Win 11 and USB drivers

[ef37a]

Is anything known about issues with 11 and generic audio USB drivers?

Just that there is a newbish chap over at HR who cannot get a pretty basic 2x2 USB mixer to run on his W11 computer. He has a Focusrite Solo (daft bugger IMHO!) which he says works fine.

Msoft have a history of treating the audio world with contempt, e.g. the removal of the 'loop thru' function in ten so could it be that they have babbered auto setup of basic USB audio?

Dave.

[Drew Stephenson]

Not that I'm aware of. The only issues I've read about on that side of things are where manufacturers haven't updated their drivers for a while.

[Wonks]

If it's a mixer that needs a specific driver rather than a generic one and there is no Win 11 version (and a Win 10 one doesn't work), then it's down to the manufacturer not supporting it.

Knowing what the mixer is might help.

Have they tried Asio4all?

[ef37a]

Not that I'm aware of. The only issues I've read about on that side of things are where manufacturers haven't updated their drivers for a while.

How does that work then Drew? Is the generic USB audio driver peculiar to a specific Windows OS and therefore makers of audio kit have to change it accordingly?
This seems at odds with my experience. I have had a mottley collection of bogo standard audio devices over the years (e.g. Behrry UCA202) and they just get found on W7 or W10 and IIRC even XP.

In short I would expect the PC to say "found USB microphone device" or similar. Twiddle about a bit then announce it working?

Dave.

[ef37a]

If it's a mixer that needs a specific driver rather than a generic one and there is no Win 11 version (and a Win 10 one doesn't work), then it's down to the manufacturer not supporting it.

Knowing what the mixer is might help.

Have they tried Asio4all?

Well Wonks, my early model (16 bit) A&H ZED10 did not need a driver, just plug and play and it suffered from the dreaded "16 bit USB whine".

Yes, I shall find out C&V on the mixer if I can. ASIO4ALL has been suggested but IMHO should not be needed.

Dave.

[Drew Stephenson]

How does that work then Drew? Is the generic USB audio driver peculiar to a specific Windows OS and therefore makers of audio kit have to change it accordingly?
This seems at odds with my experience. I have had a mottley collection of bogo standard audio devices over the years (e.g. Behrry UCA202) and they just get found on W7 or W10 and IIRC even XP.

Even things as basic as audio drivers will change over time, depending on how old the mixer is it might even be trying to work at 32bits (computational not audio) and I think W11 only handles 64bit now. (But I could be wrong on that.)

[Wonks]

If it's a mixer that needs a specific driver rather than a generic one and there is no Win 11 version (and a Win 10 one doesn't work), then it's down to the manufacturer not supporting it.

Knowing what the mixer is might help.

Have they tried Asio4all?

Well Wonks, my early model (16 bit) A&H ZED10 did not need a driver, just plug and play and it suffered from the dreaded "16 bit USB whine".

It's like saying "my dog is brown, therefore all dogs are brown".

I know plenty of mixers that need their own driver to work properly. I'm not saying they all do, but if it doesn't work without one, there's a good chance it needs one.

[ef37a]

If it's a mixer that needs a specific driver rather than a generic one and there is no Win 11 version (and a Win 10 one doesn't work), then it's down to the manufacturer not supporting it.

Knowing what the mixer is might help.

Have they tried Asio4all?

Well Wonks, my early model (16 bit) A&H ZED10 did not need a driver, just plug and play and it suffered from the dreaded "16 bit USB whine".

It's like saying "my dog is brown, therefore all dogs are brown".

I know plenty of mixers that need their own driver to work properly. I'm not saying they all do, but if it doesn't work without one, there's a good chance it needs one.

"Don't get technical with me Artoo!" Anyway, never had a dog. I know that this is all beyond me but I can only go by my own experience. Yes, "better" devices will have their own ASIO drivers but my MOTU M4 and NI KA6 WILL work on bog standard Windows drivers but of course I would be daft to do so. In fact I cannot recall an audio USB device that did NOT work directly in W7 or 10 in the last ten years or so.

My real question is, not having it to try, have Msoft buggered about with USB audio in Win 11?

Dave.

[James Perrett]

In fact I cannot recall an audio USB device that did NOT work directly in W7 or 10 in the last ten years or so.

That's not my experience Dave - any audio interface needs a driver if you want to use it for music creation. If it doesn't have a driver then it isn't going to be usable for anything except casual listening.

There are now high resolution USB class compliant drivers available in Windows, which were written by Thesycon, but they are only enabled for certain interfaces.

I tried using a Zoom U-24 on my Win 10 computer the other day. Despite it being almost identical to my U-44, it wasn't recognised until I downloaded the specific driver from the Zoom website.

My lad's experience with Windows 11 is that it works in a very similar way to 10 - certainly with the Behringer UCA222, the U-44 and the RME Digiface USB.

[ef37a]

In fact I cannot recall an audio USB device that did NOT work directly in W7 or 10 in the last ten years or so.

That's not my experience Dave - any audio interface needs a driver if you want to use it for music creation. If it doesn't have a driver then it isn't going to be usable for anything except casual listening.

There are now high resolution USB class compliant drivers available in Windows, which were written by Thesycon, but they are only enabled for certain interfaces.

I tried using a Zoom U-24 on my Win 10 computer the other day. Despite it being almost identical to my U-44, it wasn't recognised until I downloaded the specific driver from the Zoom website.

My lad's experience with Windows 11 is that it works in a very similar way to 10 - certainly with the Behringer UCA222, the U-44 and the RME Digiface USB.

We seem to be creeping toward an answer here James! If W11 does not recognise the UCA222 straight off the bat then they HAVE changed how the OS deals with legacy USB audio devices. I have plugged in bogo s kit such as the TECKNET usb interface dongle straight from the Zon jiffy bag and it just works! I have had the same experience with USB mics. But of course grander kit could well be different?

Harbinger LX12 And yes, I HAVE told the chap to RTFM (but nicely!) and that there is a driver and has he installed it...Yet to hear back.

Dave.

[James Perrett]

If W11 does not recognise the UCA222 straight off the bat then they HAVE changed how the OS deals with legacy USB audio devices.

Erm - I said that Windows 11 treats the interfaces we've tried in the same way as Windows 10. In the case of the UCA222 it sees it as a low resolution class compliant device so doesn't use a device specific driver.

[Wonks]

The Harbinger LX12 manual indicates that it doesn't have drivers. But then they show they really don't know much as they say it's ASIO compliant But ASIO needs a driver.

[ef37a]

The Harbinger LX12 manual indicates that it doesn't have drivers. But then they show they really don't know much as they say it's ASIO compliant But ASIO needs a driver.

Yes! I have told the guy this!

Dave.

[tea for two]

Harbinger LX12

https://www.guitarcenter.com/Harbinger/ ... 0351051.gc
Harbinger (of doom lol) Lx12 page says it's usb Plug n Play, also for Linux, so shouldn't require drivers for wind.
"With the Harbinger LX12 ...easy plug-and-play connection to your laptop or desktop computer. You’ll also find Harbinger has included the cross-platform (macOS, Windows and Linux) Traction Waveform multitrack recording software."

Preehaps connecting a different usb cable, a different wind11 computer, a wind10 computer. These should eliminate the possibility that this Lx12 usb port is dodgy.

[ef37a]

The chap seemed to think that there was only one ASIO driver for everything and so since he had one for his Focusrite it should work for the mixer!

He has been informed to the contrary.

I still think the mixer should have worked on plug in but yes, could well be a hardware fault of some sort. We await further developments...maybe.

Dave.

[Wonks]

It may well work simply plugged in. But it may appear in the list of inputs and outputs as two different devices, and called something different to the hardware itself.

He may simply not be connecting it.

And if he still has the Focusrite connected, the DAW software is only going to allow one or the other, not both.

[Hugh Robjohns]

I do love a totally speculative thread concerning a discussion on an entirely different forum board, that doesn't involve the original subject at all, and doesn't have all the facts either ...

[ef37a]

I do love a totally speculative thread concerning a discussion on an entirely different forum board, that doesn't involve the original subject at all, and doesn't have all the facts either ...

Yeah, real life's a b***h ain't it Hugh! In my defence I simply asked if anyone knew if W11 had buggered about with generic USB audio drivers...Then the heavies piled in!

We NEVER have ALL the facts. "Forums" innit?

Dave.

[James Perrett]

We NEVER have ALL the facts. "Forums" innit?

Posting this link

https://homerecording.com/bbs/threads/i ... ut.427063/

might help