Sonic Studio III makes CPU tests fail and unstable

[awesomepaw]

Hello,

I've noticed that whenever I have sonic studio III installed, my PC becomes unstable (software crashes, chrome errors). 

When I run Prime95 it fails within a minute. 

When I run Intel Processor Diagnostic Tool, it fails at Prime number and Math test.

As soon as I uninstall Sonic studio III, my PC becomes stable again and I pass Prime95 and IPDT test. 
I can reproduce this issue with 100%

I need sonic studio III to make sure my Mic works (mic input volume is very low without sonic studio III)

Windows 11
B660-I
i5-12600k
Realtek Audio drivers 6.0.9411.1 - I have tried installing from armory crate and also just the drivers from asus support page

[Silent_Scone]

Hi @awesomepaw 

I would avoid running Prime95 altogether due to exposing the CPU to excessive current. There's no reason to expose the system to a synthetic power virus such as this, more so especially if you're not experiencing issues in daily workloads.

Does any other application exhibit instability?

Have you tried disabling XMP overclocking so the system is stock?

[awesomepaw]

Hello,
Thanks for the reply. My system is stock and not overclocked. Sonic studio III causes instability on everything I do, games, video edit, browsing, youtube. I've tried fresh driver installs and such, I can consistently reproduce the issue with the combination of realtek audio drivers & sonic studio III.

*If there is another solution besides Sonic Studio III to get my Mic volume to normal, that would work for me too

Thanks!

[Silent_Scone]

By not overclocked, can you confirm XMP is not enabled?

It seems strange that ST3 would cause other applications to fail in this way. If a thread is dropping in P95, it would indicate the system is unstable. Certain apps that poll the system can expose these instabilities faster. Are you able to run HCI Memtest Pro or Karhu Ram test to check the memory is stable?

[awesomepaw]

Yes, I just confirmed I do not have XMP on.

I ran memtest last night and my Ram is fine.

@MoKiChU  gave me instructions on trying how a fresh install using this link: 
"You need Realtek Audio Drivers (UAD - ASUS ROG SS3-DTS) from the first post of this thread : [DRIVERS] Realtek Audio (AMD 3xx/4xx/5xx/6xx/8xx & Intel 2xx/3xx/4xx/5xx/6xx/7xx/8xx)."

Interestingly enough, if I use the link there. It installs fine and I have no stability issue. BUT for some reason sonic studio 3 installed this way doesn't have the sonic virtual mixer option and it doesn't fix my low volume Mic. That's the only reason I wanted sonic studio 3.

[Silent_Scone]

Are you able to show where you downloaded SS3 originally?

The issue I have is, I'm struggling to see how Prime falling over could be attributed directly to Sonic Studio, especially given you're having errors in other applications also - seems like a red herring.

[awesomepaw]

I originally installed it though the Sonic Studio Companion in my task bar. I'ved also tried installing it through the microsoft app store as well.

When I uninstall sonic studio, my prime95 passes as well as intel's IPDT test.

Thanks for the help btw!

[MoKiChU]

Hi,

Glad to hear that this fixed you're issue, but it's not normal that SS3 can hang your system to this extent and crash some of your apps (some older versions of SS3 apps could hang the startup of some apps like your web browser or other apps for a few seconds, but not to the point of crashing them or making your system unstable), as @Silent_Scone spotted it well, the root cause is probably elsewhere (SS3 hangs probably just highlighted a deeper stability issue).

About Sonic Studio Virtual Mixer :

SSVM (Sonic Studio Virtual Mixer) was already disabled by default with the latest SS3 drivers package from ASUS for some ASUS ROG SS3|DTS Sound Unbound motherboards with ALC40xx codec :

SSVM also trigger anti-cheat like Vanguard anti-cheat from Riot.

So since the last SS3 Extension Driver, SSVM is no more used/installed as stated in this post : https://rog-forum.asus.com/t5/downloads-for-motherboards/drivers-realtek-audio-amd-3xx-4xx-5xx-6xx-8...

---

@MoKiChU wrote:

Hi everyone,

@ ASUS ROG SS3 & SS3|DTS Sound Unbound motherboards users : SSVM is avoided and is no longer installed since this latest update of the SS3 Extension Driver (this was done because SSVM generated too many stability issues according to ASUS and it triggered Vanguard anti-cheat from Riot).

---

About your mic input volume : You should be able to increase the mic gain via SS3 as you did before (or via Realtek Audio Control app if SS3 app is uninstalled).

---

[awesomepaw]

I believe it's a combo of the realtek driver and ss3 that causes issues. I noticed if I only have ss3 but not the driver, it is fine also. If I have both it causes stability issues.

The mic issue is not resolved unfortunately. Realtek audio control at +30db already. SS3 Record tab seems to be missing some options I had on previously in the Record Studio tab. I notice I don't have Sonic Studio Virtual Mixer anymore and I think I need that to get my mic working. Does this version of the install don't have it?  Wait I just re-read your post that SSVM isn't included anymore. How do I get my mic volume adjusted then. Sonic Studio doesn't have option to boost my volume. Only Realtek audio control does and it's already maxed out db