackling audio from Bitbox and the rationale to 'let the user control the processor' feels like a cheap deflection. At least if you're going to do that, then let there be some clear signals in the UI to the current processor load so things can at least be monitored.

Great idea to be able to specifically set the number of voices that a pad can use simultaneously!