[dmbr]

It seems that Razer Surround Sound is preventing other surround sound programs from installing properly, even after being thoroughly uninstalled (cleaned the registry of all things "Razer").

When trying to install Daren Fong's Out of Your Head as well as Creative's MB3, both programs install without errors, but when audio is played back through the virtual device (OOYH/MB3 surround) it comes out with horrible distortion. The sound of the distortion is exactly the same with both OOYH and MB3.


Here's how I know it's Razer's fault:

I actually got OOYH working by reinstalling Razer Surround, then selecting the Razer Surround virtual device instead of my DAC as the playback device for OOYH to use! Audio comes out perfectly normal, if Razer Synapse (program that contains Surround) is closed, just as it should if my DAC were selected instead.

If I select my DAC as the playback device the distortion returns--without Razer Surround installed and the RS background service enabled there is no avoiding the distortion.


Sadly, this fix only works with OOYH. Creative MB3 does not recognize Razer Surround as a compatible device, so there is no option to select it and distortion is present no matter what.


Might you guys have any clues on how to get rid of Razer Surround and perhaps even how to get MB3 working?

 

[darinf]

It seems that Razer Surround Sound is preventing other surround sound programs from installing properly, even after being thoroughly uninstalled (cleaned the registry of all things "Razer").

When trying to install Daren Fong's Out of Your Head as well as Creative's MB3, both programs install without errors, but when audio is played back through the virtual device (OOYH/MB3 surround) it comes out with horrible distortion. The sound of the distortion is exactly the same with both OOYH and MB3.


Here's how I know it's Razer's fault:

I actually got OOYH working by reinstalling Razer Surround, then selecting the Razer Surround virtual device instead of my DAC as the playback device for OOYH to use! Audio comes out perfectly normal, if Razer Synapse (program that contains Surround) is closed, just as it should if my DAC were selected instead.

If I select my DAC as the playback device the distortion returns--without Razer Surround installed and the RS background service enabled there is no avoiding the distortion.


Sadly, this fix only works with OOYH. Creative MB3 does not recognize Razer Surround as a compatible device, so there is no option to select it and distortion is present no matter what.


Might you guys have any clues on how to get rid of Razer Surround and perhaps even how to get MB3 working?

Thanks for the heads up!
 
I'll look into it and see if I can figure out the problem.
 
Are you running Windows 10?
 
-Darin

 

[dmbr]

Thanks for the heads up!

I'll look into it and see if I can figure out the problem.

Are you running Windows 10?

-Darin

Thank you, Darin!

I'm running Windows 7 64-bit. My DAC is an Asus Xonar Essence One connected via USB.

 

[captaintaco]

I read your literally 2 minutes after installing razer's utility (decided I wanted to mess around with a bunch of options and figured I would give it a go).  As soon as I read your post I just thought... bummer... 

However, on a high note it got me to dig into and see what the problem could be.  On another high note, it actually isn't too complex and is pretty easy to solve.  It basically comes down to the installers of all 3 of these applications being a bit sloppy (sorry, no offense meant to anyone) in that they leave behind a couple of registry lines as well as some device remnants.



To fix your issue, first uninstall all of the applications in question using the utility I am about to recommend (it is easier to start fresh by uninstalling all applications as there seem to be some shared files, specifically shared between razer and OOYH).  To make the next step easier (removing registry leftovers) I recommend using a favorite utility of mine for the uninstall process called Revo Uninstaller. Revo is an uninstaller utility which scans for remnants of files and registry settings and allows the removal of both, they have a free version which will suite our needs.
 
1. download and install "revo uninstaller" free version
 
2. Open Revo and uninstall all 3 applications, each one make sure to select the option to scan for leftovers. (keep in mind Razer has 2 applications, the "razer surround" and "Razer Synapse" be sure to uninstall both (if you use other razer products, you will just have to reinstall the software for them.  Might be you could keep synapse, but I did not test this and cannot ensure it isn't one of the things causing the problem.
 
3. When it displays the leftovers make sure to hit the "select all" button followed by the "delete" button before continuing on to the next page or the items will not be removed.  I ensured all items that are found will not be missed by Windows, they are safe to delete.

4. Once all 


Next you need to remove the leftover drivers and devices.

1. Open Device Manager (hit "windows key" + "R"   to open the windows run prompt, then type devmgmt.msc and hit enter)
2. click on "View" at the top and ensure the "show hidden devices" line is checked/selected
3. expand "Audio Inputs and Outputs"
4. right click on each listing of "razer", "Out of Your Head" or "MB3" and select "uninstall", when prompted to confirm you would like to uninstall, select "ok"
5. expand "Sound, video and game controllers"
6. right click on each listing of "razer", "out of your head", or "MB3" and select "uninstall"
5. Once you do this for each of the devices, restart your computer.
 
 
Install whichever program you now intend to use (such as OOYH)


Any questions, let me know,
Cheers

 

 

[darinf]

Wow @captaintaco !
Thanks SO much for that info.
To be honest, I haven't had a chance to try and troubleshoot this issue. But I have used Revo many times before, even when testing versions of Out Of Your Head. 
 
I admit, our uninstaller is not the best. I cannot figure out how to get the uninstaller to really uninstall and completely delete the Out Of Your Head driver. Windows likes to keep the drivers around just in case, for some reason.
 
Anyway, I still have to figure out how to possibly make Out Of Your Head more "compatible" with Razer Surround.
 
But in the meantime, thanks for the work around!
 
-Darin

 

[captaintaco]

Not a problem.  Honestly, Razer left more behind than you did... Getting Windows to remove everything you put in with an installer can certainly be a pain... Just as Symantec... Whether you are using a packager or not (I always like Install Shield myself, but their pricing is a bit... pricey...). Of course, I never did get too far into software development, I don't have that sort of patience... Was always a hardware/server guy myself.

I got to play around with your program a bit, seems pretty neat, definitely better than a lot of the other options out there.

As for the getting it to work along side Razer and others, I didn't look very far into exactly where the conflicts were, and without knowing the inner workings of the driver I would be of little help anyways. On the other side of the coin, the incompatibility after uninstall seems to partially out of your hands anyways as it relates to a driver being left behind by Razer. Best of luck to you!

Cheers,
 
CaptainTaco