Engine#3, Loudspeakers and Exclusive Mode

[PeterSt]

Coincidentally I ran into this :

Sound Device is : SoundMAX Integrated Digital HD Audio.

When this device is used over the "Loudspeakers" (hence no digital out) this can play, no matter we use Exclusive Mode. Ok, before (few months ago) this was logic to me, because then XXHighEnd also addressed Shared Mode. But not anymore now ...
This still works with Exclusive Mode, with the difference opposed to digital out that the Windows Volume can be used (just as well as that the sound can be shut off completely). But, this still will imply bit perfect playback (ok, with the volume at 100%).

[Note : To some of you this might not be news.]

But there's a pitfall;
In my particular case, there is no SPDIF connection for this device. Thus, loudspeakers only. This means that there is no tab in the device's properties with checkboxes allowing you to tick what it should allow (the tab where you can tick things like DTS as well). This by itself is not important, but, it gives less confusion on what does what (or nothing while the options are there). So, in this case there's only the Advanced tab, with the both checkboxes for Exclusive mode, and the combobox showing the possible playback modes of the device (like 44.1/16, 48/16, 48/24). Now, here things become important;

The combobox most often (if not always) shows 48/16 as the chosen setting. This setting - in this case - is the most active;
Obviously 44.1/16 won't play when 48/16 is set. BUT (!) :
When you tried it once with a "wrong" setting (like 48/16 would be), and then set it to 44.1/16, you will receive this :

ENDPOINT CREATE FAILED -> The Dac does not accept this byte sequence
The Device cannot play

The stupid thing is, this message is not for real, or better, just wrong (and I can't improve it btw). It occurs because the device is occupied by the previous attempt, at least in my case it is. It needs a reboot ! But careful now, you must FIRST set it to 44.1/16, otherwise windows sounds will "occupy" the 48/16 and again it won't work.

In brief :
Set the device to 44.1/16, reboot.
Start XX with a 44.1/16 file.

Now for those who receive the ENDPOINT CREATE FAILED message, but with normal digital (SPDIF/USB) out :
I expect the culprit to be the same. I can't test this myself though;
Just follow above procedure and try ...


PS: I tried to reset the device's occupation by all means I could think of, but failed. So if you are playing with this, think of many reboots.
PPS: For devices responding like this, it is most probable that the DAC Test is not reliable. In my case only 44.1/16 and 48/16 are reported, while 44.1/24 and 48/24 should work too (too much hussle to test, sorry -> set the Combobox to something else, reboot, and the DAC Test may show different results).