Hi,
VE crackles often for me as well. When it does it seems to affect all the digital clocking in my sequencer (DP 5.13), making all my digital audio crackle. Then I hit the Preferences button and close it for each VE instance (I'm running 4). It seems to reset how VE is clocking. Problem solved, at least for me.
--Stu
--Mac Pro Intel 8 Core, 16GB Ram, Sys 10.4.11, Digital Performer 5.13, ProTools 003 Factory, PCI-E 424, 2408 Mk II, 2408 Mk III, optical in and out to Apogee AD-8000, Apogee DA16, 3 MTP AV USBs, MTP II, MidiExpress 128, 12 SampleCell cards on Nubus Mac, 2 GigaStudio PCs, Aardsync II word clock house sync, Mach V, Mach V 2, MSI, Vienna Ensemble (4 instances), VSL Special Edition Extended, SE Plus, Concert Guitar, Upright Bass, Stylus RMX, Atmosphere, Trilogy, Analog Factory, AVOX AT5, SoundSoap, SoundSoap Pro, Altiverb, Elektrik Piano, Canopus ADVC110...