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In Reply to: RE: USB audio drop outs on XP - every other track. Anyone? posted by Presto on July 01, 2008 at 13:53:16
Hey gang:
GOT IT! It WORKS!
I read the articles about ACPI in XP (thanks theob) and since I tried everything else, I thought I would give it a go. So I converted my quasi-dual processor (Hyperthreading) PIV 2.6 Ghz machine from a ACPI HT Processor into a Standard (non-ACPI) single processor. Sure, probably lost some performance there... but I use 5% CPU playing 44.1 tracks with Foobar. No biggie there. I also removed the System device "Microsoft ACPI driver".
Then I headed into the IRQ map, which was disappointing because I thought I would be able to customize IRQ settings. Nope. The "automatic" checkbox is greyed out and cannot be removed. I will crack this one eventually...
But then I realized something. Not all USB controllers were assigned the same IRQ. For each controller there is a corresponding USB HUB. By looking at which device was on which Hub, I could work back to which controller was handling which device (For example, conroller 2 in the list of controllers controls the 2nd USB HUB in the list of hubs.) So I switched around the USB connections until I was using a controller that shared an IRQ with NO OTHER DEVICE!! (Then I completely uninstalled all other controllers and corresponding USB HUBS).
The result? TEN CONSECUTIVE TRACKS, NO DROPOUTS! :o)
When I was using a shared IRQ (IRQ 5), the MS UAA HD Audio PCI bus driver *AND* my video card were sharing this IRQ. Although "no conflicts" were reported, using the scroll-wheel in Internet Explorer fast enough caused such bad dropouts the audio would almost stop completely.
Sure, it was extreme. But I just wanted to win. And I did. YAY!
For those having dropout issues with audio, I would probably not remove ACPI, but I sure would check the IRQ table by going:
Start -> control panel -> System -> Hardware -> Device Manager -> View -> Resources by type -> Interrupt Requests (IRQ)
Thanks guys! Learned a bunch today.
Cheers,
Presto
Follow Ups:
I should have left well enough alone.
When I mucked around "organizing" IRQ's to get both USB HDD and USB DAC on their own seperate and unique IRQ's... I started getting dropouts again!
Screw it.
This morning I backed up my resource folders, service configuration, and foobar / eac settings files and wiped the b*tch.
Fresh install of windows xp. Probably service pack 3 or just SP2 for now.
I will try the windows usb driver with a completely untouched fresh install of windows - with no service configuration changes. Funny thing - I never got these dropouts when I first ran the receiver in USB mode months ago. They just started recently. SOMETHING must have changed.
I will then try the usb-audio.com driver which seems to be a reallly good driver (and is not to blame for the dropouts, I am pretty sure).
Let this be a lesson to die hard Windows XP fans. You can use PCI. You can use Firewire. You can even use USB. But if your USB solution is giving you dropouts... I'd get away from XP's usbaudio.sys and go with Vista.
Vista has been said to be a much better alternative to XP specifically for USB audio. Gordon said this too. I believe this wholeheartedly.
Since some USB devices seem to be more IRQ dependent than others, I would say XPs limited IRQ setting ability (especially with ACPI enabled processors) is a reason to stay clear.
The bright side?
I got a FRESH INSTALL OF WINDOWS waiting for me at home! :o)
That's always nice.
Cheers,
Presto
timber!!1
Acer Aspire 9500 laptop Pentium 1.73GHz w/ 2 gigs ram, Vista Premium 32 bit, WAV/CUE files on Hard Drives via firewire, XXHighEnd player Q1 14, player priority nothing,thread priority high; Stello 100 USB-DAC nos
PC LOAD LETTER!!
SMASH SMASH SMASH SMASH!
From "Office Space". One of Charlie Sheens finest moments.
Cheers,
Presto
Presto,
I have said this for years not all USB ports are created equal. That being said it's kind of a shame that there is not better support for looking at the USB map, except in device manager which does not give you much detail.
USB View is pretty poor overall and sometimes just stops showing stuff after certain devices.
AHHHHHH
There are some other programs but the cost money.
Too bad...
Thanks
Gordon
J. Gordon Rankin
How does that usb asio driver work? Is it better than asio4all? Is it 24/96 capable?
Theob:
The driver will basically do what the hardware can do, all the way up to 32bit/96khz. You can set the DEVICE bitdepth lower than the ASIO bitdepth (at which point I think the ASIO driver just pads the 16bit data to make it work - not sure there).
The usb-asio.com driver is "pre-programmed" for around 20 or 30 common usb chipsets and specific hardware devices. It's all there on the site.
www.usb-audio.com
Cheers,
Presto
Glad I could help you. You, all of you have certainly helped me.
Theob:
It's a powerful collective of knowlege we share here. The group is greater than the sum of its parts. Although individual members will have their own opinions and preferences regarding specific implementations, there is a "knowlege base" of do's and dont's that I have come to swear by. And I swear a lot in this hobby! ;)
A very excellent group to be part of. It's made my PC Audio hobby possible, really.
Cheers,
Presto
On my laptop my internal sound , graphics, modem, ethernet, USB controller, firewire controller and PCMCIA controller share IRQ 11 !!! (Actually a total of 11 entries since USB has 4 entries & PCMCIA 2). Maybe they decided IRQ 11 needed 11 items!).
I'm not sure who to blame: M$ or Acer (laptop manufacturer) or Intel (motherboard/chipset manufacturer). The laptop BIOS has no way of tweaking the IRQs neither does the XP device manager allow it. It's no wonder I have dropouts when I use USB audio devices. Any idea on how to evenly spread out the IRQs?
Sound Guy:
If you go into the device manager you can tell two things by looking at each USB controller. 1) what device is on each controller and 2)what IRQ each controller uses.
Try to get your USB device to use a controller that uses an IRQ that is unique to that controller, or only used for *another* USB controller.
This should work find, unless you have 10 USB devices hooked up besides your audio interface!! ;)
Cheers,
Presto
Presto, thanks for the help but if you carefully notice my post, all my USB controllers share the same IRQ along with firewire, graphics, modem, ethernet, internal sound. So I'm not sure how I can implement your suggestion :-(
I need a way to make my hardware to use other IRQs.
Soundguy:
I have 5 controllers on my PC, and 5 corresponding hubs.
some controller/hub combinations are shared, while others are either shared with another USB controller, or not shared at all.
The trick is to know which hub you are plugged into (which is academic if you are using the device manager and looking as "resources by type -> IRQs". Then find the hub that is either shared with only other USB controllers, or not shared at all.
Sometimes this requires moving PCI cards around.
There is no way that I have found on the net to "map" IRQ's manually in XP. The ability to over-ride is greyed out, and likely because most PCs now are 'ACPI Multiprocessor' based.
Cheers,
Presto
does anybody expect anyone other than a complete fanatic about this to dig that deeply into the problem. "Complete fanatic" is a complement by the way.
To get this stuff main stream it has to get easier like it is on a MAC. So why do I care?
I firmly believe higher resolution downloads are the wave of the future if enough people buy into it. It looks like the studios have the 24/96 or higher just sitting there and I want them to make it available to me, but as long as Joe 6 pack has to go in and adjust his interrupt settings to get it to work it isn't going to happen.
It is just too damn hard to get the results you want for the major players to jump in. Until they do we won't get the music we wnat in the hi-rez format we want it in.
(iTunes) or (Wilson Benesch ACT2/analog cart - M-Audio Fastrack pro 24/96) - iMac core audio 24/96 -- Toslink - Monarchy DIP - modified Behringer DCX2496 - MSB multichannel volume control - SET triamp Avantgarde Duo Omegas with DIY bass horn
-t
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