1 Topic by AverageUser (edited by AverageUser 2021-05-23 17:56:53)

  • Registered: 2021-05-23
  • Posts: 5

Topic: MF II sporadic screeching noise

Dear RME team and community,
thank you for providing such a useful resource with this forum, and apologies for this long post.

I'm running an Multiface II that I recently got in used condition.

-> Specs:

  • a PCI-Card Rev. 1.9 in a native PCI slot without PCIe adapter

  • no power supply for the MF II

  • I have just run hdsp_wdm_fut and it says Firmware v55

  • Windows 10 Pro 20H2

  • HP z230 Workstation Tower with Xeon E3-1245 v3 CPU and 400W PSU

  • I'm using the motherboard's internal GPU

  • One PCIe peripheral, a 2-Port USB 3.0 card.

  • Let me preface this by saying that I'm running RME's driver v4.29 and have not
    yet updated the driver because I wanted to post here first.

-> Issue:

Sporadically when playing Windows WDM audio, for example through Winamp or watching a livestream, the audio cuts off, a loud screeching noise (similar to a cut up pulse wave) can be heard and lots (all?) OVR indicators in TotalMix FX turn on.

This can happen at any time, I experienced it running music through Winamp a few minutes after boot, then again a day later after watching a video livestream in Firefox for about four hours.

It seems that when it happens, Windows can't detect the WDM device any longer, because Winamp showed an error window with "Error creating DirectSound buffer. Error code: 88780096" at that point.

When it occured during the live stream, the video stopped.

I can make it run again without rebooting by first clicking the "I/O box - Disconnect" checkbox in the DSP settings, then deactivating the checkbox again.

I had been using a Multiface (1st version) with that same v1.9 PCI card without any issues for over a year. I didn't change any settings or drivers when changing from the MF I to the MF II, just powered down the PC, switched the host cable from MF I to MF II and booted up again. I then acticated the "I/O box - Multiface II Connected" checkbox in the DSP settings.

The MF II is always detected when booting into Windows, the red host light is on, then the two yellow MIDI lights turn on, then all lights turn off.

I have not yet tested extended DAW usage with the ASIO driver.

=> Considerations:

1. Could this be an internal PSU issue in the MF II? I have a 12V 1.25A PSU I could try, but have not yet done so.

2. I'm only using Analog Outs 1+2 and the S/PDIF out. Would deactivating all other devices in the DSP settings reduce the strain on the interface's internal PSU?

3. Maybe a loose host cable port in the MF II? I thought about playing audio and removing the host cable from the MF II in order to try and reproduce the issue, could removing the cable during playback damage the interface and/or PCI card?

Thank you for reading all of this, much appreciated.

Regards

2 Reply by MC

  • MC
  • MC
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  • From: Germany/Thailand
  • Registered: 2007-04-06
  • Posts: 25,582

Re: MF II sporadic screeching noise

1. Yes, please try.

2. Not at all.

3. Don't think so. And no damage done when trying that.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

MC's Website

  • Registered: 2021-05-23
  • Posts: 5

Re: MF II sporadic screeching noise

Thank you very much Matthias, I greatly appreciate that.

1. I have powered down the system before plugging in the external 12v PSU. I will report back after a while.

2. Good to know the amount of I/O ports activated doesn't affect power draw, thank you.

3. I have played audio through Winamp (before plugging in the 12 V PSU) and removed the host cable. I could of course reproduce the "Error creating DirectSound buffer. Error code: 88780096" window, but not the screeching noise or the red OVR lights in TotalMix FX. I suspect you are right, it's not a loose port.

I also wiggled the cable in the host port of the interface a bit, playback didn't drop out.

BTW, just out of curiosity: What does the "I/O box - Multiface II Connected" checkbox in the DSP settings do software-wise?

Thank you again for your time.

4 Reply by MC

  • MC
  • MC
  • Administrator
  • Offline
  • From: Germany/Thailand
  • Registered: 2007-04-06
  • Posts: 25,582

Re: MF II sporadic screeching noise

Change the ASIO reported latency values.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

MC's Website

  • Registered: 2021-05-23
  • Posts: 5

Re: MF II sporadic screeching noise

Thank you, good to know.

6 Reply by AverageUser (edited by AverageUser 2021-05-27 14:31:58)

  • Registered: 2021-05-23
  • Posts: 5

Re: MF II sporadic screeching noise

I now have the MF II running with an external 12V 1.25A PSU since yesterday. The issue just reappeared a few hours after boot, but a bit differently:

* There's no screeching noise, sound just suddenly completely mutes during WDM playback,
* Winamp shows the "Error creating DirectSound buffer. Error code: 88780096" message mentioned above,
* then after a few seconds it fixes itself and playback works again.

* EDIT: About 30 minutes after the first time today, the Winamp error just happened without any playback running, this time with the screeching noise.

1. Could such a "randomly timed" failure (it never happened immediately after booting up the PC) be caused by the previous owner connecting the MF II to an actual FireWire port at some point, therefore shorting/degrading the interface's internal power distribution, making even usage of an external PSU somewhat unstable?

2. Is there some kind of Windows audio logfile I could check for clues?

3. If paid repairs are still possible for a device of this age, I'd be happy to send it in.

EDIT: I have sent a preliminary email to RME for further info.

Thank you again.

7 Reply by AverageUser (edited by AverageUser 2021-05-30 20:09:57)

  • Registered: 2021-05-23
  • Posts: 5

Re: MF II sporadic screeching noise

1. I have now deactivated the onboard Realtek sound card in the BIOS so it doesn't show up in Windows 10 (absolute rookie
mistake to have that enabled as I have learned).

2. I have further deactivated almost all WDM devices in the DSP settings but left Analog 1+2 & 3+4 active.

3. I have set Analog 1+2 to Speaker (was: no speaker selected).

4. I have set the Speaker to 44.1/24 in mmsys.cpl - with both the "Allow applications to take exclusive control of this device" and "Give exclusive mode applications priority" checkboxes activated.

5. The only strange thing is that only the MF II was affected, but not the first version MF, which of course doesn't 100% exclude an MF II hardware fault.

6. Before deactivating the Realtek, I noticed that it was set as Default Communications Device using 48/16.

7. While I keep testing this:
Is there any conceivable way the sudden noise that came from the MF II at seemingly random times was a Windows Audio Endpoint Builder issue (MC: I have read that you have posted about WAEB in the past)?

Thanks everyone for reading my ramblings, hope you have a pleasant day!