Zedi10 interface driver problem

[Branko]

I just got ZEDi10FX, a nice mixer that works as an audio interface as well.

https://www.allen-heath.com/ahproducts/zedi-10/

Tried recording in Cakewalk and the sound is metalic, distorted. Checkd on driver and it was set to WASAPI Shared, tried to switch to ASIO and got this error:

Realtek ASIO

This driver is known to be incompatible with Cakewalk. Continuing to use this driver may lead to instability.

For best results, we recommend switching to a compatible ASIO or WASAPI Windows driver.

Would you like to switch to WASAPI mode now?

I had to switch back to WASAPI because if I leave it with ASIO, Cakewalk becomes almost unresponsive.

Has anyone has this situation with some gear?
I have no idea what to do here? CW is useless with this interface as it is.

[scook]

Did you install the ASIO driver from https://www.allen-heath.com/ahproducts/zedi-10/?

Here are the instructions https://www.allen-heath.com/media/ZEDi-USB-Windows-Driver-Help.pdf

Once the driver is installed:

• reboot,
• run the DAW,
• select the ASIO driver mode in Preferences > Audio > Playback and Recording and
• select the zedi-10 in Preferences > Audio > Devices.

[bobpatrick]

Branko, did you ever solve this issue? I am having the same problem despite having the proper drivers installed. It happens in the Cubase software that comes with the mixer too.

I’m wondering if I bought a defective unit.

[Byron Dickens]

I don't think Branko is going to answer; he hasn't been back.

[bobpatrick]

Thanks for replying.

I dusted off an old laptop, installed CW, and tried it there. No issues. So, seems the problem is my PC, not the mixer.

[Starship Krupa]

19 hours ago, bobpatrick said:

seems the problem is my PC, not the mixer.

Realtek is the maker of the onboard sound device in most PC's. Some Realtek driver installers include an ASIO driver for the Realtek chip, which if it worked correctly would be a great thing, but it usually gets the kind of result you are seeing.

You don't want to use your onboard sound chip anyway, so follow scook's instructions:

On 7/9/2022 at 1:52 PM, scook said:

• select the ASIO driver mode in Preferences > Audio > Playback and Recording and
• select the zedi-10 in Preferences > Audio > Devices.

 

[bobpatrick]

Coming back to this late, sorry. Just want to note that scook's instructions did not work for me. The mixer keeps disconnecting, and the sound coming in when I can get it to work is terrible. This is happening on both Windows 10 computers (including the one that I had thought it was working with).

Also, when I change the driver mode to ASIO, I can't even see most of the mixer's inputs in Cakewalk, despite Windows recognizing them.

Screenshots attached. I'm giving up. Really bummed that I wasted money on this mixer.

[John Vere]

Seems like you haven’t optimized you computer for audio One of the steps is disable USB power saving. 

[sjoens]

The ZEDi 10 only has 2 stereo ins & outs. They are all shown in your screen shot.  Analogue 1 = stereo pair 1+2.  Pan channel 1 hard left & 2 hard right for 2 mono channels.

Why it was disconnected from your system??

[John Vere]

12 hours ago, sjoens said:

Why it was disconnected from your system??

Because if USB power saving is on it will disconnect. That’s why it’s the most important default setting to change.  

[sjoens]

I asked because if this happens before the PC ever goes to sleep it's because the user disconnected it, not Windows.

My PCs are now set to never sleep so Windows doesn't mess with things like that.  I also set the lid to Nothing happens when closed.  Because USB power saving also affects things like my printer I am disabling it as well, but until today it was enabled.

FWIW I also disabled the disconnect warning in Preferences > Display so I'm not bothered by it.

[bobpatrick]

John Vere, thanks for the heads up about the USB setting. I'll give it a go and report back. 

[bobpatrick]

John, that seems to have worked. The disconnect issue stopped, and the audio quality problem is also gone. Thank you so much, this has been driving me nuts for awhile now. Cheers, you're a mensch.