DolurumMafikala Posted September 19, 2020 Share Posted September 19, 2020 Summary Check the Pod HD ASIO driver is not performing Sample Rate Conversion without you being aware of it. Remove easy potential sources for stutter. Background I had been plagued by the commonly-reported Pod HD-related blue screens (BSOD) on my Win 10 desktop, particularly when working with my DAW, Reaper. I have reached a point where my setup is now stable. Over recent weeks I've had four recording sessions without bluescreens whilst maintaining a USB connection. In this post I'm intending to document what I did, what was effective and what was ineffective. I see many frustrated posts about this issue. Sometimes people seem to be replacing or returning their Pod HD, which is a shame. I have not seen Sample Rate Conversion problems being talked about in the trouble shooting posts I read, so I hope this helps someone. Workarounds or ineffective configurations I tried - Ignoring USB and going direct to my other interface (as I have one). Obviously this works, but the sound quality did not seem as good as the USB connection to me. I'm not saying I can hear the extra DAC/ADC step, but it's another spot where you have to get the levels right, and you need two cables if you want stereo. My other interface only has two channels and I wanted to keep a mic in the other one. So, if you are really stuck this works fine, but was not great for me. - Disabled Selective USB Power Down. You will see other references to this step. It did not reduce BSODs for me on its own. I did leave this setting disabled in my final configuration, though, so it may be a factor. - Using the rear USB vs the front USB. This does have some logic to it as the front USB ports on a desktop tend to be a hub, so if the rears are not then things have been simplified. Using a Rear USB did not make a difference for me. - USB2 vs USB3. Simply swapping to USB2 was not enough for me, but I have continued to use a USB2 port in the stable configuration, so could be a factor. If you have USB2 ports available I think it make sense to use them, as the Pod HD was, I think, designed before the USB3 standard was introduced. - Different combinations of allowing the Pod to be or not to be the audio device used by Windows as default made no difference for me. - Disabling Windows System Sounds on its own made no difference for me, but I have continued to leave them off in the stable configuration, so could be a factor. After trying those solutions I found the official Line 6 advice on USB troubleshooting here: https://line6.com/support/page/kb/recording/computer-audio-set-up-and-troubleshooting/usb-audio-troubleshooting-r443/ and set about eliminating sources of stutter which seem to be less-well handled by the Pod HD driver stack when compared with the driver for my Focusrite Saffire 6 USB audio interface. I noticed that Reaper was reporting that the Pod driver was operating at a 44.1 kHz sample rate, despite the Windows Sound Control Panel settings being set to 48kHz sample rate and Reaper being set to use whatever the hardware was using. Checking the Line 6 Audio-Midi Devices App confirmed the same thing, and the Sample Rate Converter light in that app was on. I went through all the parts of the end to end system where I could set the sample rate and made sure all were aligned to the same settings (48kHz, 24 bit). There are four places I checked and aligned: 1) Windows Sound Control Panel/Playback tab/Line 6 POD HD Device Properties/Advanced/Default Format -> Set to 24bit, 48000 Hz (Studio Quality) 2) Windows Sound Control Panel/Recording tab/Line 6 POD HD Device Properties/Advanced/Default Format -> Set to 24bit, 48000 Hz (Studio Quality) 3) Reaper/Audio Device Settings -> Request Sample Rate to 48000 4) On the Pod itself, under the IO settings there is a setting for the sample rate of the S/PDIF interface. This name suggests it has nothing to do with the USB output, but I made sure it was set to 48Khz too. Annoyingly, I can't remember what the default was, so I can't remember if I changed this. After step 3 Line 6 Audio-Midi Devices App now reports no Sample Rate Conversion happening and Reaper also reports 48kHz operation. I also shut down some unnecessary audio-using apps (Skype, Google Music Manager and Steam) and removed the Windows System Sounds. I felt these were easy and prudent steps to take. I felt from the Line 6 article the general advice was to remove sources of noise and stuttering, so where I could remove potential sources easily for me I did so. I did not at any time remove my existing Focusrite Saffire 6 USB interface and its driver, so in my case at least the Pod is able to co-exist with other ASIO drivers. Note that the Focusrite wasn't being used as Reaper doesn't provide the option to use two ASIO devices at the same time, but was plugged in and powered on. I have not taken the time to isolate the single factor that has made a difference for me, however the BSODs did seem to clear up once I had got the Pod ASIO driver operating in 48 kHz sample rate instead of doing Sample Rate Conversion. I don't yet know why it was stuck operating at 44.1 kHz, as nothing before or after it was asking for that and I had not changed defaults. Furthermore, when I was trying to force it back to 44.1 to isolate the fix for this post it stubbornly refused to return to that rate. At this point I have arrived at a stable setup for me so I am unlikely to spend more time characterizing the cause, but will report back if I find something. I'd say it is likely others have this problem as I don't change defaults for this sort of thing. Effective Configuration - Disabled Selective USB Power Down - Disabled Windows System Sounds - Shut down unnecessary apps that use audio - Ensured Windows Sound Control Panel properties for Playback and - Recording on the Pod are set to 24bit, 48000 Hz - Reaper/Audio Device Settings -> Request Sample Rate to 48000 (key step for me) - Using front panel USB2 port I am sure not all of these steps are quite necessary for me, but wanted to share as completely as I could. General guidance, summary observations and speculations Clearly, reading the official advice at https://line6.com/support/page/kb/recording/computer-audio-set-up-and-troubleshooting/usb-audio-troubleshooting-r443/ is good practice. I've internalized that article as "you have to be as kind to the drivers for the Pod HD as you can". For me that meant getting over a Sample Rate Conversion that was happening, which I speculate takes extra cycles in the driver stack, introduces more potential error conditions and makes it more susceptible to stutter conditions. I am not sure why the driver was choosing to operate at 44.1 Khz instead of 48 Khz, but I have been able to force it to 48 Khz operation with Reaper. Removing unnecessary Sample Rate Conversion feels like good practice in any case. Getting the USB connection stable has been a big plus for me. The clarity of my recordings is better, I have stereo, so things sound fuller, it is easier to set levels and hear changes. It makes me feel like I need Helix Native less. Happy days :-) DM 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SYAIFUDDIN Posted November 28, 2020 Share Posted November 28, 2020 I have passed the BSOD win 10 and I can do the recording smoothly on my daw ,,,,,,, but there is one thing that still fails, namely I cannot listen to the sound from the video player that is played without going through my daw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DolurumMafikala Posted November 28, 2020 Author Share Posted November 28, 2020 Hi, Have you changed the Windows Playback Device to the Pod? If you click the speaker icon in the bottom-right of the screen in Win10 you can select the Pod there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SYAIFUDDIN Posted November 28, 2020 Share Posted November 28, 2020 I have changed it many times but it still fails Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SYAIFUDDIN Posted November 28, 2020 Share Posted November 28, 2020 i'am sorry Sir , the problem has been resolved, it turns out I used the 4.2.7.1 driver on win 10 ,,,,, after I replaced it with 4.2.7.7 then my problem was resolved Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DolurumMafikala Posted November 28, 2020 Author Share Posted November 28, 2020 Good news! Happy Podding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohannDaart Posted November 30, 2020 Share Posted November 30, 2020 I really liked your guide, thanks man! I'm on Windows 8.1, but I had one BSOD too. Before it happened, I've noticed that sometimes when I was doing breaks (leaving DAW open), after coming back I had some stuttering. Then one time after taking a break I've encountered this stuttering, so I restarted my DAW. No stuttering but... BSOD. Now that you've linked this Line 6 USB guidance, I see that they recommend disabling "selective USB off" and "hard disk off". So I've checked advanced options of my energy plan and hey, USB disabling was ON and turning off hard lollipop was ON after 20 minutes. Could this hard disk disabling after 20 minutes be the cause of my stuttering that lead to BSOD? It seems to align with my breaks... I think POD HD drivers were written before era of widespread energy saving laptops, so they might be sensitive to this USB / Hard Disk disabling. So to make them stable, it's better to set your laptop to work like a PC without energy saving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tebanc Posted January 21, 2021 Share Posted January 21, 2021 This is PURE GOLD, thank you so much. I was never able to solve this problem before. I had another PC and had random BSODs when using POD HD and any DAW. Now Im using a new PC, and I was hoping not to have BSOD again, but it was the same thing. Your method worked like a dream to me. I'm using Cakewalk by Bandland, and I followed the same steps but for Cakewalk. On 9/19/2020 at 8:21 AM, DolurumMafikala said: 1) Windows Sound Control Panel/Playback tab/Line 6 POD HD Device Properties/Advanced/Default Format -> Set to 24bit, 48000 Hz (Studio Quality) 2) Windows Sound Control Panel/Recording tab/Line 6 POD HD Device Properties/Advanced/Default Format -> Set to 24bit, 48000 Hz (Studio Quality) 3) Reaper/Audio Device Settings -> Request Sample Rate to 48000 (Cakewalk was at 44100) 4) On the Pod itself, under the IO settings there is a setting for the sample rate of the S/PDIF interface. This name suggests it has nothing to do with the USB output, but I made sure it was set to 48Khz too. Annoyingly, I can't remember what the default was, so I can't remember if I changed this. In Cakewalk, it was at 44100 hz, and changed it to 48000 hz. But this setup is for new project only, I tried working on a old project and a BSOD occured inmediately. Then I opened new projects and not even a single BSOD so far. I set everything to 48000 hz as your steps say, and I can confirm POD HD was at 44.1 kHz before. Changed it for 48khz. Guitar gods bless you. Thank you. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DolurumMafikala Posted January 21, 2021 Author Share Posted January 21, 2021 Glad it worked for you @Tebanc :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DolurumMafikala Posted January 21, 2021 Author Share Posted January 21, 2021 On 11/30/2020 at 11:36 PM, JohannDaart said: I really liked your guide, thanks man! I'm on Windows 8.1, but I had one BSOD too. Before it happened, I've noticed that sometimes when I was doing breaks (leaving DAW open), after coming back I had some stuttering. Then one time after taking a break I've encountered this stuttering, so I restarted my DAW. No stuttering but... BSOD. Now that you've linked this Line 6 USB guidance, I see that they recommend disabling "selective USB off" and "hard disk off". So I've checked advanced options of my energy plan and hey, USB disabling was ON and turning off hard lollipop was ON after 20 minutes. Could this hard disk disabling after 20 minutes be the cause of my stuttering that lead to BSOD? It seems to align with my breaks... I think POD HD drivers were written before era of widespread energy saving laptops, so they might be sensitive to this USB / Hard Disk disabling. So to make them stable, it's better to set your laptop to work like a PC without energy saving. Hi @JohannDaart, Sorry, I missed your post. From the sound of it it could well be related. It is easy enough to change those settings and see if it helps. I think you have to nurse those drivers a little. DM 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmybeijng2014 Posted February 6, 2021 Share Posted February 6, 2021 I noticed when I use hd500x editor to change the block placement,it crashes and BSOD immediately,wether using daw or not,is your BSOD kind of random? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DolurumMafikala Posted February 7, 2021 Author Share Posted February 7, 2021 @Jimmybeijng2014 I haven't seen that issue myself. My issue was with recording (and therefore the USB audio streaming element of the drivers). I have not seen problems with HD Edit communicating with the 500x myself. Is your issue with a particular Tone, or with every Tone? Thanks, DM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.