Ramses thanks so much for the time you spent writing that, your attempt to help is really appreciated and I'll do my best to address your questions and points, hopefully bringing more clarity to my situation.
ramses wrote:Do you know that you need to differentiate in Windows between ASIO drivers and WDM (Windows) compatible drivers that you need to enable in RME driver settings first?
Yes
ramses wrote:There you need to first enable WDM drivers in RME driver settings and then for Windows System sound you need to open Windows Sound settings and make this Speaker device to the default Windows sound devices.
Yes I do that
On Windows 11 pro in Hammerfall DSP Settings on AIO PRO tab I tick "Optical" under SPDIF Out; under WDM Devices > Configure > WDM Devices tab I tick "SPDIF"; on GLOBAL tab I leave everything default; in Windows I select "SPDIF (RME HDSPe AIO)" as output = No sound sending out via SPDIF ...but in Windows 10 pro these same settings result in sound sending out via SPDIF.
Back in Hammerfall DSP Settings > WDM Devices > Configure > Speaker tab I tick "SPDIF" and in Windows select "Speakers (RME HDSPe AIO)" = No sound sending out via SPDIF ...but in Windows 10 pro these same settings result in sound sending out via SPDIF.
ramses wrote:But for this to work the "physical layer" also needs to be ok. Depending on the recording interface it has either an automatic detection, what protocol to use over a TOSLINK connection:
a) Either SPDIF (2channel protocol for all sample rates 44.1-192 kHz) or
b) ASIO (8ch@44.1/48, 4ch@88.2/96 kHz, ...) with the typical loss of channels depending on sample rate because of channel multiplexing to achieve the needed bandwidth for higher sample rates (double, quad speed).
So the 1st questions are, what type of connection you need and that both sides run either SPDIF or ADAT protocol.
The 2nd question is what application are you using, one that can load the ASIO driver (preferrable) otherwise you need to 1st create a WDM driver for an I/O port in driver settings.
If we talk about the default sound in Windows, this needs an additional step to open Windows sound and to make this RME WDM driver ("speaker device") to act as default sound device in Windows.
On Win 10 in Hammerfall DSP Settings I use SPDIF Out with WDM Devices as Stereo set to 48k, I match the Audient iD22 to 48k. I get SPDIF as a selection in Windows Sound Output without activating SPDIF under WDM Configuration as a "Speaker".
On Win 11 RME's SPDIF appears as an output device in Windows Sound but when I select it I get no SPDIF signal being sent out. If I then go into Hammerfall DSP Settings > WDM Devices > Configure > Speaker tab and tick "SPDIF" all RME output devices disappear from Windows Sound Output So something is wrong specifically in Win 11 with RME and changing options in Hammerfall DSP Settings doesn't make it work.
ramses wrote:So .. what do you want to achieve exactly?
Easy case should be when using the ASIO part, as this is all about direct access to the recording interface without using the Windows Sound System.
If you use audio for applications without ASIO support you have to check everything regarding WDM ...
1. are the needed WDM devices created in the RME driver settings?
2. is the speaker device the default sound device in Windows sound?
I want to successfully get a SPDIF out signal in Win 11 as I used to have so that I can continue to use the Audient iD22 as a headphone amp while composing, mixing and mastering
This Win 11 no SPDIF out signal issue is happening on all audio in Windows including in DAW audio (Cubase 8.5, 11, 12, 13, 14 / Nuendo 11, 12, 13) but only on win 11 - it works on Win 10. Using the RME breakout cable to send audio direct to my monitors works on both Win 10 & 11, and on Win 10 I can get SPDIF sending out successfully to the iD22 via toslink cabled SPDIF, but in Win 11 specifically I cannot get SPDIF Output signal via the AIO's onboard SPDIF OUT port.
I'm thinking next step / test will be to completely delete all RME installations, drivers and entries from Win 11 registry so I can be sure it's not something in the RME installs, drivers, registry entries causing it...
It's really annoying that I can't just upload pictures and video here it would be much quicker than typing all details haha.
Thanks again for all your thoughts and any suggestions.
HDSPe AIO Pro