Audio dropouts with IXO22 on Lenovo P16s Gen2 (no issue with Focusrite)

Steinberg Hardware IXO Series
1

Hi everyone,

I’m experiencing audio dropouts with my Steinberg IXO22 interface on a Lenovo ThinkPad P16s Gen2 (Intel i7, Iris Xe, Windows 11). The dropouts usually happen when I open a web browser or system settings window — but they can also occur randomly, even when nothing is happening.

LatencyMon shows some DPC issues, mostly related to ACPI.sys and dxgkrnl.sys. I’ve tested many things: USB power settings, BIOS tweaks (SpeedStep off, power management disabled), tried multiple USB ports and docks, disabled background services, and reduced screen resolution (which helps a bit).

Interestingly, my Focusrite 2i2 (2nd Gen) works fine on the same system — no dropouts at all.

At this point, I’m wondering if there’s anything specific with the Yamaha/Steinberg drivers that could be more sensitive to certain system conditions?

Any advice or similar experience would be appreciated!

Thanks,

1 Like
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I use to use a ur22c with win 10 laptop and I found I had trouble with the asio driver dropping out occasionally and stuttering and having to run high buffer settings. Have you optimised your pc for best performance?
I changed to a Scarlett solo v3 and performance and reliability was improved. Focusrite makes it easy to connect, get the correct drivers ect. Steinberg driver download systems can be rather frustrating at times.
I now am now using a iMac 27” and it is so good, powerful and reliable with rarely ever a crash unlike win 10 which crashed regularly. I found the recording quality much better with the Scarlett as well. My Steinberg interface is just a paperweight these days.

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Hello.
I’ve tried a lot of things, compared (UR22C and IXO22) and tried out several tips (including some from this forum). I even messed around in the BIOS (Speed-Step & Co.) and switched the hard drive to UEFI. Forget all that.

It’s now obvious to me that there are several conflicts (a kind of “digital decay”) here, some of which are due to the Yamaha driver, but others are also due to the computer’s operating system or hardware.

What I now know (with reasonable certainty):

The weaker the computer, the more noticeable the problem with dropouts becomes.
For example, when opening windows and/or moving the mouse or making quick mouse movements.

Tested on (Win10 22H2):
1.) Intel Celeron N4100 1.1Ghz, 16Gb, onboard graphics
2.) Intel i5-5200U 2.2Ghz, 16Gb, GeForce GTX 970M
3.) Intel i7-8700K 4,7GHz, 32Gb, GeForce GTX 1080 Ti

→ 1.) Frequent dropouts. However, the system was hopelessly underpowered for Cubase, I just wanted to mention that.

→ 2.) Occasional dropouts, especially when moving the mouse and opening windows.

→ 3.) No glitches whatsoever! Not even on my USB hub.
Connected to this hub are: wired mouse, wired keyboard, USB MIDI (4 ports) and the IXO22 interface.

Note on the UR22C on system 2.): Only when using the (very good) original USB cable was Superspeed mode possible on a USB 3.0 port (without a hub, of course). Then there were no dropouts on the system either. The IXO does not offer this option to distinguish between USB 2.0 and Superspeed.

PS: Despite these annoying technical issues, I really love my Steinberg interfaces. If only for the lettering, and the IXO22 even has an embossed logo. Unfortunately, these devices are slowly dying out.

PS2: But I know, the “Lenovo P16s Gen2” isn’t weak - now I am desperate … :slight_smile: