Hi all,

I feel a long story coming so please skip this post if you're not interested in trouble shooting.... ;o)

I recently upgraded my old HDSP PCI card (Rev 1.9) to the newer HDSPe PCI Express version (Rev 1.2). Up to this point, my regular PCI card has been working flawlessly with my Multiface I on the same system.

With the PCI Express card I got nothing but frequent "audiocard freezes" from the beginning. Symptoms are:

1) 'error' message in settings dialog appears, while the red error light on the multiface front does NOT burn and the midi in/out leds still respond to incoming midi (the multiface appears to function well as standalone).
2) All meters in Totalmix max out and show the red clip light.
3) If audio is playing at the moment of the hang, there's an infinitely stuck high pitched sound (probably the last buffer repeating).
4) After closing the respective audio program, the stuck sound stops but the system becomes sluggish. At this point, the two HDSP processes in the task manager are showing ~5% cpu usage in the Task Manager, but all the rest is at 0%, so no other app's CPU usage appears responsible for the slow down. The system 'blue screens' after a subsequent shut down attempt.
5) After a reboot, everything works fine again for 1 to 15 min until the next hang.

It happens with Kontakt standalone (latest version), Plogue Bidule (latest version) and Adobe Audition, so it appears independent of the audio client used. I have tested all possible PCI-Express slot combinations (some of which result in a proper dedicated IRQ for the card) but the problem still persists. I've tried different power supplies (for the PC) and working with or without the multiface's dedicated small power supply. Temperatures inside the case (CPU, mobo, the whole shebang) are all low (around 40 C) so it is not likely a temperature problem as it can occur directly after the first cold boot just as well. The firewire cable between the card and multiface is ok, since I've tried several and they all work with the old PCI card. I've checked for nasty ground loops. The problem occurs on Win XP (x86) as well as Win 7 (x86 and x64), all with the latest HDSP drivers for that system.

My question is if it is likely that the PCI express card is malfunctioning based on these observations. I don't have access to another PC with PCI express slots to check, but the old PCI card still works well on the same mobo and all other PCI Express slots show the same problem with the newer HDSPe card. Is it worth to try to RMA it or can the issue I have been experiencing be explained by something else?

If there anyone out there that can shed some light on this complicated issue I would be most grateful!

With kind regards,

Rob

Mobo: Asus Sabertooth X58
Proc: Core i7 960
Mem: Corsair 3x2GB DDR3 PC16000 CL8 XMS
PSU: Seasonic SS600H2U 600 W
Drive 1: OCZ Solid State Disk 2.5", 60GB SATA, Agility 2
Drive 2: Crucial RealSSD C300 2.5" 128GB
Graphic card: ASUS Radeon HD5450 1GB DDR3 DVI/HDMI Silent LP