[Takaji]

I'm using a DacMagic (external DAC) that is connected to my computer via USB. There have been occasional times when I'd be using foobar (DirectSound: Primary Sound Driver, buffer of 1000 ms) then suddenly my sound would cut out and the song would freeze and stop playing. When I'd try to start playing another song, it wouldn't start to play.

Sometimes foobar gives me this error: "Unrecoverable playback error: Unknown error code (0x88780096)." I did some searching in the Hydrogen Audio forums and see that this has come up in two other threads:
Conflict with ZSNES?
Bug: playback buffer gets looped in the background when USB sound card is unplugged and replugged.

Both of these threads reference an external sound card. In my case, I'm using the DacMagic. I'm using the latest C-Media drivers that are compatible under Windows 7 (I'm running Windows 7 Pro 64 bit), and I'm running foobar 1.0.3.
I'm not unplugging the DAC while it's playing, or anything like that.

I should add that the only fix for this problem is turning the DAC off then back on. I don't need to restart foobar.
I've noticed that once in a while, even when not using foobar that the sound from say, a video will cut out for a split second, the source bitrate light on the DAC would shut off for that split second, then sound would resume.

As far as I know, this error is sporadic. Can anyone point me in the right direction on how to fix this? Does anyone suspect it's my DAC? I just bought it, and could return it for a replacement if needed.

 

[Hybrys]

You mentioned that you're using non-standard drivers...  I think that might be the problem here.  It sounds like the DAC is either expecting a different kind of information, or is accepting information from another source.

 

[ROBSCIX]

I would say try out S/Pdif if you can and as mentioned go with the stock drivers to see if this is the problem.
 

 

[Dalamar]

cmedia makes terrible drivers for their own stuff, nevermind the dacmagic...

 

[Takaji]

I don't think I'm using non-standard drivers, I'm just using the latest ones. Windows Update installs an older c-media driver when the DacMagic is plugged in, which was only mostly updated for Vista. The newest c-media drivers support 7.
 
I did by a HA INFO usb to spdif converter, I suppose I could try that with the DAC. I'll let you guys know if that changes anything.
 
Some guy actually made bloat-free c-media drivers here: http://code.google.com/p/cmediadrivers/
However, this driver only seems to be for PCI sound cards with c-media chips in them. Too bad...

 

[ROBSCIX]

 
Quote:

I don't think I'm using non-standard drivers, I'm just using the latest ones. Windows Update installs an older c-media driver when the DacMagic is plugged in, which was only mostly updated for Vista. The newest c-media drivers support 7.
 
I did by a HA INFO usb to spdif converter, I suppose I could try that with the DAC. I'll let you guys know if that changes anything.
 
Some guy actually made bloat-free c-media drivers here: http://code.google.com/p/cmediadrivers/
However, this driver only seems to be for PCI sound cards with c-media chips in them. Too bad...

Go with the USB to S/Pdif converter and see if this helps the situation any.  This way you are not using the C-Media drivers..if that is in fact where your issue is.

 

[Takaji]

Good idea. If the problem stops then I know it's the drivers, and if it doesn't, perhaps I can assume it's a faulty DAC?
 
Edit: Very odd, I can't seem to use WASAPI with my HA INFO device in foobar for the output. When I play a song, the first split second plays then nothing,but the song is still playing.
I switched to Kernel Streaming with the selected device, but foobar says that it's an experimental output? Can anyone explain that?
 
Also, now I'm noticing that in Kernel Streaming mode, the audio suddenly freezes, and the flickering is still there...
 
Second Edit: Direct Sound output with the HA INFO device is still causing weird freezes...

 

[Hybrys]

That is odd... Try to remove all instances of that 'C-Media' driver.  When you plug either your DACMAGIC or HA INFO device in, it should say 'USB Audio Device' not 'C-Media Audio Interface'.  If that doesn't work, try to 'update' the driver and force the generic driver in.

 

[Takaji]

When the HA INFO device is plugged in, I see "USB Audio CODEC" in the playback devices window in Windows 7.
 
When the DacMagic was connected to the computer via USB, the default drivers Windows installed were still called "C-Media Device" or something like that. The problem with these default drivers was that it put a little icon in the system tray then when I tried to open would cause the computer to completely freeze, and I would have to restart. Using the latest C-Media drivers fixed that problem, but not my main problem.
 
I'm finding right now that with the output on foobar as "DS: Speakers (USB Audio CODEC)" selected, and the HA INFO device being used, that the sound will still freeze in foobar at random moments. The only fix for this is to restart foobar. I don't need to restart the DAC. This is odd, because it now sounds like foobar is the problem?? I've got nothing in the DSP chain.

 

[Dalamar]

HA info products are terrible.
 
Also, even if you don't use installed components, having an incompatible or buggy one installed can and will cause issues.
Clear it all out, and update everything related to foobar.
 
If problem persists, it's not foobar's fault.

 

[Takaji]

Quote:

HA info products are terrible.
 
Also, even if you don't use installed components, having an incompatible or buggy one installed can and will cause issues.
Clear it all out, and update everything related to foobar.
 
If problem persists, it's not foobar's fault.

 
The only reason I was using a HA INFO device was because I was having ground loop issues with my setup. Tried moving around plugs to different outlets, etc etc but nothing fixed it. I had read somewhere that using a SPDIF cable was one way of eliminating ground loop problems, as USB can't. The only way I could eliminate the sound was to unplug my laptop and use it on battery otherwise.
 
Deleted all the drivers, then plugged in the DAC via USB. It installed itself as "USB PnP Sound Device." I'm currently using WASAPI out in foobar, and "USB PnP Sound Device" is selected as the default device in Windows playback devices list. I've been playing audio for more than an hour now, and no problems... yet!
 
I'll post again if something weird happens.
 
I've a question about the DSP chain in foobar however. I'm using a resampler to ensure that all music from foobar is at 48kHz, as a few songs are in 22kHz and cause playback errors. Same for with mono tracks, I'm converting them from mono to stereo in the chain as well. Would the correct order to this setup be:
1. Resampler
2. Convert mono to stereo
3. anything else?

 

[Hybrys]

Wait, why are you resampling to 48k?  You mean 44.1k, right?
 
I'd go Mono --> Stereo then SoX Resampler, but that's just me being paranoid something could go wrong with the mono --> stereo component.

 

[Takaji]

Yes, sorry, I meant 44.1.
 
Thanks for the help!