Audio failure

[Italiangen2022]

During a Zoom webinar yesterday,  I lost my mic and speakers connection.  The yellow or red exclamation on the icon.

Thanks for taking my question.

I'm using W11 on a Lenovo ThinkPad P14s.  I'm also using a USB digital mixer Behringer  Flow 8.  Everything is updated and zoom recognizes both the mics and speakers.  Then for whatever reason it gets dropped.  The only way I could get the audio bac was when I disconnect the USB cable from the mixer, wait a few seconds and plug back in.

Thanks in advance for your help.

PeterD

[bstrelko]

When this happens, is the Behringer device still visible as a connected audio device in Control Panel / Device Manager? Just want to rule out an issue with the device's USB connection (regardless of Zoom) before troubleshooting further.

[Italiangen2022]

Hi and thanks for responding.  I know that it was still listed in Zoom as a selection for Mics and Speakers but I never checked the Control Panel / Device manager.  

Yesterday I looked at the Event Viewer for any errors and I've included them for you.  They are from the time period of the webinar.

Thank you for your help.

[bstrelko]

Event ID 33 is the most concerning - can you relay the details?

If, as I suspect, this is a USB audio issue outside of Zoom, I would start by testing other ports on the host device (as well as other cables) to see if the issue can be reproduced with those variables changed before diving into driver troubleshooting.

Also, is the Behringer device running latest firmware?

[Italiangen2022]

Here are the 33 errors

[Italiangen2022]

...and Yes, I'm running the latest firmware and have tried a second usb cable and the device is recognized in control panel.

[bstrelko]

Just to clarify, 'the device is recognized in control panel' when the issue is present and the device is no longer recognized in Zoom?

This is what we need to assess.

Also, can you confirm whether or not applications are allowed to take exclusive control of the audio driver? More on this here:

It is possible that another application is attempting to use the driver when it's already in use by Zoom.

[Italiangen2022]

I just connected the device to my ThinkPad.  Here is what the property sheets shows.  I am not sure what exclusive mode should be set at.  How can I tell if an app has exclusive control vs a device's property sheet?

I just started Zoom.  Here is what is seen.

The only other programs that I was using during the meeting for only a few minutes were the video player.

Here is what Device Manager shows.

Does this information help?

Thank you very much for your help.

[Italiangen2022]

Hi.  I ran a test with my device supplier, Behringer, and it was suggested that windows was trying to use its generic driver and not the device's ASIO driver.  We basically disabled all of the other mic devices in Sound Settings and it seemed to have worked.  Any thoughts on this?  I guess I should speak to MS Windows team and get their comments.

Looking forward to your feedback.

Peter D

[bstrelko]

ASIO drivers are [almost] always the best choice when available for audio devices when using Windows. Glad Behringer was able to point you in this direction!

Pretty comprehensive article on the history and benefits of ASIO here:

https://www.makeuseof.com/what-is-an-asio-driver/

[Italiangen2022]

Thanks for this information.  How can I guarantee that the ASIO driver is used when I'm on Zoom and using the Digital Mixer?

Peter

[bstrelko]

While my previous statement stands, it does appear (after a bit of digging) that Zoom does not support ASIO drivers, so you will need to use the standard WDM ones. It seems as though Behringer's workaround was successful - were you previously hard-setting the Behringer Flow 8 as your audio device or using "Same as System Audio", which happened to be the Behringer Flow 8 at the time? The two options might yield different results (with preference for hard-setting). 

Also, is your Flow 8 set as a default recording or playback device in Windows, regardless of whether or not you're using Zoom? This may also be worth toggling.

[Italiangen2022]

Hi.  Thanks for your reply.

I only use the Flow 8 for Zoom meetings.  And I only attach the Flow8 when I'm on Zoom. 

So, if I understand the suggested fix correctly, I should disable all devices other than the Flow8 which I'm using in streaming mode.  The Windows audio property sheet for both the playback and recording should be in Allow apps to take Exclusive control.  Am I correct?

Peter

[Italiangen2022]

One clarification:  My flow8 mixer is in streaming mode when I'm on Zoom.  Even if I disable all other audio devices including enhancements, Zoom will still tell me connection to mics has been lost.

Also Zoom is very slow in responding to clicks.  It's not my workstation's memory or CPU being overloaded.

Please escalate is.

PeterD

[Italiangen2022]

What usb digital mixers will Zoom support?  When will Zoom allow for ASIO drivers?