Click when playback starts - Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 [SOLVED]

Audacity Help Forum Windows
1

I’m using Audacity 2.3.2 with a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2.

When I start playback, either with the space bar or the transport control, there is a loud click from the speakers. There’s nothing visible on the waveform, and nothing on an exported WAV file. It’s irritating rather than crucial, but I’d like to sort it out.

Chris B

2

Start a fresh Audacity. Generate > Silence. Play it. Do you get the click? If you do, then your on-board soundcard may be in trouble.

Set the 2i2 as your playback device and listen to it with headphones. Play the silence. Do you get the click?

Koz

3

Also, does this happen with existing known-good files or only files you’ve recorded with the Focusrite?

…Usually a click at the stop/start is DC offset (from a “defective” recording device) or it’s the result of a cutting in the middle of a wave. Either of these will cause a sudden “jump” in the signal or a discontinuity when the sound is started/stopped.

4

Further to this:
a) the click can be carried over to an exported WAV file;
b) the click is actually a v short burst of sound;
c) it only occurs if the previous playback has been stopped during sound (ie not silence).
So, it looks as if a buffer isn’t being fully flushed when I stop playback.
Any suggestions? (Thanks for existing replies)

Chris B

5

And finally (in case anyone else had this problem):
It turned out that the noise only occurred with the Focusrite interface, so it wasn’t an Audacity problem as such. The problem was solved (as it often is) by updating the Focusrite driver.
Thanks all for your advice and patience.

Chris B

6

Thanks for the update. I’ll close this topic as “solved”.