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XPS 8950, continuous audio dropouts
In week three of ownership of an XPS 8950 (i7, 32GB, 3060i, 750w) and it's been a good experience. From the start, I noticed that the Tidal PC app would disconnect during music playback about every 3-5 minutes, and remain in a disconnected state. My audio pipeline is XPS 8950, Yamaha/Steinberg ASIO driver, USB out, USB in on Yamaha DAC/amp - home WiFi network. This combo of audio hardware/software/network, and their settings, worked perfectly with my previous laptop since joining Tidal last January.
At first, I faulted the Tidal PC app, as it actually disconnects, and throws an error "Chosen audio output has been disconnected". Nothing is disconnected as far as I can tell. I have been working with the Tidal tech team to diagnose this problem - no fixes yet.
But, over the past few weeks, I've tried other audio apps, such as FooBar 2000, Tidal Web App, and Tidal Android app (running on Win11) and while these apps don't "disconnect", there is a noticeable audio dropout of about 1-2 seconds on the same cadence - about every 3-5 minutes. Maybe these other apps "handle" the dropout better than the Tidal PC app? They have a dropout, but then keep playing - the Tidal PC app remains disconnected.
This leads me to think that there's something happening with the XPS 8950 that is causing the audio disconnects/dropouts. So now I am looking into every setting that could cause a sleep or similar-type state in the XPS 8950 USB ports, interfaces, everywhere. A quick look into online posts, and I see a history of XPS 8950/XPS 8940 issues with audio, and people talking about the GPU drivers causing similar issues.
First, I am going to exhaust all possible settings that could lead to an idle or sleep state, causing the disconnect. After that, I am up to whatever you folks suggest. Maybe this has been resolved already?
I really need to be able to listen to audio for more than just a few minutes without dropouts. I've been able to do this for decades, on far less capable/expensive hardware. If I can't make this happen, I'll be returning this machine.
TIA for any help you can provide!
RoHe
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September 22nd, 2022 16:00
@billyjk - You'd only need the NVidia driver if you're using audio over HDMI/DP to speakers in the monitor, but don't uninstall it.
Have you looked for an updated Y/S driver?
What "junk" is running in the background?
You can try this: Go to Start>Run>services.msc and disable all "Dell" services and all "Killer" (Ethernet/WiFi) and xTend services too. You don't need any Killer/xTend stuff running and IMO Killer internet works better without any of those Killer/xTend services. Also go to Startup tab in Task Manager and disable Killer entries there too.
billyjk
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September 22nd, 2022 07:00
Been running audio and watching Task Manager to see if anything is occurring with services at the time of each disconnect. Turns out, there is. It's WavesSysSvc.
I disabled this service as a StartUp service yesterday, but somehow it has restarted itself, and appears to be at the "scene of the crime" each time.
Next, I'll try to uninstall all of the Waves Maxx stuff.
billyjk
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September 22nd, 2022 10:00
All Waves stuff is gone, and I've tried many, many tweaks that I've found online. Still, the disconnects continue, every 3-5 minutes. All USB ports have been set to not go to sleep, hibernation is turned off, even have tried different USB ports on the back of my 8950. I have also tried different config settings in the Yamaha/Steinberg USB driver. Frustrating.
One Dell owner using the same USB audio driver turned off his Turbo Boost and disabled the C-State control. I can't find either of those settings, maybe a different model?
I'll keep digging...
DellSantaCruz
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September 22nd, 2022 12:00
It is not your machine ...it is Tidal
https://www.google.com/search?q=Tidal+PC+app+drop
Tesla1856
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September 22nd, 2022 12:00
Cool setup. My Aurora-R6 audio setup is fairly basic (but Foobar2000 and SACD ripping is fine).
But I've got my Aurora-R1 connected via HDMI to my Onkyo-AVR in Home-Theater. I use it for Kodi and Windows-gaming.
https://www.dell.com/community/Rockstars-Central/Optiplex-7010-MT-Windows-Media-Player/m-p/8125222/highlight/true#M21261
I see Tidal in Plex. I can get to Plex from my browser, but I really only run it from my Apple-TV. Seems fine. Isn't it just a music streaming service?. Are you connected via a real ethernet-cable? Can you limit testing to only local files?
We were talking about it over here:
https://www.dell.com/community/XPS-Desktops/XPS-8950-quot-hiccups-quot-with-audio-and-video/td-p/8169744
I suggest you start with Latency-Mon.
RoHe
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September 22nd, 2022 12:00
@billyjk - Did you try disabling Hybrid Sleep, USB Selective Suspend and PCI-Express Link State Management, all on the Advanced setting screen for your active power plan?
Did you try disabling Waves on the Startup tab in Task Manager, in addition to disabling the service in services.msc?
billyjk
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September 22nd, 2022 13:00
@DellSantaCru
Thanks! I am well aware of the pausing issue in Tidal. The PC app is kinda not-so-great, on a number of fronts. I thought this was the issue at first,
But, it turns out that while Tidal completely borks on the apparent USB interrupt I am experiencing, there seems to actually be an interrupt, as it affects other audio apps I use, like Foobar. The difference being, that Foobar doesn't completely stop when it gets an apparent interrupt, it keeps going, so the user experience is a 1-2 sec dropout. The Tidal PC app just completely stops and throws an error. Interestingly, the Tidal Web App does play through, after the dropout - with no error being thrown.
So, the bottom line as of now is that my machine - hardware or software - is causing some sort of interrupt on the USB port.
billyjk
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September 22nd, 2022 14:00
@RoHe
Yes! To all!
Waves has been completely uninstalled. Realtek was uninstalled in total, but on restart, the machine looks for an audio driver and installs one Realtek driver and the NVIDIA audio driver gets installed as well.
I think I will start with Latency Mon as @Tesla1856 suggested. I think there's something happening on the hardware/software platform.
Interesting that there is nothing I can find on this exact topic. The Yamaha/Steinberg driver has a checkered reputation, and I think there might be something happening between that driver and the 8950.
billyjk
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September 22nd, 2022 14:00
@Tesla1856
Tidal is just a streaming service. I am connected to the internet via the same wifi that has worked perfectly for the past 9 months prior to getting the 8950.
If I play local FLACs via FooBar, it doesn't completely stop, but it does drop-out for 1-2 seconds - just enough to ruin the musical experience. It seems that the Tidal PC app is the only app I've seen so far that completely disconnects and throws an error.
I'll check out your link. Thanks!
Ultimately, I believe there's some kind of interrupt that's occurring on the 8950, causing either a drop out or a full disconnect.
billyjk
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September 22nd, 2022 14:00
I think LatencyMon is my next step.
I'll start tomorrow. Burnt-out ATM!
Tesla1856
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September 22nd, 2022 14:00
I think just because:
a. it's high-end (so not that mainstream)
b. might only run 100% properly on Low-Latency systems.
Not that low-latency is that hard (as my Aurora-R6 appears to be without even trying that hard) but apparently some systems have issues with it in general.
I know my Aurora-R6 recently got Windows-11 (as a clean-install because I wished it) and I certainly don't load a lot of stuff I don't need onto it. Also, no programs and apps with those non-sense background Processes and Services.
Tesla1856
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September 22nd, 2022 14:00
Yeah, I suggest you stick to Foobar2000 (and local files) as the test. I'm guessing some 6-channel FLACs might push it the hardest. Anyway, after that works ... probably no reason why Tidal (or other streamers) won't start working better.
I did just try Tidal (via Plex app on Apple-TV). It worked fine, but appears to be subscription based so it would only let me listen to like 30 seconds of each track or album.
billyjk
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September 23rd, 2022 03:00
@RoHe
Yes - I not only have the latest Yamaha/Steinberg driver, but I tried the previous version as well - no dice.
Prior to running LatencyMon, I am going to take your advice and disable more services.
Question: if I am never going to use the speakers in my monitor, why do you suggest to keep the Nvidia audio driver? Just curious.
Tesla1856
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September 23rd, 2022 09:00
1. I would just run it now. If it shows bad, at least you will know you are on the right track.
2. I know this question was not directed to me but I can't help myself. I see yall talking about Nvidia drivers. AFAIK, when you have a nice (current model) dedicated Nvidia card, you install the WHQL-DCH drivers from nvidia.com. If you don't want the Gaming-Drivers, you can install the Studio-Drivers.
billyjk
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September 23rd, 2022 10:00
Success!
Thanks to everyone that chipped in here with advice.
@RoHe - if you lived in my zipcode I'd buy you a beer! I've tried so many things to get my rig to play audio without dropouts - including disabling specific services/drivers. Nothing worked. It was the recommendation to disable all Dell and Killer services that did the trick. I have been listening to music for over 4 hours now with not a single dropout. I even shut down and started back up to see if I was just lucky. It works!
So, I think it's the Yamaha/Steinberg USB driver incompatibility with the standard setup on a Dell desktop - the Dell and/or Killer services specifically. Prior to disabling those services/drivers, I carefully configured all USB ports to not sleep, hibernate, or have any involvement with managing power. I completely removed all Wave Maxx stuff, only to find that it comes back at some point. I removed all Realtek stuff as well. I tried many settings in the Yamaha Steinberg driver in a hidden panel that is exposed with a special keystroke. I dug deep.
My plan now is to run the machine this way for a few days to ensure that the problem is really resolved, then I'll try to re-enable those things I disabled. That said, are any of the Dell and Killer services/drivers that I should prioritize due to their value/usefulness?
Thanks again folks!