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Windows update messes with my audio device settings

G

GordonM

pfm Member
I play Tidal from my desk top pc through a Nobsound Douk (I know, what an awful name for a product) digital to digital converter. USB in / coax out to the dac.

It’s taken a lot of experimentation to get the whole system set up optimally but it sounds simply amazing. The audio output on the pc is set to 44.1k / 16 bit so that there is no conversion or anything (as far as I can tell) being done in the pc.

However, occasionally after a “Patch Tuesday” update, windows changes the setting to 48k / 24 bit.

This messes with the sq – it loses all its sparkle and micro detail. Upsampling from 44.1k to 48k is a really bad idea! Still, it’s easy to change it back again.

When windows changes the setting, there is an error listed in the system properties “view all events” for the audio device (Sound / device / properties / events).

The error says: “Device xxxxxxxxxx was not migrated due to a partial or ambiguous match”.

It looks like windows then reinstalls the audio driver and sets the sample rate to 48k. The date stamp for the driver installation is the date of the “Patch Tuesday” update.

Does anybody know of a way to prevent this?

Is there a config file? (there’s nothing I can see in the registry and it's not the audioendpoint.inf file)

The driver is the standard windows audio device driver – there is no “Douk Audio” driver.

Thanks. Gordon
 
Starting with 20H1 (May 2020 Update) Windows 10 sets the default sample rates to 48kHz for both input and output.

Perhaps the occasional patch Tuesday offerings are overstepping the mark here.
 
Does Tidal not take control of the driver? It should allow you to override the Windows audio setting, perhaps by using ASIO or similar? What outputs does Tidal show it can use and does your Nob or DAC show the bit rate it’s receiving at?
 
First let me stress I am no computer expert, when I was using Foobar with a mini fanless pc to listen to music from an external hard drive it seemed every second update changed settings and I lost drivers. When I was looking for a solution on how to re-install drivers I learnt this was not an uncommon problem, I even had to get help from the Windows helpline, my solution a dedicated streamer.
 
Avon: The only option on Tidal is to set it to "exclusive" mode. The problem with this is that on my pc it then sets the volume at 100%
I control the volume on the pc - the dac is fixed and I leave the amp at a set level. This arrangement works well. I tried using ASIO4all but couldn't get it to install.

Locheeboy: (You fay Dundee then? :)) This driver appears to be just bluetooth. Interesting site though. Ta for the heads up.

I was thinking about this during the night (as you do) and realised that the windows "friendly name" for the Douk is "WIFI DSD".
The Douk does DSD as well as PCM therefor windows probably has to set the default sample rate as 48k, so no way round this other than manually change it if windows resets the driver.
 
Issues like this are why I avoid using generic computers for audio servers like the plague. There are plenty of inexpensive options with a dedicated OS designed for the task.

For example you could buy a NUC for £70 here
https://pinkfishmedia.net/forum/thr...icrorendu-paul-hynes-sr3.271031/#post-4768653

Then install Roon Rock as the OS and run it as a combined core/player outputting via USB to your USB-SPDIF converter. Sure Roon software will cost a bit but the user experience is 1000 times better than Windows or Mac for using in an audio system.
 
Might be easier for you to postpone any Windows up dates once you have got your settings to your liking. Officially, you can postpone updates for up to 35 days. However at the 35 day point, you can select "resume updates" for a few seconds then quickly select "pause updates" again an by re-clicking on "pause updates" for another 35 days without anything being downloaded. You just have to monitor this update process. Give it a try to see if it works for you.
 
Just a thought. If you only want Windows for a music server is to install a windows-to-go copy of your existing installation onto an external SSD and boot from that to use your music server.

With a windows-2-go installation you'll only get updates until the next release 22H2. After that no more updates on the USB SSD. Just don't use email or web browsers when booted from USB.

For info I am currently running a copy of my Win 11 Pro installation on a i7 2012 Mac Mini from a windows-to-go USB SSD. The pump on my water cooled desktop has just failed!

DV
 
GordonM said:
Avon: The only option on Tidal is to set it to "exclusive" mode. The problem with this is that on my pc it then sets the volume at 100% I control the volume on the pc - the dac is fixed and I leave the amp at a set level. This arrangement works well.
Click to expand...
OK exclusive mode is what you need. I always set the volume using the analogue volume knob on my pre-amp. If you adjust the volume digitally, using the Windows mixer, then you’re losing bit depth from the audio. This “messes up the sound quality”, which you said you wished to avoid. Unfortunately, you cannot have it both ways I’m afraid to say.

But even in exclusive mode, there might be a volume setting on Tidal? Not ideal (from a bit depth point of view), but it would seem to solve your problem.
 
I find windows screws up everything include my CAD packages , I loved XP window 10/11/junk should be dumped.
 
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Maybe give Roon a go? It interfaces very nicely to Tidal (and Qobuz and whatever rips of your you might have) and takes control over the audio path so Windows can’t stymie you. There’s a free trial, it installs easily.
 
I had a rake about the attic today and found the original Douk box containing the mini cd with drivers and installed the Douk Audio win10 (ASIO) driver.
Have to say after a few hours listening that it's better (just a little, hearing details I've never heard before on familiar music ) than the default Microsoft one.
The Douk was plug and play, I didn't realise it came with it's own driver when I first plugged it in a few years ago.

Before doing all that I had another go at installing asio4all but got nowhere with it. asio4all sucks imo.

So, hopefully windows won't mess with the proper driver.

Thanks for all the advice, although I don't agree that windows 10 is crap. Each to their own.

Case closed.

G
 
Just an update on this...

There is no doubt that the Douk Audio ASIO driver sounds better than the default Microsoft one.

However, it appears to have exclusive mode built in which means I can’t switch to my Audioengine pc speakers when I don’t want sound over the HiFi without unplugging the Douk and restarting the pc. Going to uninstall the Douk driver and revert to MS.

As an experiment, I got an OTG cable and tried it with Tidal on my phone directly into the DAC’s usb input.

Oh my goodness, what a revelation. No more haze / sheen to the music. It was so lush and smooth, and with even more micro detail. Exactly what I’ve been looking for years for. So I bought a 7 inch Samsung tablet and a micro SD card for all my ripped music as using the phone was not practical. Absolutely over the moon with how it sounds now, it really is a huge step up compared to pc streaming.

The Samsung is not without issues though. It appears that all versions of Android upsample everything to 48k / 24 bit which is a disaster for SQ with 44.1k files. Tidal is ok as it bypasses the Android audio settings and outputs 44.1k / 16 bit. For the ripped music I eventually found an app called “Usb Audio Pro” which does the same as Tidal. However, both work in exclusive mode! so switching between them is a right pain. But there’s no going back to pc streaming. (I tried 2 laptops as well and both sound exactly the same as the pc, even on battery).

Which leaves me wondering how good a streamer sounds. (sorry, don’t want to start another flame war). I’m not in a position to demo any so it would be a shot in the dark. Not going to rush this though.
 
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