Two DAW problems

[e-crooner]

Hello, this is my maiden post/thread I only registered because I hope someone here knows what the hell is going on, I sure don't.

I use two DAW's (Reaper and Mulab). My problems:

In Reaper the ASIO sound ceases after random periods of time (a few minutes, an hour, whatever), so, in order to restore it, I click on the ASIO driver symbol in the Windows bar and then close that driver settings window again, without changing anything. Then the sound is back on.

In Mulab a similar thing happens, but not with the ASIO sound, but with Midi. After random periods of time the DAW no longer receives Midi from my Midi keyboard (whose light is still on, so it is still USB-powered). So I click Mulab -> Midi Setup and then close that settings window right away, again without changing anything. Then the Midi keyboard works again.

Neither problem exists in both DAW's, which is weird. ASIO and Midi are not connected, right?

Both problems started like a month ago. Has there been any W10 update that screws those things up? Has anyone else experienced such problems?

[Forgotten]

Is it possible that it's a power saving problem? Sometimes power saving breaks connections that aren't automatically remade

[e-crooner]

I thought so too regarding the USB keyboard, but when I checked the USB settings, the box for allowing Windows to shut USB devices down is unchecked everywhere.

The sound comes from the on-board sound chip (driven by ASIO4ALL), so USB is not involved. That solution worked perfectly for years, up until weeks ago.

[Winstontaneous]

I wonder if setting CPU Priority in Task Manager to Realtime for REAPER/Mulab would help?

[stearine]

ASIO and MIDI are not related and since you do MIDI over USB, the MIDI input problem shouldn't relate to your audio interface.

AFAIU ASIO4ALL doesn't "drive" much anything, certainly not your hardware. Have you tried Windows' audio system instead? What problem does ASIO4ALL solve for you?

Assuming the two problems are related... Maybe Reaper/ASIO4ALL is releasing the audio device after a while and reclaiming it when you open the UI, and maybe something similar happens with the MIDI. The common denominator is hardware I/O needing some kind of renegotiation after a period of time, and maybe ASIO and Mulab cause this to happen by requesting to speak with the devices when you open the settings? Which does make it sound an awful lot like a power-saving feature, but not for USB devices specifically since the integrated sound chip is affected too. If it were caused by a Windows update, then it could either be a Windows internal issue, or a combination of Windows' power saving logic and your BIOS power states configuration (assuming you haven't fiddled with BIOS in between), specifically such that delegate power-throttling to software. Then again you may have already configured your BIOS for optimal performance for DAW use?


More or less random things to try:

- different USB port, on a different USB hub (check motherboard docs for the topology)
- uninstall ASIO4ALL
- try Windows Multimedia system instead
- if and only if you need it, reinstall ASIO4ALL
- in Windows Sound Control Panel, toggle exclusive control of the audio device by apps and giving them priority
- if you have many extensions for the DAW's, disable/remove all and see if problems persist
- enable extensions one at a time until problem reappears
- reset the DAW's to factory settings, or better yet do a clean reinstall
- uninstall/reinstall/rollback the audio interface driver
- in Task Manager set the DAW processes' priority to "realtime"
- triple-check all possible power saving options in Windows and disable everything everywhere and see if the problems persist
- check the CPU power states and any configuration related to the audio interface in BIOS

[e-crooner]

Thanks for all those tips.

Windows Multimedia audio has much more latency and dropouts/distortion, too. ASIO4ALL worked perfectly up until recently. My whole audio setup worked perfectly up until recently, I did not change anything such as BIOS. I try to leave everything alone as long as there are no problems.

Maybe it really is a W10 1903 problem, there are many websites where people mention problems. Not specifically with Midi or ASIO, but that doesn't mean nobody has them.
I hope MS are working on fixes for that W10 build.

Just ran the latency test program, confirms this article:
https://windowsreport.com/ntoskrnl-exe- ... indows-10/

[Forgotten]

Maybe you could check to see if there is a change log on the MS site and see if anything looks like it might have had an impact on your audio when you upgraded to that build?

[e-crooner]

After a lot of searching, I found a page where they recommended a registry edit, changing the interrupt management parameter MSI Supported (for my audio chip) from 0 to 1. That seems to work, Mulab has been running for 2 hours and Midi is still on. Don't ask me what the audio chip has to do with Midi, though

[Forgotten]

Well hope you managed to solve it. If not, post back here as there's eventually someone checks a thread who has had similar problems and has a solution.

[e-crooner]

Damn it, last night was mere luck it seems. Today Midi was gone after like 2 minutes

[e-crooner]

Weird, for a couple of days now even the USB power light of my keyboard ceases to be lit after some time. Today as well, it was off for like 8 hours, then it lit up again all of a sudden.
I also tried a different USB port, same behavior, though.

[Unaspected]

How firm is the physical USB connection from your MIDI keyboard? If it's loose and powering on and off frequently enough so as not to dim the screen much but send enough messages to your DAW, that could cause issues in the DAW.

I had such a problem with a Novation Impulse - fixed by wrapping some paper around the USB plug in lieu of opening the thing up.

[e-crooner]

The connection is not loose at all, I can push it slightly up and down and back and forth, no flickering.
But although the light is back on now, the Midi signal is not received by the DAW.
In the Midi setup dialog box the keyboard is not even offered for selection anymore

[stearine]

Weird, for a couple of days now even the USB power light of my keyboard ceases to be lit after some time. Today as well, it was off for like 8 hours, then it lit up again all of a sudden.
I also tried a different USB port, same behavior, though.

Check the motherboard specs for the USB hubs/ports schema. There are often multiple USB hubs integrated on the board. If so make sure you've tried a different hub altogether (not just a different port, which may or may not belong to the same hub).

Try a different cable of course, and whether or not twisting it would turn the power light off. (I didn't suspect the physical USB connections because you mentioned that opening a settings screen in your DAW fixed the issue.)

Might still have something to do with interrupts, power states or/and privileges.

I'd definitely try doing some driver and application reinstalling.

Something else that crossed my mind: Could it be a hardware power issue? I'd check if there is a diagnostics app for your motherboard that would let you see things like USB current/voltage supply, or check UEFI/BIOS for them, and whether the readings react to plugging/unplugging devices, or having many ports populated as opposed to few or none.

[e-crooner]

Thanks for all your suggestions.
I have tried various other USB ports meanwhile, both on the back and front of the computer. No change. All other USB devices such as my 4G modem are working flawlessly, it is on all the time.

So, I don't think it has to do with any hardware. I share this: "Might still have something to do with interrupts, power states or/and privileges."

Since it started all of a sudden, those problems might have arisen from a Windows update.
I have uninstalled and reinstalled the keyboard's driver and other software, and installed the latest version from their website, no change.