[shoenberg3]

Whenever there is a bit of silence in the music, I can hear a distinct high pitch tone that shouldn't be there. This only happens if I use the ASIO output. The pitch does not change with volume, however.

Another question: The music plays fine but every few minutes, there is a break in the music (as if it were buffering). How do I fix this?

Thanks

 

[c0mfortably_numb]

A little more information may help us in helping you...

What sound card are you using (and what driver)?
What version of Winamp?
What version of ASIO plugin?

 

[shoenberg3]

Upon switching to my main soundcard, the problem disappeared. It seems as though the Bithead USB DAC has some kind of problem with the ASIO. Does that help?

 

[c0mfortably_numb]

I'm not sure about ASIO with total bithead, someone else will have to help there. Make sure you have the latest ASIO plugin for Winamp from here I'm not sure how PC savvy you are, but you may want to try Foobar and the ASIO plugin for foobar here See if it works any better for ya then Winamp.

 

[shoenberg3]

Ugh. Now I can't even get the ASIO to work with the Bithead at all. It seems like it simply does not detect it. For example, when Bithead is working, all sounds (WMPlayer, system sounds etc) but those from Winamp work through the headphones. When playing with winamp, the sound automatically plays through the speakers through the mainboard card.

 

[jiiteepee]

Simply set the output device to other than onboard sound in Winamp (Winamp: Preferences -> Plug-ins:Output -> select ASIO output plugin from the list -> Configure: set Device to the one you want to use.)

jiitee

 

[shoenberg3]

I wish the problem were as simple as that. Although on mine under config I am constrained to one choice (ASIO4ALL2v), I don't think that is the issue. I think there is some inherent incompatbility between ASIO and the Bithead DAC. I tried Kernel Streaming today and while it runs completely fine on my mainboard sound card (btw, I think it sounds better than ASIO for some strange reason) when I switch to the USB audio device, winamp locks up and freezes.

What to do..

 

[MaloS]

1 by 1:
Quote:

The music plays fine but every few minutes, there is a break in the music (as if it were buffering).

Increase buffer size. Not sure how to with winamp, but it can be done, and my general recommendation is to switch to foobar2000 if you are going to do streaming. Buffer increase takes more memory but breaks go away. Rule of thumb you should keep it just large enough to not have any breaks or clicks, unless you have RAM to spare.

I did at certain point stream ASIO into Bithead, had no issue there...thats interesting there. You should check if you are resampling anything on Winamp's part, or anywhere in the ASIO chain. Bithead DAC is a 16-bit, which is not an issue for sound since CDs are 16-bit to start with but you should not for it to do 24 if that is the case. (Your integrated audio card might just resample it back to 16 bit if that is the case).


Do you get any qualitative difference with ASIO at all in the first place? Cause I don't think it was worth the effort on my part, nothing noticeable.

 

[jiiteepee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by shoenberg3 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I wish the problem were as simple as that. Although on mine under config I am constrained to one choice (ASIO4ALL2v), I don't think that is the issue. I think there is some inherent incompatbility between ASIO and the Bithead DAC. I tried Kernel Streaming today and while it runs completely fine on my mainboard sound card (btw, I think it sounds better than ASIO for some strange reason) when I switch to the USB audio device, winamp locks up and freezes. What to do..

Hmm... when you use Asio4All, it lists all audio devices it founds.
If you can't select the preferred device for Asio4All output (onboard sound, DAC, other) the 1st device is used then as default.
I don't have two or more devices installed into this PC so, I can't test if it's possible to select the preferred device in Asio4All control panel (all available devices should show up in there). Asio4All control panel is installed w/ the driver so you don't need to use ASIOCaps for launching (listed in my sig.) since you can't launche this panel through Winamp or Foobar.

jiitee

 

[shoenberg3]

MaloS: Thanks for your help. Regarding the question about sound quality, on the ASIO, i do not notice much improvement. But for some strange reason, I notice clearly improved detail on Kernel Streaming, which I doubt is mere placebo.

How do I check how the winamp is resampling? I couldnt' find that in preferences.

jiteepee: Thanks for your help. On ASIO4ALL offline panel, I do see the USB device, but upon selecting it, it turns into "beyond logic" after a while. With the mainboard, it remains green. Hmm....