USB Problems

[trinityj5]

Hi there,

I have the latest version (10.6.2) of SCS and my licence level is SCS standard. I connect my computer to my Allen&Heath ZED 428 Sound Desk via USB, which gives me a stereo fader on input.

I have however been having some issues with SCS freezing in the middle of a show. These have mostly been recifiable so far, luckily.

There seems to be no pattern to the freeze, the audio just stops, the level indicators freeze at a level, but I still have control of the program, ie I can minimize, close etc. but obviously I have no play control. I can close the program and reopen and then select the correct cue and cue position and then go from there, but if its in the middle of a 10 Min ballet track; thats not great fun really...

Occasionally instead of freezing up completely, the audio will just appear to skip for a half second, again, I can't see a pattern to this and its just ass irritating.

I wondered if anyone had any ideas?

The driver that the USB is using for the sound desk is a generic XP one and I am running Windows XP Pro.

Thanks for any help in advance.


TJ5

[Mike Daniell]

Are you using the ZED's ASIO interface? If so, try using WDM interface instead. Let me know if this makes any difference.

[trinityj5]

Hi Mike,

Thanks for getting back to me.

I am unsure which interface my ZED is using, how would I find out? Sorry to be useless and not know!


TJ5

[Mike Daniell]

In SCS, go to the Editor and display the Production Properties. What do you have under 'Physical Device'? I don't know how the ZED publishes the device descriptions, but if an ASIO device has been selected then I expect you will see 'ASIO' somewhere in the description. So if this is the case, try selecting a Physical Device that does NOT contain 'ASIO' (and is, of course, a 'device' on the ZED).

btw, what type(s) of audio file are you using? EG are they WAV files, MP3, files, or some other format?

[trinityj5]

Hi Mike,

Sorry to take so long to get back to you... I have two audio devices listed, "USB audio CODEC" and "Realtek HD Audio Output". THe first one is my USB connection to the ZED, the second is of course my integrated sound card out.

Many thanks,


T.

[Mike Daniell]

I haven't used the ZED 428 but downloaded the User Guide. Unfortunately this document takes forever viewing with Adobe Reader - must be something to do with all the graphics, but Adobe Reader frequently is reported as 'not responding' when I try to page down.

From what I can find out, the USB Audio CODEC is WDM. I'm concerned that the User Guide refers to the interface as "USB 1.1 compliant", and then in the next sentence says that it's "compliant with USB 2". Make sure you are connecting via a USB 2 port.

I also suggest you follow the recommendations under Optimising your PC for Audio on Windows XP on our web site, particularly step 1.