[ardour-users] A simpler Xrun question

[Mark Knecht]

>
> > On 2/8/06, Ruben Lopez <rl1205 at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> >
> >> Just trying to understand Xrun behavior to help me solve them. Do
> >> Xruns happen (and show in JACK's message window) at any time
> >> during the recording, or do they only show up after the recording
> >> has stopped?
> >>
> >>
> >> Ruben

On 2/8/06, Ruben Lopez <rl1205 at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>
> On Wed, 8 Feb 2006 19:31:48 -0800, Mark Knecht was like:
> > Ruben,
> > Hi. They show up any time as soon as they happen.
>
> Thanks Mark. I am only seeing them appear in JACK's message window when I stop recording - I can record for several minutes without an Xrun, but as soon as I stop I get one. Is that an indication of any particular problem?
>
>
> Ruben
>

Well, it's an indication of something, but whether it's a problem I'm
not sure. Here are the possibiilities. I have NO idea which one is
really true.

1) It's a real xrun that happens when you hit stop. In this case there
was a cycle of data that didn't get somewhere on time. However, it's
at the end of your audio stream. You'll probably not use that part of
the audio anyway so it does not matter. Don't worry about it.

2) It's a real xrun that happened somewhere in the middle of your
recording but for some reason wasn't reported until you hit stop. In
this case you'll have a clock or pop somewhere. That's a real problem
and it does probably matter.

3)It's not a real xrun. It's some software problem that reports it
when it didn't really happen. All the audio is good.

Frankly, if I had to bet I'd say it's #1. I've not heard of anyone
else talking about this sort of problem. It sounds specific to your
machine.

Maybe you should look carefully at the data itself. Zoom down to the
sample level and see if you spot any problems. When I've had real
xruns I can generally see a discontinuity somewhere, assuming it's a
recording xrun. If it's a playback xrun you'll probably never see
anything.

- Mark