• Registered: 2017-08-30
  • Posts: 17

Topic: Noise burst with HDSP 9632 / Windows 10 v1809

Hi,

I'm dealing with an unexpected issue with my HDSP 9632 since last Windows 10 update to v1809.

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Computer: ARBOR FPC-7300 (a fanless box PC with one PCI slot)
Processor: Intel Core2 Duo CPU P8600 @2.40 GHz
RAM: 4 Gbyte
OS: 64-bit
Windows 10 Pro v1809 (since 27-12-2018)
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RME HDSP 9632 in PCI Slot
HDSP driver: version 4.26
HDSP firmware: 155
Connected to RME ADI-2 Pro through XLR AES/EBU
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Foobar2000 audio player, used with WASAPI driver in event mode.
Windows audio interface set in exclusive mode
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Up to recently, everything worked fine at any bitrate from 44.1 to 192 kHz in both 16-bit and 24-bit resolutions.

But now I get a burst noise instead of music when playing anything else but a 44.1 kHz / 16-bit audio file.
The ADI-2 still recognizes the bitrate and resolution of the signal transmitted by the HDSP, but the sound is broken.

As my PC has a dual boot installation of Windows 10 and Windows XP, It is worth mentioning that everything still work fine under the XP environment (using the same 4.26 version of  HDSP 9632 driver).
This means that the PCI board and the ADI-2 are ok, and a firmware/software issue must be considered.
So I suspect something wrong with the last Windows 10 update to v1809 ...

I've tried to remove anr re-installed the PCI card to force Windows to detect the HDSP board again, re-install the HDSP driver, tried other audio players, but always with the same result.   

I really don't know what to do next and I would appreciate some assistance.

Regards

Roland

2 Reply by MC

  • MC
  • MC
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  • From: Germany/Thailand
  • Registered: 2007-04-06
  • Posts: 25,770

Re: Noise burst with HDSP 9632 / Windows 10 v1809

Try WASAPI Push. And ASIO.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

MC's Website

  • Registered: 2017-08-30
  • Posts: 17

Re: Noise burst with HDSP 9632 / Windows 10 v1809

Thanks Matthias for the tip, I have already tried WASAPI Push and ASIO but it doesn't change anything.

4 Reply by MC

  • MC
  • MC
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  • From: Germany/Thailand
  • Registered: 2007-04-06
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Re: Noise burst with HDSP 9632 / Windows 10 v1809

That's strange. Try to remove the card again and clean its PCI bus gold conctacts with a soft rubber eraser.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

MC's Website

  • Registered: 2017-08-30
  • Posts: 17

Re: Noise burst with HDSP 9632 / Windows 10 v1809

As I said in the post, everything works perfectly when I boot Windows XP instead of Window 10 (and using the same release of the HDSP driver). This demonstrated that the PCI board is not suspect.
It is as if Window 10 audio driver was not able to cope with the 24-bit resolution.

  • vinark
  • DAW Mastermind
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  • Registered: 2009-06-05
  • Posts: 2,859

Re: Noise burst with HDSP 9632 / Windows 10 v1809

I suspect a windows update. You can roll them back and see if that cures it.

Vincent, Amsterdam
https://soundcloud.com/thesecretworld
BFpro fs, 2X HDSP9652 ADI-8AE, 2X HDSP9632
  • From: Germany
  • Registered: 2007-04-10
  • Posts: 9,845

Re: Noise burst with HDSP 9632 / Windows 10 v1809

Can you feed a test signal back into the card's SPDIF input and record it (set clock mode to Master/Internal)?

Regards
Daniel Fuchs
RME

Regards
Daniel Fuchs
RME

RME Support's Website

  • Registered: 2017-08-30
  • Posts: 17

Re: Noise burst with HDSP 9632 / Windows 10 v1809

Hi Daniel,

I'm not sure I clearly understood the experiment.
How do I produce the test signal and which kind of signal (white noise, other) ?
Are you talking about this : https://archiv.rme-audio.de/download/bit_test_wavs.zip
or something else ?
Is it possible to setup an internal loopback mode within the HDSP board or do I have to physically connect the SPDIF output to the SPDIF input ?

Regards

Roland

  • Registered: 2017-08-30
  • Posts: 17

Re: Noise burst with HDSP 9632 / Windows 10 v1809

Daniel,

With DIGICheck I have recorded a clip of the sound delivered by the HDSP 9632 when playing a 96 kHz/24-bit musical track. This is a .WAV file, but I can't attach it to the post. 

Regards

Roland

  • Registered: 2017-08-30
  • Posts: 17

Re: Noise burst with HDSP 9632 / Windows 10 v1809

A few additional words about the HDSP / Windows 10 issue.

To be sure that the problem does not relate to other possible disorders, I re-install Windows in a new disk partition,
resulting in a clean and virus-free system with all up-to-date drivers. I also installed the latest driver of the sound card.
=> The upshot of all this is that the audio issue remains !

Recap:

1 - As my computer has a dual boot (Windows XP / Windows 10), I can confirm that everything is still working fine under Windows XP, which excludes any hardware issue.

2 - the Windows 10 audio troubleshooter doesn't help (I should have been impressed if it did)

3 - the defect is the same with or without using WASAPI exclusive mode

4 - sound tests from the Sound Control Panel are always successful with all sample rates and resolutions (e.g., 88.2, 96, 176.4, 192 kHZ, 24-bit). The sound card delivers the test signal properly, at the native sample rate and resolution. 

5 - works fine when playing 44.1 kHz/16-bit audio from any source (e.g., media player, web browser), but noise burst (media player) or no sound (web browser) when playing audio at a higher sample rate.

6 - The ADI-2 Pro bit test files successful pass the test ("pass" displayed on the ADI-2 screen) with all sample rates and resolutions ! (perhaps because these files deliver short pulses of noise, instead of a continuous signal)

7 - What I mean by 'noise burst' is a continuous train of pulses. With DIGICheck I have recorded an example (96 KHz, 24-bit) and examined it by using a digital audio editing software. The signal is composed of ~ 1 mS pulses every ~ 25 mS. No signal between pulses. Complex and asymmetric signal within pulses.

Some ideas ?

  • Registered: 2017-08-30
  • Posts: 17

Re: Noise burst with HDSP 9632 / Windows 10 v1809

I 'get' it !
Against all expectations, everything (the computer, the RME HDSP9632 board and driver, Foobar2000, etc) works fine. The only thing is that all my 24-bit lossless WMA files seem to be corrupt. I don't know why. I mean not only the WMA file I already have on my HDD. If now I download a new 24-bit lossless WMA audio file from my regular supplier of Hi-Res music (Qobuz), the file appears as corrupted ! (my antivirus detects nothing, the HDD is virus free)
No problem with other hi-res lossless formats (FLAC, AIFF, ALAC, WAV).
Is it a Windows 10 issue ?

That's crazy!

12 Reply by MC

  • MC
  • MC
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  • From: Germany/Thailand
  • Registered: 2007-04-06
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Re: Noise burst with HDSP 9632 / Windows 10 v1809

Google says there had been DRM issues and a tool for that some time ago, but nothing about 1809...

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

MC's Website

  • Registered: 2017-08-30
  • Posts: 17

Re: Noise burst with HDSP 9632 / Windows 10 v1809

I've found this thread about a very similar problem:

https://forum.dbpoweramp.com/showthread … Windows-10

Today for me personally, I decide to abandon WMA in favor of FLAC, to get rid of this kind of issues.