terrible new asio driver S.C. 5.1 x64 under win7 x64

[Marcus]

Halo,

Is anybody here, who has no problem with new Asio under win7 x64 in S.C. 5.1 x64?

I've bought a new computer configured to work with audio applications (in my studio), and my work completelly stoped now. Under Cubase 5 I hear only crackles and pops...
I'm really disappointed and don't know what to do. I have also read some posts here, and see that is the well known problem.
My question is: have I any chance to work with no problems with Asio drivers in that configuration ?:

2x6 DSP PCI cards (12 DSPs)
S.C. 5.1 x64
Windows 7 64 bit
Intel Core i7 870 2.93 Ghz
Gigabyte P55-UD5
8 Gb DDR3 ram
NVIDIA GeForce 9500 GT

It's really unbelievable - for almost 7 years I worked with those 2x6 DSP PCI cards (12 DSPs) under Win XP with no problem at all...
Funny, wave driver was almost useless in that times (scope 4.0), and now works properly.

[garyb]

there's nothing wrong with the drivers.
there's something wrong with the i7's power stepping when used for REAL TIME audio.
just disable the power stepping in the bios.

from one of Jimmy's posts:
Intel EIST.....................Disabled
Intel C State.................Disabled
Intel C1E......................Disabled
CPU Overspeed Prot.......Disabled
Hyperthreading..............Disabled
Execute Bit Support........Enabled
Set Limit Max CPUID to 3..Disabled
Intel Virtual Tech............Enabled
Intel VT-d Trch..............Disabled

[dante]

Added to Jimmy's section here :

http://www.hitfoundry.com/issue_06/xitemobo.htm

[Marcus]

Wow, thaanks

I changed only those settings:

Intel EIST
Intel C State
C1E Support
Set Limit CPUID MaxVal to 3

In BIOS I found the multithreading instead of hyperthreding, and when I disabled it, only 4 threads was working.
But even in this mode I didn't hear any pops in Cubase on Asio set to 3 ms (44khz - first position in ULLI)
Of course, I returned with multithreading to <Enable> and I see 8 threads working now. Anyway, be careful with this setting in BIOS to not cut the second leg of your machine.

Thank you one more time, and I wish to myself at least 7 more good years with Creamware...Sonic Core...or whatever it will be...

Best regards

Marcus

[soylent.green]

Halo,

Is anybody here, who has no problem with new Asio under win7 x64 in S.C. 5.1 x64?

I've bought a new computer configured to work with audio applications (in my studio), and my work completelly stoped now. Under Cubase 5 I hear only crackles and pops...
I'm really disappointed and don't know what to do. I have also read some posts here, and see that is the well known problem.
My question is: have I any chance to work with no problems with Asio drivers in that configuration ?:
[...]

I've had the same problems like you have now. And I was in contact with sonic core over a few weeks to get their support. I found out some symptoms, like if I start scope software and set cpu affinity to just one core and also start cubase and set it to the same core, crackles got less.
But what finally helped me was a bios update...and probably the final 5.1 software. since then I've no longer problems with pops and crackles.
And as far as I remember I have not disabled the speed-stepping stuff in bios...

[garyb]

Marcus, i'm glad it works.

s.green, yes, a bios update might help. there's nothing wrong with disabling the power stepping. it's better for your audio apps if the cpu is completely awake from the beginning. whether or not you have problems depends a lot on how you use the system and how it's configured. at any rate, i'm glad yours works too.

[Throttler]

It's really sad, but I tried those settings and nothing changed. I was working with xp flawlessly even without making those changes in BIOS so.... why is it the CPU's fault ?

Moreover, the official response I got from S|C Support Team is to deactivate the following settings
in BIOS :

Intel EIST
Intel C State
C1E Support
Overspeed Protection
Hyperthreading
Execute Bit Support
Set Limit CPUID MaxVal to 3 (maybe not so important)
Intel Virtual Tech
Intel VT-d Tech

If we agree that it is the cpu's fault, shouldn't there be an official release note explaining those settings?

[garyb]

it's not the cpu's "fault".
it's that realtime audio requires the cpu's immediate attention, something that might be impossible if the cpu is partially off to save energy. there's no way that it can wake up in time to avoid pops. i've just done some tests on 64bit both with XITE-1 and a Dell Vostro 1400 laptop and a Supermicro Dual XEON 1366 machine with a pulsar1 and both work.

it's not the cpu's fault, but it could be the computer's fault if you can't disable the cpu power management/stepping in the bios.

[ChrisWerner]

I know nothing about the new Intels i5 or 7,as I went for a AMD X6, so I have to ask:
Is there any CPU performance tool in your windows installed with your mainboard driver CD to setup a CPU performance/power management mode? Maybe this could be a hint?

[garyb]

I know nothing about the new Intels i5 or 7,as I went for a AMD X6, so I have to ask:
Is there any CPU performance tool in your windows installed with your mainboard driver CD to setup a CPU performance/power management mode? Maybe this could be a hint?

i'd be interested if that were the case. naturally, one should choose "always on" for a power management setting. the settings that SHOULD be in the bios are usually all you need.

i would ALWAYS look to put the Scope card or XITE into a system it was happy with, not the other way around(choose the computer over Scope). Scope will see 4, 5, or even more computers in it's lifetime. it's the price of some computers, so...i'd stick by the thing that would be useful for 10-20 years over the thing that is only good for a year, but that's me.

it's not even about money. lately, i've been putting together a demo rig for the XITE-1 to demo to dealers, sales people, and users. the laptop i bought is a modest performer, but plenty for most uses. it has win7 64bit w/ all the graphics cheese turned off, so the os is very quick and light(relatively). it has 2gb ram and a core2 duo. it easily plays back 15-20 tracks at 4ms and runs cubase without hiccups. it was $250 shipped. a picked up a refurbished IBM dog for the desktop. it's a little bit less powerful than the laptop, but is still more than powerful enough to do a top quality production, especially(or only because, really) since it's coupled with XITE. it was $200. choose carefully, my son.

[Throttler]

what is really interesting though, is that the cpu is working flawlessly with 2 other non sonic core audio interfaces, and the same cpu is working also flawlessly in windows xp...
last but not least, the pops and clicks are not only part of the asio drivers but also the wav drivers...

[garyb]

well, it must be a setup issue.
i can believe it's working with other soundcards, they are not realtime devices.
do you have all the visual garbage turned on? if you do, it takes up a LOT of ram and cpu cycles. none of that is work that help your system make music. i'd go into system properties/advanced/performance/settings and then click "adjust for best performance".

if you have lots of pops and clicks, maybe you have an irq issue. check system information to see if your anything is sharing an irq with the Scope card. programs\accessories\system tools\system information\hardware resources\conflicts/sharing....you may need to disable a usb controller or move the card to a different slot(yes, the irq allocation may have changed with the new os. it's partially controlled by motherboard archetecture, but also partly by the os.).

perhaps there is a bios update that would help available.

[dawman]

Also worth mentioning is the Spread Spectrum.
If someone is overclocking, you need to disable this feature.
It has something to do with closely stacked HDD's and SSD's and claims the electro Magnetic interferrance can be overcome, I think it's another app killing feature that looks good on paper.
Also worth mentioning.
The X58 chipset has default settings for RAM at 1066MHz / 1.5v.
While you yourself might not be overclocking, the RAM manufacturers that are speeding up their SPD settings on the RAM are overclocking.
This is a competition based decision, and in all reality, I found that Native apps can gain great performance gains from RAM DDR2-800 up to DDR3-1333.
Anything over that yields diminishing returns.

I would definately try to disable the Spread Spectrum
Undervolt the RAM to 1.50-1.51v
PCI Latency timer set to 64.......

I can assure you I am running the lowest spec'd machine I ever used.
1.7 msec. both ways for ASIO Duplex 44.1k
Kontakt 4.2 @ 64 samples

Nice links Dante........

[mausmuso]

Jimmy
I have the same MOBO as you.
I could'nt figure out how to change the voltage of the RAM.
My RAM is running 1066Mhz.
I was hoping to boost that to 1333, but can't find the trick.
Do you do this in the BIOS or some other way?