WASAPI Drivers and Upgrade Nightmares

Cantabile
1

I have Dell G5 that I use exclusively for rehearsal and performance. For practicing, I’ve just been using the computer’s Realtek WASAPI driver and running through the headphone output. I generally don’t have any issues. (At church, where I perform, I use Dante.) I upgraded Windows 10 to version 1903 after reading that all of the audio issues had been fixed. At full-band rehearsal that week, I noticed that I was experiencing some clicks and when I pushed things too hard the audio broke up completely. I rolled back Windows and the problem went away.

But somewhere along the way I had updated some drivers (and the BIOS) through Dell, including the Realtek driver. Now when using WASAPI I’m experiencing keyboard latency, stuck notes and audio pops and clicks. It’s unusable. I’ve tried finding older drivers that either don’t solve the problem or freak the computer out completely and it goes into self-repair.

I have absolutely no idea what to do other than to drive to El Paso (the nearest Guitar Center) and buy an external interface. Unless someone has experienced something similar and knows a quick fix, I’ll have to brave the heat and the El Paso traffic. Can anyone offer any sure-fire help? TIA

2

I don’t know for sure but have you tried checking the network driver and seeing if it rolled back too. Since you have a network based software for audio it might be the culprit. Also are there any restore points available to go back to prior to the update?

Dave

3

You could try uninstalling the Realtek audio drivers and check yes to delete the driver and then restart and see if windows installs a driver that might work. Not surefire but something fairly easy to try

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4

@dsteinschneider That was one of the things I had tried a few times.

Everything I try makes things worse. I went to GC and bought a Scarlet 4i4 3rd gen. It’s more than I need, but they didn’t have any 2i2s in stock and I’m wary of trying a brand I’m not familiar with. I hope it clears things up.

Man… if it ain’t broke… Lesson learned.

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5

The 4i4 makes things run smooth again. It’s all about the drivers in this case. I still might reset the machine at some point… Yuk!

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6

The 4i4 is the “right” way. I feel confident in saying that what happened to you regarding WASAPI will never happen with the 4i4.

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