@support
I am trialing Roon and can’t make it work with Eitr in WASAPI. It works in ASIO. I tried Foobar2000, JRiver and Tidal and they all work fine in WASAPI. I have had the Eitr for a while and I never had problems using it in WASAPI mode. I also have two other DACs and never had problems with them on the same PC or others. Well, I can say I never had problems figuring out how to run any DAC I ever had in WASAPI. Until Roon.
Whatever settings I try in device setup I always get “Transport: failed to initialize the audio device”. If you ask me to try some settings I have probably already tried them (but I will try again of course). My Eitr is probably from the first batch and it accepts 32bit streams but the DAC obviously doesn’t play them over S/PDIF. In such cases I limit bit-depth to 24 or 16 (my DAC Schiit Modi Multibit is 16bit but accepts 24bit streams). I tried this in Roon but still get “Transport: failed to initialize the audio device”.
I am out of options to try something as I tried everything. I checked Roon logs but only saw a similar message there without much info. I found a thread here about the Yggdrasil Gen 5 where Eitr is mentioned but the person had to exchange it in order to make it work with Roon: https://community.roonlabs.com/t/schiit-yggdrasil-problem-when-using-exclusive-mode/30311/25?u=g_p Can I avoid this? It has worked with everything else.
My system:
-Latest version of Roon 1.4.294 on Windows 10 x64 latest build. It was updated from 1.3 and for a short time I had 1.4.291. All versions had this problem.
-Custom built oldish PC with i5-3550 CPU.
-I use only TIDAL, haven’t imported my library yet.
-The Core runs on Synology DS1815+ with 16GB RAM and its database on a USB SSD (this works perfectly, no delays).
Everything works fine in ASIO but I can’t understand why I get “Transport: failed to initialize the audio device” in WASAPI no matter what I try.
Hi @G_P ----- Thank you for the report and sharing your feedback with us. Both are very appreciated!
To bring you up to speed we currently have an open investigation into this behavior you are reporting with the Schiit device. I have added your feedback to our ticket and when I receive some feedback from the team on their progress I will be sure to update this thread accordingly.
Many thanks, and all the best to you and your family during the holiday season!
-Eric
FYI: I have sent you a PM concerning your trial period.
I set up another PC with the Schiit Yggdrasil and I don’t have this problem. It works fine in WASAPI exclusive mode. It puzzled me because Eitr and Yggdrasil use the same USB chip and drivers. The difference I noticed is that the Yggdrasil doesn’t allow for 32bit streams, 24bit is maximum in its audio properties. I got it later than the Eitr. I think they updated the firmware meanwhile.
I noticed you are conducting an investigation into such problems (this thread: https://community.roonlabs.com/t/schiit-yggdrasil-problem-when-using-exclusive-mode/30311/36). I though this piece of information could be helpful to you. If you ask those who have problems with their Yggdrasils whether it allows for max 32bit streams, the responses could be correlated with their problems.
It looks like it is something about Schiit’s implementation of the USB Gen 5 which by their description of it should not allow for higher than 24bit streams. It looks like it was a mistake to allow the driver to accept 32bit streams. And it looks like they quietly fixed it later. That’s why there are devices now in the wild with the same specs but different properties depending on when they were sold. I read many reports that people’s Eitrs accept 24bit streams while mine accepts 32bit which it cannot handle.
Hi @G_P ---- Thank you for touching base with me and providing this insight, both are very appreciated! I am going to be discussing the above with our CTO later this week to get some feedback on this observation you have made.
You mentioned an investigation and discussions regarding Schiit devices. Did you come to any conclusion whether it’s a Roon or Schiit problem? I’d like to solve this before the warranty on my Eitr expires. If you think it’s not a Roon problem I’ll contact Schiit.
Hi @G_P ----- Thank you for reaching out to me and my sincerest apologies for the wait here.
I touched based with our tech team yesterday after I had seen your posts and they have been able to reproduce a similar behavior in house when using event driven mode, and as such have asked if you would kindly verify what the experience is like when you disable this setting in the playback settings of WASAPI zone.
Thanks for looking into it. I tried every possible combination of settings. No, turning off “Use Event Driven Mode” does not change anything for me. The only thing that lets the device initialize is turning off “Use Exclusive Mode”. But then there is no reason to use WASAPI, and Roon doesn’t indicate it’s a lossless path anymore.
I am using the C-Media driver that Windows 10 installs by default. I tried forcibly installing the generic Windows Class 2 Audio driver and nothing changed. I reverted back to the C-Media driver. Actually, when I clicked on Update Driver Windows immediately installed it. It thinks the C-Media driver is an update to the generic driver.
I have another observation. My Eitr is connected to Modi Multibit which has a USB port by itself. They share the same C-Media CM6631A USB chipset. When I remove Eitr from the chain and connect the same USB cable directly to the Modi Mulbibit Windows doesn’t create a new device - it uses the same device instance with the same driver, only changes its FriendlyName in the registry. But… I don’t have the same problem. Roon works fine in WASAPI exclusive mode with Modi Multibit, but not Eitr. This make me want to blame Eitr but my Eitr works with everything else in WASAPI exclusive mode but Roon.
I also wonder if I am the only one with this problem. I don’t see other complaints.
Thank you for reaching out to me @G_P and sharing the results of the proposed test. Both are very appreciated.
I am currently working on scheduling some further testing with our tech team to see if we are able to reproduce this exact behavior in house. I have all the details of your feedback in a testing ticket that has been passed over to the team however, I wanted to confirm one detail with you.
In this post that the Yggdrasil did not produce the same results and if I am not mistaken the Yggy is making use of the GEN5 board, does the Eitr also the have the board?
In that post I reported that my Yggdrasil did not have this problem, i.e., not the same results. My post that you referred to above has a link to a thread where others reported similar problems with Yggdrasil.
To summarize: my both Eitr and Yggdrasil have the GEN5 USB boards (all Eitrs have it by default and Yggdrasils can be upgraded to GEN5), and my Eitr has a problem with exclusive WASAPI mode but the Yggdrasil doesn’t.
Wow, I am sorry for the mistype there, thank you for correcting that information for me @G_P. I wanted to be certain that we are testing Schiit devices with GEN5 boards installed in them. Confirming (after your latest) that I have all the correct information in the testing ticket I have scheduled with our tech team.
Has there been any update on this issue? I have the same problem with my EITR (I’m new to Roon, just subscribed a few days ago and the EITR is my last hurdle to get past).
There was an update on my side. I wrote Schiit about the issue stressing that it advertised accepting 32 bit streams and obviously not playing them through S/PDIF (impossible). They suggested to send it in for a firmware update. So, I did. I had to pay for shipping and they shipped it back to me for free. After the update it could accept only 16 and 24 bit streams as designed and the issue with Roon in WASAPI mode went away. I suggest you contact Schiit as it seems Roon has nothing to do with it.
Pinging @support, so you are aware of this. It seems it applies to any Schiit product with their GEN5 USB. If it advertises 32 bit stream acceptance it will likely have problems with Roon in WASAPI mode and should be sent to Schiit to fix it.