m-audio sonica problems (static)
Jun 3, 2004 at 8:47 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 23
Dr. Babak

Dr. Babak

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i recently bought a sonica and i'm having a hell of a time getting the thing to work properly. I'm using the 1205 drivers in winxp and i get a tremendous amount of static when i try playing any mp3s. I have it hooked up to the usb port of my laptop and i've also tried going through an externally powered usb hub. Any help would be greatly appretiated.
 
Jun 3, 2004 at 5:22 PM Post #2 of 23
Do you have the output of the Sonica hooked to an amplifier? It's not designed to drive headphones and will distort as it can't provide the current necessary.
 
Jun 3, 2004 at 6:16 PM Post #3 of 23
yeah, i have it hooked up to my V6s. I've also tried it with some crappy earbuds, both have the same problem. I didn't realize they couldn't drive headphones. I don't have an amp yet. I'm in the process of building a cmoy, so hopefully that should help.
 
Jun 3, 2004 at 7:28 PM Post #4 of 23
Sonica has a line out, there's no amplification of the signal. You definitely need an amp.
 
Jun 4, 2004 at 1:03 AM Post #5 of 23
hopefully the cmoy will help the problem then. I've heard that the sonica has problems when hooked up to a laptop because of the fact that it's powered through the USB bus and doesn't have an external power supply. To aleviate this problem, i tried hooking it up to my desktop and it seemed to work fine. Any comments about this? Thanks for the help
 
Jun 4, 2004 at 5:37 AM Post #6 of 23
The Sonica is perfectly adequate to drive the Sony V6's. An amp will improve the sound, but a lack of amp should not cause static. The problem is something else.

Is it possible it's in the settings? Turn everything off (TruBass and TruSurround).
 
Jun 4, 2004 at 5:56 AM Post #7 of 23
Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr. Babak
hopefully the cmoy will help the problem then. I've heard that the sonica has problems when hooked up to a laptop because of the fact that it's powered through the USB bus and doesn't have an external power supply. To aleviate this problem, i tried hooking it up to my desktop and it seemed to work fine. Any comments about this? Thanks for the help


That's interesting. I've been using Sonica with my laptop for a long time and now I use another USB device (M-Audio Transit) without any problems. This soundcard is optimized for both USB 1.1 & 2.0 standards.

It makes no sense: whenever you plug it to your desktop's or laptop's USB, it doesn't have an external power supply like the USB hubs have). There should be some problems with your laptop settings. Could you post your Sonica control panel settings?
 
Jun 4, 2004 at 6:03 AM Post #8 of 23
What about the Sonica through a laptop issue? Would hooking up a Sonica to a laptop mess up sound quality because of problem supply concerns? Would using an externally powered USB hub improve things? In my case I'd be doing: Laptop -> Sonica -> Piccolo DAC-> PPA -> HD580s
 
Jun 4, 2004 at 6:24 AM Post #9 of 23
I think that Transit & Sonica are optimized for being powered via USB only. The reason why I use an USB hub is that I need more USB ports than my laptop offers. It generally better to decrease the path of the signal, thus not use the USB hub. However both soundcards work well either hoked up to laptop's port or USB hub's port.
 
Jun 4, 2004 at 6:57 AM Post #10 of 23
Quote:

Originally Posted by Zoide
What about the Sonica through a laptop issue? Would hooking up a Sonica to a laptop mess up sound quality because of problem supply concerns? Would using an externally powered USB hub improve things? In my case I'd be doing: Laptop -> Sonica -> Piccolo DAC-> PPA -> HD580s


Nope, I've used the Sonica with a Laptop as well -- it worked fine. Setup was:

Laptop->Sonica->Sony V6
 
Jun 4, 2004 at 7:03 AM Post #11 of 23
Have you guys noticed whether the USB cable used makes any difference? I've heard some people say that a shielded USB cable is always better. How is the Sonica's cable in this respect? Also, the Sonica's cable is pretty long. Would it be better to use a shorter cable if the extra length is not needed?
 
Jun 4, 2004 at 8:26 AM Post #12 of 23
i'm using the standard sonica usb cable that came with the device. i've already tried using an externally powered usb hub and strangely the sonica outputs only static and no actual sound at all when having it hooked up this way. It seems to work fine when connected to my desktop though. i've tried switching off all of the trusound/trubass options in the control panel.
 
Jun 4, 2004 at 5:55 PM Post #13 of 23
Quote:

Originally Posted by Zoide
Have you guys noticed whether the USB cable used makes any difference? I've heard some people say that a shielded USB cable is always better. How is the Sonica's cable in this respect? Also, the Sonica's cable is pretty long. Would it be better to use a shorter cable if the extra length is not needed?


I suppose that all current USB cables are double shielded.

Shorter cable is obviously better, e.g. I use a 0.5 meter gold plated USB 2.0 cable instead of the default one, just because it's more comfortable for transportability. There is even smaller, such as Belkin 6 inch.

However companies such as Belkin guaranties even 16 feet without signal loss.
 
Jun 4, 2004 at 6:00 PM Post #14 of 23
Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr. Babak
i'm using the standard sonica usb cable that came with the device. i've already tried using an externally powered usb hub and strangely the sonica outputs only static and no actual sound at all when having it hooked up this way. It seems to work fine when connected to my desktop though. i've tried switching off all of the trusound/trubass options in the control panel.


Hmm, that's strange. Exchange the USB cables, reinstall the Sonica's drivers, check WinXP Audio device control panel.

Maybe there's a problem with your USB port. Do you power your laptop via battery or via AC?
 
Jun 4, 2004 at 6:52 PM Post #15 of 23
I always have my laptop hooked up to the AC adaptor. I'll try switching the cable and reinstalling my drivers (i'm using 1205) when i get home. Another thing i noticed is that with the volume maxed out in winamp/foobar and in the sound control panel, the sonica's output isn't that loud...it's still within a normal listening level.
 
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