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[fredhammersmith]

I just got a much more powerful computer, a Dell Precision 690 server, replacing my little P5GC-MX based computer.
Speed has increased dramatically, but I have an unexpected problem.
JRiver is now skipping from time to time.
My hardware has not changed: a Audio GD digital interface (from USB to SPDif), a Metric Halo ULN-2 DAC. Both computers have USB-2 ports.
I wonder what kind of tests I can run, to see if my USB ports is problematc. Is there a software to benchmark the USB ports? Are there tests I can run from inside JRiver?

[Urbanito]

Please try to connect your DAC to an USB port and from DAC to whatever you have to listen to music: A preamp/amplifier to speakers or., if your DAC has a headphone amplifier, very common these days, connect the DAC amplifier to the headphones.
This is my first reply to help request. So, I hope to do something in your favor.

Kind regards

[fredhammersmith]

Thanks for replying.
But my DAC is SPDif/Firewire only. I need this Digital Interface, which has improved my sound noticeably.
Solution must be somewhere in the USB ports!

[JimH]

Our wiki has a couple of topics that might help:

DAC Settings

Audio Setup

Try a smaller buffer in audio settings.

[fredhammersmith]

Our wiki has a couple of topics that might help:

DAC Settings

Audio Setup

Try a smaller buffer in audio settings.

Thanks, I've tried about everything, from smaller buffer size to bigger, from kernel streaming to wasapi event style.
Same little digital artifacts that did not used to be there.
I've also tested every USB connections with HDTune, to be sure that each port could sustain a good amount of data. They all average more than 30.0 MB/sec with the hard drives.
Really strange. Any other ideas on what to test?

[fredhammersmith]

I noticed I used the word "skip' in my 1st post, but it is not a correct word to describe my problem. I have digital artifacts, the way a scratched CD may sound in a traditional transport.

[JimH]

Try using the DSP Studio's Output Settings to fix the rate to 44.1 or 48, for example.  Some DAC's have trouble with one but not the other.

[lasker98]

I would also suggest trying a different USB cable, even a cheap generic one.

Good luck.

[fredhammersmith]

I've tried different sample rates, with software-resampling, hardware resampling....
Another clue that something is wrong: the 1st time i try to access JRiver menus, there is a very loooooooooong delay. Something I never had before..

[hulkss]

Try this USB latency checker:
http://www.thesycon.de/eng/latency_check.shtml

[JimH]

... the 1st time i try to access JRiver menus, there is a very loooooooooong delay. Something I never had before..

That's not normal.

Are you using any other special software on that machine?

[JimH]

We saw a similar problem recently that ended up being electrical interference.  Try moving the cables and the PC.

[fredhammersmith]

Try this USB latency checker:
http://www.thesycon.de/eng/latency_check.shtml

Yes I tried it. This machine is having much better ratings on this software. Well below any red threshold.

[fredhammersmith]

That's not normal.

Are you using any other special software on that machine?

As far as I know, no. I've installed very few softwares since I installed it. JRiver is always one of the first I install.
I did install AVG, which is not my favorite antivirus software (but it it free and will do for the moment). Can it be related to this?

[JimH]

It's possible. 

[fredhammersmith]

We saw a similar problem recently that ended up being electrical interference.  Try moving the cables and the PC.

I'll try that, and another USB cables, when I come back tonight. Thanks for all the input.

[fredhammersmith]

Just a quick test before going: again, closed it and reopened it.
Started an album, using the right-click on the mouse.
It took a good 15 seconds to start!
Really really unusual!

[JimH]

15 seconds is what you might expect if a drive was spinning up.  Or a drive wasn't found.

Disconnect any USB devices.  Try plugging the DAC directly into the PC in a different port.

[fredhammersmith]

Can't do. My DAC is a pro gear and has no USB port, only SPDif and Firewire.
I'll switch antivirus (just bought Kaspersky) and maybe my graphic card.
Another option is to re-install everything, since we had some problems from the start with a SATA card adaptor.