I have been struggling with static/cracking in reaper on playback & recordings. I am inputting through a Berenger UMC404HD and the input signal through the headphones sound clean. When I switch the mix to playback it sounds horrible. If I record it sounds the same. I increased the buffer from 128 to 512 based on a post from July, 2023 but that did nothing. I also routed the usb cable from the AI to my PC to make sure it doesn’t cross any other cables. Does anyone have any ideas?
Thanks in advance!
What OS?
I assume Windows?
I’ve come across this sort of issue when the sample rate configured on the audio interface is not the same as the rate configured in the recording application. Having said that, I don’t know enough about Reaper or Windows to advise on where to look to check this.
Cheers,
Keith
Thanks Keith,
I am pretty sure I have the set the same, unless there is another location. I will keep this in mind when I try again. As of this morning I am up to my eyeballs with BLIM 2. 
That sounds familiar. I am sure I had a similar issue with Reaper when I started using OBS. The OBS sample rate if I recall can handle 44.1k and 48k but I read it as needing 48k. So I change the project settings in Reaper to 48k but the AI was still configured to 44.1k and the resulting audio was terrible. Now all synced.
@TheCluelessLuthier click on the audio data top left in Reaper
and you’ll get this panel.
Then select the ASIO Configuration to see the AI is set to.
And synchronise the settings. I still run at 48k which is DVD quality audio if I recall but you can sample at 96k for digital which I think Keith covered in a post from eons ago !
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Thanks Toby, I took a another look at my settings and could only find one difference. The audio thread priority was not set to highest.
Changing it did not seem to make a difference though. I did notice that the noise is worse coming out of the bridge pickup, but I don’t have a problem putting it through the AI to OBS directly. 
When you get the crackling, is this directly from the AI to Reaper?
Cheers,
Keith
Yes it is.
I just found my crackling noise source …
Haven’t been playing much last year, but kinda getting back into it. But I noticed a crackling sound in the amp… all the time, very silent, but very present… Thought this had someting to do with the electronics not beeing used much the passed year.
Went looking at guitar pods, the pedalboard (DS1, Tubescreamer, Crybaby, …)… but couldn’t figure it out. Had the issue with all my guitars, so the source should be the Pedalboard/Amp, right?
Nope … I yesterday evening realised that the crackling was gone, and today it was back … Very strange, but that got me thinking … what was different yesterday (evening) vs today.
Then started thinking … hmm, I have an electric fire to keep it warm that’s running… turned it off to no effect.
So finally I came to the conclusion that yesterday evening, my Powerline adapter (WIFI) wasn’t plugged in. I work in the same room as I play my guitars ;-). And at night I unplug the Powerline adapter since I sometimes want to user it elsewhere or don’t want to use it at all…
As soon as I unplug the PowerLine adapter the crackling sound is gone …
Perhaps that could be your source as well?
I don’t use a Powerline adapter, but it did get me thinking that I rely on the power from the USB cable for the power to the AI. It doesn’t explain why it works fine for OBS, but not Reaper, though it is worth a shot. I may try that this weekend. Thanks.
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