Hardware Optimize Capture Card Audio Help

[DeadSkullzJr]

Hello everyone, I was hoping that I wouldn't have to go someplace to seek help over this, but I am running out of methods to fix the weird issue I am having, this is going to get lengthy so prepare yourself. I was gifted a New Nintendo 3DS XL with an Optimize capture card installed recently, after installing the appropriate driver and utilizing the respective software for the specified capture card, everything from a visual perspective seems to work fine, I didn't have to calibrate the colors or anything of the sorts. By default you won't hear any digital audio through the capture software, but that's not to say there isn't an option to enable audio, which by this point you already know what I did next.

Now for the issues:

• Popping can be heard from time to time, it can be heard when sitting in the home menu for a bit, but also occurs in 3DS games, however this doesn't seem to occur when playing NDS games.
• 3DS games seem to have crackling or slight buzzing sounds when the audio becomes louder (game varies). Minecraft for example, whenever the game music plays, you'll hear crackling or slight buzzing whenever the audio gets more dramatic/louder, but backs off when the audio gets quieter.

For more context about my environment. My current rig is six years old, it packs an Intel i7-7700k (4.20GHz) processor, while "old" by current standards, it's still very much a powerful desktop processor, and I know for a fact things like this won't cause performance issues or anything of the sorts (important information because the capturing process is CPU reliant). In terms of my audio environment, my system packs a Creative Sound Blaster Recon3Di sound system, and the reason I am mentioning this is because this is my main source for sound. A little story as to why though, I recently got a new wired headset, a variant that uses audio jack ports rather than USB like my old headset, main reason I got it is because my old headset clashed with the audio jack connections due to the microphone connection of the headset, because the headset was 2-in-1, the only way to fix the issue was to disconnect the headset entirely, which is impractical since I need to hear the game sounds, hence why I opted to the audio jack headset, worst case I just pull the microphone plug out if it still clashed and still have the headphones portion of the headset still connected in the system, funnily enough it doesn't clash with the new headset's microphone connection, so nothing has to be removed. However what seemed like a small changed ended up being a leap into the world of sound "card" usage (provided it's built into the motherboard, I don't think "card" is the right term, but the result would be the same even with a separate dedicated card). This is new territory for me since I've never really had a nice sound system to deal with before, at least not that I can recall in my life, I know years ago when I was much younger I had a system with a separate card, but those were simpler times with less complications like these that I had to worry about. Anyways, I'm not an audio expert, I just know the basics on what I am looking for, this issue is getting in the way of things though and I can't seem to source out the problem.

What I have tried so far:

• The Optimize capture card relies on a micro USB connection, which means I am dealing with a USB 2.0 cable. I've tried numerous ports on my machine, both in the front IO and the board IO in the back, the results are the same regardless of using USB 2.0 or USB 3.0 ports. I don't have converters so I couldn't test the connection in the USB-C port, I can't use the USB 3.1 Type-A port (Red) since it doesn't seem to be intended for general connections, for context on the motherboard I have, I use a Z270X-Gaming 7 motherboard. The good news is I get a stable 264Mbps connection when the capture card is connected to my system regardless of the other ports I use according to the capture software, so that seems to be fine there.
• I messed with some of the digital audio settings in the capture software. XAudio 2.8 seems to make the audio pop and crackle worse than it's probably supposed to, I don't know much about this option, though I know many other pieces of software, emulators for example, seem to have a version of XAudio, no idea what to expect when using it though, aside from this instance. Changing the default buffer settings doesn't seem to make a difference either.
• I installed the latest drivers for my system, downgrading drivers seems to be difficult since there aren't sources to make that job easy, but uninstalling and letting Windows source out default drivers didn't seem to change the results (restored the latest drivers after testing).
• I quite literally did a clean install of Windows 10 Pro, mostly because I needed it after four years stacking up against the operating system and breaking stuff. Squeaky clean install on my end, so the operating system can't possibly be the issue (then again we are talking about Microsoft here).
• I tried out the ASIO4ALL driver with the offline settings GUI enabled thinking maybe that could offer a fix of some sort, unfortunately that did nothing for me when messing with the options.
• I tried messing about with my sound system settings with the dedicated Sound Blaster software, that didn't seem to give me much benefit, I even went as far as to disable all the special settings and essentially give myself stock sound (similarly to what you would get connecting a generic USB headset), that didn't seem to work either, and in fact made it worse because now the sound in general was way too quiet to hear with the same exact volume settings before the option changes (I fixed the settings afterwards back to the default so nothing would break).
• I unplugged many of my USB devices and even tried disconnecting the microphone from the machine, essentially leaving the capture card being the only thing connected, that didn't change anything at all, a note to make though is this didn't change the 264Mbps USB connection, which further proves that my system can handle it even with the various devices connected at once.
• I tried a different computer that I have, this one not having a dedicated sound card of sorts to work with, and the results don't seem to change.
• I tried a different branded set of headphones entirely thinking maybe the two I have on me are just problematic in some manner, this didn't seem to change the results.
• I did a ton of Google searching and even took a shot in the dark with YouTube videos, neither solutions seem to provide any solid related cases or videos explaining anything of the same issues. I did stumble on ONE video related to the Optimize capture card audio settings, but the issue from that was due to that individual's connection setup, and they were using a much older build of the capture software, and according to the version of the software (v6.60), they were using a much older variant catered to the capture card for the original Nintendo 3DS (the latest version currently being v7.01r6).
• I found out that my microphone port is also a line-in port, I managed to get the audio to work correctly when using the audio jack of the New Nintendo 3DS system, the only downside is it's extremely quiet in comparison to the digital audio handling that the capture software does, that's without changing the master volume mind you, I have no idea how to change the line-in volume without changing the master volume to make it just as loud.

Things I have considered to be the potential problem:

• The capture software audio feature has "beta" next to it, which means there's the probability chance that the problem is the capture software itself and not anything on my end. As of this time of typing I'm using v2.11 of the New Nintendo 3DS Optimize capture software, which according to the date modification of the software, was messed with or compiled on September 8, 2022, so clearly they still support the software in some way, updates are just slow.
• Maybe the micro USB 2.0 cable that came with my capture system is a problem in some way. I will have to buy another micro USB cord to really know for certain, I don't have another one on hand currently.
• My current audio setup just needs to be tweaked some more in ways I am not thinking of, given I am not an audio expert, I'm sure I am missing some details here.
• Something could potentially be wrong with my capture card, but provided the popping and crackling/buzzing doesn't occur until things get louder, I have no clue. I really, REALLY, hope nothing is actually wrong with it, because these things aren't cheap, I can't afford one of these personally, so the fact relatives gifted me one of these, I am having some serious hope right now.

Can anyone else with an Optimize capture card for their New Nintendo 3DS XL system chip in and test some games out, confirm the issues I am dealing with, using the default capture software audio settings, etc. Minecraft seems to be the worst one of the bunch with the game music, so maybe test with that and see if results appear to be the same. It would help ease my mind at least if I knew this wasn't a capture card issue but something else, because the chances of two or more people having/experiencing the same issue usually yields outside source related issues that we can relate to try and fix. Sorry if this is all over the place, I just want this to work the way it should, it already does half the job really well, I just need the other half of it working properly if it all possible.

 

[TheStonedModder]

I’ve had several of these capture cards in the past.
Could just be an incompatibility with windows. Their unsigned drivers are ass, and I could only fix it by reinstalling windows(the drivers would never fully uninstall properly) but reinstalling windows, and installing the unsigned drivers before you even plug the card in, has fixed this for me.

It could also be hardware related of the several ice owned, about half broke in this manner from the usb port, Due to the tension/force of inserting and removing the cable

These cards can also be VERY picky about the micro usb cord they work with. Some of mine would give me nothing, just video, or just audio


It could very well be something else still…but at least from my experience it’s a crap shoot of one of these fixed. These cards are engineered terribly

Sorry this wasn’t a more straightforward answer but hopefully it helps you solve your problem

 

[DeadSkullzJr]

I’ve had several of these capture cards in the past.
Could just be an incompatibility with windows. Their unsigned drivers are ass, and I could only fix it by reinstalling windows(the drivers would never fully uninstall properly) but reinstalling windows, and installing the unsigned drivers before you even plug the card in, has fixed this for me.

It could also be hardware related of the several ice owned, about half broke in this manner from the usb port, Due to the tension/force of inserting and removing the cable

These cards can also be VERY picky about the micro usb cord they work with. Some of mine would give me nothing, just video, or just audio


It could very well be something else still…but at least from my experience it’s a crap shoot of one of these fixed. These cards are engineered terribly

Sorry this wasn’t a more straightforward answer but hopefully it helps you solve your problem

I've considered buying a new cord just to find out. I will say the one supplied with the system didn't feel bad quality at all, pretty thick and sturdy cord, though kind of short. Of course I don't know the brand, so I can't tell whether or not it is down to its internal design. From my experiences so far the capture card seems to be seated in the device good enough, doesn't move around or anything, I stick the cable in gently, I want it to last me a long time after all. I've already reinstalled Windows and installed the driver, long before I connected the capture card to the machine, result wasn't any different from before wiping my previous Windows install.

 

[DeadSkullzJr]

Hello everyone, some time ago I was experiencing a weird quirk with the audio capabilities provided by the capture software that Optimize capture cards utilize, to be specific, the Optimize capture card for the New Nintendo 3DS XL. There weren't many leads on the internet on the cause of such things, and it was only recent when I managed to find a single YouTuber who even acknowledged the audio capabilities and mentioned about some of the issues I experienced, meaning there is a likelihood that the issue is software related and not hardware related (I will continue to hunt down sources who use this specific model's capture card and the software for it). Did some digging on an alternative solution, and there wasn't a lot to work with, so I decided to work up a quick and dirty requirement's list for this alternative method.

Your Nintendo 3DS system has an audio auxiliary jack, intended to be used with headphones. You can utilize this to achieve audio output through your computer via line-in (the microphone port usually is also your line-in port). You'll need two things to make this work fluently.

First you'll need a 3.5mm auxiliary cable of sorts, male to male to be exact, it's best you get a decent cable, using really cheap cables only give so much audio quality capabilities, not to mention the cheaper variants when moved around tend to cause static noise to occur, you'll want one with appropriate shielding. An image of what one looks like:

Next you will want to invest in a ground loop and power noise isolation solution of sorts, due to the demanding nature of your computer hardware, and the fact no portion of the system is generally designed to isolate ground looping or power noise, you will hear really high pitch sounds when you have the auxiliary cable connected to your machine from the Nintendo 3DS system. The device below will solve the issue really well, you don't need a fancy one made for vehicles or anything like that either, just one similar if not identical to the device below will suffice. Unfortunately the signal won't ever be squeaky clean from noise related issues, but by the end of this you should be able to go about streaming and or recording with these tools with relative ease. If your computer uses a fancy sound system of sorts, I recommend you temporarily disable the fancy settings provided the "smart audio" solutions tend to make the volume seem louder than it actually is, which can mess you up with trying to find a decent volume level for your recording/streaming audio when playing. I also recommend you play it careful when using 2-in-1 USB headsets because the these tend to clash with line-in connections (one of the reasons I had to buy a new headset just to prevent the clash, an auxiliary jack based headset with splitters to split the headphone and microphone functions works perfectly here).