• Registered: 2007-10-31
  • Posts: 8

Topic: Hdsp 9652 input levels intermittently spiking

I will try to make this concise and thanks for any input

RME products:
HDSP 9652  AEBX expansion boards( 3 total)  16 channels in   8 channels out
latest driver update ver291 ( has been working flawlessly since it's release in 2005 )

My PC ( has never been on the internet)
AMD Athlon (B) XP 3200+ 2.20GHz
ASUS A7N8V-LA MOBO
nForce2-IGP  chipset
2 gigs ram

Cubase SX3

After a couple of years of having a very stable system, I am now having this problem.

When I boot my system, sometimes it is fine, other times the inputs are spiking on all 16 inputs,creating much noise and crackling.

If I shut down and reboot, it sometimes solves this, and other times not.When it boots up , it may run solid for hours, at other times it will run solid for a couple hours and then the spiking starts back. Strangely enough, I can still playback from Cubase and it sounds fine even when all the inputs are going nuts.

This happens even when my mixer is shut down and I am sending no signal.

Any clues on what to check ? I havn't updated my driver because the system was working very well.
If I do update, can I go to the newest driver, or do I have to update chronologically from my most recent driver, which is a couple of years old.

2 Reply by MC

  • MC
  • MC
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  • From: Germany/Thailand
  • Registered: 2007-04-06
  • Posts: 24,877

Re: Hdsp 9652 input levels intermittently spiking

This is an old HDSP9652 (I bet rev 1.3) that needs a hardware modification. Please send it in to your distributor.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

MC's Website

  • Registered: 2007-10-31
  • Posts: 8

Re: Hdsp 9652 input levels intermittently spiking

Can the spiking input signals damage my card or expansion boards? I ask this, because I can still utilize the outputs in order to do a mixdown, even though the input levels are jumping around like a wild rabbit. I have a couple mixdown sessions scheduled and would hate to cancel. On the other hand, I do not wish to damage my 9652 or expansion cards. The input spiking is no longer intermittent, it is constant. I have updated to the latest WDM driver and it installed with no problem.

4 Reply by MC

  • MC
  • MC
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  • From: Germany/Thailand
  • Registered: 2007-04-06
  • Posts: 24,877

Re: Hdsp 9652 input levels intermittently spiking

The input spiking most probably goes away when you remove the analog inputs (pull the AEB cable), and does not harm anything.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

MC's Website

5 Reply by MC

  • MC
  • MC
  • Administrator
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  • From: Germany/Thailand
  • Registered: 2007-04-06
  • Posts: 24,877

Re: Hdsp 9652 input levels intermittently spiking

I just heared that your card is a rev 1.6. In that case there is either a contact problem at the PCI slot (you can try to clean the gold contacts of the HDSP with a rubber pencil/erazer), or a soldering problem somewhere. You will still need to send the card to repair.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

MC's Website

  • Registered: 2007-10-31
  • Posts: 8

Re: Hdsp 9652 input levels intermittently spiking

what are the chances that the problem is in one of my expansion cardes

  • Registered: 2007-10-31
  • Posts: 8

Re: Hdsp 9652 input levels intermittently spiking

(you can try to clean the gold contacts of the HDSP with a rubber pencil/erazer),

Matthias, I did this and now my card seems fine  : )   Waiting to see if the spiking comes back or not.
Anyway, thanks for all your help

  • Registered: 2007-10-31
  • Posts: 8

Re: Hdsp 9652 input levels intermittently spiking

This problem has returned in this fashion. During a tracking session my 9652 falls out of sync and the inputs start spiking rapidly up and down. A warm boot will not solve the issue but a  cold boot will put everything back in sync, at least for now. Are there any known issues that can create this situation? This has just started to happen recently and I am afraid that eventually the cold boot may not sync the card back to working condition. This can be quite uncomfortable during a session when I have to stop tracking and hope that the card corrects this issue after a reboot.

  • From: Germany
  • Registered: 2007-04-10
  • Posts: 9,558

Re: Hdsp 9652 input levels intermittently spiking

The card may be in need of repair - please contact the retailer or local RME distributor.


Regards
Daniel Fuchs
RME

Regards
Daniel Fuchs
RME

RME Support's Website