USB cables appear to be source of Windows 7 USB recognition problem

We have been working with customers over the past months to track down the source of the USB device recognition problem that has affected some customers upgrading to Windows 7. To date we are seeing the problem occur on a similar type of PC, mainly desktops with multiple USB ports on the back, top and front. The ports not physically on the motherboard (those on the front and top) are likely to actually be on an internal "hub", with internal cabling used to connect to the physical ports on the top/front. When connecting a device with a long (over 6') USB cable, especially the older 9' USB1.1 cable supplied with the original SL1200 models, the combination causes enough deterioration of the USB signal that Windows 7 does not complete the identification and installation of driver.

The solution appears to be quite simple: use a short, high quality USB cable connected to a port that is most likely on the motherboard (eg back of the computer clustered next to other ports). We are presently testing this out with customers and will offer a more definitive report soon.

Model 1600 series now available with balanced outputs

We now offer transformer balanced outputs as an option on our Model 1600 DACs. This provides another level of isolation between your PC and audio system, and offers users of high-end or professional components with balanced inputs a compatible output format (XLR). Click here for more details.

Refreshing the USB components in Windows 7

Update 12/9/2010  If you are having device recognition problems, we suggest you first try using a short USB cable, as we describe in todays post.

The following simple procedure can be used to force Windows to delete and reload its USB components. Corrupted or missing components can be the cause of device recognition problems. We recommend you have the stereo-link connected, and remove other working USB devices, especially your USB mouse if you are using one. Prepare to use an alternate mouse, touchpad or keypad, as a USB mouse will be temporarily disabled during the uninstall process. As always, it is good practice to create a restore point before proceeding.

Control Panel - Device Manager - Universal Serial Bus controllers (see screen shot) RIGHT CLICK  and UNINSTALL all of the items. DO NOT remove the Universal Serial Bus Controllers category itself.

The number of items in the list will depend on the USB hardware on your computer and the USB devices connected to it. External USB devices like the stereo-lin will appear as USB composite devices.  Right click and choose Properties if you wish to see which item corresponds to your hardware.

When this is completed, RESTART the computer - this will reinstall the USB components and drivers.

See also Microsoft's  Tips for solving USB Problems

If you are having problems with Windows 7, please contact us

We need to gather data from as many customers as possible, as we have not been able to reliably duplicate the problem with the computers we have tried it on. We believed we had found a sample, but "unfortunately" the stereo-link started working right after we asked for a printout of the registry key. It has continued to work since.

email us at supportb@stereo-link.com and we will reply with some simple instructions for creating a printout of a portion of your registry that you can email back to us.

All new stereo-link models QC tested under Windows 7

We have tested all of our stereo-link DAC models, from the original model 1200 production reference to our current 1600 series, and found all of them to be compatible with Windows 7. Unfortunately, as noted here, a small number of users have experienced difficulty when upgrading to Windows 7 with certain hardware configurations. To ensure trouble free performance for new customers, every product we ship now undergoes a complete final test using a Windows 7 PC.

We will continue to monitor the situation with existing customers and post any new information as it becomes available.

Beatles 24bit FLAC release compatible with stereo-link

The stereo-link DAC is ideal for playing the new Beatles 24 bit FLAC release. Both Models 1400 and 1600 identify themselves to the computer as 24 bit devices, but Vista and Windows 7 incorrectly display the device as 16 bit under Playback Device -> Properties -> Advanced. However applications accurately detect the 24 bit capability.



For best results, we recommend using the latest release of foobar2000 with the ASIO driver option(both available as free downloads). When playing back 24 bit files, the ASIO4ALL driver improves the noise floor by about 4 dB over the Windows Direct Sound Drivers. We will be posting additional information here soon, including recommended settings for the latest releases. In the mean time, see our FAQ for details. The latest version of foobar2000 (V0.9.6.9) does not require the Output Format to be set to 32 bits, and in fact produces better results when that item is disabled.

Windows 7 and stereo-link compatability

stereo-link USB DACs are designed to work with the basic USB audio drivers that are part of all modern operating systems. The newly released Windows 7 is no exception. We have tested operation using an HP Pavilion Entertainment PC running Windows 7 Premium Home Edition 64 bit. Initial identification, loading of drivers, and activation as the default audio output device all occurred smoothly, just as in previous versions of Windows. There is no need for special drivers.

For reference the driver version we used was 6.1.7600.16385 dated 7/13/2009 (see above screen capture).

The stereo-link also works normally in the XP mode of Windows 7 Professional. It must first be attached to the Virtual machine using the USB menu item on the XP Mode window.

Nevertheless, a few users who purchased new Windows 7 PCs have had difficulty getting their stereo-link to work properly, even though they worked perfectly with their old XP or Vista computers. We are trying to determine the cause, but it appears there is some instability within this initial release of Windows 7. So far the problem seems to be occurring more often with custom built systems.

Here is what one customer has reported. His "solution" has also worked for other users, though it is far from ideal.

Windows 7 recognized the stereo-link the very first boot and every time thereafter but gives me a usb audio driver error and would not work. Roughly 2 days later it just started working while I was using the computer. Since then I have figured out that by enabling / disabling the device I can sometimes get Windows to "use" the driver. It will just sometimes boot and work and other time it boots and has to be messed with to get it to load properly. It defintely appears to be a Windows 7 "bug".

If you are experienceing similar problems, we encourage you to let us know by leavng a comment. Be sure to include details about your computer.