Pops and crackles when using Emu 0404 USB

[Halqyon]

I'm experiencing pops and crackling when I'm just listening to music, doing nothing else. My setup is currently: Dell XPS M1710->0404-> HD595's . I've plugged the phones in the headphone jack, and haven't touched the settings on the 0404 unit.

It could be a problem with one of the usb ports, as I don't know which one's usb 2.0. How can I find that out? And how do I know the drivers for the 0404are up to date? Can the problem be that something is interfering with the 0404?

Thanks

[sejarzo]

What operating system are you using, what playback software are you using and how is it configured to use the 0404 USB (waveout, DirectSound, ASIO)?

Try going to this page and downloading the DPC latency checker tool:

Free Download Tools

You simply save it to your desktop and then click on the icon. See if it reveals that your system has some conflict that makes it difficult to run real time audio.

EDIT: Turn off your wireless networking card and see if that cures the problem.

[Halqyon]

I'm using XP, and I play my music through Winamp and Windows Media Player. I downloaded that program and it said that there were some device drivers that are behaving bad. How do I figure out which one's?

[luciyuspax]

I have the same problem with that latency tool and same problem with e-mu 0404 usb on my toshiba laptop. I really wonder how to solve it...

[sejarzo]

I wish I could tell you how to get to the root of the driver issues--but I'm not really an OS wizard, to say the least.

If I recall correctly, jiiteepee was the member who first brought up the DPC latency checker and he might have posted some thoughts on more detailed troubleshooting with respect to drivers that are not getting along very well.

My eyes are killing me right now.....I will try to search on that tomorrow morning and see what I come up with.

[sejarzo]

OK, last post for the evening......

Read through these two threads and see if they lead you to any way to find a solution:

Problems with EMU 0202 on ASIO playback Fbar/Winamp

EMU 0404 USB issues

[jiiteepee]

It's obvious that since it's a laptop in question, there's a wireless LAN enabled ... but, as I had also some hard issues just after installing the 0404 USB .. it was sentinel driver causing issues for me -> you need to go through most of the started services/processes to find those badly behaving ones ... but as mentioned there on other thread, you may see this also through task manager in some cases.

If you need the drivers, which are causing those problems, to be enabled I suggest you to prepare a double boot system or try by installing MS Virtual PC and set up a virtual system for audio only.

jiitee

[MrKazador]

Originally Posted by sejarzo

What operating system are you using, what playback software are you using and how is it configured to use the 0404 USB (waveout, DirectSound, ASIO)?

Try going to this page and downloading the DPC latency checker tool:

Free Download Tools

Hey, thx for that. I was curious to see what I would get and it was at 4000! I was going crazy trying to figure it out and it turned out to be my capture card, now I'm below 100 but most of the time around 30.

The way I figured it out was going to device manager. Right Click My Computer- Properties- Hardware- Device Manager
Just begin to disable certain hardware While DPC Latency Checker is running. If the hardware you disabled does not affect it then re-enable it. Once I got to disable my capture card the latency dropped down by 4000!

I was getting audio pops when watching movies and is very annoying but I learned to live with it. I can't test if it has worked right now so I'll have to wait.

[Halqyon]

Thanks for the info guys, but I tried disabling stuff in device manager and it didn't work.

Tried updating the BIOS, but now I get loud beeps when an error occurs (from the BIOS I think), how do I disable it?

[Halqyon]

And now I can only listen to music using Beatport Sync, I don't get sound when I'm watching youtube video's, listening to music and video's on winamp and windows media player. When I try to use winamp, I get this message: Bad DirectSound driver .

This really is annoying, what can I do?

Thanks

[jiiteepee]

Does the DS work through Beatport SYNC? !! Remember set SR in E-MU Control Panel too!!

If it doesn't work then, just reinstall E-MU drivers.

jiitee

[Halqyon]

Does SR=sample rate? What should I set it to? What about the directsound problem?

Thanks

[jiiteepee]

E-MU driver can't adjust sample rate (=SR) automatically for DirectSound as it does for the ASIO so, you need to set it by the source manually (mp3 normally 44.1kHz, etc.).

DirectSound problem may come from DirectX install if it becomes corrupt ... or from E-MU drivers from same reason. Just try reinstall E-MU drivers and if no help then reinsatll directX.

Did directSound work with Beatport SYNC player? If it did then you may need to reinstall those other playback software to get it working well again. If this issue w/ directsound came after you disabled some services then try by restarting those.


jiitee

[Halqyon]

Thanks, I'll try doing that, but if it doesn't work I'll have to purchase Vista.

[sejarzo]

Originally Posted by Halqyon

And now I can only listen to music using Beatport Sync, I don't get sound when I'm watching youtube video's, listening to music and video's on winamp and windows media player. When I try to use winamp, I get this message: Bad DirectSound driver .

This really is annoying, what can I do?

Thanks

I'd completely uninstall the 0404 USB and E-MU software, reinstall DirectX, and then reinstall the 0404 USB.

I presume that you have completely exited any application that is using the 0404 USB in ASIO mode before starting another that would attempt to use it via DS, correct? If the 0404 USB is being used by an app via ASIO, all other apps won't function. If I have Foobar open and try to watch a YouTube video, it's choppy....presumably because it's trying to feed the default device (which on my system is the 0404 USB whenever it's powered up) via waveout, and that causes problems with the video playback code.