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18i20 stuttering/latency issue - nVidia related?

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Topic 18i20 stuttering/latency issue - nVidia related?
A few weeks ago I purchased a brand new, 3rd gen 18i20 interface. I'm pretty experienced with computer audio, and I didn't expect any issues. However, I can't get the thing to work properly. The issue is that when playing any audio (Spotify, local files, DAW), intermittently the audio will slow down and eventually stutter - it sounds metallic, with a robotic sound. It does recover, but the issue happens again, maybe once every few minutes. This is clearly a latency issue, which I've established using LatencyMon. What's puzzling is that my other interface, an SSL2, gives me absolutely no problems whatsoever, on the same machine - it works perfectly, even set to its lowest latency

I've followed all the steps for troubleshooting on the Focusrite page here, to the letter: https://support.focusrite.com/hc/en-gb/articles/4408057193362-Optimising-your-PC-for-Audio-on-Windows-11 , including disabling USB suspend, high performance power plan, disabling exclusive mode, disabling unused NICs, and disabling c-states in BIOS. The driver and Focusrite Control are the latest versions. I'm using the provided USB-C cable. I'm not using a USB splitter.

The SSL didn't require me to do any of that - in fact, it works just fine with all the settings above in the undesired configuration - so why does the Focusrite device care so much about this? Increasing buffer size/latency to maximum makes no difference, and I shouldn't have to.

Anyway, LatencyMon seems to reveal that the thing eating up the most latency is the nVidia driver, which is eating a huge amount more resources that anything else. When I start the test in LatencyMon, it reports that the computer is suitable for digital audio, but after the symptom happens, it changes its tune. But again, sorry to sound like a stuck record, but the SSL2 is fine with this - no problems. I can't find much online that specifically highlights an incompatibility between Focusrite and nVidia devices and their drivers, but it feels like this is the case.

I don't want to be forced to choose between my audio interface and my graphics card, but I can't be the only person who's experienced this? I read a lot about the issue before I bought the 18i20, but I thought 'Nah, it's just folks who don't know what they're doing' - but now I see what they mean.

On my previous desktop PC (in which I had the same RTX 2080 nvidia card), I was using an old Saffire Pro14 on Firewire, and that was also fine (until it wasn't, after a certain Windows update - hence the upgrade - but that wasn't this problem). Prior to that, I had an old EMU 1212m on a Windows 7 machine (also with an nVidia card), and that also was fine.

Here's my machine spec:

Windows 11 21H1 (installed on a gen 4 M.2 drive)
ROG Strix Z590-A
Intel i7-10700K
32GB DDR4

Does anyone have any suggestions, other than the standard Focusrite advice in the link above?

Thanks.

[ Post last edited on 02/05/2023 at 15:17:15 ]

2
I have the same thing here. new gaming laptop + nvidia + 18i20 = Cubase realtime audio dropouts
I'm talking to the focusrite support but we have no solution until now.
here is another discussion.
5979517.png

https://www.reddit.com/r/Focusrite/comments/zbtl50/pops_clicks_and_audio_distortion_due_to_nvidia/

[ Post last edited on 02/09/2024 at 07:37:10 ]