Intel X99 chipset & audio glitching on multi-channel audio interfaces

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entilza72

New member
Hi everyone,

I'm wanting to share my experiences with audio glitching on an audio interface connected to an X99 (Intel, Windows) motherboard. This is blowing my mind because the vendor claims this is an X99 issue (not an issue they can impact) and impacts all brands of multi-channel recording, and yet my google searches turn up very little in the way of people having the same problem.

For those who don't know, the X99 is considered to be Intel's current generation chipset for high performance PCs. X99 has been around for 2.5 years. It controls all IO on the motherboard, including USB and PCI. But it appears I the first to post about this multi-channel audio glitching issue, in any forum! :mad: How is that possible?

Details:
I have a new MSI X99A SLI PLUS motherboard (Intel chipset, Windows 10 OS) and recently added a MOTU UltraLite Mk4 multi-channel sound interface. This forum would know these USB 2 devices are designed to record and playback multiple discrete audio streams simultaneously.

Playback from the X99 chipset motherboard through the UltraLite 4 makes glitching noises and stutters/drops out. Sometimes it stops altogether (ceases all audio input and output), especially when starting to record. The more I move the mouse, the worse the glitching it gets. I've tried different mice (wired, wireless, hightech, lowtech), different USB ports, USB 2 ports, USB 3, USB 3.1. I've also added a PCI-e USB 3 card. USB 2 exhibits the most problems, but the other options also have fairly significant problems.

I have confirmed the audio interface works properly on a previous generation motherboard.

I have updated the device firmware, device driver, chipset drivers and BIOS to latest versions. I also flushed the motherboard's CMOS memory (jumper on the Mobo).

The vendor (MOTU) claims this is a known issue caused by the X99 chipset and there is no solution, even though the UltraLite Mk4 came out mid 2016 and the X99 has been around since mid 2014. Further, they imply this will impact all their older gear as well. They claim that nothing can be done, and that the X99 and Windows is incompatible with true multi-channel audio. They have also stated that other vendors will have the same issue. I have no reason to disbelieve their statements to me.

What is blowing my mind is the X99 chipset has been out for 2.5 years and I can find almost no references to this issue with professional multi-channel sound.

Hoping someone can come up with some bright ideas on how to handle this, besides buying an old PC. :-) I need the speed of the current one. Or at least, we can make somewhere to start sharing information we find.

Kind regards,
Entilza.
 
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Sounds familiar. Had to change my mobo to run Steinberg UR824's without dropouts. Steinberg will not deal with it and pretends it isn't an issue...


https://www.steinberg.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=157&t=96319

This thread started two years ago. Steinberg decided to close the initial one where I gave my info and offered to send my old mobo for testing. It is really disturbing to me that nobody has done anything or figured out the issue yet.

I'm staying with what I have now...
 
Hi Jimmy,

You're a saint - that thread is the motherload. It sounds identical and gives strength to MOTU's claim that this is an X99 issue that impacts all multi-channel sound devices. Even down to my comment that mouse use increases the issues, someone made the same observation.

Can I ask: what motherboard did you go with?

Like you, I am amazed/appalled that no one has taken action on this in 2.5 years, either the motherboard manufacturers, or the audio interface vendors. We seem to be just as in the dark as day one, only X99 is a clear smoking gun.

I do keep seeing the same NVidia GeForce cards coming up too. Perhaps there's a 3 way issue here that is only evident when X99 crosses with some GeForce cards and a multi-channel audio interface?

Kind regards,
Ent.
 
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entilza72 said:
Hi Jimmy,

You're a saint - that thread is the motherload. It sounds identical and gives strength to MOTU's claim that this is an X99 issue that impacts all multi-channel sound devices. Even down to my comment that mouse use increases the issues, someone made the same observation.

Can I ask: what motherboard did you go with?

Like you, I am amazed/appalled that no one has taken action on this in 2.5 years, either the motherboard manufacturers, or the audio interface vendors. We seem to be just as in the dark as day one, only X99 is a clear smoking gun.

I do keep seeing the same NVidia GeForce cards coming up too. Perhaps there's a 3 way issue here that is only evident when X99 crosses with some GeForce cards and a multi-channel audio interface?

Kind regards,
Ent.
Click to expand...

Asus Z97A.
 
I had horrible problems with a MOTU Ultralite Mk3 on a Gigabyte Z97X motherboard. It was just a disaster on FireWire and USB both. I gave up after a week and returned the MOTU and bought an RME. Funny how the RME is rock solid and stable every single day on the same chipset that the MOTU refused to work with. Personally, I just think that MOTU's Windows drivers suck ass.
 
Also, the brand new mobo I had to replace because of dropouts was a ASRock Extreme 4. Also Z97 chipset. So many variables it is tough to find the exact cause. When most interfaces work on the same system, and others don't...well it is hard not to blame the drivers.
 
Success!! I have found the cause and a workaround!

Thanks to Jimmys69's link to a similar problem with Steinbergs, I poured over that thread. The problems sounded identical, right down to mouse use increased the symptoms.

I noticed all impacted users who posted full specs either had X99 or Z97 chipsets, and one of a couple of Nvidia Geforce GTX cards. I also had one of those cards installed, a GTX 970. I also happen to have an old GTX 560, so I installed it and the problem has gone! No more glitches, pops, dropouts, freezes or driver crashes.

The X99 and Z97 control all IO to the processor, including USB buses and the PCI bus that the video card sits on. This this three-way conflict is not surprising as X99 sits at the top of that pile.

I have no doubt this is a MOTU driver issue, not using the X99 properly. But I am glad I have found a workaround (albiet a highly inconvenient one - video cards aren't designed to be swapped in and out several times a day). I hope this thread helps others. I will also post some info to the Steinberg thread, since their data collection tipped me off.

Ent.
 
Glad you found your issue.

At the time, I didn't have a GPU installed and the MOTU still hated my Z97 board. On this same board, a couple years later I installed an AMD Radeon R9 380, and I got the same symptoms that you described. Audio was totally unusable with that graphics card installed. Swapped it out for an NVidia GTX960 that I had laying around, and problems were gone. But I couldn't render video with OpenCL, and CUDA isn't compatible with my video editing software. Swapped that out for an entry-level NVidia Quadro and all is well now.
 
entilza72 said:
I will also post some info to the Steinberg thread, since their data collection tipped me off.
Click to expand...

Disappointing - the mods over there have not published my post. I did mention I did not own a Steinberg, so maybe they thought it irrelevant to their users.
 
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