# Windows 11, 5950X, UAD Apollo x8 & Thunderbolt -- UPDATED 1/24



## strojo (Jan 7, 2022)

Tried upgrading to Windows 11 on my 5950X/Gigabyte rig with a UAD Apollo x8 connected via TB3. I'm getting weird slow/sluggish behavior and regular blue screens. Unfortunately, Gigabyte doesn't appear to have Windows 11 drivers, so I'm thinking everything going on is probably related to that. The system ran like a champ under W10.

Anyone been able to get TB3 working on an AMD/Gigabyte setup?



1/24 UPDATE:

It turns out the culprit was my external Sonnet TB3 chassis with two PCI cards in it. Apparently Windows 11 does not support multiple-slot Thunderbolt expansion systems (according to Sonnet's website), and that was what was causing the system lockups.


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## easyrider (Jan 7, 2022)

I’m running 5950x with 2 x Quantum interfaces using TB3

What motherboard and what TB3 card are you using?

Also what BIOS?


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## cedricm (Jan 7, 2022)

I'm running an Antelope Audio Zen Q on and AMD Windows 10 rig. 
Antelope specifically warns its not Windows 11 ready : did you check with UAD?


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## easyrider (Jan 7, 2022)

https://help.uaudio.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408471804820-UAD-Software-Compatibility-with-Windows-11


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## Pictus (Jan 7, 2022)

I do not know if it will help, but make sure this stuff is off








How to Disable VBS and Speed Up Windows 11


Optional security feature has negative effect on performance.




www.tomshardware.com


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## Manaberry (Jan 7, 2022)

UAD and AMD are far from being best buddies. Windows 11 on top of that, explosive cocktail! Let's hope the upcoming UAD driver will solve all of your issues.


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## strojo (Jan 8, 2022)

Forgot to mention in the original post...I also tried running W11 on an Intel/Gigabyte platform with TB3 and the same results there, so it's probably more to do with UAD then not. Unfortunately, I don't have other TB devices to try testing with.


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## strojo (Jan 8, 2022)

easyrider said:


> I’m running 5950x with 2 x Quantum interfaces using TB3
> 
> What motherboard and what TB3 card are you using?
> 
> Also what BIOS?


Gigabyte x570 Aorus Xtreme v1.1 with the Gigabyte Titan Ridge add-on card. Latest BIOS from their website.


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## strojo (Jan 8, 2022)

Pictus said:


> I do not know if it will help, but make sure this stuff is off
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Appreciate the suggestion--this was already disabled.


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## quickbrownf0x (Jan 11, 2022)

Just installed my new x8 and everything went just fine. I still need to fix my surround setup, but so far it's been smooth sailing. Tested a bunch of plugins. Sounds awesome. Added the Massive Passive to next month's wish list. 

One thing that I did notice was the UAD WDM sample rate issue, where your windows/app sounds get messed up if you don't switch your Apollo to the right rate, which to me sounds really daft, but yeah - that's still a thing. To fix that I just switched my default Windows playback device to my main LG monitor and that works for now.

Just for those who are interested; I'm on an Intel i9, Gigabyte Z590, with a *Maple *Ridge Thunderbolt 4 add-on card.


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## strojo (Jan 24, 2022)

Bump for update in the original post


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## cedricm (Jan 24, 2022)

quickbrownf0x said:


> One thing that I did notice was the UAD WDM sample rate issue, where your windows/app sounds get messed up if you don't switch your Apollo to the right rate, which to me sounds really daft, but yeah - that's still a thing. To fix that I just switched my default Windows playback device to my main LG monitor and that works for now.
> 
> Just for those who are interested; I'm on an Intel i9, Gigabyte Z590, with a Titan Ridge Thunderbolt 4 add-on card.


Have you tried to not authorize applications to get exclusive access to the audio interface?

BTW are you sure it's TB4 and not TB3? The controller for TB4 is Maple Ridge, if I'm not mistaken.


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## quickbrownf0x (Jan 24, 2022)

cedricm said:


> Have you tried to not authorize applications to get exclusive access to the audio interface?
> 
> BTW are you sure it's TB4 and not TB3? The controller for TB4 is Maple Ridge, if I'm not mistaken.


Hey Cedric, what's going on? Sorry - I messed up, you're right. It's a Maple Bridge card. I also have a Titan Ridge one, but that sits in one of my slaves at the moment. 

Haven't tried authorizing applications yet, good point too. Not sure where to find that in Win11, but I'll have a look around as soon as my system recovers from yet another disastrous crash. Turned it off for a change earlier, did some light housework, got back - stupid thing won't start. Dead as a doornail. But hey, that's another story. Thanks for the suggestions.


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## cedricm (Jan 24, 2022)

In Windows 10, you right click the sound icon, then select Sound, your playback interface, advanced:





You can then try to unselect "Allow application to take exclusive control of this device" and "Give exclusive mode application priority".

You may also need to configure your daw to force it to release the interface when in background. Here, the example in Studio One:





The other solution, if you don't need to work in a DAW + YouTube or whatever other application with sound at the same time, is to switch Windows' audio interface by clicking on the sound icon on the taskbar when needed, e.g. switch to LG Monitor before using the DAW and switching back to Apollo after, to take advantage of the sound quality when watching a movie or listening to music.


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## GigStage (Jan 25, 2022)

Pictus said:


> I do not know if it will help, but make sure this stuff is off
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I know that there's better performance in gaming, but has anyone measured A/B for audio?


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