RVE10 - Sound problems, SupremeFX Hi-Fi not functioning

[RanceJustice]

Hello everyone. Overall I've been very happy with Asus ROG's high end products so when I went to purchase the Rampage V Edition 10 X99 motherboard, I was very happy to see the inclusion of the audio features. The idea that the baseline sound chipset was on the level of many Asus Xonar discrete cards and the bay-mounted SupremeFX Hi-Fi offered similar performance to discrete headphone amps/DACs was appreciated. While everything started out well it appears that, like many others who seem to post here, problems have arisen.

At current I am using Windows 10 x64 (and Linux) and while the standard SupremeFX / Realtec back panel audio seems functional (connected to a pair of AudioEngine 5+ speakers) and using what I believe to be the latest driver listed, I recently noticed the issue that the front-panel SupremFX Hi-Fi bay device seems completely non-functional. Trying to plug in a headset (with dual 3.5mm jacks) I was surprised to find it seemed to simply not exist. Opening the Hi-Fi utility shows an unusual picture (attached to this post) in the utility is present but all of the fields are blank.. Has anyone else run into this problem before?

Suffice it to say, the Hi-Fi bay doesn't seem to be detected, not by the OS sound config, not visible in the SupremeFX / Realtek utility, nor does its own Hi-Fi utility show anything useful. Anyone have some ideas? From others posts it seems there have been issues so perhaps the answer is out there as well, lest I have to just consider the poor thing non-functional; a frustrating end for such a high end special feature of a high end motherboard.

Thank you

[davemon50]

Check first to see if this service is running on your computer: SvAuxSrv.exe. That is the SupremeFX HiFi service. It has to be running in order to use the drive-bay DAC.

[RanceJustice]

Yes, that process is running according to the details pane in the Task Manager. I also tried manually killing the process and restarting it from the .exe directly, before launching the Hi-Fi Control Panel shortcut again.

[Vlada011]

Onboard audio solutions are not capable to compete with 60-70$ worth sound card. Simply difference is visible.
Investing in dedicate sound card is very important for me. I not use Supreme Hi-fI, but I use SBZxR.
Looks like EVGA build some high end desktop sound card great for active PC speakers.

[davemon50]

Do you have both connections securely made to it in the back of the unit? Select it in your Windows playback devices also if you need to.

[CaptainPhaser]

The Asus SupremeFX Hi-Fi DAC is an absolute mess and seems completely abandoned by Asus. As for your issues, I am currently running Win 10 x64 build 1809 and it is detected. There might be issues if you're on an insider build of Windows. Also, check device manager to see if it is detected under audio and "sound, video, and game controllers". The latest official driver that I got working "the most" is 1.9.114.21 since the other ones are not signed properly. This driver actually lets you toggle mic/line in and see the difference in your audio devices but you might have to manually install the inf file.

Be aware that this DAC has numerous issues:

• The DAC doesn't work with Sonic Studio II/III
  
• The microphone does not switch properly to "microphone" from "line in" and results in very low volume
  
• The driver for 1.9.114.26 never installs properly as it uses generic microsoft drivers. If you try to install the actual Asus/Savitech drivers they're not signed properly
  
• Even if you use the older driver with proper driver signage that allows you to switch from line to mic on the mic input, the microphone has no volume adjustment, and still sounds too quiet to use.
  

I have been in contact with Asus support since August 2018 and have been trying to get these issues resolved but they keep running in circles. I have spoken to 10 unique individuals at the Asus service center! I was told initially that a new driver would be out by the end of September 2018. That never happened. I was then told again that "Asus HQ" was working on the driver again. Occasionally I get completely off topic emails about basic troubleshooting steps as well. My latest response from Asus said they resolved the issue by telling me that the microphone volume is low so that the line out sound quality is high... No coordination on resolving this issue. They didn't address anything about the driver not being signed or installed correctly. I think it's telling that they didn't continue selling this DAC with the latest ROG boards.

[Stanislav__7]

CaptainPhaser wrote:

I have been in contact with Asus support since August 2018 and have been trying to get these issues resolved but they keep running in circles. I have spoken to 10 unique individuals at the Asus service center! I was told initially that a new driver would be out by the end of September 2018. That never happened. I was then told again that "Asus HQ" was working on the driver again. Occasionally I get completely off topic emails about basic troubleshooting steps as well. My latest response from Asus said they resolved the issue by telling me that the microphone volume is low so that the line out sound quality is high... No coordination on resolving this issue. They didn't address anything about the driver not being signed or installed correctly. I think it's telling that they didn't continue selling this DAC with the latest ROG boards.

Kind day.
There are what updates about SupremeFX Hi-Fi for Win10 1903?

[davemon50]

Stanislav_+7 wrote:
Kind day.
There are what updates about SupremeFX Hi-Fi for Win10 1903?

I know there've been a lot of issues with the SupremeFX DAC provided with the RVE10 (I have one), but The MS driver for SupremeFX hifi does work with the DAC. Windows 10-1903 and 1909 will install this driver automatically for you. In addition, the microphone does work with this driver also when using the 3.5mm jack, however the microphone volume level is not addressed (or more to the point cannot be addressed I guess by software because of hardware design issues, more likely). I did not try the 1/4-inch headphone jack simply because I don't have an adapter for that size on-hand, but the 3.5mm jack works fine for headphones.

If you think your mic isn't working, try putting on a headset with a mic (and plugging both into the DAC), and set your input device in Windows to listen to this device on the headset. Test the mic with increasing loudness, almost up to yelling, and you will start to hear it in your headset. It does work (driver works), but you still get no good volume boost.

So effectively the DAC output is good and usable, while the microphone works but is not usable. Makes it good for listening to videos or music only.


P.S. lol: I did try to use the original Asus SupremeFX driver for this board that is posted on the support page, but I can't stop Windows from installing their own driver no matter what I do. Got tired of working with that, so just gave up and have the MS driver.

[MaacK]

Good luck. The DAC is a complete pile of ****. It won't ever work right. Ditch ASUS and get a different brand, you'll save yourself a lot of headaches.