Didn't know such a thing exists. I already restarted my computer now.
Will try it out next time it happens.
(under sound video and game controllers -> RME UFX III USB 3.0, right?)

Thanks!

@elad: you mentioned it works with USB2.

By using USB2, you have only a 30ch interface like UFX II. When using USB3, then 94 input and output channels are instantly being transferred over USB3, no matter whether you use one or all channels in the application/DAW.

When you compare it with Babyface … BBF has even less channels and uses a different driver which uses possibly other USB transfer modes compared to the newer MADIface driver. As a side note, having the BBF Pro driver installed in parallel should not hurt. I had for several years also a RayDAT on my computer, which I didn't use anymore, but I kept it in the system.
The driver that you load with the application and where you define WDM devices is relevant.

Do you see the difference? 94 vs. 30 vs. 12 channels → other bandwidth demands over USB and in terms of data that needs to be processed by the computer in time.

Under normal conditions, even this higher number of channels causes no issues. I have an Intel Xeon CPU which has a similar performance according to passmark.com. At times, I was able to run even two UFX+ and ADI-2 Pro and had zero issues, this is 376 (188 input and output) channels plus the 14 from ADI-2 Pro FS R BE, in total 390 channels. In the current setup with UFX III and ADI-2 Pro FS R BE 188+14=202.

DPC Latency // BIOS / Windows settings to disable energy saving

Can I assume that you performed already the recommended settings, to disable energy saving?
- BIOS: disabling C-States (also P- and T- States if you have those in the BIOS)
- BIOS: disabling C1E
- BIOS: enable Turbo and EIST (disabling EIST is usually not needed)
- Windows: Energy profile for High Performance or activate Ultimate Performance (so that CPU core parking is also disabled)
You can use Bitsum's parkcontrol tool to check whether in High-Performance CPU core parking is not active (all cores enabled). You can also activate Ultimate Performance (which is per default hidden) there I know for sure, that CPU core parking is disabled.

Did you check already with LatencyMon, whether your computer is suitable for audio processing or whether there are bad settings or driver which cause too high DPC latencies?

Check for CRC errors in driver settings

The next thing is to check USB transport. Keep the RME driver settings window open, then CRC checks are running whether you have a USB transport error or not, which could be caused by a bad cable or other things. If any of the CRC counters are increasing, then you have a problem with USB transport. It doesn't matter which counter increases, only zero is acceptable.
Tip: don't be fooled by crc5/16/32 … These are no counters, these are the names of CRC checks (crc5, crc16, crc32), see also https://forum.rme-audio.de/viewtopic.ph … 4#p211994.

Regarding USB3 cables

Keep in mind that the maximum cable length for USB3 is 3 m, more is causing issues. I am using Lindy premium cables from their Cromo line with triple shielding and which have really a good quality and which are not too expensive.
You could proactively get such a cable:
https://www.lindy.de/3m-USB-3-2-Typ-A-a … ;ci=800504

USB3 chipset compatibility...

The next thing that could cause issues is the USB3 chipset that you use.
With some USB3 chipsets, the USB3 transfer modes that the MADIface driver uses, do not work well.
Normally, the USB3 ports which come from the Intel (or AMD) chipset are fine. But there can be issues, if your mainboard has other 3rd party USB3 chipsets on board which do not work well.

Issues can also arise when connecting more and more USB devices.
- the likelyness increases that recording interface and other interfaces share the same USB controller
- side effects where nobody knows where they come from, maybe based on the point mentioned before

I had the same situation years ago. 2x UFX+, ADI-2 Pro, a fantastic Supermicro server mainboard with a well Intel chipset. But I connected more and more devices and at a certain point also an USB Bluetooth adapter, and then I also got some issues. Isolating 2xUFX+ and ADI-2 Pro behind a special Sonnet card (sadly not produced anymore, which had 4x FL1100 USB3 chip) solved the issue. As the card became damaged I got now the Sonnet card with one FL1100 controller for the UFX III and the ADI-2 Pro became connected to another good working USB port (this is not so critical, USB2 is not critical and only being used for ADI-2 Remote and flashing.

And this is the reason why it is often suggested by RME support to test all USB3 ports. See below. As usually nobody knows which port on the back of mainboard or on the computer case comes from chipset (which theoretically should always work, but who knows ..) and what comes from either supported or unsupported USB3 3rd party chip on mainboard.

!!! IMHO the best strategy is still to isolate the recording interface behind a dedicated and well-supported USB controller !!! The mentioned Sonnet card has low requirementy, only one lane, PCIe 2.0 or higher.

... Try all USB3 ports on your computer

You could check whether this makes a difference: remove all USB devices, only keep UFX III, mouse and keyboard connected. For mouse and keyboard, use USB2 ports.
Now try the UFX III on all other remaining USB3 ports, whether one of these ports gives you more stability.
If the error only occurs once during a day, maybe after a couple of hours of operation, then it might take a few days to find out
a) whether you find a port where it runs stable and
b) if your system can run the UFX III fine.

Proven Sonnet card with FL1100 USB3 chipset

You can much likely accelerate this process by isolating the UFX III behind a dedicated PCIe card with well-supported USB3 chipset (those from Fresco Logic are fine, FL1100, see manual). Connect only the UFX III to it!

The below linked Sonnet card with FL1100 already worked wonder in similar cases with USB issues.

Also nice with this card/chipset: Windows 10 has already a proper driver for it and the driver works with MSI (message signalled interrupts) which works more efficient.

By getting the Lindy Cromo USB3 cable and the Sonnet card you might solve the issue quicker.
https://www.sonnettech.com/product/alle … 4port.html
https://www.lindy.de/3m-USB-3-2-Typ-A-a … ;ci=800504

Other things...

Firmware Update

You are not using the latest firmware for the UFX III. You could try, whether firmware upgrade changes something.
From the README, it looks as if the latest version addressed other things.
On the other hand, it is generally a good idea to try the latest firmware and driver in any case of issues.

From the README:
Fireface UFX III: USB 20 DSP 21 CC 44
"04/29/2024: Update UFX II to DSP 26, UFX III to DSP 21, UFX+ to DSP 58: PEQ with Q 0.4 and F 20 kHz led to a loss of sound at Single Speed. Multiple RoomEQ delays and reverb active at Quad Speed could lead to loss of the FX signal. Optimized filter calculation for lowpass / highpass at lower Q-values."

DAW / Reaper

Do you only have such issues with Reaper? How is it with other applications which use ASIO? Can you try a demo of another major DAW like Cubase?

Don't worry too much

It should be possible to get it working... This is my system for comparison.

I removed some pictures as I changed a little, but you can see, also with a 10y old system everything can work smoothly.
https://www.tonstudio-forum.de/blog/Ent … mponenten/

Excellent performance like with PCIe card:
https://www.tonstudio-forum.de/blog/Ent … cks-de-en/

Current setup:
https://www.tonstudio-forum.de/blog/ent … iii-en-de/

Yes it sounds like the usb port craching, not the driver. So as much info as you can on your system. Are you ove4rclocking or running a k processor with higher turbo? If yes no judgment there, I do the same on an older cpu, but going a little to high can cause these kind of issues. Remember the UFX3 poses a much higher load on the usb and whole system.
As a test disable turbo all together and see if that cures it.

Hi Ramses, Thank you especially for your detailed and thorough answer. this is much appreciated!
I will start investigating into it, section by section in the coming days.
For good measure, I'll also address some of the things you mentioned.

I don't really know, the only time I plugged it into a USB2 socket is by accident (it's blue and it reads 3.0).
I don't know how well it works in comparison.
just that it was recognized after the crash while not being recognized via the USB3 until a full computer restart.

I will though give it a try, but only for test purposes. I do need the MADI as I also got a 12Mic with it, and an SSL quad that will connect via ADAT. and I intend to use all their inputs.
Currently though the SFP was lost in trafic so I'll have to wait for it anyway to setup everything, as well as I'm waiting for some accoustic pannels and a test mic that was also lost, before I even set up the studio room, so I'm currenly working in another room with the UFX only, and only headphones, and doing mostly midi stuff.

Actually, even now I'm using the last MADI channels as virtual software channels, but I'll change it for the test with the USB2.

I didn't know that. good to know.

This whole section is chineese to me. or maybe spanish at best
I never did any of these things. Is this in the manual? cause I painsteakingly read it like twice, and I don't rember anything about BIOS.

I will try to look into it.

I was actually never completely sure on how to read those. the picture you made should be in the manual thanks!
So far it's 0 but I wasn't doing much with it since the restart.

Windows used to have an "always on top" option, but I can't find it now. I guess it's crusial in order to spot the error after the freeze..

As I mentioned, I use only the cables supplied by RME with the UFXIII. I believe they are 1.5m long.
I will look into the cables you mentioned. Thanks.

How can I tell which chipset it uses?
I'll upload everything I know about my system in the next post. will appreciate if you could take a look.

I actually learned about the bus share years ago when I was trying to copy files between 2 high performance exHDs. the USB sockets on my computer come in couples, and if I connect both to neighbouring sockets the speed drops significantly.

And I intend to eventually use most sockets. e.g for the 12Mic which still hasn't got full control over MADI implemented

But right now the only things connected to USB here are the mouse+keyboard adapter, a crappy pair of cheap speakers I use when not producing to not wear HP all the time (both USB2, front), the UFXIII on one of the rear sockets (it got the rear all to itself), and intermittently a midi keyboard (x3mini/keylab61) to one of the should-be-USB3-but-not-sure-anymore also on the front.

My current strategy is to get a USB splitter for the crappy stuff, and keep the important stuff away from one another.
But I'll look into the dedicated controller method you mentioned.
but just to make sure - it is still internal, right? and how do I get a socket for it? replace the wiring from another chipset?

I'm a bit annoyed by that, but I will it will take quite a few days though.. more than a week probably.

ordering stuff and waiting for delivery is actually quite a longer process than checking all ports

I was sure I had the latest one. will update regardless.

I think I have a Cubase Essentials from some years ago lying around somewhere on the computer, but I dislike it.
Will give it a try in case all else fails.
I actually first posted in Reaper forums, but didn't get much from there as it appeared to be the interface/driver, which brought me here.

one thing that does seem to maybe happen more in reaper is the crackles even with long buffers (which is the secondary issue I mentioned), in comparison to the same Amp simulations in standalone software, but maybe it's just VST vs c++?

Thanks
I surely needed to hear that.

yes

I'll attach the full spec of the system that I'm aware of in a picture at the end of this post.
I don't fully understand what you are refering to but I think it's the same thing suggested by Ramses? will look into it.

They do share a power socket splitter though (with also the computer and sometimes other stuff)
so it might not be a computer problem at all?

not at all. wouldn't even know how to do it. I'm on balanced performance or something. I don't like it when I hear the fans

There it is :

It's a custom assemble and quite high end for the time, I think.
It's 6 years old though. maybe USB3 wasn't developed enough then?
I hope I don't have to get a new one

BTW, did anyone have a look in the dump analysis I shared? (@RME Support)

Thank you all again, and good night.

> [BIOS settings]
> This whole section is chineese to me. or maybe spanish at best smile
> I never did any of these things. Is this in the manual?

Systems are also too different from BIOS and Design.
You find much information about that in forums, also on this forum, this is not the 1st troubleshooting.
Use the forum's extended search for e.g., my account name here and the term "LatencyMon".

If this is too hard … There is a reason why some companies are still in the business of offering turnkey systems for audio and video processing. This is no rocket science ... it only might take a little time to "get used to it".

Indeed, a little tricky, if the basic knowledge is missing, why you do those things and how this all fits together.

> I was actually never completely sure on how to read those. the picture you made should be in the manual smile thanks!
> So far it's 0 but I wasn't doing much with it since the restart.

I would expect to see USB transport errors occurring quite fast if there are any.
If they occur it has a reason, bad cable too long cable, bad connector and in this case, the error should show up quickly.
But maybe not in all cases; therefore, if you see nothing, then this is a good sign for the current RME cable.
However, to be on the safe side, I would keep the window open for at least (lets say) 1h.

> Windows used to have an "always on top" option, but I can't find it now.
> I guess it's crusial in order to spot the error after the freeze..

It simply needs to be opened so that this check runs.
It is not mandatory to be on top of the other windows, it only needs to stay opened.

Product page : https://www.asus.com/motherboards-compo … me-z370-a/
Manual : https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/L … UM_WEB.pdf
"the USB 3.1 Gen 1 is purchased separately."

I get what you're saying. I'll look for it.

yeah, I know I was just saying this is not something I can perform imediately. I'll have to look into it a bit first and learn the subject to some extent.

Yesterday it was open for quite a while and no errors showed up. (I only remember for sure seeing ~48 minutes on the little timer next to the error counters. maybe it's not enough)
I'll let it run today too, and I also connected the midi keyboard even though I'm not currently working (with it, nor with reaper or any audio processing in general) to see if it raises any issues.

But can this mean it's not the USB after all?

thanks done.

I have suspicion, that USB controller goes to sleep/powersave state and UFX is not able to wake it up....

And OP has Intel USB 3.0. controller and ASMedia USB 3.1 controller. So, he should follow the recomendation to locate Intel USB3 and avoid 3rd party one....

@elad: thanks for providing the link to your mainboard and its manual, this makes it more comfortably for me to look.

With the help of the Asus manual, you can locate the USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports from Intel Z370 chipset, see page IX and 2-13.

I copied screenshots into a Visio drawing, took another screenshot using Greenshot and added a few comments, to make things clearer to you:

Disable energy saving in the BIOS

Speedstep (EIST) can still be useful to control CPU clock by power profiles.
Ultimate Performance will use the highest clock and disable CPU core parking.
Turbo mode issues, to increase CPU clock a little bit, as high as possible.
My CPU gets 200 MHz higher Base Clock for all cores by this.
Disabling C-States prevents, that CPU cores may enter energy saving levels, there are different up to sleep, hibernate, etc

OK, so I tried both ports now and the UFX treats them as USB2 (yellow HOST LED, no MADI in TMFX)
is this expected?
because of them being Gen1?

This means I don't have any intel controllers to use..
So dedicated conteroller via PCI is my only option? (other than replacing the whole board / computer while I'm at it )

Or is there a way around it via the UFX?

That may be the very case, when things may go to sleep. Depending on various other conditions.....

Ramses has helped you locate the Intel USB ports. But still, I would try all of them one by one. Sometimes, there are bugs in manuals...

And also would be good to do those settings in BIOS and power plan as Ramses has suggested.

If that does not help, you most probably need dedicated USB card as Ramses has suggested. I would not wait as it is reasonable thing to do even if your current USBs start to work....

What also could / should be done is a measurement with LatencyMon.
Best before and after change.
The forum has plenty of threads with information / examples to that topic.

> I was thinking that maybe 3.1 gen 1 was not fast enough to be considered "USB3" by the UFXIII..

Works with lowest USB 3 port, therefore RME talks about USB 3 or USB 3.0 in the manual.

> Nice to know it exists. not sure it justifies the price, let alone a subscription. Guess I'll do it manually for now

Get the lifetime license

> Interface Mode ...
> Changing it to USB3 seems to work for one of the intel socket near the LAN port.
> So that's it? keep it there and call it a day?

If Auto detection does not work and static does work .. yes sure, keep it!

> I was too curious what happens if I set it to USB3 and plug it to a sure USB2 port.

Fully normal, what do you expect?
If you disable the autodetection for USB type and set it statically to USB3 then OF COURSE only USB3 works.
Be happy that this static setting makes it possible to try USB3 coming from Intel Chipset.
So please connect only the UFX III to this particular USB3 ports, keep the other one free.
Well and now test whether it works better.

But of course you need also to make the changes in the BIOS, to disable C-States, etc and you need to use the High Performance or Ultimate Performance Power settings.

It is like in the forumula 1, only good motor or only good wheels or only good breaks will not lead to a win.
With the "near real-time" demands for audio processing several settings should be optimal to support audio processing.

The LatencyMon values are not too bad but could be better.
Did you measure it on an IDLE system, without DAW activity?
LatencyMon itself induces a typical DAW load, so do NOT let run both at the same time.
Best is to let it run after a fresh boot, login and then wait for 5 minutes until CPU activity goes down (all programs and services and autostart stuff has finished).
While LatencyMon runs, best no mouse and keyboard activity.

Good values, the highest reported DPC of one driver didn't look well but now its fine.
In the first days/weeks I would suggest that you do not connect any other USB3 device to the 2nd port from Intel Chipset.
Use the ASMedia Ports (Type-A and Type-C connector) instead.

Even if it works now, I propose using the Sonnet card, also here only connect the UFX III.
With this card, you can check whether AUTO works again, as Auto is the nicer default, to allow also USB2 if needed/wanted on another computer without USB3.

I provided you this link already in posting #5, here again
https://www.sonnettech.com/product/alle … 4port.html

The technical section of Sonnets product page answers all of your questions in regards to this product. Yes they offer a few PCIe cards (around 5), but it should be doable to look into the technical section to identify the **one**  card with FL1100 chipset.

At the end of this posting I provided a list of information for this product and a link to geizhals.de where you can find those cards in DE.

Don't trust every information in shop offerings, look at the webpage of the vendor Sonnet to get correct information about the card and everything what you need to identify it further in shops like e.g.:
- picture
- part number
- chipset name
- EAN number (I found one in a shop, not on Sonnet page)

Drivers for FL1100 chip are included in Windows 10 and 11.

Some remarks to the 2nd link that you posted, should be clear that this is NOT the proper card.
Different color, Type-C port and if you search further surely also the wrong part number.
BTW it has the wrong chipset "ASM 3142" as you can see in one of the diagrams on the offer.

*** This is the card you are looking for // vendor page ***

• Sonnet Allegro

• Part number USB3-4PM-E

• EAN Number: 0732311009440 (from a shop, seems to work/be correct

• Chipset Fresco Logic FL1100EX

• 3x USB 3.0, PCIe-2.0 x1 card, 4x USB3 Type-A Port with 5 Gbit/s bandwidth

*** This is a link for a few shops in DE ***

https://geizhals.de/sonnet-allegro-4-po … mp;hloc=de

Of course, some components in electronic devices age, some more, some less, but you shouldn't take it too seriously. After all, you leave your refrigerator running, and others do the same with their radio or TV.

On the contrary, as far as I know, it's actually the case that components are more stressed during power on and off cycles than during continuous operation.

You need to find a golden or practical middle ground for yourself.

My UFX III and ADI-2 Pro, as well as the active monitors, are almost always on from morning until late because these devices serve as my main audio interface with my PC.

If I'm out of the house for more than an hour, I usually turn off all the devices. But if I'm at home and just not using the PC, I leave them on because I might spontaneously go to the PC and don't want to wait for it to boot up. With my server motherboard, it takes a bit longer than with a consumer PC.

The connected external FX (Lexicon PCM81 and PCM91) and all MADI devices, which I only use for microphone recordings with my laptop, I turn on only when needed. Same for the 2nd ADI-2 Pro in front of my HiFi, I turn TV, ADI-2 Pro and the Class-A amp only on for watching films. For the news I do not use the ADI-2 in combination with Class-A amp. The sound of my Panasonic OLED TV with soundbar is well enough for the normal stuff.

The most important thing is that the heat in the devices does not accumulate and can dissipate through the top and bottom of the cases. Especially with a passively cooled rack, I use racks where the devices fit snugly. For the RME devices, I mostly use the Thomann ECO racks, which are only 23 cm deep.

For a total of 3 devices, I use 4 rack units height, so I have a finger-width space between the devices. This is the minimum amount of space I believe should be between the devices so that heat does not pile up.