# Audio Interface problem



## Bonk (May 26, 2019)

Hello, folks, I am in the process of setting up a home studio I am a complete beginner so a lot to learn
Also sorry for the longwinded post I was wondering if anyone had any ideas about a problem I have 
My USB96 with a couple of Kali LP6's don't make any noise when I try to use them for sound from the laptop its a bit messed up I connect the 96 to the laptop I load FLstudio up but it just hangs on the pulsing fruit or whatever it is and I have a utube video playing it just freezes and won't play then I unplug the AI and everything just works again? 

I have uninstalled Universal control rebooted the laptop redownloaded UC updated to the latest patch from official Presonus site still no sound

I have new TRS-TRS (balanced) and XLR-TRS cables switched between both and no joy
The mixer turned all the way to the right on playback volume reasonable level
The monitors configured the way they should be also tried with a pair of E4.5's
Default device set on the laptop to USB96
Now It is not a fault with monitors because when I plug a guitar in I get sound I have tested on both sets of monitors so they do work just not for sound from the laptop
I am using a rather average Asus i3 both sets of monitors are new at one point a few weeks ago there was not a problem I tested the E4.5's and sound was coming through
The LP6's are only a week or two old I'm no expert but surely it must be a fault with the laptop or even an update from windows has sent things west?


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## dzilizzi (May 26, 2019)

I can think of 2 things that might be going on here. One is that the driver is conflicting with something else. The other is that there is not enough power coming from your USB ports to power the 96. Have you tried it with a powered USB hub? I don't know the monitors - are they self powered or USB powered? Are your USB settings set not to shut off? Laptops tend to shut down power to the USB ports to save power. 

On the driver conflicts, I'm not sure how to fix that. If you are using the most current drivers it should work with Windows 10. 

Also you may want to change the default device to the sound card before starting FL Studio. The computer may not be allowing FL to use it as the system may be claiming it, if that makes sense. I don't have FL Studio so I'm not sure if it is fussy that way.


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## Bonk (May 26, 2019)

dzilizzi said:


> I can think of 2 things that might be going on here. One is that the driver is conflicting with something else. The other is that there is not enough power coming from your USB ports to power the 96. Have you tried it with a powered USB hub? I don't know the monitors - are they self powered or USB powered? Are your USB settings set not to shut off? Laptops tend to shut down power to the USB ports to save power.
> 
> On the driver conflicts, I'm not sure how to fix that. If you are using the most current drivers it should work with Windows 10.
> 
> Also you may want to change the default device to the sound card before starting FL Studio. The computer may not be allowing FL to use it as the system may be claiming it, if that makes sense. I don't have FL Studio so I'm not sure if it is fussy that way.



Thanks for the suggestions dzilizzi don't have a powered hub the monitors are self-powered I will try the disable shut off usb settings I was using asios4all but uninstalled it to see if that caused any issues because the default sound on laptop is not very good when using FL


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## dzilizzi (May 26, 2019)

ASIO4ALL is not the best ASIO driver but I understand using it. If your audio device has a driver, you are better off using it. 

And I wouldn't use the soundcard for FL, I'm just saying if your audio device is being used by another program like the system, FL may not be able to access it.


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## Bonk (May 27, 2019)

Ok I disabled the USB power down option plugged the speakers in did that chime test got sound coming from them but then I played an audio file on VLC and no sound I give up!
I am going to buy a new PC just getting parts together I was looking at getting something RME like the Babyface or Fireface or even a soundcard would there be any benefits to getting a soundcard over an interface?


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## dzilizzi (May 27, 2019)

No benefit that I know of for a soundcard over an audio device. And maybe just the opposite? With Windows, I was always told to use an interface but that may be based on stock parts. Most DAWs work better with ASIO drivers in Windows, but I'm not sure if soundcards have them. RME interfaces do come with a great ASIO driver. I use Focusrite - not as good as RME, but the drivers are ASIO and work fine. 

I'm sorry what you have isn't working though.


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## Bonk (May 27, 2019)

Thanks dzili my mind is made up on soundcard v interface then it's not the end of the world that my set up is not working at the minute I will get it sorted thanks for all the help


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## sostenuto (May 27, 2019)

dzilizzi said:


> ASIO4ALL is not the best ASIO driver but I understand using it. If your audio device has a driver, you are better off using it.
> 
> And I wouldn't use the soundcard for FL, I'm just saying if your audio device is being used by another program like the system, FL may not be able to access it.



Sorry if Duplicating info, but be sure to be using latest ASIO4ALL version _ 2.14. 
Made notable difference here.


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## Bonk (May 27, 2019)

sostenuto said:


> Sorry if Duplicating info, but be sure to be using latest ASIO4ALL version _ 2.14.
> Made notable difference here.



Aye was using 2.14 thanks sostenuto for now I am concentraiting on building my new pc hopefully I won't have this problem then


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## Fredeke (Jun 2, 2019)

Based on what you're describing, especially the players freezing, I can tell you where the problem is not: it's not in your monitor, it's not in your cable, it's not in anything connected to the USB96. It is either in your PC or in your audio interface.

Assuming the interface is not faulty, and that it is sufficiently powered as dzilizzi suggests, maybe it's a sample rate issue. On my PC, when an application requires a change in sample rate from the sound card, sometimes the computer freezes for about a minute. Are you sure you gave it enough time to recover from whatever freezes things up before disconnecting the interface?

Also, if several applications try to access the interface simultaneously, and request different sample rates (instead of adapting to the current one, as more gracious applications do), you might get the symptoms you are describing. Be sure to run only one audio app at a time, at least while diagnosing the problem. Start by closing your browser, since there can be media players (such as youtube) hidden in background tabs.

In case you're unfamiliar with the term, sample rate is what is either 44.1, 48 or 96 KHz (or some other value, but these are the most common ones). It is how fast audio data is fed to the interface, or received from it.


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## Bonk (Sep 15, 2019)

Sorry for a rather late reply to an old thread it might still be of use to someone maybe but I gave up on that piece of junk other people had suggested connecting it via a powered USB hub it had been mentioned it works that way but I thought why should I spend more money on something that should work straight out of the box? So I just left it in the box and got a babyface from eBay used ( not much though by the look of it ) in mint condition have had no issues whatsoever with it love it to bits thanks for all the help anyway fellas


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## Fredeke (Sep 22, 2019)

Bonk said:


> Sorry for a rather late reply to an old thread it might still be of use to someone maybe but I gave up on that piece of junk other people had suggested connecting it via a powered USB hub it had been mentioned it works that way but I thought why should I spend more money on something that should work straight out of the box? So I just left it in the box and got a babyface from eBay used ( not much though by the look of it ) in mint condition have had no issues whatsoever with it love it to bits thanks for all the help anyway fellas



Glad you got things working.

Anyway inserting a USB hub was not a great piece of advice because it can cause latency and other issues for various reasons, like power management or moon phases (under Windows anyway - I'm not sure about macs). You can configure your way out of some of these problems but it's bothersome and never really safe.

Personally I've solved a few issues with USB audio and even MIDI interfaces by removing the hub and connecting directly to the computer. I couldn't always explain why.


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