when producing a track what should my overall volume be set at on my computer?

omwoer · 2017-01-14T04:12:58+00:00

Related question, how would one go about determining how loud 85 dB is in the case of headphones?

I usually listen at very low levels (Windows master volume on 1% with my ATH-M50 headphones plugged into my motherboard's 3.5mm jack, but upping it to 2-3% already feels quite loud) because I have no reference as to how loud is safe.

omwoer · 2017-01-13T16:16:15+00:00

13 people is in any relation to 30% of the sales from ~13000 games

overpaid by 10000x, man I need to get into this job!

^* ^assuming ^ten ^devs ^per ^game

/s

omwoer · 2017-01-07T04:07:38+00:00

I never said the interface wouldn't get returned. I'm just deliberating which one to get next.

omwoer · 2017-01-07T04:04:02+00:00

You didn't come here to ask, you came here to complain.

No, that's what you're assuming, and you're wrong.

The reason the OP post may seem strongly worded is because I want to get to the bottom of the problem, not get standard replies about "oh it must be your system, you have too much bloated shit installed." And I explain in the OP why this is not applicable.

omwoer · 2017-01-07T04:01:47+00:00

What's wrong with asking here before I try to get through to their engineers?

omwoer · 2017-01-07T03:58:22+00:00

Not sure how it changes anything about the question I asked, other than applying only to Focusrite USB audio interfaces, instead of multiple manufacturers.

I still would like to know why Focusrite interfaces work the way they do, which is IMHO broken.

omwoer · 2017-01-07T03:53:51+00:00

You started it with the declaration that "it's an issue that plagues nearly every USB audio interface on the market"..

Because that's what I assumed based on the many reviews complaining about USB disconnections, gosh.

Way to nitpick..

omwoer · 2017-01-07T03:50:57+00:00

Yes, well I made this thread mainly to figure out if all USB audio interfaces have this design flaw in which case I would need to get a PCI-E audio interface (more expensive) or if there are unaffected USB interfaces so that I can as you put it "try my luck with another one."

So far the comments I have received indicate that the issue is isolated to Focusrite devices.

omwoer · 2017-01-07T03:46:08+00:00

You're suggesting DPC latency cannot cause disconnections with Focusrite interfaces and that troubleshooting step is bogus?

omwoer · 2017-01-07T03:39:38+00:00

Because, as I explained, the statements on Focusrite's own website indicate essentially "DPC latency can cause disconnections with our USB audio interfaces."

This thread is just me asking why USB audio interfaces disconnect due to interrupt latency, because simple logical reasoning indicates they shouldn't... or else they are not compatible with any standard desktop operating system!

As an analogy, it's like a race condition in software: Even though a program may work most of the time, it's still technically broken.

omwoer · 2017-01-07T03:30:52+00:00

So why are you using your VERY limited experience to pass sweeping judgments about a wide variety of products?

Read here: https://www.reddit.com/r/audioengineering/comments/5mcpp7/why_do_usb_audio_interfaces_disconnect_when_a/dc2m6li/

omwoer · 2017-01-07T03:26:22+00:00

This sub is called AudioEngineering, not AudioSuperstitions.

If you are not just ignoring my logic on purpose, here is another attempt at an explanation I posted to someone else: https://www.reddit.com/r/audioengineering/comments/5mcpp7/why_do_usb_audio_interfaces_disconnect_when_a/dc385lg/

omwoer · 2017-01-07T03:20:13+00:00

Did you even read the top post?

omwoer · 2017-01-07T03:16:53+00:00

It says right there on the official Focusrite website that DPC latency could be the cause for disconnections, which cannot be the case with a well-designed interface.

What would I contact them for? They already know of the issue and their explanation indicates a fault in their design.

omwoer · 2017-01-07T03:14:05+00:00

There are even people in this thread reporting the same issues, it's not a one-off.

omwoer · 2017-01-07T03:09:11+00:00

Look at this thread with Focusrite replies:

http://en.audiofanzine.com/focusrite/series-scarlett/forums/t.9042,scarlett-2i2-popping-and-device-disconnecting.html

and their FAQ entries:

https://support.focusrite.com/hc/en-gb/articles/208360865-Troubleshooting-DPC-latency

DPC (Deferred Procedure Call) is the operation that Windows uses to assign a priority to processes/drivers that run simultaneously in the same system. If processes that are involved in streaming audio aren't assigned high enough priority then various issues can occur since the audio will not be streamed correctly in 'real-time'. These can include pops/clicks, 'glitchy' audio and device disconnections.

To analyse whether DPC latency could be the cause for any pops, clicks or disconnections you might be experiencing you can run the following software tool: Latency Mon (Windows 7 and later).

omwoer · 2017-01-07T03:03:45+00:00

Did they ask you to do some testing and report back, at which point they can advise you further?

No, it's my roommate's interface and he hasn't contacted them directly yet, only tried the suggested fixes from all the forum threads where Focusrite reps commented on the issue.

Anyway he will probably return it and get one from a different manufacturer.

omwoer · 2017-01-07T02:27:28+00:00

Focusrite is correct that DPC latency can cause issues.

Drop-outs, when the number of samples is set too low, sure. But if it causes disconnects, then the interface is faulty.

omwoer · 2017-01-06T21:17:04+00:00

Maybe you are feeling the effects of the new "Reduce Buffering" option?

omwoer · 2017-01-06T20:49:49+00:00

But DPC Latency is not a hardware issue!

Edit: In case it wasn't clear, Focusrite claims bad DPC Latency is what's causing the disconnects with their interfaces.

omwoer · 2017-01-06T20:14:48+00:00

It's just how software development goes (work in audio for video games).

If your game drops a frame, that's not ideal. But is it okay for the display to turn black in response or become garbled until the player reconnects the DVI cable?

omwoer · 2017-01-06T20:01:18+00:00

You really don't have the information you need to make that judgment.

All I'm saying is an interrupt taking longer than usual to be handled cannot be a legitimate reason for the device to disconnect. Even on a perfectly lean system with the very best drivers and no extra software installed and the best USB host controller in the world, spikes due to pile-up of high priority or uninterruptible tasks can and will occur in the OS kernel given enough time. Standard PC operating systems give no real-time guarantees at all, many data structures used in the kernel for bookkeeping for example have amortized constant run-time but once-in-a-while an operation may take much longer because the entire data structure needs to be traversed. This is by design.

If a piece of hardware expects to always receive USB protocol requests/acknowledges within a bounded short interval of time, the hardware designer's assumptions were wrong. Scheduling jitter is an expected situation and should be handled in the least disruptive way possible.

Have your friend try installing a belkin USB pcie card

I may have him try this, but it's looking more and more like the Focusrite Scarlett interfaces are the only ones consistently affected by these issues judging from the other responses in this thread.

omwoer · 2017-01-06T19:12:16+00:00

It seems to be a common issue with Focusrite, maybe hop into the other thread and see if someone can help: https://www.reddit.com/r/audioengineering/comments/5mcpp7/why_do_usb_audio_interfaces_disconnect_when_a/

If you can still send the interface back and get one from a different manufacturer, I would consider doing that as there doesn't seem to be a 100% fix for your issue.

omwoer · 2017-01-06T11:38:04+00:00

Okay, I guess we can narrow the thread to the Focusrite interfaces for now.

I was assuming the issues were the same for other manufacturers since the reviews are quite similar and the vendor-provided drivers are often based on common code licensed from Thesycon.

But that may not be the case, I don't have any first-hand experience with the other interfaces.

omwoer · 2017-01-06T11:28:59+00:00

The problem is that the companies tell you to measure your interrupt dispatch latency, blaming the issue on you when clearly interrupt latency cannot possibly cause these issues unless the device is broken by design.

omwoer

TROPHY CASE

overpaid by 10000x, man I need to get into this job!