USB sound issue

[ahonoe]

Hi,

I recently purchased a new Gigabyte X58-UD5 mobo, RAM, an i7 x980 and a Radeon 9550 to replace the guts of my old Intel P4 system for the audio work I do.
The system came together and W7-32 went in nicely recognizing all hardware but my legacy Edirol M-16DX USB sound card now shows frequent, short audio drop outs whenever I display bitmap images, or video.

I've tried tweaking the BIOS turning USB 1, 2, & 3 on and off and have futzed around with overclocking and any other settings I can think without luck. I've also added a PCI USB 2 expansion card in without love. The problem is not related to latency as I have around with that as well setting buffers ridiculously large. Besides why spen all of this money if I going to get worse latency than my old P4?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Regards,

Scott

 

[jaquith]

Welcome to Tom's Forums!

I assume you're using M-16DX System Program Version 2.0, PCSMF Update Application, and M-16DX Driver Version 1.0.0 for Windows 7 32-bit Edition driver.

Otherwise, manually change the IRQ's.

 

[ahonoe]

Thanks for the quick response!

I am using v 2 of the M-16DX System Program Version however the Edirol Control Panel applet shows driver version 1.0.1 for Windows 7. Not sure if that's significant.

I am not familiar with the PCSMF Upadate Application (will Google it now). Also, do I tinker with the IRQs in Windows or in the BIOS?

Regards,

Scott

 

[ahonoe]

Ok - PCSMF Update Application for uploading the version 2 system software to the M-16DX. Yes, I updated the sound card to this version shortly after it came out a year, or two ago.

So, sounds like IRQ tweaking, eh? It's been years since I adjusted an IRQ. Any pointers wil be most appreciated.

Regards,

Scott

 

[jaquith]

... Edirol Control Panel applet shows driver version 1.0.1 for Windows 7. Not sure if that's significant.

Yes! It suggests the Vista driver. With connect, Uninstall driver, shutdown, Disconnect, restart, D/L and install the Windows driver {see below}, shutdown, Reconnect and restart.

Ref - http://www.rolandus.com/products/productdetails.php?ProductId=860

Hold on the IRQ until you do the 'simple' fix...first.

 

[ahonoe]

Thanks again for the quick response. Yes, I did try the Vista driver as a first troubleshooting step a while back. Ok. I'll uninstall it now and let you know.

Regards,

Scott

 

[ahonoe]

All done. Disappointing results. A slide show in Picassa causes pops and drop-outs (which sound more like latency glitches under the W7 driver) regardless of ASIO buffer size settings.

Another (perhaps slightly) interesting symptom: the drop outs get progressively worse over time.

Regards,

Scott

 

[jaquith]

I had a similar 'progressive' problem with my 10 UD3R's but with RAID; I had to RMA the GA MOBOs.

Next, run MSCONFIG select Diagnostic and restart; rule-out conflicts. Also, for now, disconnect ALL other USB devices {including the new USB card, and only use the bare minimum USB devices like KB/Mouse}. edit -> clearly keep the Edirol M-16DX...

 

[ahonoe]

The X58A-U5 does have a SATA RAID controller though I'm not using it.

I reviewed the various USB ports in device manager and didn't see obvious IRQ conflicts, certainly none on the relevant USB port. I'll run MSCONFIG and see what it shows. Lol maybe the solution is to go back to my PS2 keyb and mouse.

Regards,

Scott

 

[ahonoe]

Hi jaquith,

Well the lovelessness continues.

I did as you suggested namely ran MSCONFIG and switched on Diagnostic startup, removed all USB devices other than the M-16DX (switched to a PS2 mouse and keyboard, and removed the add-in USB card). When I rebooted the system I had the only following services running:

Application Information
Crypto Services
DCOM Server Process Launcher
Group Policy Client
Plug and Play
User Profile Service

To make the sound card work I enabled the following:

RPC
RPC Locator
RPC Endpoint Mapper
Power
Windows Media Center Scheduler Service
Windows Audio Endpoint Builder
Windows Audio

Next I fired up WinAmp, started playing an MP3 (Radiohead) and then brought up Picassa and got ready to play a slide show. (While the problem occurs with other apps, these are a couple of my regulars.) Even before I began the slide show - during the Picassa load - the sound became glitchy. The problem returned after 10 seconds of slideshow and was intermittently present after that. At this point I have virtually ruled out the possiblity that a Windows service, or an add in service is casuing the problem.

When I first posted I suspected that perhaps the issue was with my graphics card, the Radeon 5600. Now I'm wondering if the problem is related to disk access. I am using a SSD (OCZ Vertex2) for my sysvol. I wonder if the increased throughput of the SSD drive is hogging the bus? If this guess is correct, perhaps it's the page file access that's to blame. Gradual memory fragmentation over time would cause Windows to start to tap into the page file and this disk access to clog the bus. Thoughts?

Regards,

Scott

 

[ahonoe]

Ok. Ruled out the page file hypothesis. Problem still occurs after I switched it off.

I still suspect disk access for some reason. The software and graphics I'm loading are not stored on the sys vol but are on a second SATA drive. I wonder if I should configured the mobo differently? If memory serves, there are a few options associated with SATA and IDE emulation...

Regards,

Scott

 

[jaquith]

Just for curiosity please post you RAM Part Number(s) and slots installed; an easy method is to use CPUz {SPD tab} - http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html

My best advise otherwise is to setup an account and New Post at http://forums.tweaktown.com/ and then private message Lsdmeasap he's the GA Guru.

Post back your link @ TT - Good Luck!

 

[ahonoe]

CPUz shows I have Corsair CMP6GX3M3A1600C8 UDIMMs in slots 1, 3 & 5.

I'll take this issue over to the tweaktown.com forums and post to Lsdmeasap's attention.

Thanks very much for your responsiveness. I very much appreciate your time.

Regards,

Scott

 

[jaquith]

Those sticks have had a 'studder' issue; the solution is to raise the QPI/VTT voltage slightly. However, the correct RAM for that MOBO is the TR3X6G1600C8D http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145224

I realize it 'is' in the list, but many folks have had problems with both the UD3R and UD5, and the TR3X6G1600C8D correct their issues.

Otherwise, I world strongly encourage you to manually set the RAM:
Memory Multiplier {assuming BCLK = 133.33} = {12}
DRAM Voltage = {1.65V}
CAS Timings manually all sticks {8-8-8-24-2T}
Do NOT use XMP.

 

[ahonoe]

jaquith,

Thanks again for all of your help. As you suggested, I've started the following thread over on www.tweakheads.com:

http://forums.tweaktown.com/gigabyte/41873-edirol-m-16dx-drop-outs-ga-x58a-ud5.html

I'll be sure to post the results back here for posterity.

Regards,

Scott

 

[jaquith]

Read it so far ... wazza300 is good, and I totally agree about uninstalling ALL GA Utilities; I should have started-off that way; the MSCONFIG Diagnostic 'should' have disabled them.