Author Topic: Primary Sound Driver  (Read 5600 times)

StardustNightwind

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 33
https://i.ibb.co/mhRP78p/ice-screenshot-20190710-010117.png
What does Primary Sound Driver option mean?
The second option is my dedicated soundcard.
When I use the Primary Sound Driver option (Default), I can hear crackling during playbach of TAK files.
When I use my soundcard option there is no crackling.
Can I get an explanation about the differences of these options?

Thanks!


StardustNightwind

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 33
I switched to ASIO. But now it is really loud even on 20% volume. Is that normal?
Last Edit: July 10, 2019, 12:42:06 AM by StardustNightwind

hiccup

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 7781
No that is not normal.

But what is your actual issue?
If I read you correct, there is no problem when you select your soundcard?

StardustNightwind

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 33
Thats right when I select the soundcard there is no issue. But I was under the impression that Primary Sound Driver is also using the soundcard drivers by default that's why I was confused when I heard crackling when playing TAK files.

Thanks for your help anyway.

But why is it so loud with ASIO?

hiccup

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 7781
No idea.
Do you have a (semi) professional soundcard with active and specific support on asio drivers?

But even then, there is no advantage whatsoever in using asio for playing audio. (compared to wasapi exclusive)
Asio is only useful in a studio recording environment.

StardustNightwind

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 33
Yes my soundcard is ASUS Xonar DG with 150 ohm headphone amp and ASIO 2.0.0.12

My headphones are 32 ohm so what is the difference in "<32ohm" setting and "32~64ohm" setting in the soundcard drivers?

hiccup

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 7781
Yes

I think your answer to my questions should have been "No" and "No".

If I am correct that is a 9 yrs. old $40 sound-card. I wouldn't call that 'professional'.
Also I don't believe that Asus offers asio drivers for it.

For further questions about the sound-card itself, your best bet to find answers are on dedicated audio sites, or else perhaps on the 'Beyond MusicBee' board on this forum.

StardustNightwind

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 33
But you skipped my question "My headphones are 32 ohm so what is the difference in "<32ohm" setting and "32~64ohm" setting in the soundcard drivers?"

So this is a screenshoot of my soundcard drivers. It doesn't have ASIO support?
https://i.ibb.co/HThS0Wm/ice-screenshot-20190711-004052.png

I actually thought about upgrading to some of the other 9 year old sound cards MAYA44 eX or Julia XTe
https://www.esi-audio.com/products/juliaxte/
https://www.esi-audio.com/products/maya44ex/

Can you recommend me some "new" soundcards which would have any advantage over mine or those two, please?
Last Edit: July 10, 2019, 11:43:47 PM by StardustNightwind

hiccup

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 7781
But you skipped my question "My headphones are 32 ohm so what is the difference in "<32ohm" setting and "32~64ohm" setting in the soundcard drivers?"

I didn't skip it, I explained that you should take questions like that to either the 'Beyond MusicBee' board or to a specialized audio forum.

Quote
So this is a screenshoot of my soundcard drivers. It doesn't have ASIO support?

I think you removed something you said about the age of soundcards?
No problem, but I typed an answer to that already, so I will address that.

Over the years I have been forced to ditch a lot of soundcards only because driver support was lacking for newer operating systems.
The aging chipset that the soundcard uses is usually the cause of that.
Sometimes simply playing stereo is still possible, but multichannel and/or more sophisticated features (such as asio) can become problematic.

The quick look I took at the official driver page only showed a 4 year old driver with no mention of, or a separate download for an asio driver.
But it looks like asio is integrated in the standard driver then?

Quote
Can you recommend me some "new" soundcards which would have any advantage over mine or those two, please?

It's not that I want to make it difficult for you or something, but it's good practice to try and keep forum boards and topics 'clean' and on-topic.
So that question/discussion would also be for the 'Beyond MusicBee' board.

Back to the original 'issue': If I understand correctly, your soundcard works well together with MusicBee with the 'normal' drivers.
So what are you looking for to improve exactly?
Asio does not have a better sound quality, so why would you want that?

StardustNightwind

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 33

Back to the original 'issue': If I understand correctly, your soundcard works well together with MusicBee with the 'normal' drivers.
So what are you looking for to improve exactly?

I did some more tests with ASIO because of the crackling when playing TAK files; and is only present if I don't run MB as administrator. Why is that? That was the original issue.
I understand you about soundcards, but I'm surprised to hear that. Seems I was incredibly lucky with this scndcard because those drivers you have seen work without a problem on the latest Windows 10 Pro 64-bit. Not only that but also I watch Blu-ray discs with 5.1 DTS-HD Audio without problems too.

Here are mediainfo examples

Format/Info                 : Meridian Lossless Packing FBA
Commercial name             : Dolby TrueHD
Bit rate                    : 1 984 kb/s
Maximum bit rate            : 3 603 kb/s
Channel(s)                  : 6 channels
Channel layout              : L R C LFE Ls Rs
Sampling rate               : 48.0 kHz
Compression mode            : Lossless

and

Format/Info                 : Digital Theater Systems
Commercial name             : DTS-HD Master Audio
Channel(s)                  : 6 channels
Channel layout              : C L R Ls Rs LFE
Sampling rate               : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate                  : 93.750 FPS (512 SPF)
Bit depth                   : 24 bits


Asio does not have a better sound quality, so why would you want that?

I didn't know that. I read in several places that it was better. Thank you for telling me. I will keep using wasapi (shared).

Cya.

hiccup

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 7781
I will keep using wasapi (shared).

Ok, but know that using shared mode can cause a deterioration of sound quality.

StardustNightwind

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 33
I didn't skip it, I explained that you should take questions like that to either the 'Beyond MusicBee' board or to a specialized audio forum.

So now that we are in the Beyond MusicBee board, lets start from the beginning. Can you please try answer my inquiries?

1.) When I run MB normally (not like admin), there is crackling when playing .TAK files, with default MB settings - WASAPI (shared) and Primari sound Driver. Why?
2.) I switched to ASIO (screenshot included) but it is a lot louder than WASAPI options. Why?

Over the years I have been forced to ditch a lot of soundcards only because driver support was lacking for newer operating systems.
The aging chipset that the soundcard uses is usually the cause of that.
Sometimes simply playing stereo is still possible, but multichannel and/or more sophisticated features (such as asio) can become problematic.

What soundcards were that and what operating systems?

If I am correct that is a 9 yrs. old $40 sound-card. I wouldn't call that 'professional'.

Can you please recommend me some soundcards that would have any physical advantage in sound quality over my 150ohm soundcard, or over MAYA44 eX which I intend to acquire in time, other than driver support?

Additionaly, local shopovner told me MAYA44 eX is a proffesional soundcard with superior sound... your thoughts?
Additionally I use only "Studio Monitoring Headphones" for listening to music because I consider the sound quality of those excelent.

aging chipset

Physically deteriorating?
Last Edit: July 11, 2019, 05:17:08 PM by StardustNightwind

hiccup

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 7781
I don't know why it plays o.k. when you select your soundcard, and it doesn't when you select primary sound driver.
If that happened to me I would investigate all places in Windows that are relevant to audio. So drivers, mixers, audio device preferences, etc.
Then disable everything that you don't use.
I myself would probably completely remove all drivers first, and first see what happens with the drivers that Windows 10 automatically installs. Usually they are good and stable these days.

You say you want 'professional' audio and you are using 'professional' equipment.
Then don't use wasapi shared. (unless you have a good knowledge of all settings involved and what actually is happening with Windows' mixer etc.)

A few of the cards I had to ditch because support aged were Terratec, Emu and Tascam.
But I have no useful advice on what you should buy.
I do recall that the Julia and Maya had solid reputations for sound quality, but I never owned or listened to them.

From what I understand from you, the quality of the headphone amplifier that the soundcard has will be very important.
That's often a part where the manufacturer tries to save some money.
So make sure you learn what others have to say about that part before you buy anything.

To be clear, the questions that I suggested you to take to 'Beyond MusicBee' were about asking advice on soundcards.
If you have an audio problem that you have narrowed down to likely be related to MusicBee, then of course 'Questions' or perhaps even 'Bugs' will be appropriate.

good luck!
Last Edit: July 11, 2019, 05:53:07 PM by hiccup