Bottlehead Forum
Bottlehead Finished Products => Legacy Products => Bottlehead DAC => Topic started by: bernieclub on November 13, 2017, 09:25:01 AM
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Finally treated myself to a new computer, a nothing too fancy PC running Windows 10. I installed the xmos driver, and there seems to be a conflict with the Realtek Audio. I couldn't get the xmos driver to over-ride Realtek. I tried deactivating it, but no luck. When I boot the dac, the audio icon on the bottom tray would show the xmos driver, but as soon as a signal started, a split second of distorted sound burped out, then the audio icon would revert to Realtek, and no sound. I have since removed the xmos driver, but can't figure out how to get sound out of the dac. I get sound out of the headphone jack, with "speakers" selected, but no sound with digital selected. Will the dac work with the Realtek audio? I can't tell if the usb port is getting the digital signal. Any suggestions? TIA
Bernie
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The Realtek audio is the driver for your onboard sound card. You'll want do disable it in your device manager to get rid of it.
I would also suggest trying all of the available USB ports on your PC.
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Thanks for quick response, Paul! I'll let you know.
Bernie
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I successfully deactivated the Realtek, and then attempted to download the xmos driver from the BH link. When I unzip, Norton deletes the file, claiming a trojan virus. Has anyone else had this happen? Is there another link possibly, I used the DAC manual link. Thanks, Bernie
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That's the only installer.
Turn off Norton.
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Turned off Norton and successfully installed xmos driver. I finally was able to uninstall Realtek after a few attempts, but now the device manager shows "high definition audio device" instead. It's as if the native audio will not give up control. When I re-power the dac, the xmos driver shows in the device manager and the volume icon in the tray. When signal starts, there's a second or so of distorted sound, then silence as xmos disappears from device manager, replaced by "high def audio driver". I'm also getting an icon labeled "digital audioS/PDIF", but nothing that will play music. When I try to delete high def audio drivers, they just appear to re-install themselves. Am I missing something?
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You may be able to go into the BIOS on the machine and disable the onboard audio.
The DAC disappearing is something I've resolved by using a different USB jack on my computer.
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Thanks Paul, I'll try the rest of the jacks and report back.
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I was able to deactivate the native audio. When I power up the dac, the computer recognizes the xmos driver and tell me there's a device connected. Display is 44.1. When the slightest signal is presented, ie, the little ding from adjusting the volume, the ding is badly distorted, the display goes to 48, and the computer no longer sees an audio device. Switching the cables back to my old computer confirms that the dac works fine, so can I get a recommendation on what and where to research a way into the bowels of my computer to get this working. Thanks, Bernie
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Try Settings/Manage Audio Devices and see if you can control the sample rate in the properties of your audio device - i.e., it might be set to 48K instead of 44.1. The setting might be found in playback/ (click on the device)/advanced tab
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Try every USB jack that you have on your computer.
My listening room rig will work perfectly on the DAC if I plug it into the onboard USB jacks. If I use the ones on either side of the case, I get the exact behavior you're experiencing.
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Thanks for responses...I'll go through the exercise again this evening, but I'm starting to feel like the crazy guy expecting a different result from the same action. I'll try to be methodical and make sure I touch all the bases, between primal screams!
bernie
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Quick update...rotated through all seven usb ports, still no luck. Each port recognized and set up the BH dac, but the driver is deactivated instantly as before. Just for the heck of it, I plugged the usb cable back to old computer, but different port, and that one did not work! I'm now working on some settings changes recommended on various forums, basically trying to figure out what makes the port work. I've set all usb buses to not allow computer to turn off the bus to save power, but this hasn't worked. I try some others and report back. There has to be a solution.
Bernie
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Did you happen to change USB cables at some point? I've also had some USB cables that didn't quite cut the mustard either.
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Has USB booting been disabled in the BIOS?
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CB, I'm using the very nice cable that came with the dac. I'll try another, but I have no reason to suspect it. FH, that's a good question, I have no idea. I'm not familiar with BIOS tampering. I'll have to do some research on this topic. As always, I appreciate the suggestions.
Bernie
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Finally back with a conclusion after having life get in the way of this project. I learned how to get into the BIOS on this computer, and tried every combination of activating and de-activating the usb ports, audio options and a host of seemingly unrelated settings over the course of a few weeks. I never could get the darn thing to work. I have re-purposed this computer and was able to install the DAC on another Windows 10 machine, a Dell laptop. For reference, the problem machine is an ASUS VIVO M32CD series. It is advertised as having "SonicMaster" audio, "a combination of hardware, software and tuning to provide superior audio". I have not confirmed this with ASUS support, but I suspect there is an inherent incompatibility with their system and the BHdac/xmos driver. Computer shoppers beware if you want to use this DAC!
Bernie