How to Fix Audio Crackling and Pops in Your DAW (Checklist)

Why does audio crackle and pop in a DAW?

Crackling during playback almost always means a buffer underrun: the DAW did not finish computing the next chunk of audio before the interface asked for it, so a tiny gap reaches your speakers as a click. Image-Line describes it as the buffer running out before the CPU can make enough audio, which leaves gaps in the live audio stream.^[1]

The two main causes are CPU overload and system problems that keep the processor from running at full speed; the second kind can cause underruns while the CPU meter looks low.^[1] Windows adds a twist of its own: it is not a real-time operating system, so a driver that hogs the processor can make audio buffers miss their deadlines.^[2]

Fix 1: Raise the buffer size until the crackles stop

Raising the buffer size fixes crackling more often than any other change, because a bigger buffer gives the CPU more time to compute each chunk. The cost is latency, so Ableton recommends increasing it step by step and keeping the lowest value at which the crackles stop.^[3]

1. Open the audio settings
   In Ableton Live go to Settings → Audio → Buffer Size. In Logic Pro go to Settings → Audio → Devices → I/O Buffer Size.^[4]
2. In FL Studio, open the ASIO panel
   In FL Studio open Options → Audio settings and, with an ASIO driver on Windows, click Show ASIO panel.^[1]
3. Check the interface control panel
   Many ASIO interfaces only let you change the buffer in their own control panel.^[3]
4. Go up one step
   Move from 128 to 256, then 512, then 1024 samples. On Windows, Ableton advises choosing powers of two only: 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024 or 2048.^[3] Keep the first value that plays a full loop clean.
5. Test the densest section
   Loop the busiest 8 bars with every track playing.
6. Drop it again for recording
   Apple suggests a smaller I/O buffer when recording and a larger one when mixing. If you record audio rather than software instruments, you can turn off Software Monitoring, monitor from the interface, and leave the buffer at 256 samples for both jobs.^[4]

Apple Silicon Macs behave differently

The table is samples divided by sample rate; real round-trip latency is higher, as the latency and buffer size guide explains. On M-series Macs, Image-Line says longer buffers are not always better: it recommends 128, 192, 256, 512 or 1024 samples, starting at 128, because short buffers keep the performance cores engaged.^[1] On Intel and AMD machines the same manual recommends a buffer of at least 10 ms (441 samples), with 10-40 ms as the working range.^[1]

Is the right driver and sample rate selected?

On Windows, the driver type matters more than almost any other setting: use your interface's native ASIO driver. Ableton recommends ASIO over MME or DirectX and suggests ASIO4ALL only when the interface has no native ASIO driver.^[3] For exclusive-mode conflicts and driver reinstalls, work through the Windows ASIO driver troubleshooting guide.

Sample rate is the second check. Image-Line recommends that the operating system output and the interface's input and output all run at the same rate, 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz, and notes that 192 kHz takes more than four times the calculations of 44.1 kHz.^[1] If you are unsure which rate a project needs, the sample rate and bit depth explainer covers the trade-offs.

• Windows driver Pick the interface's ASIO driver in the DAW. FL Studio's manual lists FL Studio ASIO as the fallback when no native driver exists.^[1]
• Mac sample rate Open Audio MIDI Setup, select the interface and check the Format menu, which sets its sample rate and bit depth.^[5] Match it to the project.
• Built-in audio test Switch the DAW to the computer's built-in output. If the crackle disappears, Ableton suggests contacting the interface maker, since the problem likely sits in its driver or hardware.^[3]

How do you find the plugin causing CPU spikes?

If the crackle lands at the same bar every time, one plugin or one dense passage is usually responsible. Bypass half your inserts and keep halving until the pops stop.

The built-in meters speed this up. Ableton suggests disabling plug-in folders in Settings → Plug-Ins, or switching off devices that show high impact on Live's Performance Impact meter.^[3] FL Studio has a Plugin performance monitor for the same job.^[1] Logic's Performance Meter shows load per processing thread plus Drive I/O, so you can tell a CPU bottleneck from a disk bottleneck.^[4]

• Bridged plugins Image-Line says bridging costs about 2% extra CPU per plugin and bridged plugins can cause pops. Intel-only plugins run bridged when FL Studio runs in Apple Silicon mode.^[1]
• Time-stretching Live's Complex and Complex Pro warp modes are demanding even with no warping applied.^[3] In FL Studio, clips set to Stretch or Stretch pro use far more CPU than Resample.^[1]
• Open plugin windows FL Studio's manual warns that open plugin interfaces can use significant CPU even behind other windows; close them with Alt+F12 (Opt+F12 on Mac).^[1]

Commit the heavy tracks

Freezing a track renders its plugins to audio temporarily. Apple recommends freezing plugin-heavy tracks, but warns that if overloads line up with Drive I/O peaks, freezing software instrument tracks adds disk load.^[4] For DAW-specific tactics, see freeze and flatten strategies in Live or CPU optimization for large FL Studio projects.

Can USB power, cables or hubs cause crackling?

Yes. A marginal USB connection causes pops and dropouts that no buffer setting can cure. Focusrite's Windows troubleshooting list starts with connecting the interface directly to the computer, not through a hub, and avoiding adapters that did not ship with the interface.^[6]

1. Remove the hub
   Plug the interface straight into the computer. If you must use a hub, Ableton recommends a quality powered one.^[3]
2. Try every port
   Focusrite notes that performance can vary from port to port on the same computer.^[6]
3. Swap the cable
   Use the supplied cable, then test a second cable of the same specification to rule out a faulty one.^[6]
4. Unplug other USB devices
   Reconnect them one by one to find which brings glitches back.^[6] Check ports for dust and lint.^[3]

Crackles with low CPU on Windows? Check DPC latency

When a nearly empty project still crackles on Windows, suspect a system driver, not the DAW. Deferred procedure calls are how Windows prioritizes urgent work, and if non-audio processes take too long, audio driver timing breaks down.^[6]

LatencyMon from Resplendence measures this. It reports DPC and ISR execution times and hard pagefaults, and names the drivers and processes responsible.^[2] Focusrite's method: start LatencyMon, play audio through the interface for at least 15 minutes with the glitch happening at least once, then sort the Drivers tab by highest execution time. Drivers above 0.5 ms could be causing audio problems.^[6]

• Power settings Image-Line recommends the High performance power plan, keeping laptops on AC power, and on glitchy laptops setting minimum and maximum processor state to 99%.^[1] Ableton also recommends disabling Windows power throttling.^[3]
• Network adapters Disable them in Device Manager as a test, then re-enable one at a time to find the culprit.^[6]
• Background software Pause cloud sync and automatic backups, and whitelist the DAW in third-party antivirus.^[3] Focusrite adds game anti-cheat software to the list of things that can disrupt the audio stream.^[6]

What about crackles on a Mac?

DPC latency is a Windows kernel concept, so on a Mac start with CPU load and disk speed. Apple recommends quitting other apps except your interface's control software, saving high-track-count projects to a dedicated SSD, and setting Process Buffer Range to Large.^[4]

Is the crackle in the export or only during playback?

Playback crackles that vanish in the bounced file are real-time underruns; crackles printed into the export are a different problem. Image-Line points out that underruns do not happen in rendered audio, because the render can take as long as it needs, so glitches in an exported file come from a plugin behaving badly.^[1]

Clicks that sit exactly on clip boundaries are edit clicks. They need fades and zero-crossing cuts, not new settings; see how to fix clicks and pops in audio edits.

The audio crackling checklist, in order

Work down this list and test the same loud section after each change, so you know which fix did the job.

1. Raise the buffer
   Go up one power-of-two step at a time, to 1024 samples if needed.
2. Confirm the driver
   ASIO on Windows, the interface itself on macOS, not built-in audio or a generic device.
3. Match sample rates
   OS, interface and project on the same rate, ideally 44.1 or 48 kHz.
4. Find the heavy plugin
   Use the performance meter, bypass in halves, freeze what you can.
5. Fix the USB path
   Direct port, supplied cable, no unnecessary devices on the bus.
6. Check power and background apps
   AC power, performance power plan, cloud sync and backups paused.
7. Run LatencyMon on Windows
   Fifteen minutes with the glitch occurring, then deal with the worst driver.
8. Update in order
   DAW, plugins, interface driver and firmware, then the OS. Updating all of these is Ableton's first recommended step.^[3]