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STANLEY GRILL Posted
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I've been mostly ignoring or doing work around with various playback issues for a long time, but thought I'd toss them out to this group to see if there might be solutions.

1) especially when I'm writing large scores for orchestra, playback often has a crackly sound.  I've tried changing the RAM allocation and pre-caching parameters in the ARIA instrument settings, and that helps somewhat, but doesn't completely resolve the issue.  This rarely happens with smaller scores.

2) now and then, with no apparent pattern I can figure out, a sustained tone will not play for its full duration.  So, for instance, in a trumpet part, a written whole note will sound for only two beats, not four.  Or, a note tied over the bar will only sound for the first note, but not the tied note.  In other parts, it plays properly.

3) I frequently get an Error Code: 7 (Finale fails to load audio engine).  Sometimes I have to go as far as shutting down and re-starting my laptop to get it to load properly.  

4) On occasion, the sound level in a particular part will suddenly drop to zero.  I have to insert a hidden dynamic sign at that spot in order to get it to be heard again.

I have Finale 26.3.1.520, Windows 10, working with a Dell XPS 13 laptop.

Any suggestions, greatly appreciated!

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J ADRIAN VERKOUTEREN Posted
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1. What is your audio buffer setting? Try making it larger.

 

2. Do you have chord changes or another voice/layer on the staff that changes in the places where notes cut off early? If so, send them to different MIDI channels than your trumpet in Score Manager.

 

3. No idea, but someone here will be able to tell you what Error Code 7 means and perhaps help you to fix it.

 

4. Did you import this file? If so there may be MIDI volume settings hidden in the code. Select the area in question (or the whole file) and then run Clear Selected Items with the clear MIDI data check boxes checked to see if that will clear the problem.

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MIKE HALLORAN Posted
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If rebooting solves your error 7 issue, the likely culprit is not enough free RAM. This can be anything from a memory leak, too many apps open, certain web pages, plugins… Rebooting clears the RAM. It can mean that you just don’t have enough for what you are trying to do.

 

Definitely increase your buffer if you can. Close any unnecessary apps while working especially your browsers and Office (if running an old version of Office, it’s past time to upgrade). Check your email on a schedule by opening and closing your mail client. Certain plugins such as convo-reverbs load into RAM even if bypassed — if you aren’t using them, they need to be disabled.

 

If all that works, time to consider a more powerful PC with more RAM, faster SSD and CPU.

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STANLEY GRILL Posted
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Thanks for the quick responses.  Will give those suggestions a try.

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STANLEY GRILL Posted
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Reporting back on (a).  In audio settings, I tried increasing the buffer size and the crackling got worse!  So, I greatly decreased the audio buffer size, and it went away.  Problem solved.  But not with an expected solution.  Oh, well, why that worked can remain a mystery as long as that annoying crackling is gone.

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