Why is this sound crackling/distortion happening?

[skyhrg]

The sound was working well until I started display capture and epic pen. Then randomly, the audio will turn to the attached file. There are 3 outcomes that happen randomly: 1) the audio works fine, 2) the audio is distorted like the attached, and 3) the mike doesn't even work. It's random.

Log: https://obsproject.com/logs/afBxHYz6D-vAqxrP

What is happening? Why is this happening? And how do I fix this permanently?

I'm really desperate for a permanent, fundamental fix here. I cannot stream or record reliably if this continues to happen unpredictably. Would appreciate any help!

 

[skyhrg]

Bump.
...no one?
I don't even know what to call the problem. Is this "crackling," "buzzing," or what...?

 

[skyhrg]

Ok, so the issue turned out to be SlickEQ. For some reason, it sometimes just screws up. It's a great plugin but sometimes messed up. Maybe it's a cpu thing. Restarting OBS was a dice roll where it would sometimes work and sometimes not. (Nova would sometimes have this problem but only when you have multiple novas in a chain with SlickEQ).

But I solved it pretty much permanently by replicating the curve generated by SlickEQ with ReaperEQ (the free Reaper plugin). The reaper plugins use so little cpu; they're a lot lighter (though uglier UI).

 

[RichardS]

Bump. I have this issue, too. It has happened with TDR SlickEQ (v1.3.7) and TDR Nova (v2.1.5). Disabling the filter in the filters window immediately fixes the problem, turning it back on immediately causes the problem. Deleting the filter, and then re-adding it fixes the problem for a while, then it seems to randomly pop up again and only disabling or deleting/re-adding fixes it. OBS version 29.0.2 (64-bit) Windows 10