Distorted output with Behringer UCA202 USB sound card

[Man in a van]

Not sure I’ve tried either of my UCA202s with a Pi4 but I do have a Pi4 running with a Khalas Tone Board and for some reason it’s connected to one of the USB2 interfaces rather than USB3. I’m sure I read somewhere that USB audio interfaces don’t like USB3 but no idea where I read it or what the reasoning was.

Over on the rpi forum some users have reported USB3 causes problems with the wireless network.

The use of a ferrite clip on clamp on the connection cable has been reported to be useful.

I don't know the manner in which these problems manifest.

Do a google search for "usb 3 and wireless networks", this is one of many results

https://customer.cradlepoint.com/s/a...0-Interference

ronnie

there is Tone 2 waiting in the wings

[d6jg]

Over on the rpi forum some users have reported USB3 causes problems with the wireless network.

The use of a ferrite clip on clamp on the connection cable has been reported to be useful.

I don't know the manner in which these problems manifest.

Do a google search for "usb 3 and wireless networks", this is one of many results

https://customer.cradlepoint.com/s/a...0-Interference

ronnie

there is Tone 2 waiting in the wings

The Tone 2 looks very nice !!
https://www.khadas.com/tone2pro

[AlecSp]

Over on the rpi forum some users have reported USB3 causes problems with the wireless network.

The use of a ferrite clip on clamp on the connection cable has been reported to be useful.

I don't know the manner in which these problems manifest.

Do a google search for "usb 3 and wireless networks", this is one of many results

Interesting - though that sounds more like simple interference.

My mystery is why this will work for a day or two, and then the distortion starts.

I tried moving the USB key from the bottom USB 3 socket to the top one. I thought it was looking more hopeful, as all was good for a couple of days. But then I had to power cycle yesterday as electrical work was taking place at home. Barely 10 hours later, the distortion had come back - so much for that thought!

I've now Squeezelite Settings -> Close output setting = 600, so that Squeezelite will stop outputting to the UCA 202 10 mins after stopping/pausing, in the hope that the restart when I next play something will reset the connection to the UCA 202, in the same way that restarting Squeezelite appears to. You can hear the faint click in the audio feed when this timeout kicks in, and on subsequent restart of playing. I'll monitor this over the next few days and see how it fares - but it's still a workaround rather than a root cause fix.

[AlecSp]

I've now Squeezelite Settings -> Close output setting = 600, so that Squeezelite will stop outputting to the UCA 202 10 mins after stopping/pausing, in the hope that the restart when I next play something will reset the connection to the UCA 202, in the same way that restarting Squeezelite appears to. You can hear the faint click in the audio feed when this timeout kicks in, and on subsequent restart of playing. I'll monitor this over the next few days and see how it fares - but it's still a workaround rather than a root cause fix.

Just reporting back after a couple of weeks that this appears to have resolved my problem - or, at least, is working around it.

Thanks all for the input, much appreciated, and really helpful to have positive experience of others with the UCA 202 and some inspiration on things to try.