Hi everyone,

I need help to identify where the audio crackling i'm having come from. Most of the time it's fine but from time to time, even while running a single virtual instrument with max CPU usage around 20% or even in a video game. I start to get crackling, and it gets worse until the sounds starts feeling like coming from an 8 bit computer.

My hardware is pretty solid, i7 6400k CPU running at 4ghz, 32go DDR4 RAM, RME Babyface audio interface, all my audio softwares and libraries run on an SSD. My audio interface is set at 128 samples, over this i start to notice a delay when singing.

I have two major doubts about my installation : my RME Babyface is pretty old, it's the first from 2010... do audio interfaces go bad over time and start having small failures? I'm also having some issues with my USB ports, sometimes some of them, mainly on a powered hub stop working and i have to change the port so it works again. My interface is plugged directly on the motherboard.

I'm ok with replacing hardware if i need to, but first i need to know where the problem comes from. Are there ways to test this? I have no idea. I tried some software to monitor my USB ports but i can't figure out what i'm looking for.

Thanks