This post describes a number of common problems along with suggested ways to troubleshoot and solve them.
Table of Contents
I hear popping & crackling sounds
I hear echo / feedback
I can’t hear anything
Others can’t hear me or I sound quiet
I hear distorted audio / Others hear my audio distorted
I hear delays / latency
I cannot join a session / I am kicked-out immediately after joining
Problems installing, updating or opening Flock
I need to enter my email address every time I open Flock
I hear popping & crackling sounds
Popping and crackling sounds generally occur when pieces of audio (called packets) are excluded by Flock. The main reason why this happens is that your computer is not able to process the audio fast enough and so Flock drops those packets. Either there are too many other programs running at the same time, or it could be that your computer has an older and slower processor. Or alternatively, your internet connection is too slow or too variable and so audio packets arrive late and are dropped.
Things to check:
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Any problems with your jitter number or that of others? See the image below. In this example, Ed has a jitter of 0 (and a one-way internet latency of 10ms). The jitter number (on the left on the latency number) ranges between 0 and 5 and is a measure of variability in latency. Low jitter numbers are good. When reaching above 4 or 5, audio packets are likely to be dropped and popping noises are likely to occur. Other than upgrading your internet connection, another possibility is to go to Settings and then Audio settings and increase the Audio buffer size above 128 samples. A larger buffer size gives your computer more time to process the audio, however it does introduce more latency. So try testing small increments, e.g. 160 samples and see if that improves the popping noises. You can keep increasing the buffer size in small increments to find the ideal setting. However, if you go above 544 samples you will introduce too much latency for singing.
- Are other applications running? If too many other apps are open then your computer could be diverting processing time away from Flock and to those other apps. This could also result in dropped audio and popping noises. You should close all other apps. On your Mac open the Activity Monitor on the “CPU” tab and check at the bottom what is the “Idle” percentage. If there is zero or single digit Idle time, it means that another program is using up your computer’s processing time. Have a look in the list of Processes in the table above to see which Process is the culprit. If you recognize the application, you can select it and then click the Stop button at top left.
I hear echo / feedback
There are two types of echo and feedback.
Type 1: everyone can hear an echo
The cause of this is usually an incorrect setup by one person in the group. It’s normally that a user’s audio is routed to a computer speaker and then picked up by their mic. Things to check:
- Are headphones plugged in?
- Are the correct headphones selected from the dropdown menu? Sometimes a user will be sending their output audio to the computer speakers instead of to the headphones.
- Headset could be faulty. Try a different headset.
Type 2: only I can hear my echo
- try to adjust the “Your own voice volume” setting in General settings. Setting that to 1.0 (i.e. move the slider all the way to the right) should remove all echo.
I can't hear anything
If you can’t hear anything through your headphones, it’s usually a problem configuring the headphones correctly. Sometimes it’s a problem with the headphones themselves.
Things to check:
- Do the headphones work on other devices or with other apps? if yes, then the problem is not with the headphones, but rather with the configuration.
- Make sure your headphones are plugged in.
- Go to system sound settings and ensure that you’re selecting the right headphones, that the output volume levels are set high, and that mute is not selected. On your Mac, open System Preferences–>Sound open the Output tab, select your headphones and then at the bottom of the window, set the Output volume relatively high and ensure that the Mute checkbox is unchecked.
- Open Flock and ensure the correct headphones are selected. Go to Audio settings and select the headphones from the drop-down list. Click the Test Audio button and you should hear a tone through the headphones.
- If you’re using a headset with an audio-jack, switch over to a USB headset.
Others can't hear me or I sound quiet
If others cannot hear you or you sound quiet, it’s usually a problem configuring your microphone correctly. Sometimes it can be a problem with the microphone.
Things to check:
- Does the mic work on other devices or with other apps? if yes, then the problem is not with the mic, but rather with the configuration.
- Make sure your mic is plugged in.
- Go to system sound settings and ensure that you’re selecting the right mic, that the output volume levels are set high, and that mute is not selected. On your Mac, open System Preferences–>Sound open the Input tab, select your mic and then at the bottom of the window, set the Input volume relatively high. If there is a Mute checkbox then ensure it is unchecked.
- In Flock it’s possible that you’ve got background noise enabled. Go to Settings and put both of the sliders for Background Noise removal (the Threshold and Ratio settings) to the far left.
- Open Flock and ensure the correct mic is selected. Go to Audio settings and select the mic from the drop-down list. You should see the green bars in the sound level fluctuating when you speak.
- Instructions for setting your mic audio level correctly can be found here: https://community.flock.digital/t/set-your-mic-audio-level-correctly/86/3
I hear distorted audio / Others hear my audio distorted
Examples of audio distortion include when you or others:
- sound like they’re underwater
- very high pitched or low pitched
- garbled
This is almost always a problem of the Sample rate and/or Buffer size in Flock not matching the Sample rate and/or Buffer size of the headset you’re using.
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In Flock Audio Settings: Sample rate should be 44,100 Hz. If that’s not available a Sample rate of 48,000 Hz is fine (unless you’re the Leader in which case 44,100 is required).
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In Flock Audio Settings: Buffer size should be 128. If your hardware doesn’t support 128, then choose the lowest number available (unless you’re a Leader in which case 128 is required).
I hear delays / latency
Here are a few things to check. All of these affect latency:
- Make sure you are using wired internet. Switch WiFi off. If both an ethernet cable is connected and WiFi is on, sometimes internet traffic can be routed via WiFi.
- No powerline internet (i.e. internet through electricity cables in the walls). You must be using an Ethernet cable.
- No bluetooth headphones - headphones need to be wired and selected.
- Is a VPN running? Turn it off.
- Do you have more than 1 Mbps upload bandwidth? You can do a bandwidth test here: http://speedtest.googlefiber.net/
https://www.speedtest.net/ - Do you have a slow router, i.e. one with a very old or low-spec processor? If it’s a free router supplied by your internet provider, it may be under-powered. If you have a separate modem and router (as opposed to both in the same device) you can test the additional delay and difference in download speed by plugging your ethernet cable first into the router and doing a speed test and then plugging the same cable directly into the modem and doing another speed test. If there is a significant difference in the ping times and observed bandwidth then replacing your router may help.
- Are you (or someone in the same household) streaming video at the same time e.g. Zoom, Skype, Netflix, etc? If yes, try turning it off.
- Audio buffer size should be set at 128 samples. Larger buffer sizes will increase latency. If you are experiencing popping & crackling sounds then a larger buffer size may improve the audio quality at the expense of increased latency. If your sound card supports only sample rates that are higher than 128, then one option to consider is buying an entry-level audio interface (see picture below) which is effectively an external sound card with its own processor.
I cannot Join a session / I am kicked-out immediately after joining
This problem is usually one of the following:
- you are on the same network as the Leader e.g. you’re in the same house and on the same home network. Singers can share a network connection, but the Leader cannot share the same network connection.
- you are using WiFi or Powerline internet (i.e. through electricity cables in your walls) - you should be using wired internet with an ethernet cable.
- not enough bandwidth / high latency - do a speed test to check if you have more than 1Mbps upload speed
https://www.speedtest.net/ - a firewall is blocking Flock - if you have firewall software running on your computer, either disable the firewall or setup an exception to allow incoming connections to Flock.
Problems installing, updating or opening Flock
- Version mismatch error. This means that you need to upgrade to the latest version of Flock. If Flock does not prompt you to upgrade to a new version, then download it again and re-install. It is not necessary to uninstall Flock, just download and re-install over the previous version.
I need to enter my email address every time I open Flock.
Usually the cause of this issue is closing Flock in the middle of the registration process and so the final step of the registration does not occur. The steps needed to complete the email registration are as follows:
- Open Flock and enter your email address. Keep Flock open.
- A minute later you should receive an email. Open that email and click on the confirmation link.
- A browser window will open that confirms your email address is registered.
- Now, go back to Flock. Don’t close Flock. Wait a few seconds and then the screen should change and you should see the regular Home page as below.
