M2Tech click problems

Quote:

Originally Posted by Denys 

Good day everyone,

 

I just received and installed my USB/SPDIF M2Tech. However, when I listen to music, I hear "clicks" all the time. I have the latest driver version.

 

I use Foobar, I am on PC using Windows 7 starter. I added the components from the Foobar website for the Kernel stream. I disabled the audio card on my PC. I believe I did everything I was supposed to do...

 

Anybody heard of that problem ? On the M2Tech website, nothing is mentioned..

 

Thanks for your time

 

Denys

Can you try WASAPI in Foobar instead, and see if that solves your problem?

I'm interested in this too, as I'm going to order one of them. Currently I'm using the optical output out of my Acer Revo and I'm pleased with it.

I'm not surprised that a Netbook will not work well with this device.  You need fast low-latency I/O to keep-up with the HiFace USB stream. This will probably be remedied with a real laptop with a fast CPU, better I/O structure and more DRAM.

Even if the processing power of two computers is equal, the I/O may be radically different.

Steve N.

Empirical Audio

I don't know specifically about the M2Tech, but in general, clicks in the audio can be due to another driver or device hogging the CPU for too long during an interrupt request.  All other driver processes have to wait for the CPU hog to finish. If the audio driver has to wait too long you get clicks.

You can run the DPC Latency Checker to see if you have a latency problem.  It's a free utility.  There is info there that explains the problem if you want a geek level understanding.  There is also info there on troubleshooting steps on how to find out what driver or device is causing the problem.  Sometimes the fix can be installing new or different drivers for the problem causing device.  Wireless networking drivers are a common cause of high latency.

I have latency between 180-250 ...

Windows 7 on 1 gig of ram? Isn't minimum requirement like 2Gig? And 1.6 CPU, how old is it?

Not sure if that helps with you hardware but try to set buffering between 1000 and 2000 in foobar, and stick with KS, 24 bit.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Denys 

Hi Hybrys,

 

Thanks for thr the suggestion, however, it still doesn't work...

 

After around 10 or 15 minutes of listening music, I hear "clicks" every 15 / 20 seconds.

 

Here's what I did:

 

I downloaded the drivers from the M2Tech site.

I am using Foobar2000 which I added the Wasapi & Kernel Stream components.

I disabled all Windows sounds, the sound card and the microphone; only the M2tech appears in the device manager.

 

I have tried the M2tech on the three USB ports.

 

I use a netbook (MSI) with Windows 7 starter, 1 gig of ram and 1.6 CPU.

 

Any idea what could be wrong ?

 

Thank you for your time

 

Denys

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrew_WOT 

Windows 7 on 1 gig of ram? Isn't minimum requirement like 2Gig? And 1.6 CPU, how old is it?

Not sure if that helps with you hardware but try to set buffering between 1000 and 2000 in foobar, and stick with KS, 24 bit.
 

Uhhh, it's a netbook.  Win7 requires 1gb ram, and the 1.6 ghz CPU is a dual core Atom, so it's PLENTY.  By the way, people still play music on 400mhz machines just fine, and the current mobile quad core i7s run at 1.6 ghz, so judging just by that is kinda dumb.

I have a feeling these guys are right, and it's just a poorly setup I/O bus. 

Did you make sure to set WASAPI as the output method?  Try forcing it to output 32-bit information?  (Odd suggestion, but, it shouldn't affect quality AT ALL, and sometimes it can make things work.)  If that doesn't work, you can try increasing the buffer in that same window.  If THAT doesn't work, I'd suggest contacting MSI and asking them about newer USB bus drivers, or any issues around 'high sensitivity USB devices'.

I just got the new EVO (and Hiface before) and there is still the same clicking between tracks. I tested the following configuration and slowly loose confidence that M2Tech will be able to solve it. They replied that it may come from some players or PC types, but I tested any configuration and still clicking:

Test Summary/Failure description

Symptom: Clicking when changing tracks (not within the track) only with KS& ASIO (not DS directsound)

Tested configurations:
Netbook (Windows 7 Starter, Dell Mini Inspiron 1012, Atom N450, 1.66GHz)
PC Desktop (XP Pro, Quadcore 4x3.4GHz)
Hiface / EVO (no difference in regard of clicking)
Hiface driver 1.0.3.140 & 1.0.3.141 (no big difference in regard of clicking)
Sample rates/resolution 44.1, 48, 96kHz, 16, 24, 32 bit (no difference in regard of clicking)
Mode: KS kernel streaming & ASIO  (no difference in regard of clicking), DS direct sound worked fine
Foobar 1.0.2.1 & 1.0.3 , Media Monkey (no difference in regard of clicking)
Buffer length: 50ms....3000ms  (no difference in regard of clicking)
DAC1: Cambridge DAC Magic II

DAC2: Harman Kardon AVR  (no difference in regard of clicking via Hiface, direct to PC>DAC works)

1) Clicking: Netbook >  Foobar >           KS_Hiface > coax > DAC1
2) Clicking: Netbook >  Foobar >           ASIO_Hiface > coax > DAC1
3) Clicking: Netbook >  Mediamonkey > ASIO_Hiface > coax > DAC1
4) OK:         Netbook >  Foobar >           DS_Hiface > coax > DAC1
5) OK:         Netbook >  Foobar >           KS_DACMagic direct > coax > DAC1
6) Clicking: Netbook >  Foobar >           KS_Hiface > coax > DAC2
7) Clicking: PC >          Foobar >           KS_Hiface > coax > DAC1

I think I tried almost any combination and replaced any component in the chain, so definitely the problem results from Hiface / EVO.
No other device (Roland Cakewalk UA 25EX, Behringer UCA 202, Cakewalk UA 1G, M-Audio Transit USB, ...) I tested till now showed that effect (all worked OK), so please try to fix that issue. In case you like me to test any configuration I did not test please let me know.

Littlesloth

Instead of using KS, try ASIO4ALL, which allows you to adjust the sample latency (and max it out to 2048 samples). Buffer length in foobar =/= latency, I think.

Since directsound works it sounds like the default latency setting is too low in KS and ASIO.

Thank you, but please have a look at my testcases 2) and 3) where I used ASIO and also different latency settings.

That did not help.

Maybe anyone did encounter "clicking" and solved it?! How?

Are your tracks of a different sample rate by any chance? Try upsample them all to the same rate via something like SoX to see if this helps.

Try playing only .wav files and see what happens.

Steve N.

Empirical Audio