Windows 7 frustrations

[Studmuffin]

Running Sawstudio. Been making a few upgrades recently;

Got a new PC with Win 7. Also added some Lavry convertors to the RME FF800. Great.

But I'm getting problems:

Normally I record in 48kHz 24bit. Lets say I render to 44.1 16 bit. That's when things go haywire. Try and play back the rendered file in SS at it's speeded up. Doesn't seem to like mixed sample rate sesions anymore. I used to be able to throw anything at SS and no complaints.

If I try and play any media off the web that also tends to disrupt my default sound settings. Media usually playing back too fast - or sometimes not at all.

Then Win 7 like to change my default sound settings when it feels like it and pick some random inputs and outputs. It doesn't seem to remember my preferred device like XP did (in fact XP was rock solid compared to this).

I'm using the latest RME firmware and drivers. Should I give up on Win 7? Or are the issues I've tried to describe more connected with the RME/Lavry combo?

Oh - and if I've got SS open but I leave it unattended for a while it seems to go to sleep. So when I try and close a session file it wants a minute to think about it before complying. Grrrrrr

Help! I'm floundering....

[Bob L]

Make sure you have the soundcard set as master... you may want to not use any of the FF devices as default Windows settings... set them to the internal soundcard...

With card set to master make sure to set the Lavry's to slave.

Bob L

[Bruce Callaway]

FWIW, I just went back to XP after persevering with Win 7 for a few months. I had continued troubles with slipped buffers (audible) and also a regular loss of sync with a Presnous digimax connected to my RME digiface. Nothing I did had any effect on this. Now I am back to XP, no loss of sync and greatly reduced slipped buffers.

[Bob L]

Smart move. :)

Bob L

[mOjO Fet]

Win7 here with FF800 and FF400 run without problems. The Firefaces prove real workhorses as does Saw Studio.
I would never go back to XP. Besides in Win7 x64 I can use all of my 6GB ram.:cool:

Did you tweak your power options to high performance???
Try the Fireface without the Lavry. Although I have a Benchmark DAC-1 connected to my FF800 all the time without problems, so it shouldn't be an issue.
Make sure your default windows audio device isn't the fireface. Although it should work even if it is.

Last advice: Don't give up! :D
Hey, I don't work for Microsoft but I think XP is just too old.

br
Michael

[jazzboxmaker]

+1 on not using the FF for win sounds, at least till you figure out where the problem is.. I had all kinds of problems w/Win7 and slipped buffers. My DAW ended up being the video card drivers were the culprit. On my Lenovo R61 with BSOD, I needed to upgrade the bios- the problem was the Ricoh chipset. It not only controlled the onboard 1394, it controlled the bus too so using another Firewire card would not help. Both units now run 1x64 with my Fireface 400.

Make sure you use the LEGACY 1394 driver!!! I still had problems with the MS hotfix for 1394

Hang in a little while longer. Try disabling stuff and run the DPCLAT latency tool to see when the spikes (if any) boogie the heck out. Last resort back to XP for sure.

Good luck (hey doesn't hurt)

[Studmuffin]

Ok, thanks for the input everyone. I'm going to throw in an old Delta soundcard to handle windows/youtube duties and hope that solves the problem of Win7 forgetting my settings.

How about the problems I'm getting with playback on mixed sample rate sessions? Any clues anyone?

Thanks

[DominicPerry]

As far as I can tell from what you've described, the sample rate issue with the Lavry has nothing to do with Win7. SAW can tell the RME to change sample rate, which the RME is probably obediently doing, providing it is Master clock. If it isn't, it won't change. The Lavry, however, is ignoring the change in sample rate. You will probably have to change the setting on the Lavry by hand (on the front panel). So, if that is the case, there's no point in the RME being the master - you might as well let the Lavry be the master, as it will have a better clock than the RME. It does mean that you will have to fiddle with all the Lavry and SAW when you change sample rates, but it also will give you the best conversion. You should only need to do it when you're checking the final 16/44.1 render.

The 'going to sleep' thing is probably a hard disk related power setting - make sure you're using 'ALWAYS ON' (or whatever the Win7 equivalent is) in the Power control panel.

Dominic

Dominic

[Tim Miskimon]

The 'going to sleep' thing is probably a hard disk related power setting - make sure you're using 'ALWAYS ON' (or whatever the Win7 equivalent is) in the Power control panel.

Dominic

Dominic

As I mentioned in another post concerning the Saw going to sleep thing - in my case all the usual settings like always on are setup correctly.
My Asus Netbook does this.
I even called Asus and they sent me another netbook which does the same thing.
I mentioned to them that it seemed like the hard drive was spinning down but the tech I talked with wasn't sure and he said he'd get back in touch with me.
That was 2 weeks ago and I still haven't heard from him.
I'm wondering if it's something in their version of Windows XP that's interupting or spinning down the hard drive to save power.
I'm running the netbook off of the AC power adaptor so it's hard to tell what's going on.
My Acer Netbook has the same CPU, same memory, same sound card & they both have Windows XP home edition - the Acer does not have the problem - even if I let it sit idle for an hour - I hit play and it starts playing right away.
This is very strange and I wish I had a fix.

[Bob L]

I have seen some Seagate drives spin down in the past and it was some kind of hardware setting in the drive itself... Seagate's tools utility had an option to adjust that setting.

Bob L

[Tim Miskimon]

I have seen some Seagate drives spin down in the past and it was some kind of hardware setting in the drive itself... Seagate's tools utility had an option to adjust that setting.

Bob L
I really think it's a hard drive issue.
Maybe Asus got a bad batch.
My Acer has the same model 160 gig Western Digital Drive and that machine runs fine.
Unfortunately You have to totally dis-assemble the Asus to get to the hard drive.
Otherwise I'd try swapping hard drives.
The Acer has a door on the bottom - remove 1 screw - the door comes off and there's the hard drive.

[Ian Alexander]

I really think it's a hard drive issue.
Maybe Asus got a bad batch.
My Acer has the same model 160 gig Western Digital Drive and that machine runs fine.
Unfortunately You have to totally dis-assemble the Asus to get to the hard drive.
Otherwise I'd try swapping hard drives.
The Acer has a door on the bottom - remove 1 screw - the door comes off and there's the hard drive.
Have you tried contacting WD support?
Are there power settings in the BIOS?

[Tim Miskimon]

Have you tried contacting WD support?
Are there power settings in the BIOS?

I looked in BIOS & everything was setup to keep anything from shutting down.
I think I'm gonna try calling Western Digital to see if they have had any reports of Netbook Hard drives spinning down - maybe they'll be able to help me.