Random dropouts

HI All,

So when running on my HP Pavilion (i7 / 64 GB RAM / 1TB SSD / Win11) I have been experiencing quick random audio dropouts that can be 5-15 minutes apart from each other. It can be with just one synth running, or many layers. It can be with no synths and just playing back an audio file. It happens regardless of what audio interface I use (I have M-Audio, Tascam, and SSL interfaces). It happens regardless of sample rate or latency setting. It happens regardless of cabling. It never happens with Windows Audio.

So I am thinking maybe it has to do with the USB bus itself and how it talks to Windows. I was looking through the GP Optimization manual and didn’t see anything directly related to USB port settings (ie: in the Device Manager or something similar).

Am I missing something in the manual, or does anyone have any insight on how to optimize the USB settings within Windows (other than to make sure the port doesn’t go to sleep)?

Thanks,
Joe

If you do an internet search for intermittent audio dropouts on W11 you will get a lot of hits and various solutions. It’s something that I am experiencing as well but so far have been unable to quantify and/or get to consistently repeat. It seems to happen when I use the ASIO device driver set that came with my Roland Octacapture which I bought recently. It was not happening when I was using ASIO4ALL with my old Behringer interface, but on the other hand there have been a number of W11 updates and changes that could equally be causing this problem - if there is a problem. It seems to happen even if GP4 isn’t in use, so I am pretty sure that it is not the problem or causing the problem. I haven’t been able (yet) to determine if it’s even systemwide - e.g. does it show up in recordings in addition to the audio monitor. It doesn’t seem to, but I just don’t know. If anyone else is having the same problem it will be interesting to see if they share their story here and if they have been able to troubleshoot and resolve it. Sorry I don’t have better news for you.

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Thanks @CruiseCycle …

I am certain that this has nothing to do with GP. I also don’t think it has anything to do with Win11 either. It happened on Win 10 before I upgraded. Since I can use these audio interfaces on other PCs without issue - I have to assume it has something to do with the laptop itself…maybe a BIOS setting, or it could be the architecture on the MB.

Joe

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Have you tried running your USB Audio device into a powered hub, and then the hub into the laptop?

Having gone through many trials with a similar problem on an HP laptop, I have narrowed it down to the Turbo function of the CPU. This can sometimes be disabled in the BIOS.

@edm11 - yes, Ed…all my peripherals go through a powered Anker hub.

@Tryptych - I will look into that, Rob. Thanks!!

Just an update here on my experiments to date. I can now confirm that I get random dropouts when using my Roland Octacapture interface. When I use my Berhringer it is smooth as silk and absolutely no dropouts. When investigating drivers that Roland and Behringer have released for their devices, both had driver releases for Windows 10 and/or 11 with the latest in one case (Roland) released in May with a readme note that said if dropouts or other problems were being experienced to update the driver, but if no issues were being experienced then it wasn’t necessary. Unfortunately it did not resolve the problems I had with the Octacapture. As was expected, GP had no involvement with the problem.

That’s not to say that my experience will be the same as anyone else’s, but the takeaway is that if you are having problems it is unlikely to be caused by GP, the other being that there do seem to be a larger than normal number of audio and/or driver issues with W10/11. I would suspect it has something to do with driver signing security and TPM enforcement.

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