Why NI support is better than Vestax Support
Below are two conversations with an attempt to fix an issue (unresolved) with the VCI-100. The first is from Vestax and the second is NI.
Let me just say I love NI support :)
And i like the VCI-100, pitty I must've gotten a fluke...
For privacy reasons I blanked out the names of people.
Hi ____,
Good afternoon. It seems you are receiving some sort of interference. Try different cables that are shielded and if you have a power strip near the VCi-100 this may cause interference as well. Please let me know if this remedies the issue. Thanks.
Regards,
_____
On Nov 10, 2010, at 4:12 PM, _____ wrote:
So recently I DJ'd a few gigs with my VCI-100 + Audio 2 DJ + Traktor + Dell XPS M1330 + JBL Eon G2s (Behringer 208D's at home), and during the gigs (and a few times during practice sessions) my system stops playing music and begins emitting this terribly embarrassing buzzing sound that is very loud and persists until I turn of the VCI 100, then it goes away and the music continues playing.
When I turn the VCI 100 back on, nothing extra-ordinary happens and I continue DJ'ing as normal, but these events have been quite embarrassing lately and if you could help me soon that would be excellent.
NOTE: I've tried changing usb ports/power adapter in/out etc...
Hello ______,
There could be a power issue with the USB ports being used with the VCI-100. Also
the computer could be having drop outs due to a IRQ conflict.. More then likely
this is a hardware issue with the computer, and the problem goes away when the VCI
is turned off. You may need to contact Vestax again, this is the first time i've
heard of a buzz come from the VCI-100.
Make sure to use a Power Supply for the VCI-100 and see if this solves the
problem.
The Windows 7 tuning tips are below.
we have observed audio dropout problems when the used USB 2 port is shared with
specific components of your system. We especially noticed problems when the same
IRQ is used by a video device or if it is shared with a USB 1 port. It might help
to install a USB 2 PCI or Cardbus interface, though it is possible that its IRQ
can again be shared with a problematic device. In some cases it might also help to
disable unused devices in the computer BIOS (e.g. parallel port), though this is
not possible on all computers and it has not always an effect. Unfortunately it is
not possible to be more specific in this context, since the IRQ implementation
differs from computer to computer.
~~~
Windows 7 Tuning Tips~
in order to isolate the root of the issue, here is a detailed step by step guide
for troubleshooting. In order to follow each step carefully, we recommend to print
this out.
First, please make sure to use the following settings in Traktor and for your
audio interface. These settings are a good starting point since they should work
also on older machines which are not so powerful.
- Set the latency to higher value (1024 samples). If you have a Native Instruments
audio interface set "standard latency" in the ASIO Settings panel.
- For Audio8DJ users: Make sure you have chosen the ASIO driver named "Audio 8 DJ
(ASIO)" as audio device (Preferences / Audio Setup), NOT the DirectSound driver
named "Audio 8 DJ (8 In, 8 Out)"
- Deactivate Key-lock in Traktor.
- Disconnect all unused USB devices from your computer.
In the following we list some essential tunings for Windows which we recommend to
do first. Some of these include to deactivate specific components on your
computer. We ask you to try this out in order to isolate the source of the issue,
even if you require this component for your daily work.
1.) Adjust Power Management settings
Start > Control Panel > Power Options.
Set the Power Scheme to "High Performance", click on "Change plan settings". On
the next page set both "Turn off the display" and "Put the computer to sleep" to
"Never".
Then click "Change advanced power settings" and in the window popping up make sure
you have the following settings:
Hard disc > Turn off hard disk after > Setting (Minutes) = Never
Sleep > Sleep after > Setting (Minutes) = Never
USB settings > USB selective suspend setting > Setting = deactivated
Display > Turn off display after > Setting (Minutes) = Never
Processor power managment > Minimum processor state > Setting = 100%
Processor power managment > Maximum processor state > Setting = 100%
2.) Disable the power saving option of the USB ports
In your device manager (control panel/ System/ Hardware), right click each "USB
Root Hub", choose "Properties > Power management" and untick the "allow the
computer to turn off this device to save power" option.
3.) Disable some components on your computer as a test
IMPORTANT: Here is a list of devices that you should NEVER deactivate since these
are essential components required by Windows: System timer, Keyboard, System
CMOS/real time clock, Microsoft ACPI-Compliant System, Numeric data processor,
Primary IDE Channel, Secondary IDE Channel, Graphics Controller, Ultra ATA Storage
Controllers. In general, you should not deactivate anything which is listed in the
branch "System Devices".
Right click the "My Computer" icon on the desktop > Properties > Hardware > Device
Manager
In the Device Manager right click a component and choose "deactivate" (NOT
"uninstall"!).
The following components are worth trying to deactivate first:
- Network adapter
- WLAN cards
- Bluetooth ports
- Infrared Ports
- ACPI compliant battery
- Trackpad
- Video cameras
- DVD drives
- Any third party component which is not an essential part of the system (be
careful and only deactivate those which you know and which are not required for
Windows to boot).
4.) Download and run the "dpclat.exe" application form the
http://www.thesycon.de/deu/latency_check.shtml
Let it run for one or two minutes and let me know, what exactly it shows (or send
me a screenshot).
Best Regards,
______
Native Instruments Support Team
Native Instruments North America, Inc.
5631 Hollywood Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90028
USA
http://www.native-instruments.com
***
Also check our extensive Knowledge Base for answers to common questions about
NATIVE INSTRUMENTS products:
http://www.native-instruments.com/knowledge/
***
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=> http://www.native-instruments.com/traktor-kontrol-s4
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=> http://www.native-instruments.com/komplete7
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_____wrote:
> So often when I\'m DJ\'ing (every 3 hours or so) the music completely cuts out
and
> there is this embarrassing buzz that persists until I turn off the VCI-100; and
> the music continues playing as normal. When I turn the VCI-100 back again there
> seems to be no problem until about 3 or so hours later.
>
> I already contacted Vestax, but they could not find a solution.
>
> NOTE: I don\'t think it is an issue with groundloop/wires because I\'ve tried
> various wires.
>
> Thanks,
> ____
>
