0404 PCI keeps going silent

[Nazo]

One annoyance I keep having to deal with lately is my 0404 PCI will just randomly go silent sometimes after I start up my system. Basically it just won't have any sound coming out the analog (I'm not sure about the digital -- basically it IS my DAC) even though the PatchMix software might even indicate on the decibel meters that it thinks there is sound. From then on, simply rebooting or whatever doesn't really seem to help anything. I tried messing with volume controls (even muting then unmuting channels just in case one were internally stuck so to speak) and it didn't help. However, if I tell the PatchMix software to restore all defaults, it will fix it. This is EXTREMELY annoying though because it forgets any settings with volumes/etc and a reboot is required to get it to work. Then after the reboot I must again set it to not load FX on startup (this just adds an annoying unnecessary delay for me as I'm using this soundcard more as a DAC than anything else and thus never touch the FX) and I usually prefer to disable the splash screen while I'm at it. Then I have to go in and change the clock back to 44.1KHz (because, for some odd reason, most of my CD rips are in 44.1KHz rather than 48KHz. I have never understood why 48KHz became the norm for such things when it should only be needed for things like DVDs/etc as music -- which needs the quality the most -- will almost always be 44.1KHz.) I tried updating PatchMix, but, unfortunately, this did not do anything that I could see but give me another skin to choose from. Everything else about it appears to be exactly the same and the bug is as well.

I presume no one has ever found a way to run these without PatchMix, right? Honestly, I don't really need all of the stuff it does in the end anyway. I just need it to accept a digital input and output everything to analog. Pretty basic stuff that most soundcard drivers will do by default until you specifically tell them not to anyway.

 

[450]

I have this issue as well. It is extremely annoying and I have no idea how to fix it.

My solution was to use my onboard digital as the primary soundcard and put the onboards coaxial output into the 0404's coax in, and this way I get the 0404 quality, but onboard reliablilty.

 

[Nazo]

My solution was to use my onboard digital as the primary soundcard and put the onboards coaxial output into the 0404's coax in, and this way I get the 0404 quality, but onboard reliablilty.

This is what I'm already doing. Unfortunately, when mine goes silent, it goes completely silent...

 

[Nazo]

Bump. Also, I'd like to add somewhat. I've finally gotten around to getting my Audigy 2 ZS Platinum back up and running together with the E-MU 0404 PCI. With this one I have to use a coaxial connection anyway since otherwise I'd have to hook up the whole silly LiveDrive! thing that I won't even be using at all (and I don't really have enough room in my case for it anyway as I just recently switched to a smaller case.) I've disabled the onboard and now use the Audigy 2 ZS for games. Unfortunately, the problem is still exactly the same as before, regardless of coaxial or optical.

Oh, and just to be clear, when I say it goes completely silent, I mean that I set audio applications and etc to go straight to the E-MU 0404 since there's no point in wasting any processing power on going through the Audigy 2 ZS only to then go to the E-MU 0404 when it can go directly (plus that has the advantage of staying in 44.1KHz anyway since the E-MU 0404 can internally handle any number of standard frequencies without resampling.) Unfortunately, even going directly through the E-MU 0404 and completely bypassing the Audigy 2 ZS still doesn't produce any sound when it goes into silent mode. I once again have to close down everything I'm in the middle of, reset the settings, and reboot. (I swear, I'm starting to feel like I'm back on Windows 98 sometimes. It seems to mess up almost every other time.)