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Z790E Audio Issue

Cpjet64
Level 8

Z790-E
i9-13900K
32GB DDR5-7200

Having a weird issue with the Realtek USB Audio device not being detected by some games and preventing me from playing Spotify. I have a workaround for Spotify where I change my default audio device to something else then start playing a song and then change the device back to the Realtek USB Audio for my headphones.

Currently using the latest drivers from MoKiChU and have the latest Win10 updates and driver updates for everything else on my system. The issue seems to happen once the DTS is enabled.

Spent a hour on the phone waiting to talk to someone at ASUS only to get someone who sounded Indian and didnt know that the audio device was built-in to the motherboard and then hung up on me. So while I am on hold again trying to reach back out to ASUS about this I am posting in here hoping someone has a idea.

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So I found out finally it was a software issue and not a driver issue. Some software just isnt programmed to use 384k. Everything works fine overall and all of my games and software works fine with 192k.

I don't want to discount what you're saying but I am definitely one of those people who can see the difference between 60hz and 144hz and hear the difference between 192k and 384k. One of the downsides to my ADHD I tend to hyper focus and notice the smallest of difference in details. I specifically don't get the IEMs that your talking about because different quality levels would be too noticeable which is why I use the 1More Quad Driver ear buds because they give clean clear audio but not too clean and too clear, though I have been looking at some cheap IEMs with custom fits just for more comfort. I just use the system at 192k right now generally and for any hifi audio files I have 384k+ I just change the format then. Solid overall advice for the normal user though!

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9 REPLIES 9

Cpjet64
Level 8

Out of curiosity I uninstalled DTS and rebooted my PC but that didn't fix the issue so back to square one on what's actually causing this.

Cpjet64
Level 8

So I just confirmed the issue is 100% software and not a driver issue. The driver installed by itself works perfect. The issue is either going to be with SS3, RAC, or DTS. I don't have the time right now to install each one individually but if I install them one at a time I should be able to find the incompatibility. For the moment though I am just going to run the driver by itself

Cpjet64
Level 8

So I was wrong it is definitely a driver issue. Changing the default format to the highest like I always have is what causes the issue. So far the formats that do work properly are listed below:
16 bit, 384k
24 bit, 384k
32 bit, 384k

When using one of the formats above certain games cannot even detect the audio device or just have no sound outside of ingame voice comms.

The issue with Spotify is if one of the aforementioned formats is enabled then it wont play at all but changing to any other format works instantly.

Who would I even reach out to for reporting this issue?

Cpjet64
Level 8

So the issue with Spotify is a known bug. Since they dont support over 192k they dont care and have no plans to fix it. As for the games I am having issues with I have reached out to the devs about it.

From someone who owns the same board and has a strong interest in audio playback, being me very deaf and studying my illness workarounds and all that's related to digital audio...

Very, very few onboard chipsets can even play 384k audio files, plus very, very few audio files are even reaching that bandwidth; in addition, the best I've seen on game audio files is 192k.

And unless you have a very experienced musician or sound engineer ear, and a top of the line speaker system or headphone (I'm talking about prices in the 4-5 figures....) you won't even notice a real difference between 192k and 256k from any onboard audio chipset or even external audio card, let alone 384k, at least not worth the expense on the system.

Advice: reinstall Mokichu USB Audio drivers package following his instructions to the letter, removing any trace of DTS and all other audio junk, don't install anything other than the drivers, lower down the bandwidth setting to 192k, AT MOST 256k, and retry (on my 790E 384k wasn't even recognized and threw out an error when applied).

If that works, add the Realtek audio panel only from the Microsoft Store link provided with the package, and retry again.

Last step, to be done if you use a 5.1/7.1 system, you can add the DTS package; if you're using a headphone don't even bother, as DTS works on 5.1 and above.

(You may just lower the bandwidth to 192k and try without reinstalling, but the steps above would guarantee a clean and unjunked install of the drivers).

I hope to be helpful, tell us how that works out.

So I found out finally it was a software issue and not a driver issue. Some software just isnt programmed to use 384k. Everything works fine overall and all of my games and software works fine with 192k.

I don't want to discount what you're saying but I am definitely one of those people who can see the difference between 60hz and 144hz and hear the difference between 192k and 384k. One of the downsides to my ADHD I tend to hyper focus and notice the smallest of difference in details. I specifically don't get the IEMs that your talking about because different quality levels would be too noticeable which is why I use the 1More Quad Driver ear buds because they give clean clear audio but not too clean and too clear, though I have been looking at some cheap IEMs with custom fits just for more comfort. I just use the system at 192k right now generally and for any hifi audio files I have 384k+ I just change the format then. Solid overall advice for the normal user though!

Are you me....because I used the 1More quads as well 😄

Jokes aside, I must admit my hearing is capped at 10KHz and I can't hear anything above, even with the strongest setting on my aids, so maybe I'm not the best person to talk about audio quality.

But...10KHz isn't THAT low, considering that a normal female voice has a higher pitch around 5KHz and hi-hats sound at 7-8KHz; all that's above is mostly harmonics, the thing that gives fullness and spacial awareness in a music piece.

All I know is that a 192kbps bandwidth can reproduce all the human audible spectrum up to 20.000 Hz, so using a higher bandwidth is just a waste of resources and space; at the same time, all those additional frequencies while not audible WILL intermix with the lower ones and create the real "sound" we hear.

At the end:

- if you have a love for details, you can set as high as you can on the bandwidth but still you need a higher end audio chain (chipset included) and hunt for high bandwidth audio files (useless to play 192kbps audio on a capable 384kbps system);

- if you just want to game or listen to background music, 192kbps is the most balanced bandwidth in terms of quality and file space, and it's supported by almost all consumer audio chipsets.

Then you think aboud audio CDs and recall they are 16bit/44Kbps and everything falls apart..... 😄

Anyway, glad you found a solution, have fun with your 790E 🙂

I've had plenty of people tell me i need to get hearing aids and the only reason i don't is because I don't need to make everything louder just so I can hear it over my tinnitus lol. I'm actually kind of jealous of you because I can still hear some dog whistles at 33 years old. My system I upgraded from was a Z370-E and that was also 32bit/192k so thankfully the audio quality is the same. I need to go dig it up but I had bought a Japanese USB DAC/AMP when I was stationed in Okinawa that I used to use for my HiFi FLAC files. I had it paired with this really nice set of Klipsch speakers and it sounded incredible. People never believe me when I point out the tiny little pops and cracks and the breathes that artists take until they put on my earbuds and once they do they either become hifi fanatics and start going down that rabbit hole or they get discouraged and start thinking about how much they are actually missing. I just wish more people did initial recording/encoding with lossless 32bit/384k.

To ne honest, most high end aids can now send "inverse polarity frequencies" to help cover tinnitus without any need for amplification, the downside is that no aid will cover the entire audible spectrum so you'll have some lost frequencies.

If you can hear a dog whistle forget about hearing aids but still get some tests from time to time, it won't hurt.

And dig up that DAC! Always better than any internal chip 😄