1 Topic by noize (edited by noize 2011-06-09 20:15:02)

  • noize
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  • Registered: 2011-05-16
  • Posts: 14

Topic: FF400 Audio Speeds up randomly!

This has now happened several times and i have no idea whats causing it. All of a sudden the audio just speeds up, there is also some slight crackling when this happens, its as if the sample rate has changed. i'll be listening to a hip hop beat for example and then it suddenly speeds up to a drum and bass speed!! then i have to reboot the ff400 for it to return to normal. Even then sometimes it just happens again. I cant seem to make it happen, its rather random. so far this has happened in Cubase and when listening to music via you tube. Please help me with this error theres got to be a solution.
Thanks in advance.
driver date: 03.12.10
driver version: 3.033
hardware revision: 1.71

2 Reply by kasaudio (edited by kasaudio 2011-06-10 14:39:39)

  • Registered: 2007-06-16
  • Posts: 214

Re: FF400 Audio Speeds up randomly!

Set power management to max performance, disable windows sounds, set onboard audio device as default, turn off all other programs that output audio on events (such as messenger, etc). Check DPC latency. Hope it helps.

  • noize
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Re: FF400 Audio Speeds up randomly!

thanks for getting back to me.
when you say set power management do you mean 'control panel>power options>power schemes>max battery? It is currently on 'always on'.
windows sounds are already diabled, i will change my 'sound playback device to the default (realtek) on my pc.
had a brief check with dpc latency and it seems ok and confirms my system is fine for audio recording/playback. I have not however monitored it for more than a couple of minutes. maybe it would be worth doing it the next time i encounter this prob and see what happens?
by the way i have managed to recreate the problem, it is basically a shift in the sample rate from 44.1 to 48 however when i encounter the actual problem my RME settings do not show the higher sample rate just my usual 44.1 setting? strange?!
heres my pc specs if they are of any help:

WIN XP PRO 32BIT SP3 - 4GB RAM
Intel Quad Core Q9650
NVIDIA GeForce 9600GT V260.99

RME FF400;
- driver date: 03.12.10
- driver version: 3.033
- hardware revision: 1.71

  • Registered: 2008-01-01
  • Posts: 3,025

Re: FF400 Audio Speeds up randomly!

Doesn't Windows XP output at 48 kHz by default? That could be the reason.

  • Registered: 2007-06-16
  • Posts: 214

Re: FF400 Audio Speeds up randomly!

I meant control panel->power options->power shemes->max performance. Then go to details of this max performance sheme and disable throttling of everything you can. Set everything to 100%, disable all wakeups etc.
Check DPC latency for a couple of hours (during the night). With your system you should be 20us average and 80us peak.

Nvidia drivers are prone to decrease performance as they cause high DPC's. Find Timur's posts about problems with Nvidia.

Check setup of your hard drive (use SATA instead of AHCI).

Hope it helps

  • noize
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  • Registered: 2011-05-16
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Re: FF400 Audio Speeds up randomly!

just rechecked the power options and in the power schemes tab there is no 'max performance' setting but a 'max battery' setting. is this what you mean? its currently set to always on and everything is disabled. i will also look into the other stuff. cheers

  • noize
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Re: FF400 Audio Speeds up randomly!

still happening with lastest drivers- help please.

  • From: New Milford , CT USA
  • Registered: 2007-05-01
  • Posts: 347

Re: FF400 Audio Speeds up randomly!

Hi noize,
What motherboard or brand desktop is this?
You can find this info by going to Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools/System Information.
The System Summary page will have the main hardware specs we need to know.
I would disable all start up items other than the 2 RME items. There could be some back ground application/services that uses sound indicators independent of the Windows System sounds, i.e., email, antivirus, messenger type applications.
Check to see that you have tweaked XP for audio correctly.
Here is the best site for this.
http://www.tweakhound.com/xp/xptweaks/supertweaks1.htm

Make sure in the RME Fireface settings that Clock Source is set to internal/master.
If you have any digital devices plugged into the RME remove them or turn them off to make sure they are not effecting this behavior.

Thanks Chris

Chris Ludwig | ADK Pro Audio
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