[Letitroll98]

So I'm trying to put my toes in to computer audio and buy the 10' usb a to b cord and hook up my audio gd dac to my Windows xp desktop and I get a can't recognise new device message.  So I run the device manager and it can't find the hardware.  Obviously no music through the dac.  Shouldn't I just be able to direct iTunes or a flash drive to go to the usb device without downloading any drivers?  Is there a program I should be running it through, I have media monkey which was no help.  Soundcard is an ancient soundblaster from the early 2000s.  It's Christmas, do your part to help the digitally dyslexic in this holiday season. 

[Doublej]

What is the model number of the DAC? Are you sure it's compatible with XP and usable without any drivers from the manufacturer?

[srb]

So I run the device manager and it can't find the hardware.

(a) make sure the cable is not defective either by swapping out another USB cable if you have one (even if it's shorter and you need to move the DAC just to test) or hook up another USB device such as a printer to the cable to test.

(b) sometimes trying a different USB port will help.

Shouldn't I just be able to direct iTunes or a flash drive to go to the usb device without downloading any drivers?

iTunes does not have the capability to select a sound device so it has to use the system default playback device.  Media Monkey, JRiver and Foobar do have the capability to choose a device, even if it's not the default.

A flash drive would be no different than any hard drive, it needs to be accessed through some kind of media player program.

The DAC should show up as a device in Device Manager > Sound, video and game controllers if, as previously mentioned, it does not require a proprietary driver even for basic 16/48 or 24/96 operation.  If the DAC is recognized as being plugged into the USB bus but needs a proprietary driver, then it should at least show up as an Unknown Device (?) under Other Devices, and if not, it does seem like it's not being detected at all so the check cable and try a different USB port as mentioned above.

Also check Control Panel > Sounds and Audio Devices > Audio tab to see if it is listed under the Sound Playback dropdown as an available choice for default device.

Soundcard is an ancient soundblaster from the early 2000s.

When you are able to choose the DAC either as your default audio playback device or as the output device in one of the aforementioned media players, then it becomes the soundcard and your Soundblaster is not being used and is irrelevant.

Steve

[ArthurDent]

Ho, Ho, Ho Letitroll, Merry Christmas. Not sure this will work for you, but it's how my office system is setup. Windows XP Pro laptop, USB out to HiFace2 (converts the USB to Coax) to my DAC.

Go to: "My Computer, Control Panel, Sounds & Audio Devices" Open and check what is selected for output & inputs, my system shows #0 & #2 Modem Line Record/Playback, Realtek HD Audio, & the HiFace. The Realtek is the soundcard in my case, I'd think your soundcard should show up there as well. As steve says, the DAC should show up if it's available, verify that's selected 1st, as opposed to the Modem outputs. If the DAC doesn't show then you probably want to check the manufacturer's website for drivers & compatability. Then, go into MediaMonkey.

"Tools", the one that shows 'Options' & select. Then select "Output Plug-ins".  Mine shows 4 options; Kernel streaming (don't think this will be an option without special considerations), MediaMonkey 'Direct sound', MM wasapi, and wave output. Mine is set to MM DirectSound output, I'd suggest starting there. Then select 'Configure'. As in the "Sounds" portion of the Control Panel you'll have 4 or 5 options. Mine shows Primary Driver, the M2Tech Hiface, again the 2 Modem options, and the audio card (Realtek HD). This is where I get sketchy as I don't remember what was selected before I installed the HiFace. But you should see your DAC listed instead of the M2TEch I'd think. The inconvenient thing is that when you make a selection in the options, you have to close out & restart MediaMonkey to test it. It won't see the change until the restart. With a little playing around, and I'm sure some more knowledgeable input from the folks here you should have it working in no time. Steve & wushuliu were very helpful when I set my system up, as was tedb if I remember correctly.  Hope this in addition to the other info helps.

[Letitroll98]

What is the model number of the DAC? Are you sure it's compatible with XP and usable without any drivers from the manufacturer?

It's an Audio GD early model NFB 12, out of production for some time.  So no, I don't know if it needs any drivers.  I can contact the manufacturer to see what might be needed if you would guess that's the problem.

I thought the same thing when I got the error message, then thought why would you have a USB music device that isn't plug 'n play?  Is needing a driver download common with DACs?  I checked on Head Fi and there were no mentions of needing a driver, so for S&G I just turned the unit off and on again, the hardware loaded perfectly.  Listening to the Weepies as I type this.

Nevermind, thanks anyway, Merry Christmas.   


For ArthurDent and srb, I went there and originally the device didn't show up as an option, like it didn't exist.  I assume it will now be there and I can play with the Media Monkey settings to optimize playback.  Thanks again to all, you guys are great.

[ArthurDent]

Letitroll, see my addition to the prior post, in case you didn't get there already. Was switching between screens and for some reason forgot to note where in 'Options' to check for the settings. Hope you got it working. 

[Letitroll98]

Letitroll, see my addition to the prior post, in case you didn't get there already. Was switching between screens and for some reason forgot to note where in 'Options' to check for the settings. Hope you got it working. 

Thanks AD, I went in and checked and the 'puter had already picked the default for me as "TE 7022 Audio w/ SPDIF", but for some reason had set the volume back to the middle setting.  So I moved it back to max as I'm pretty sure I don't want Windows truncating bits with it's volume settings, correct?  Media Monkey had already picked, or I previously clicked it, MediaMonkey 'Direct sound'.  Yes, thanks, it all worked perfectly both through iTunes and Media Monkey with the stuff on the flash drive, except for one thing which leads to a question...

I did have a couple of drop outs using the flash drive, which are wav files for the most part.  Should I be putting all this on an external hard drive as a makeshift music server.  I'm thinking moving iTunes with the entire library, Media Monkey with it's library, Audacity, and my wav files all to a 1 TB hard drive (maybe 500MB).  As this stuff is now being listened to through headphones more than speakers, using a desktop with it's fan noise is not a big issue.  Or would you find another solution.  Note I'm not looking to invest in much new hardware beyond the hard drive and have just the desktop and a Kindle Fire HD as a portable, and I'm not looking to move the CD or LP library to the hard drive, just adding some Hi Rez new stuff. 

[ArthurDent]

I did have a couple of drop outs using the flash drive, which are wav files for the most part.  Should I be putting all this on an external hard drive as a makeshift music server. 

Not sure what the dropouts would be, but the external HD is the way I went. I set up an old Dell XP laptop out in the main system with a 1 TB, and this ASUS with a 2 TB. I rip all my new music on this machine, at some point I'll update or replace the other drive. Between my ripped music, most of which was wave, another HD a friend gave me when he put all his music on a server, and the new music I've ripped to FLAC since, I've got almost 800 Gig now. So if you are planning for the long term I'd go for at least a 1 TB unit. Relatively speaking they are inexpensive these days. I picked up both of mine at Costco. Based on what my friend who builds computers has said you don't want to go over 2 TB though, XP doesn't handle them well.

Max volume is where mine is set as well. Maybe Steve (srb) or one of the other more knowledgeable folks has an idea on the dropouts. The only thing I can think of would be buffering for some reason, but not sure why it would do that from a flash drive and not from an external HD, and I haven't noticed any dropouts on my setup so far. If you should disconnect/reconnect the USB to the DAC for any reason you'll want to go back and verify all the settings in both places. "Sounds & Audio Devices" will probably repick the SPDIF automatically, but at least on mine MediaMonkey did not pick the HiFace in "Options/Output PlugIns/DirectSound- Configure". I had to reselect it from the list in "Configure", then restart MM.

Sounds like you're rolling right along  , hope you and your lady are settling into the 'new' digs smoothly, and the system configurations work out well. Happy listening.