Latency issue (Realtek, Sony sound bar, 'Rocksmith 2014')

Initial issue: I wanted to see if I could play my bass and guitars in Rocksmith 2014 through my Sony HT-CT390 sound system without latency. My headphones (Audio-Technica ATH-M35), plugged into either the front or rear audio jacks (and using the same drivers as my sound bar), produced no discernible latency. The same could be said of my ViewSonic VX2457 monitor plugged in via DisplayPort (as H.D.M.I. tends to introduce latency). The monitor is currently using driver version 10.0.1.6 (11/16/2017) of AMD High Definition Audio Device and outputs my bass guitar as I play it.

Sound bar solution: Unfortunately, I was rather unscientific and changed too many variables at once. I swapped the S/PDIF cable with an analog one, I turned off the sound bar's sound effect processing, and I downloaded Realtek drivers that gave me the ability to use the Realtek HD Audio Manager again in Control Panel. I believe I downloaded the 64-bit version of the R2.82 drivers found here. In short, whatever I did? It worked!

Issue persists: Unfortunately, less than two weeks later, I unplugged my tower to clean it out, plugged it back in, and then performed the latest Windows updates. After doing so, my monitor stopped showing up as an audio device and latency was reintroduced back into Rocksmith 2014 via the sound bar. After spending almost a week on the issue (trying different drivers, resetting the sound bar, unplugging other audio devices, etc), I got fed up and did a clean install of Windows 10.

Now: While Microsoft's default drivers (High Definition Audio Device, 10.0.18362.356, 9/4/2019) offered slightly less latency, it still wasn't enough to make the sound bar usable again while playing. Considering I was able to use the sound bar perfectly before, I was convinced that this was a driver issue and not a hardware issue, so I went and downloaded the 64-bit R2.82 package from Realtek again (current driver version = 6.0.1.8186, 6/14/2017). Sadly, now Realtek HD Audio Manager isn't an option in Control Panel again nor does clicking the file "RtkNGUI64.exe" do anything (C:\Program Files\Realtek\Audio\HDA).

TL;DR: Should I keep reverting back to older and older Realtek drivers to see if any solve my issue? If so, how do I know which drivers to download from the Microsoft Update Catalog? I guess I'm just trying to figure out if this is an H.D.A. vs. U.A.D. issue or something else. It's been tough trying to narrow this issue down :/

All relevant hardware/Windows version are listed below.

I have a recording studio. PC sound, such as Realtek (and others) are notorious for audio latency.
Best advice I can give is get a "real" recording sound interface unit with good latency. If not you will be constantly fighting the latency issues. Even inexpensive Behringer USB interface units have decent latency. I use MOTU interfaces but they are mid to high end ($$) units.


Sweetwater

There is still hope, but it is super-complicated because your motherboard came with a UAD driver that you probably somehow deleted but put on a super-old R2.82 HDA driver.

You need to reinstall your motherboard's 8858 UAD driver and you need to make sure all the old HDA stuff including the old Realtek HD Audio Manager is uninstalled. The HD audio manager can be uninstalled by settings/apps.

Then you need to install asio4all, which is universally used by amateur musicians for onboard audio.

ASIO4ALL - Universal ASIO Driver For WDM Audio

Then you need to install an UNOFFICIAL patch for the rocksmith 2014 so that the game can use asio4all. Watch out for the sampling rate (faq said it must be 48khz).

GitHub - mdias/rs_asio: ASIO for Rocksmith 2014

THERE IS ASIO SUPPORT!!!!!!!!! : rocksmith

fireberd said:

I have a recording studio. PC sound, such as Realtek (and others) are notorious for audio latency.
Best advice I can give is get a "real" recording sound interface unit with good latency. If not you will be constantly fighting the latency issues. Even inexpensive Behringer USB interface units have decent latency. I use MOTU interfaces but they are mid to high end ($$) units.

Sweetwater

I actually have a Focusrite Saffire 6 U.S.B. 1.1, but learned that it's no longer supported (i.e. "if it works, it works; if not, oh well"). I haven't messed around with it yet other than downloading the old drivers for it to see if Windows 10 would even recognize it.

The thing is, my two options with that are either plugging my headphones into the interface (which makes no sense as I'd just remove the interface from the equation altogether and plug directly into my desktop) or output the audio to my sound bar (which is the current problem). Should I still test it with my sound bar to see what happens? A new audio interface means buying studio monitors and dumping the sound bar, anyway, and that sadly isn't feasible, at the moment

sandyt said:

There is still hope, but it is super-complicated because your motherboard came with a UAD driver that you probably somehow deleted but put on a super-old R2.82 HDA driver.

You need to reinstall your motherboard's 8858 UAD driver and you need to make sure all the old HDA stuff including the old Realtek HD Audio Manager is uninstalled. The HD audio manager can be uninstalled by settings/apps.

Then you need to install asio4all, which is universally used by amateur musicians for onboard audio.

ASIO4ALL - Universal ASIO Driver For WDM Audio

Then you need to install an UNOFFICIAL patch for the rocksmith 2014 so that the game can use asio4all. Watch out for the sampling rate (faq said it must be 48khz).

GitHub - mdias/rs_asio: ASIO for Rocksmith 2014

THERE IS ASIO SUPPORT!!!!!!!!! : rocksmith

Wow! Feels good to have a sense of direction on this again, thank you. Some notes:

1) I don't ever recall downloading the U.A.D. drivers before. My driver always said "Realtek High Definition Audio" instead of "Realtek(R) Audio" (which, I believe, is the giveaway). I will still give the U.A.D. driver a shot.

2) Realtek HD Audio Manager doesn't show up in Programs And Features. It does not show up in Control Panel -> Hardware and Sound. Nothing happens when I try to open either "RAVCpl64.exe" or "RtkNGUI64.exe" in Program Files\Realtek\Audio\HDA. Realtek HD Audio Manager does show up in Task Manager under "Startup", though (RAVCpl64.exe), but I can't do anything with it and it just takes me to the Program Files\Realtek\Audio\HDA file location.

ASIO4ALL is a hit or miss. Be careful with it as it can mess up other things.

Anything you do with wireless (and/or Bluetooth) items such as headsets or speakers introduce latency

fireberd said:

ASIO4ALL is a hit or miss. Be careful with it as it can mess up other things.

Anything you do with wireless (and/or Bluetooth) items such as headsets or speakers introduce latency

Not a user of Bluetooth/wireless devices and definitely not for music, so I'm covered there. Duly noted about ASIO4ALL, though. I'm a little hesitant to go this far considering the sound bar worked fine without it, but I'm also at one hell of a dead end. Everything is back on the table.

As you said it yourself that you were moving a million variables at once, I suggest do things a tiny step at a time. And create restore points at every single point.

You want to make your computer work with normal audio and microphone --- you are stuck at home and you need the ability to skype with other people. You need to be able to go back to that if asio4all goes sideways on you.

sandyt said:

As you said it yourself that you were moving a million variables at once, I suggest do things a tiny step at a time. And create restore points at every single point.

You want to make your computer work with normal audio and microphone --- you are stuck at home and you need the ability to skype with other people. You need to be able to go back to that if asio4all goes sideways on you.

All very good points. Got it. I've been leading more with the heart than the head on this, which certainly doesn't help.

Gotcha. I'll go make one and start in on the instructions you gave me (testing *Rocksmith* along the way, just for the hell of it).

Also, it appears that removing the Realtek drivers wiped everything, so that's all cleared up and I'm back to using Microsoft's default drivers. Simplicity at last!

The main problem with using the generic "High Definition Audio" drivers is there are no enhancements and no Stereo Mix.
I don't know how the latency compares with this to Realtek.

Solution: it was the damned sound bar the whole time. I stopped at downloading 6.0.1.8858 and tested the game again. Despite the sound effects being turned off, I turned them back on and then off again (having done this several times before). Voilà. Problem solved. No more latency in-game.

While the U.A.D. drivers might have been a factor, I don't think they were. Just a goofy-ass sound bar I will be very happy to replace as soon as I can.

Appreciate all of the assistance on this, people. It's nice playing bass/guitar without losing my mind due to lag.