• From: Indonesia
  • Registered: 2012-01-04
  • Posts: 7

Topic: totalmix channel peak led different behaviour between win7 and win xp

My computer using dual boot system, to boot between Win7 ultimate 64 bit, and Win XP Professional 32 bit, each OS is installed in different hard drive

and today i notice something:

when using windows XP, everytime i play some song (Audio CD's, WAV, FLAC, MP3) using winamp/media player/VLC player, i notice a lot of commercial song that will easily lit up the totalmix peak led indicator (example album : CHEVELLE - WONDER WHATS NEXT)

but when i'm using windows 7, the totalmix peak led indicator NEVER lit up when i played the same song using the same media player as if Win XP, and the totalmix peak led only lit up normally when i import the song into cubase track and play it inside cubase 5

seems like the totalmix 64 bit version had some kind of brickwall limiter that prevent the peak led to lit with the windows media player application like winamp/media player/vlc player

any help for making the 64 bit version totalmix peak led act just like the 32 bit version?

- RME 9632
- AO4S- 192
- Cubase 5.5.3

blinkerss's Website

  • From: Germany
  • Registered: 2007-04-10
  • Posts: 9,854

Re: totalmix channel peak led different behaviour between win7 and win xp

There is no limiter and no difference in the way TM works in W7. The software as such does not do anything, it is just a control panel for the hardware, which also doe not have any limiter. Please check the volume settings of your media player software or Control Panel.


Regards
Daniel Fuchs
RME

Regards
Daniel Fuchs
RME

RME Support's Website

  • From: Indonesia
  • Registered: 2012-01-04
  • Posts: 7

Re: totalmix channel peak led different behaviour between win7 and win xp

Hi Daniel

i've made some video about this problem

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHfiNrDMb4c

- using Cubase 5 test tone generator, i render 2 sinewave 1khz file, each file is peaking at 0dBFS and +0.1dBFS
- import it back to cubase 5, and using RME Totalmix and RME DigiCheck to watch the peak point
- inside cubase 5 environment, the Totalmix and DigiCheck show correct peak number just like the cubase 5 channel peak meter
- but when the same file played using any windows media player application (i'm using default windows media player app for example), the Totalmix and DigiCheck show false peak number
- i'm testing using windows media player, Winamp, Foobar, VLC, and disabled ALL equaliser/fx/sound enchanment/etc, and max the volume output for each app
- i also set any win7 audio option that i could find in the control panel and set for max volume

blinkerss's Website

4 Reply by MC

  • MC
  • MC
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  • From: Germany/Thailand
  • Registered: 2007-04-06
  • Posts: 25,777

Re: totalmix channel peak led different behaviour between win7 and win xp

What you missed is that you use two different WDM systems - 32 bit and 64 bit. Only Microsoft can answer that.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

MC's Website

  • From: Indonesia
  • Registered: 2012-01-04
  • Posts: 7

Re: totalmix channel peak led different behaviour between win7 and win xp

so the problem is on 64bit system itself

no workaround solution from RME?

or maybe in the future RME can build some simple and cool ASIO media player cool cool

blinkerss's Website

6 Reply by MC

  • MC
  • MC
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  • From: Germany/Thailand
  • Registered: 2007-04-06
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Re: totalmix channel peak led different behaviour between win7 and win xp

Winamp, AIMP3 and Foobar all support ASIO...

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

MC's Website

  • From: Indonesia
  • Registered: 2012-01-04
  • Posts: 7

Re: totalmix channel peak led different behaviour between win7 and win xp

yes they're support ASIO with some additional plugin, and seems like its the only workaround for this problem

last night i installed Winamp ASIO plugin output, and the Totalmix meter now work like it should be

blinkerss's Website

  • From: Germany
  • Registered: 2007-04-10
  • Posts: 9,854

Re: totalmix channel peak led different behaviour between win7 and win xp

This may or may not be an actual problem - and it is certainly not a question of whether the Totalmix metering "works". The meter will show you what comes in. Depending on your sample rate settings, there may be sample rate conversion by Windows (WDM) involved here, and that may somehow limit or reduce levels by a little bit (speculating here...).
Rather than use over meters as an indicator (which do no change their behaviour with different drivers or Windows versions delivering signal), you could check levels for consistency with test signals of e.g. -10dBFS, to see whether they arrive in the software playback of the mixer unaltered.

Regards
Daniel Fuchs
RME

Regards
Daniel Fuchs
RME

RME Support's Website

  • From: Indonesia
  • Registered: 2012-01-04
  • Posts: 7

Re: totalmix channel peak led different behaviour between win7 and win xp

If you check the video that i made, i actually made test case regarding this problem using 1kz 0dBFS and +0.1dBFS test signal, and in my video it showed that media player that using WDM driver is reducing output level about -0.1dB, and -0.1dB its enough to alter the peak meter behaviour

and from my test, its proven that the problem lies within the Win7 64 bit WDM driver, because when i'm using winamp with ASIO output plugin, the test signal show correct meter reading just like in Cubase 5

blinkerss's Website

  • From: Germany
  • Registered: 2007-04-10
  • Posts: 9,854

Re: totalmix channel peak led different behaviour between win7 and win xp

This test proves nothing of the kind - the WDM driver as such is no different between W7 and XP, and it does not alter levels in the least. As MC pointed out, the difference must be in the audio handling of the operating system.

Regards
Daniel Fuchs
RME

Regards
Daniel Fuchs
RME

RME Support's Website

11 Reply by MC

  • MC
  • MC
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  • From: Germany/Thailand
  • Registered: 2007-04-06
  • Posts: 25,777

Re: totalmix channel peak led different behaviour between win7 and win xp

Yes, it is not the (RME) WDM driver, but the (MS) WDM audio system doing this.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

MC's Website