Having to restart the audio engine regularly

The Virtual Audio Mixer discussions and support...
Post Reply
rodak
Posts: 14
Joined: Thu Feb 25, 2021 3:59 pm

Having to restart the audio engine regularly

Post by rodak »

Hi. I just installed Voicemeeter last week, and it's great! I've found, however, that frequently I lose sound altogether(bar graph meters on VoiceMeeter are moving, but nothing is coming out), and doing a Restart Audio Engine fixes it. What might be causing that? I have VoiceMeeter set as my System Default for both Recording and Playback. The apps I use most are Skype, Teams and Zoom. My hardware input output device is a Behringer UMC404HD 4-channel USB audio interface.
Andres
Posts: 192
Joined: Fri May 01, 2020 7:25 pm

Re: Having to restart the audio engine regularly

Post by Andres »

Hi. You probably know this but I would like to confirm that you are using ASIO.

VoiceMeeter and your audio interface both support ASIO as a way of transferring digital audio between the device and the application. You should be able to select the ASIO option for the interface at Hardware Output A1. You could use this video as a reference for how to setup an ASIO device with VoiceMeeter: https://youtu.be/35N8hkOy8h4

Hardware Output A1 is the main device for VoiceMeeter. It is important to be sure that it is working fine. Could you please share an screenshot of the Voicemeeter System Settings / Options... window.

Hope this helps.
rodak
Posts: 14
Joined: Thu Feb 25, 2021 3:59 pm

Re: Having to restart the audio engine regularly

Post by rodak »

Yes, that may turn out to be very helpful! I was NOT using ASIO, so I just selected that. We'll see if that improves things.

My Behringer interface has its own ASIO driver, which is the one I selected. If that still turns out to be problematic, do you think I should install ASIO4ALL? I've used it before, but was never sure if I really needed it, given the presence of the native Behringer ASIO driver.
Andres
Posts: 192
Joined: Fri May 01, 2020 7:25 pm

Re: Having to restart the audio engine regularly

Post by Andres »

Hi. I have no experience with Behringer ASIO driver for UMC series devices but the general recommendation is to use a 256-samples buffer size to test stability (no audio glitches). ASIO driver control panel can be opened from Voicemeeter System Settings / Options... window by clicking on the device name under OUT A1 Main Device

Since Behringer UMC supports ASIO driver I think you should stick with that. Unfortunately I have no experience with ASIO4All either.

Hope this helps. Please let us know how it works.
rodak
Posts: 14
Joined: Thu Feb 25, 2021 3:59 pm

Re: Having to restart the audio engine regularly

Post by rodak »

The Behringer driver defaults to 512 samples at a rate of 44,100hz, so I'll leave that as-is.
One thing I noticed, before using ASIO, there was a very short delay between speaking into the mic and hearing it in the speakers. With the ASIO driver, that's gone!
I'll report back in the next few days (I'd found I was having to restart the engine once or twice a day), but I'm optimistic this was my problem all along.
rodak
Posts: 14
Joined: Thu Feb 25, 2021 3:59 pm

Re: Having to restart the audio engine regularly

Post by rodak »

Well, unfortunately, I'm still having the same problem. I left the PC on overnight (as I usually do), and had nothing running at all. Launched an audio app just now, no sound. Brought up Voicemeeter, and the "UMC ASIO Driver" text under "HARDWARE OUT" was red and blinking.

What in the world might be causing this?
rodak
Posts: 14
Joined: Thu Feb 25, 2021 3:59 pm

Re: Having to restart the audio engine regularly

Post by rodak »

I think I figured it out. I have a wireless ON/Off switch that turns off the lights and a number of other pieces of gear, and I usually turn it off at night. Well one of the things it turns off is my UMC interface! It can be USB powered or powered from an external power brick. Apparently having the power brick plugged in disables the USB power, so when I turn out the lights at night, it turns off the interface as well.

Pretty sure this was the whole issue!

I would turn everything off at night, but I leave the computer on because sometimes I get called from work and have to deal with things in the middle of the night, and having everything up and running saves time.

This has been very helpful, though. I very much appreciated the video, and info on using ASIO. I think I'm much better off as a result, so thanks for the help!
TheVoice
Posts: 29
Joined: Wed Aug 12, 2020 10:19 pm

Re: Having to restart the audio engine regularly

Post by TheVoice »

I also have the UMC404HD. Since I turn it off daily, I always have to re-select ASIO: UMC ASIO Driver from A1 hardware output drop down menu. If you're using Windows 7, 8 or 10, the latest UMC driver v4.59 would likely be the best for you. I wouldn't bother with ASIO4ALL, which is generic and no longer supported. UMC drivers are custom made for your UMC and are known to be stable.
Post Reply