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Try this if you're having random pops/clicks with your USB audio device

post #1 of 21
3/10/09 at 9:50pm
Thread Starter 
If anyone is having hardware problems with USB audio such as random pops/clicks, I suggest to try a dedicated USB PCI add-on card for your USB audio device. Make sure that there are no IRQ conflicts/sharing on that PCI slot. It seems the USB cards with NEC based chipsets are more stable/faster than Via chipsets. Either way, they're all pretty cheap to try (under $20).

Solved the pops/clicks in my system (with EMU 0404 USB) since I have a bunch of other USB devices: mouse, keyboard, scanner, hard drives, etc; which are now using the motherboard's USB ports.

Feel free to share your finding/results.
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post #2 of 21
3/10/09 at 11:51pm
I would not at all be surprised if a component flying the VIA flag underperformed or had other "issues"

any hints on finding cards with specific NEC chipsets? (such as: which card did you buy?)
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post #3 of 21
3/11/09 at 2:08am
Thread Starter 
Here it is:

Newegg.com - Koutech PCI to USB2.0 Card Model IO-PU520 - Add-On Cards
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post #4 of 21
3/11/09 at 5:39am
nice. thanks for the heads up!
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post #5 of 21
3/11/09 at 7:44am
yep, you can do the same in a laptop with an add in PCMCIA USB card to bypass the onboard shared USB bus for your dac output. same principle
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post #6 of 21
3/11/09 at 10:28am
I've heard clicks and pops from my Dac1 in the past and I realized it was my soundcard causing the problem. Wasn't really sure why.
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post #7 of 21
3/11/09 at 12:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fidel View Post
I've heard clicks and pops from my Dac1 in the past and I realized it was my soundcard causing the problem. Wasn't really sure why.
was the DAC1 connected through the soundcard?
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post #8 of 21
3/12/09 at 3:48am
Did my thread from a few days ago (here) prompt this thread? I was asking about snaps every 5-10 mins. After unplugging my fridge from the power strip, its more like a few times per day

I guess this is a good solution too. Are there external options for laptops you would suggest?

Eric

EDIT: ...or am I missing something?
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post #9 of 21
3/12/09 at 7:27am
hi eric, see my post a few posts above regarding laptop, is this what you mean?
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post #10 of 21
3/12/09 at 11:31am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kibble Fat View Post
Did my thread from a few days ago (here) prompt this thread? I was asking about snaps every 5-10 mins. After unplugging my fridge from the power strip, its more like a few times per day

I guess this is a good solution too. Are there external options for laptops you would suggest?

Eric

EDIT: ...or am I missing something?
did you have a minifridge and a computer on the same power strip?
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post #11 of 21
3/13/09 at 5:23am
Quote:
Originally Posted by obobskivich View Post
did you have a minifridge and a computer on the same power strip?
yes.
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post #12 of 21
3/13/09 at 2:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kibble Fat View Post
yes.
well thats your problem, haha

the fridge puts a ton of noise out with its compressor and whatnot during charge/decycle
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post #13 of 21
3/14/09 at 8:41am
Would adding a PCI USB card help me on my quest of bypassing KMixer?
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post #14 of 21
3/14/09 at 4:29pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by t0dy View Post
Would adding a PCI USB card help me on my quest of bypassing KMixer?
No, PCI USB card will only help in separating the USB audio stream away from other USB devices to ensure no conflicts with I/O, bandwidth, etc. It pretty much solves most hardware related issues.

As for KMixer, there are various ways to bypass it, for example, by using ASIO. Just search the forum, there are plenty of threads about KMixer, ASIO, etc.
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post #15 of 21
3/14/09 at 5:35pm
Ive narrowed my problems down to 2 possibilities. one are my USBs are playing gremlins on me, the other is that its my NVIDIA display driver. i found a thread earlier which seems to show a link between nvidia drivers and pops. this also explains why it occurs more when i scroll through documents/web pages quickly, since it would have to render the page as i do that. it also explains why this problem is more common on laptops (shared memory, low 2D clock speeds to reduce temps/power consumption)

ive just updated every driver on my laptop which has increased my average latency, but decreased the occurence of big pop-causing spikes. i updated HDD, BIOS, chipset, touch buttons, mouse, WIFI, modem, ethernet, card reader, internal soundcard, and a couple of software bits.

i might ask over at notebook review about overclocking the 2D clock speeds. a lot of people there have done 3D speeds for gaming, but ive not heard of anyone playing with 2D speeds. if it works, il report back. it should be safe since in 2D mode it shouldnt generate much heat anyway and shouldnt be under much strain.

wish me luck!
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