seemingly random dpc latency in many modules

[lilmike]

Hi,
I got my computer repaired a while ago, because of a failing hard drive, and because of that, they reinstalled windows. Now, however, ever since I've had it back, there's been really slow performance, audio has been crackley on and off, and when I looked around, the most likely culpret was dpc latency. I used latency mon to see, and it does appear I have some bad dpc latency issues, but oddly the issues are all over the place, instead of in one or two drivers/modules. I'm writing here because I haven't had much luck on other mainstream forums (toms hardware mostly), and so figured I'd ask the more music-minded folks (this is a music computer, after all).

My specs: CPU: intel I7-2600 3.4 ghz (overclocked to 3.8 ghz). Motherboard: intel dp67bg. Ram: 24 GB 1600 MHZ ram (though speccy reports it as 797 MHz for some reason). Hard drives: 500 GB SSD OS drive, 500 GB backup drive, 1 TB samples drive (last two are standard spinning drives). Mixer: Mackie onyx 820I. Video: some ATI Radion (I'm not sure what model off the top of my head). I also have a soundblaster XFI xstream audio as my card I put my screen reader through (as I'm blind, and most DAW's don't like having multiple things including themselves on the mixer, plus that's just a bad idea). I have considered removing the soundblaster and only having a USB audio card for my speech, but the darned case my computer was built in had break-away panels for the PCI, etc, cards in the back, so I can't just screw in a metal plate to cover the hole lol.

Anyway, I was just wondering if anyone could help figure this out -- latency mon reports are below.
-Michael.

driver list: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/685 ... atency.png
Text report: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/685 ... atency.txt

[lilmike]

Just an update: I've attached a report from a shorter-running session of latency mon -- I've tweeked some configuration on my PC (including telling the hard drive to never go to sleep -- why that was on I don't know -- but that may have been affecting the results).
Anyone have any ideas?
-Michael.

[pljones]

Have you read through the guide in this thread: http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... 6&t=463513?

[lilmike]

Yep, I've read through the guide in that thread -- that was the first (ok, second) thing I did (after posting this topic -- I'd seen it, but just went through it again to see if there was anything I missed). The dpc latencies have been upward of 3-5 MS for several drivers (as detailed in the screenshot/text file) and nothing from that guide made it perminantly better or worse.
-Michael.

[spacekid]

Just for a second, focus on your audio interface, or whatever you are using this way and your software side. What are you using for these two things. I've read your posts, but it's a little confusing since you have multiple devices attached and I didn't see a list of your DAW. Personally, I would clean up the extra hardware that you don't use, and remove the drivers. There are certain conflicts that happen purely between a given DAW and a given audio interface driver, so I would first isolate what you will be using. *edit: If don't want to uninstall the extra drivers, you could simply disable them in device manager. Personally, I would trash anything I won't need though.

[lilmike]

Hi,
I'm using sonar 8.53 producer (yes, old, but that's a whole other story), and a mackie onyx 820I for my audio interface. However, these dpc spikes/latencies happen when my pc is literally just sitting there doing nothing. I, in fact,haven't even opened up, no, scratch that, I haven't even totally reinstalled my daw since getting my hard drive replaced because of this.
-Michael.

[spacekid]

Hi,
I'm using sonar 8.53 producer (yes, old, but that's a whole other story), and a mackie onyx 820I for my audio interface. However, these dpc spikes/latencies happen when my pc is literally just sitting there doing nothing. I, in fact,haven't even opened up, no, scratch that, I haven't even totally reinstalled my daw since getting my hard drive replaced because of this.
-Michael.

OK, good info. I would isolate the mackie, if you already haven't, and start by investigating the drivers, conflicts reported for it. I'll help a bit, although it's allergy season here and I have a migraine, but I'll try. Just a quick clarification...when your computer is just sitting there you should be able to see/possibly hear spikes, but the latency isn't going to be apparent unless you are running audio. If it is actively running audio when it is just sitting there, there may be another issue to start with.

[spacekid]

I just noticed the ATI graphics card. I have one, they update frequently. Make sure it is up to date, if you haven't, and I can't find your OS up above, maybe it's the migraine. The Onyx driver download page goes by OS and serial number, so just make sure you check that out:
http://mackie.com/sites/default/files/P ... Matrix.pdf ..Don't worry, it's not an easy problem, I'm just laying groundwork for anyone to jump in and help. It will be solved eventually.

[lilmike]

Hi,
Yes, I can hear clicks and pops because I'm running a screen reader (I'm blind), and the headphones I'm using are actually USB headphones because my standard headphones for the mackie actually broke a little while ago.
So how would you find driver conflicts for the USB headphones (or anything else for that matter), would it be in device manager? Or would that be something latency mon could show you as well.
Thanks,
-Michael.

[spacekid]

Hi,
Yes, I can hear clicks and pops because I'm running a screen reader (I'm blind), and the headphones I'm using are actually USB headphones because my standard headphones for the mackie actually broke a little while ago.
So how would you find driver conflicts for the USB headphones (or anything else for that matter), would it be in device manager? Or would that be something latency mon could show you as well.
Thanks,
-Michael.

There is, more than likely, a driver conflict somewhere. When I read over your readout, it mentioned it. I ran my own system with the tool you used to compare, and it didn't suggest that there are any conflicts with mine, so I figured the best place to start with your system is to try to isolate the drivers as much as possible. If I were you, I would start by listing the add-on devices that are active on your system. You can use device manager to do this, as it will list everything. If you are using the built in screen reader, than I'm sure it will be fine, as it doesn't really qualify as an added device (from the system defaults). There are online tools, some are tricky, that can scan for drivers in a better manner than anything built into windows. I can't remember the latest one I've found that doesn't try to trick you into a purchase, but there are a few. My thoughts on your situation is that you have to isolate the default system drivers - test them at default to see if the problem is still there, then add your audio components one-by-one and test as you go.

[lilmike]

So basically I'd want to disable all my devices that aren't default, then reenable one by one until it comes back?
I'll give that a whirl and report back.
-Michael.

[lilmike]

Hi,
Just got around to trying the suggestion of checking for conflicting devices/drivers, and I'm sad to say nothing got any better -- in fact it seemed to get a little worse, indicating, at least from what I would guess, that the hardware addons and all aren't causing the issue. I disabled my HDMI output, my soundblaster, my mackie, and the dvd drive, the intel ethernet, and that's about all that wasn't system default like my USB ports, the CPU, etc. It didn't get any better. Any other thoughts?
Thanks,
-Michael.

[spacekid]

Hey, that makes me sad. I just had to rebuild my own system. Well, I switched to a secondary PC as my main. Try this free software to check for drivers, then we can take a different approach . . https://www.slimwareutilities.com/slimdrivers.php

[metamorphosis]

I can't sort your particular problem but here's what I had to do to get firewire working with decent latency on Win7 x64 -
1. Change my video card to a cheap nvidia (ati also works)
2. Revert the drivers to something from 5 years ago (for the video card)
3. Disable all power saving in bios and windows
4. Revert Win7 firewire drivers to the 'legacy' driver
5. Try three different firewire cards
6. Create a custom stripped-back ISO for Win7 using the unofficial SP2, ntLite and RT7Lite.

Otherwise it was unusable, crackles and stops etc.
In your case it says the USB driver is a culprit, however in my case it said the same thing about the firewire driver... but it wasn't. LatencyMon lies - a lot. Or rather, windows lies. What's causing the problem may not be determinable from looking at LatencyMon, only from experimentation.
Definitely try another video card, or the onboard video, and some of the above.

[lilmike]

Hi all,
I tried slim drivers, and it reported no updates. The only thing I can tell that really makes it worse is when I plug in my Wi-Fi adapter. I'm not sure if this has to do with my Wi-Fi driver is self, or something to do with USB, and I'm not sure how to check.
Thanks,
Michael.