Author Topic: WASAPI Exclusive not working with external DAC  (Read 4115 times)

take

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My external DAC is a Schiit Yggdrasil. I am using it over USB. It shows up as an audio device in Windows sound settings. MusicBee works fine with it in shared mode, but when switched to exclusive mode, it does not play. It doesn't even change the play button to the pause button to indicate that the track has started.

Below are steps I've taken to try to fix/debug the issue:
* restart MusicBee
* try different audio tracks with different sample rates & bit depths
* try with event mode enabled and disabled
* try toggling other sound device options in MusicBee: "play some silence at startup for hardware synchronization", "increase buffer size"
* try the latest beta of MusicBee as of today

I have ensured that "Allow applications to take exclusive control of this device" and "Give exclusive mode applications priority" are checked in Windows sound settings for the DAC. I have tried exclusive mode with foobar2000 v1.6.7 beta 17 to see if it was a MusicBee issue or an issue affecting other players, and I was able to successfully use WASAPI exclusive mode with foobar2000.

There are no errors in the error log related to this issue. The error log only has file errors, the last of which was recorded on 12/16/2020.

I am using the latest stable version of MusicBee, 3.4.7805.

sveakul

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Just to cover all bases, try replacing the stock basswasapi.dll with the newer one here (version 2.4.3.5): https://www.un4seen.com/stuff/basswasapi.zip .  If still no luck, leave the newer one in place, and also replace bass.dll with this one (version 2.4.16.3): https://www.un4seen.com/download.php?bass24 .  Be sure to back both of the original files up in case you want to return to them.

Be sure nothing else might be using exclusive mode at the time--otherwise, it sure seems like you have tried everything else.

take

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The newer version of basswasapi.dll did not make it work. However, I did manage to get something in the error log after swapping it. I only see the one log line, even though I restarted MusicBee and tried to play files multiple times:

Code
7/28/2021 9:53:58 PM - 10.0.19043.0 - 3.4.7805.33439D - System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
   at #=zv0oS7QsmO66dgv$kZk96UXU4IA00.#=zsmYANNc=(#=zjsdVjkTpZ3Go$iKRt1PP6Wc= #=zQ3bgfJ0=)
   at #=zGbZXiuqvCcFJ$rEc2sjoNJY=.#=zZEt6nM7AOo0I(#=zVzsNxnIpA1tczBaJkA== #=z3iMFQ3_g4XFi)

Swapping back to the original basswasapi.dll and trying the newer bass.dll did not make it work, either.

I am certain that nothing else is using exclusive mode at the same time.

sveakul

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I use wasapi-exclusive "exclusively" and both of the newer versions of the files I mentioned before with no problems, so I'm afraid I can't offer any more suggestions.  Not using a DAC here though, just Realtek chipset.  Windows 10 21H1, MusicBee 3.4.7879 Portable.

frankz

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I also use WASAPI Exclusive without those difficulties. It's a Windows API - it shouldn't matter what the endpoint is regarding whether it works or not.

The symptoms in the OP point to something else using the device at the time although that usually results in an error message for me.

phred

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Below are steps I've taken to try to fix/debug the issue:
* restart MusicBee
You don't mention the one (most important) step to try: have you restarted Windows? They will free what whatever else is tying up WASPI. As with most Windows issues, restarting the OS should typically be the first troubleshooting step.
Download the latest MusicBee v3.5 or 3.6 patch from here.
Unzip into your MusicBee directory and overwrite existing files.

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take

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You don't mention the one (most important) step to try: have you restarted Windows? They will free what whatever else is tying up WASPI. As with most Windows issues, restarting the OS should typically be the first troubleshooting step.

Yes, I forgot to mention that. I have restarted Windows many times and I have also tried plugging the DAC into different USB ports, as well as restarting the DAC, to see if it was potentially hardware related.

The symptoms in the OP point to something else using the device at the time although that usually results in an error message for me.

Definitely not the case. I used to use exclusive mode with MusicBee and another external DAC, so it's strange that MusicBee doesn't work with this one. But I am familiar with the process of using exclusive mode and all its quirks so I am definitely certain that no other device is grabbing the DAC. There isn't any other software configured to use exclusive mode on it, besides Foobar2000, which I only ran briefly yesterday to see if it was MusicBee or systemwide. Switching to WASAPI shared in MusicBee plays music through the DAC, which wouldn't be the case if another device was grabbing it.

frankz

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Switching to WASAPI shared in MusicBee plays music through the DAC, which wouldn't be the case if another device was grabbing it.
Yes it would be the case. That's the whole point of WASAPI shared.

take

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Switching to WASAPI shared in MusicBee plays music through the DAC, which wouldn't be the case if another device was grabbing it.
Yes it would be the case. That's the whole point of WASAPI shared.

I mean that if another piece of software was using WASAPI exclusive on the DAC and actively playing back media, then MusicBee would be unable to play when set to WASAPI shared, at least until the device was released by the other software.