Sound buffer issue

Hello,

I'm having problems with sound output on WinUAE 2.3.0 and 2.3.1. I haven't tested older versions. Basically, I seem to be unable to get stable audio output regardless of sound settings. When starting emulation, the sound buffer display at the bottom of the window falls to around -98% and stays there. There is audio but it's crackly. Disk drive sounds play without issue, though.

Increasing sound buffer doesn't help, nor does switching driver or changing sound/graphics quality settings. Audio works fine everywhere else and the computer (Core i7 920 running Windows 7 x64) is certainly fast enough, CPU usage stays below 20%.

Logs don't show anything interesting.

Any ideas?

[Toni Wilen]

I'll decide if logs are interesting

Okay, here are the logs.

[Toni Wilen]

You are right, quite boring logs

Try 48000Hz frequency.

Strange issue if emulation still runs normally without slowdowns.. Tried other driver versions?

It is normal that other programs have working sound, most programs only play preloaded samples or buffers are really long (many seconds), only emulators and soft synths need to create very short samples on the fly.

Originally Posted by Toni Wilen

You are right, quite boring logs

Try 48000Hz frequency.

Strange issue if emulation still runs normally without slowdowns.. Tried other driver versions?

It is normal that other programs have working sound, most programs only play preloaded samples or buffers are really long (many seconds), only emulators and soft synths need to create very short samples on the fly.

Can't seem to be able to change playback frequency, it always resets to 44100 Hz.

I make music so I regularly work with softsynths and all sorts of audio software. There are no problems with any of them. Emulators of other systems also work fine.

And yeah, emulation works otherwise perfectly with no slowdowns.

I don't think it's a driver issue, because I actually have two sound cards on this system and the same problem exists regardless of which device I use.

It's a weird issue. WinUAE works perfectly fine on my older and much slower Windows XP setup with the same sound card and same audio driver.

Found out I CAN change playback frequency with DirectSound, didn't help though. I also found out that when I use the DirectSound driver and set audio buffer to maximum I get around 10-15 seconds of stable audio output on either sound card but by then the audio indicator has again dropped to -160% and it starts to crackle horribly again.

[NoX1911]

Did you try to start WinUAE from scratch without any config loaded? I once had weird sound behavior with old configs as well. Not sure if a default config gets loaded always.

Do you force vsync by graphic driver or use any refresh rate override tools like powerstrip?
Check the 'shared mode' sampling rate in win7 audio settings. Set it to 16Bit/44.1 or 48kHz mode if possible.
Try a different sound driver.

[TCD]

Originally Posted by NoX1911

Not sure if a default config gets loaded always.

If a 'default.uae' exists in the configuration path, it is always loaded. hukka's bootlog shows that it's not the case though.

Originally Posted by NoX1911

Did you try to start WinUAE from scratch without any config loaded? I once had weird sound behavior with old configs as well. Not sure if a default config gets loaded always.

Do you force vsync by graphic driver or use any refresh rate override tools like powerstrip?
Check the 'shared mode' sampling rate in win7 audio settings. Set it to 16Bit/44.1 or 48kHz mode if possible.
Try a different sound driver.

Thanks for your suggestions.

I get the same behavior with the default config.
I don't force vsync nor do I use Powerstrip or similar. (I did use Powerstrip on my old PC to create a 50Hz screenmode which worked very well with WinUAE.)
Unticking the "Allow applications to take exclusive control of this device" checkbox had no effect, nor did changing the sampling rate.
My drivers are up to date, and since this happens with both of my sound cards which use different drivers, and I don't have any problems with any other application, I think it's pretty safe to say this is not a driver issue.

Since nobody else seems to have this problem it does seem as if the issue is caused by something in my system, though. I'll have to see if either an older version or the X64 build works better.

[mr.vince]

Try power saving features of CPU. I have an eeePC. Goes nuts when in standard mode, have to force high performance. Otherwise audio always loses sync.

[Toni Wilen]

Modern Intel desktop CPU/MB power saving features have always worked without problems here. Only known problem is old versions of AMD cool&quiet.

X64 build

Do not use those, they are pointless and unsupported.

[mr.vince]

Well... this cheapo eee-thingie with WinXP and an Atom processor definitely breaks sync here (unless full power). But why would I complain... it's a EUR 250,- computer... that is not intended to be emulation perfect...

Originally Posted by mr.vince

Try power saving features of CPU. I have an eeePC. Goes nuts when in standard mode, have to force high performance. Otherwise audio always loses sync.

It works! Many thanks for your suggestion.

I'm using a program called EPU-6 Engine that came with my ASUS motherboard which automatically underclocks the CPU according to CPU usage. Setting the mode from Auto to High Performance or Turbo fixes the audio issue and I now have stable sound even at the shortest buffer size setting.

Should've tried to rule this out in the first place but I forgot I was even using the program... Sorry about that.

Thanks to all for the replies.

[Toni Wilen]

My previous board was Asus and current is Asus too but I have never used those programs because Intel normal powersaving modes work fine (speedstep which underclocks when idle)

But I guess I'll have to test what happens..

Originally Posted by Toni Wilen

My previous board was Asus and current is Asus too but I have never used those programs because Intel normal powersaving modes work fine (speedstep which underclocks when idle)

But I guess I'll have to test what happens..

Only reason I really use the program is because it also lets me slow down the CPU fan. I think the BIOS is supposed to control the fan speed similarly even without using the program, but with the program I can slow it down even further. With it the computer is pretty much noiseless in normal use.

[Toni Wilen]

As usual, it works fine here, buy a better PC

I installed Asus EPU and sound still works fine, even if I select max power saving. Fans slow down and WinUAE CPU% goes much higher but sound is the same.

(Asus P8P67 Deluxe, i7 2600k @ 4.6GHz, Auzen X-Fi Forte, AMD 6970, Win7x64 and other stuff)

Perhaps it is MB specific or sound card specific or something else..

[tygre]

Dear Toni and all!

I am configuring WinUAE and run into the same problem as Hukka. I followed the advices above: made sure that all the PC performance management software are o "High Performance", that WinUAE as "exclusivity", and that 'shared mode' is enabled and that the sampling rate in Windows 7 is set it to 16Bit/44.1 or 48kHz... and still, the sound is crackly

I have an HP running Windows 7 64bits on an Intel Core i5 M520 with two processors at 2.40 GHz.

Any further advice or idea?
Yann

[Toni Wilen]

I'd say your sound driver sucks if you get identical problems using both DirectSound and WASAPI

What does SND% show? Does CPU% stay under 100%? Try setting higher priority in priority panel (but I have never needed to do that but it appears to help in some situations)

[tygre]

I'd say your sound driver sucks if you get identical problems using both DirectSound and WASAPI

I tried setting up WinUAE priority "Above normal", it helps a bit but still not great... SND is about -20% and CPU 60% but with lots of variations. I will try updating my drivers if a new version is available...

Thanks!
Yann

[tygre]

Unfortunately, even after updating the drivers, I still have choppy sound... My laptop has a IDT High Definition Audio CODEC, with driver version 6.10.6300.0 of 08/09/2010... Anyhow, what is happening, how come the sound could be choppy, I am curious to understand the inner working of an emulator

Thanks!
Yann

[Toni Wilen]

I have same crappy sound device on my work laptop and sound works fine.

You sure you don't have some too aggressive power saving features enabled? (some 3rd party ones mainly, "normal" Intel speedstep etc works fine)