Help !! USB Audio getting frequently stuck

[haisaikat]

Hi All,
Need help, I am having a problem with my music cum htpc. Presently I listen to music via foobar 1.1.15 --> USB - ODAC --> Denon 1911 AVR

For that last 1 or two weeks I am noticing a problem that if I play audio via ODAC every 4 or 6 secs the audio gets stuck for 1 sec and then plays normally. Here is what all I have tried so far, btw when the auio stops coming momentarily the file / player continues to play normally though making it a momentary miss of audio and not a momentary stop.

First I thought it was a problem with Foobar 1.1.13 then upgraded it to 1.1.15 but problem is still there.

Then I thought it to be network issue so manually copied a song file on to local hard drive, then played it, same issue.

Then I went to Manage Sound Device (Win 7) on HTPC and reconfigured setting of ODAC (currently set at 24 / 96). Still same issue.

Then I installed vlc player and selected ODAC as output device. Same problem persisted (thus not a problem with foobar).

Then I thought that it might me a problem with the USB port on the HTPC, tried switching to different ports on the htpc (front and rear), still same problem.

Got scared whether it is a ODAC problem , found nothing similar on the net. So connected ODAC to my sony vaio laptop. Thank God everything played well. So it is not a problem with the ODAC.

On my htpc everything works fine with XBMC outputting over HDMI to AVR.

Also tried in foobar with various output options like WASAPI push, WASAP Event, Direct Sound but same problem persists.

So I think it has something to do with the USB of the HTPC.

Can it be that there is something with Windows driver for USB?

Any inputs anyone?

Thanks in advance

 

[baijuxavior]

Try Uninstall driver from device manager and update again.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

Please try the DPC Latency checker and report results. More information on that site.

 

[canchi]

Happened to me as well. I use Dell Laptop - foobar - MF DAC V II - Marantz amp, did the same things you did - update it, etc - none of that helped.
I found that if you have stuff connected to the other usb ports, it helps if you disconnect them. If your hdd is active and using a lot of ram, the skipping/ stop-start occurs.If your anti-virus is hogging memory, look at that aspect. Also, keep the OS updated.
Cheers

 

[haisaikat]

@baiju, uninstalling and reinstalling did not work

@canchi, tried disconnecting all usb devices still same problem, one thing I noticed that in device manager some usb devices have varying bandwidth allocations, will research more on this.

@thad, next is your method, will test tomorrow.

btw, uninstalled D-Link shareport utility, this is something I found to be installed in last 1 month, still no luck though.

 

[kumarab]

Latency problems are really only an issue on very old machines or a seriously screwed up OS, which, I believe is not the case here.

Are you using Power Management of any sort? You could try changing the "minimum processor state" to 100% under Advanced Power Settings. If that doesn't help, then we'd have to look at the specific changes you made to your HTPC right before this problem started.

 

[haisaikat]

Please try the DPC Latency checker and report results. More information on that site.

Thad, this app worked fine, showing all green bars with no red bars, but problem still exists. Even I ran vlc and this app simultaneously when vlc audio got stuck but app did not show any red bar.

Now am thinking if I will have to reinstall windows.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

showing all green bars with no red bars

That's one thing off the list then. Good, because it is a horrible thing to cope with --- but, so is a mystery, and you still have a mystery!

DPC latency (not just "latency") is a problem that, as far as I know, has not been dealt with entirely. My machine was certainly not very old. In fact, it is a audio problem that I never saw ten years ago.

 

[canchi]

Now am thinking if I will have to reinstall windows.

Not sure that you need to do something that drastic. I still feel that it depends on what other processes the PC is handling at the time.

So I would try other tweaks as mentioned on the net -
Disable multiple users on the system, automatic updates, as well as all themes/dashboards.
Disable the internal sound card
Turn off all other programs outside of the recording application(s), including anything that may be running in your system tray.
Turn off all anti-virus software and malware, including products such as ZoneAlarm, Defender, Norton Anti-virus, Firewalls, and pop up blockers
Be sure the date and time is set correctly on your computer
Disable all power saving, sleep mode options, wireless devices, and screen savers (especially on laptop computers).
Remove all Recording applications/playback programs that are not being used from your hard drive.
Unplug all non-essential USB, Firewire, and PCI connections (i.e. Web cameras, cameras, printers, scanners, MP3 players).
Disable disc compression options, system sounds, the indexing service, and your wireless Internet connection.
Cheers!

 

[haisaikat]

Not sure that you need to do something that drastic. I still feel that it depends on what other processes the PC is handling at the time.

So I would try other tweaks as mentioned on the net -
Disable multiple users on the system, automatic updates, as well as all themes/dashboards.
Disable the internal sound card
Turn off all other programs outside of the recording application(s), including anything that may be running in your system tray.
Turn off all anti-virus software and malware, including products such as ZoneAlarm, Defender, Norton Anti-virus, Firewalls, and pop up blockers
Be sure the date and time is set correctly on your computer
Disable all power saving, sleep mode options, wireless devices, and screen savers (especially on laptop computers).
Remove all Recording applications/playback programs that are not being used from your hard drive.
Unplug all non-essential USB, Firewire, and PCI connections (i.e. Web cameras, cameras, printers, scanners, MP3 players).
Disable disc compression options, system sounds, the indexing service, and your wireless Internet connection.
Cheers!

sure this all this is shorter than installing win 7? never mind will give a try surely

 

[sbg]

If the "pause" is still there after all your checks, I would suggest checking you hard drive for any problems. - Check the event viewer ( computer managemnt->system tools -> event Viewer -> system ) for any error or alerts.
The pause is generally because of the system taking 100% resources to check the bad/currupt sector at frequent intervals for indexing - or possibily it is still not finished its indexing since booting.

Possible case - as this had been the case with one of my PC.

 

[haisaikat]

If the "pause" is still there after all your checks, I would suggest checking you hard drive for any problems. - Check the event viewer ( computer managemnt->system tools -> event Viewer -> system ) for any error or alerts.
The pause is generally because of the system taking 100% resources to check the bad/currupt sector at frequent intervals for indexing - or possibily it is still not finished its indexing since booting.

Possible case - as this had been the case with one of my PC.

Had it been HDD bad sector problem, would playing the same file over network from NAs not caused the same problem? Also playing the same file over HDMI might also have created the same problem otherwise which is not the case.

 

[spirovious]

Are there some programs running in background?It can also cause a problem.

 

[Audiodoc]

I have the ODAC and the same works perfectly on my core i7 laptop as well as atom based vaio netbook. It even works with my ipads. Problems such as yours arise in my netbook If I use a power hogging device on my second USB port.

Secondly while using wasapi in foobar set the output to odac and buffer to 1000 with 24 bit depth.

Thirdly try a different software player like Lilith, wmp etc.

If problem still remains start arrest with a fresh OS install on your machine.
Fourthly

 

[haisaikat]

@spiro.. yes there are some background programs running, I tried to shut down all unknown programs and services that might have creeped in over the last 2 months but still did not find any solution there. Yesterday night I thoroughly checked the Event Viewer but was unable to find any regular event getting logged in system, application, other logs after the boot of the system. I played a song and observed it getting stuck and did a abefore after comparison of the event logs to find nothing.

@audiodoc, I agree problem is not with ODAC since if I connect the same to my laptop things work great (with same wires). Regarding your other suggestion of a culprit USB device, this was also suggested by another FM on this thread so I tried disconnecting all USB devices except the ODAC and replayed the songs to find the same problem persisting. Also I do not think it is a foobar problem since I tried with VLC and same problem happens if ODAC (USB) is output device but the same song works falwlessly if I select HDMI audio as output device. Even I am slowly preparing my mind to reinstall windows.

 

[spirovious]

It can be USB port itself,also a cable fault. eg.I have 3 extension cables connected to backside of MB.Out of 3,2 works perfect,but if I connect HDD to 3rd one,it works very slow(copy etc).Cables are similar still the issue.

 

[haisaikat]

It can be USB port itself,also a cable fault. eg.I have 3 extension cables connected to backside of MB.Out of 3,2 works perfect,but if I connect HDD to 3rd one,it works very slow(copy etc).Cables are similar still the issue.

As mentioned in my earlier posts, I have already tried with different USB ports (front and rear) giving same problem and same USB cable on laptop works perfectly when it connects the same ODAC.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

Cables/connectors are funny things. Although, in my professional computing life, I've probably seen less failure of USB cable (if any?) than other kinds, I've had oddities like a network cable failing on just one machine.

You should certainly try a different cable. Whilst it is almost certainly not the cause of the problem, it needs to be eliminated. Good idea Spirovious!

Even I am slowly preparing my mind to reinstall windows.

I think I would have done that on day 2. So long as you have all your data on a different/external drive, and not too much software to reinstall (a dedicated media machine? You probably don't) or heaps of customisation changes that you can't quite remember, then it is not so much work to do.

If/when you do, please test, step-by-step, as you go along: Does your onboard sound card work? Does your hdmi still work? Does the ODAC work before you install anything other than standard Windows drivers?

Good luck!

 

[haisaikat]

So I would try other tweaks as mentioned on the net -

@canchi, following tried and issue still not solved. I will try the rest and let you know.

Disable the internal sound card --> Done

Turn off all anti-virus software and malware, including products such as ZoneAlarm, Defender, Norton Anti-virus, Firewalls, and pop up blockers --> There were no antiviruses, only windows firewall but wonder if it will block USB. I have yesterday installed Avast free antivirus and will check if there is any virus or malware running in the background.

Be sure the date and time is set correctly on your computer--> Yes, already

Unplug all non-essential USB, Firewire, and PCI connections (i.e. Web cameras, cameras, printers, scanners, MP3 players). --> Done, except HDMI which is on a PCIe based GPU that I did not take off.

Disable disc compression options, system sounds, the indexing service, and your wireless Internet connection. --> happens for files played over network as well so do not think disc compression may be the problem here, happens with / without wired internet.

 

[canchi]

same USB cable on laptop works perfectly when it connects the same ODAC.

That rules out the possibility of an usb cable problem and narrows it down to the USB Ports of your HTPC, unlikely the hardware, more likely the software (drivers and the like) or something working overtime preventing a steady stream of audio through the usb Ports.