1 (edited by seriousfun 2017-07-09 20:51:56)

Topic: UFX II and Digiface USB Sync

UFX II works great on its own (no pops and clicks after putting it on its own PCIe USB3 card), and Digiface USB works great on its own. Both connected via USB.

I want to use both to add some more optical devices. Whenever I enable both in any ASIO host - SONAR, Reason, Cubase AI, and Reaper - all inputs and outputs stutter and distort. I stripped down the system and synced them using only one ADAT I/O, with similar results whether the UFX or the DF is master and the other is slave.

I have uninstalled and reinstalled all drivers, tried different cables, looked for IRQ conflicts and USB port conflicts, used each unit on the same and different USB busses, etc. I will do some more troubleshooting over the next few days but before submitting a support ticket but I'm wondering if there is anything simple I am overlooking.

Madiface Win 09610
Operation system (version/service pack) -W10 Pro x64 v. 1703 (OS Build 15063.413)
Intel Core i7-3770 Quad-Core Processor 3.4 GHz 4 Core LGA 1155
Mainboard - Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H
RAM amount -32 GB
Network adapters - Qualcom Atheros
Graphic card - Intel HD 4000 on motherboard driver 10.18.10.4653
Other installed soundcards - disabled
Which audio software (version) shows the problem. - SONAR 2017.06 Update 1 (23.6.0.24), Reason 9.5.1d19 (build 8,478), 9.0.20 build 209.
Generally working at 24/96, but symptom is the same at 24/44.1

Thanks in advance for any help!

2 (edited by ramses 2017-07-09 18:05:43)

Re: UFX II and Digiface USB Sync

I am not a friend of Intel HD graphics. On a laptop this led for me to clicks and pops.
Can you try to use a real graphic card ?

Otherwise I recommend trying this USB3 card for both devices:
https://www.heise.de/preisvergleich/son … 79334.html

The card has a dedicated Fresco USB3 controller behind each of the 4 ports.
Needs a free PCIe socket with 4 lanes.
The Fresco Chips are mentioned to be compatible to UFX+ and work also wonderful for i.e. ADI-2 Pro.
For Windows 7 they have rock solid drivers, in Win10 the drivers are even integrated into Windows.
I am using it for 2 UFX+ and 1 ADI-2 Pro.

I would give both a try.

As graphics card I recommend you to take a nVidia one with either Maxwell chipset GTX 9xx
or the more modern GTX 10xx.  Don't take overclocked ones, produces more heat.
Look for the Zero Fan feature. MSI has excellent blowers just for the case they turn on.
But tbh .. even when gaming my GTX 980 doesnt become hot. Up to 54°C not more.
And blowers would only start at 60°C ...

https://www.heise.de/preisvergleich/msi … 40661.html  € 170.

BR Ramses - UFX III, 12Mic, XTC, ADI-2 Pro FS R BE, RayDAT, X10SRi-F, E5-1680v4, Win10Pro22H2, Cub13

3 (edited by seriousfun 2017-07-09 18:39:46)

Re: UFX II and Digiface USB Sync

Thanks!

I have zero pops and clicks, even at low (128 or higher) samples. My new USB 3.0 card fixed all that.

The symptom is stuttering during record and playback on ASIO hosts when both devices are activated in the software, resulting in unusable recordings.

The problem is only when I'm using ASIO in any of the hosts, with both the UFXII and DFUSB connected via USB and sharing the USB driver, synched via ADAT.

4 (edited by ramses 2017-07-09 19:38:37)

Re: UFX II and Digiface USB Sync

I had similar issues on my system. Thought its an Intel server chipset, oh wow and etc.
But I also could not use 2 UFX+ and one ADI-2 Pro at the same time. Single yes but not together.
So there must be a reason.

It could be the case that either the GPU inside of the CPU causes issues.
Look, CPU and GPU share the DRAM ... maybe not the best design, I already made bad experience on a laptop.

Maybe your additional USB3 card is nice, but not nice enough.

I hope you fine tuned already energy settings interms of "no energy saving" ...

Nowadays I am driving project like this with ASIO buffer size of 32, both UFX+ and ADI-2 Pro connected.

http://www.tonstudio-forum.de/blog/inde … cks-de-en/

BR Ramses - UFX III, 12Mic, XTC, ADI-2 Pro FS R BE, RayDAT, X10SRi-F, E5-1680v4, Win10Pro22H2, Cub13

5

Re: UFX II and Digiface USB Sync

Did you make sure that both devices are set to the same ASIO buffer size? This has to be done manually in the Settings dialog.

Are you sure both devices are on the latest firmware? DF is 12 and UFX II has just been updated to USB 15 to free some more USB resources.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

Re: UFX II and Digiface USB Sync

MC wrote:

...

Are you sure both devices are on the latest firmware? DF is 12 and UFX II has just been updated to USB 15 to free some more USB resources.

Thanks, I double checked and both are updated.

Re: UFX II and Digiface USB Sync

MC wrote:

Did you make sure that both devices are set to the same ASIO buffer size? This has to be done manually in the Settings dialog.
...

Yes, same buffer size in settings.

I retried a few different USB ports and computer restarts, with the same results in a couple of ASIO hosts. I could be wrong, of course, but it still seems like a sync problem. I have the UFXII synched via BNC, and I tried to sync the UFX and DMUSB via ADAT with and without the BNCs connected, same result.

I'm still hoping that it's something stupid that I'm doing!

Re: UFX II and Digiface USB Sync

After a short break, and a lot of rewiring, the UFXII and Digiface USB work great. The main thing I worked on was getting them on different USB ports in my computer (along with ADAT sync between them, which wastes some ADAT, but whatever!). Thanks for all help. The new USB 3.0 card Mailiya PCIU34P02 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01G8 … &psc=1 works great.

My next question is as in this thread https://www.forum.rme-audio.de/viewtopic.php?id=24306 The DF USB now shows as the first group of I/O, with a (1) after each input, and the UFXII shows as (2).

Is there a setting, registry hack, etc., that will change these around, so the UFXII is (1)?

9 (edited by ramses 2017-10-01 08:51:44)

Re: UFX II and Digiface USB Sync

seriousfun wrote:

The new USB 3.0 card Mailiya PCIU34P02 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01G8 … &psc=1 works great.

Ok, this should be this chipset, can you pls confirm ? NEC uPD720201

BR Ramses - UFX III, 12Mic, XTC, ADI-2 Pro FS R BE, RayDAT, X10SRi-F, E5-1680v4, Win10Pro22H2, Cub13

Re: UFX II and Digiface USB Sync

Yes, according to documentation NEC uPD720201. I was still having problems after installing this, so it was probably an issue of other USB device connections.

I'd still like to figure out how to make my UFX appear as #1 and my Digiface USB appear as #2.

Re: UFX II and Digiface USB Sync

Or you try the card with the 4 FL1100 chips.
By this card its ensured, that a dedicated USB chipset is behind each USB3 port.
Its a little bit more pricy by this but solved problems for me and others.
It requires a PCIe socket with x4 Lanes.

BR Ramses - UFX III, 12Mic, XTC, ADI-2 Pro FS R BE, RayDAT, X10SRi-F, E5-1680v4, Win10Pro22H2, Cub13