Audio Questions & Troubleshoot

[MarioSH]

Hello,

I've been running a Topping DX7 Pro with Genelec speakers for quite some time now, no issues. About a week ago I built a new PC, and I basically just connected the USB cable from the Topping DX7 Pro to the new PC and installed the drivers. So everything works, sound is fine, but I'm getting these stutters/skips when I for example play music while another sound is in the background.

I'm also 100% sure these stutters are not only sound, but also image, they're so fast and small that basically the way to know is the sound skips. What makes me think it's related to the USB/Dac is because I don't seem to get the issue if I plug headphones straight to motherboard, or if I use Bluetooth from the DX7.

I've tried different cables, even a different DAC/AMP, same thing. So I guess my question is, is there a different way I can connect my DX7 to my PC and not lose audio quality? Or is there anything I can do to troubleshoot what's going on?

Thank you.

 

[IAtaman]

Hello. I would not conclude it is the DAC just yet because motherboard jack works fine. My first suspicion would be the drivers. Do you need them, is it possible to uninstall the driver and see if it works fine with the generic USB driver of the OS.

 

[MarioSH]

Hello. I would not conclude it is the DAC just yet because motherboard jack works fine. My first suspicion would be the drivers. Do you need them, is it possible to uninstall the driver and see if it works fine with the generic USB driver of the OS.

Thank you for your reply,

I’ve tried that, yes. I’ve completely uninstalled the devices and let it install a Generic driver. Here’s a list of things I’ve tried;

Fresh windows 11 install
RAM Test
Disabling every other audio device
Changed sample rates
Tried different DAC
Different cable
Tried every usb port including monitor’s

What confuses me is, if I tried a different dac, and it does the same, but if I connect directly to Motherboard sound or Bluetooth DX7, it doesn’t do it. Which is why I’m wondering if there’s a different way to connect to maybe rule out the USB being an issue.

 

[HarmonicTHD]

Thank you for your reply,

I’ve tried that, yes. I’ve completely uninstalled the devices and let it install a Generic driver. Here’s a list of things I’ve tried;

Fresh windows 11 install
RAM Test
Disabling every other audio device
Changed sample rates
Tried different DAC
Different cable
Tried every usb port including monitor’s

What confuses me is, if I tried a different dac, and it does the same, but if I connect directly to Motherboard sound or Bluetooth DX7, it doesn’t do it. Which is why I’m wondering if there’s a different way to connect to maybe rule out the USB being an issue.

Just these past few days I have read about the same problem here in the forum. I don’t remember the thread or the solution though. Sorry. Maybe you can find it. Good luck.

 

[IAtaman]

Oh that is one annoying problem. I imagine you have installed the drivers from the motherboard manufacturer for USB hub as well? A few years ago there were issues with some AMD chipsets, so if you haven't already done so, a BIOS update would be also be advisable. Might be good to check for settings for PCI timings in your BIOS as well.

 

[MarioSH]

Oh that is one annoying problem. I imagine you have installed the drivers from the motherboard manufacturer for USB hub as well? A few years ago there were issues with some AMD chipsets, so if you haven't already done so, a BIOS update would be also be advisable. Might be good to check for settings for PCI timings in your BIOS as well.

Yes, latest bios are installed. USB drivers I’m guessing they are, there’s no USB drivers specifically on the brand’s website that I can download. And also made sure to have the latest AMD chipset drivers.

It’s driving me nuts! lol.

 

[voodooless]

Does it do this on all USB ports? In some cases, USB ports are attached to different parts of the chipset and/or CPU and may be handled differently. What are the specific motherboard and CPU?

 

[Apesbrain]

It’s driving me nuts! lol.

I was searching for information regarding "exclusive mode" and came across this article. Many suggestions to try:

https://support.focusrite.com/hc/en-gb/articles/4408057193362-Optimising-your-PC-for-Audio-on-Windows-11

 

[MarioSH]

Does it do this on all USB ports? In some cases, USB ports are attached to different parts of the chipset and/or CPU and may be handled differently. What are the specific motherboard and CPU?

I’ve tried every USB port on the back of the motherboard, as well as USB ports on my Monitor.

I have a MSI Meg x670E Ace, with an AMD 7950X3D.

 

[MarioSH]

I was searching for information regarding "exclusive mode" and came across this article. Many suggestions to try:

https://support.focusrite.com/hc/en-gb/articles/4408057193362-Optimising-your-PC-for-Audio-on-Windows-11

Thank you, I’ll give that a read. I have the exclusive mode unchecked already but maybe I can try some other steps on there.

 

[voodooless]

see here: https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?...-in-games-usb-selective-pause-setting.385131/

 

[MarioSH]

see here: https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?...-in-games-usb-selective-pause-setting.385131/

I will try that out and report back, thanks!

 

[IAtaman]

Yes, latest bios are installed. USB drivers I’m guessing they are, there’s no USB drivers specifically on the brand’s website that I can download. And also made sure to have the latest AMD chipset drivers.

It’s driving me nuts! lol.

Seems like you have done everything right. I think your best bet at the moment is checking the USB and PCIE settings in the BIOS.

 

[MarioSH]

see here: https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?...-in-games-usb-selective-pause-setting.385131/

So I tried this and nothing really changed. I'm starting to think if maybe something Hardware related, like maybe try connecting the GPU straight to Motherboard as right now it's on a Vertical mount. But the thing is, if it was hardware related, it would also happen on Bluetooth I would think?

 

[voodooless]

Does the USB audio driver have any buffer sizes you can set? You can try making the buffer larger.

Also here some more things to try:

https://www.overclock.net/threads/are-you-experiencing-usb-problems-on-am5.1802162/post-29080827

 

[MarioSH]

Does the USB audio driver have any buffer sizes you can set? You can try making the buffer larger.

Also here some more things to try:

https://www.overclock.net/threads/are-you-experiencing-usb-problems-on-am5.1802162/post-29080827

With the latest Topping driver it installed a little software that shows me Buffer size but I think it’s only for ASIO (I think?).

It shows Buffer Settings, and it’s at 512 samples. I can increase it, however at the bottom it says ASIO not active.

I’m not sure I’ve seen the buffer option anywhere else.

 

[JayGilb]

Try moving your pcie cards to different slots in your PC. It's possible that you are sharing an interrupt with another subsystem.
Another thing to check is to disable your wireless card (if you have one installed and can be shut down).

 

[MarioSH]

So here's something new I just tried, I was trying to find an easy way to see if the stutter is Audio only or image too, so I went to UFO Refresh Rate test, my monitor is at 175 FPS, it loads fine without any errors. But as soon as these Audio stutters/Skips happen, the FPS drop from 175 to 170. So there's definitely some sort of graphical/system stutter going on and that's probably causing the audio skip?

 

[MarioSH]

Well I gave up and tried a couple more things;

Removed the riser cable and connected my GPU directly to the Motherboard
Connected the DAC to USB 3.0 Front panel of the case (I had them unplugged before)

Didn't make any difference.

So at this point I'm thinking it's either a bug with Windows 11 and my setup... Bios bug... Or my Motherboard is defective? Or I could try getting a newer DAC and see if it makes a difference...

 

[MarioSH]

A question for the Audio Professionals in here, if I wanted to completely bypass the whole USB from PC sound, to something else that could potentially be better, what are my options? I know Bluetooth, but I would prefer something wired that gives me full quality. Is there a way? I don't know if it's possible to get sound off a PC apart from USB DAC...