Ssf 7.1 - no sound from main speakers in vpx

[SireB]

Hi all,

 

Just finished my cabling for ssf, and...I can't figure out what is happening...

I am using a 7.1 USB card, brand Leagy (see picture).

 

Everything is setup correctly, default windows 11 drivers.

 

I have sound coming out of the back of speakers in windows, ( tested in youtube, subwoofer ok, speakers ok).

 

But when I launch vpx  duly configured for 7.1, correct driver selected, no more sound from the main speakers, only sound from the exciters....

 

If I select stereo in windows sound settings instead of 7.1, then vpx plays sound from main speakers as expected..

 

I spent hours on this, uninstalled and reinstalled various drivers, disabled all unused HDMI audio drivers, even tried to use onboard soundcard for main speakers and USB card for exciters only., no change in results.

 

Except from buying another soundcard with proper drivers (such as the startech one, but it has the same chipset anyway), I really don't know what to do.

 

And this happens with all tables.

(And of course I checked that vpx volume was not at 0 in windows while playing).

 

Can anybody help ?  Playing with exciters only is cool for realism but I need my music and my Eight Ball Deluxe talking to me 😇

 

Thanks for your help 👍

 

 

Edited July 23, 2025 by SireB

[Thalamus]

You seems to have tried what I would suggest you to check.

I expect that you've experimented with setting the mode to 5.1 for the USB unit ?

What kind of main-board sound do you have ?

As a desperate measure, you can maybe try to route sound differently using Equalizer APO.

 

Have a feeling that you've come upon some hardware that simply isn't working well with VP.

You've tested several tables I guess ? So, it is not one single table that has a very low set rom sound ? You kind of told me no to that already, but, I think I still have to ask.

 

[SireB]

Thanks Thalamus for your help .

 

I did test all modes in windows sound config. As soon as there is a ".1" involved, no more sound in vpx as far as back box speakers are concerned...

Setting to stereo, and sound is back in back box 

 

Strange thing is that no sub is working with vpx (neither main sub nor ssf bass shakers). 

 

And I already tried the EqualizerAPO option without any change in  results.

 

All tables are impacted, no exception. It is not a rom issue, I still checked with F1 that sound was activated, everything is fine with parameters.

 

MB is Asus tuf gaming a520-plus wifi (what a name 😂), integrated audio is 2.1, can be upgraded to 7.1 via additional header, which I may try if I cannot sort it out with USB card.s.

 

In the meantime I ordered a Startech USB sound card, saw on several videos that it is often used in vpins.

 

What puzzles me is that drivers for these cards are for win7/win8/ sometimes up to win 10 but nothing specific for win11. 

Most videos I saw still use win10, so I wonder if there is anything working with win11 (although win10 drivers should be compatible in a perfect world...)

 

I am out of options, let's see if the startech card works better, but I really doubt it, as the chipset is the same as my current card.

 

Final move will be full win11 reinstall from scratch (or should I install win 10 instead  ?).

 

Still listening if you (or others) have any other idea or tip.

Thanks again 

 

Cheers

 

 

 

[deadmanworking]

Try using in VPX audio settings 7.1 SSF (front is back etc) instead of enhanced mode and check whether result is the same? 

Did you configure the soundcard as 7.1 card in Windows sound options without center speaker? Please provide a screenshot if possible.. 

[SireB]

Thanks.

Already tried both (enhanced and non enhanced)

 

And yes, no center speaker selected.

(In fact I think I tried all options in case a miracle would occur 😂).

 

I'll see if I can provide screenshots, but I won't be near the vpin for a few days now, so maybe next week).

 

[Rappelbox]

I used this exact card already several times, also with win11, every time without issues
EXCEPT when i tried to use the provided CSL-drivers
So i'd suggest the following:
1. uninstall all related drivers
2. use only standard win 11 dirvers

3. do NOT use windows 11 channel phantoming (deactivation of center channel eg.)

4. deactivate all other soundacrds/HDMI sound out etc.

5.  make sure you don't use line-out for front (Backbox) but instead the green plug

6. check that vpx is using the primary sound device (that 7.1 card)

7. check vpx again as 10.7 and 10.8 store their settings differently and if you set it correct for both versions!!!

8. check vpx once again if sound is set to 7.1 enhanced

 

hope this helps

[SireB]

Thanks Rappelbox, nice check list !

 

1. Done

2. Done

3. Done

4. Done

5. Done

6. Done

7.. not sure I understand what and where to check, I always used 10.8 ? 

8. Done

 

I assure you I really checked it all with no success.

I suspect a real mess I windows guts due to installing/deinstalling, so reinstalling from scratch might be required...

 

I will do this and keep you posted.

Thanks to all for your help, great community as usual.

Edited July 23, 2025 by SireB

[deadmanworking]

@SireB it would probably help if you could provide screenshots of your Windows and VPX audio settings, maybe something sticks out. Let us know before you reinstall

[SireB]

Guys, weirder than weird solution which I found by accident.

 

My sound card is plugged in a powered USB hu.mb. Two USB ports on this hub are specifically meant for charging devices.

My sound card was plugged on a "standard" USB port on the hub. I moved it to a "special charging" port and...tadaaa. Everything works fine 😱

I swear I did not do anything besides switching on the vpin, trying vpx again with no success, switching the sound card usb cord to the hub "charging port"  , and it worked immediately with great 7.1 sound.

 

No clue what this means, but hey, it works. Time to backup the full working config before it starts messing up again. ...

 

Maybe this weird situation can help people with the same issue.

 

Clueless about the possible explanation behind this.

 

Cheers

[Rappelbox]

15 minutes ago, SireB said:

Guys, weirder than weird solution which I found by accident.

 

My sound card is plugged in a powered USB hu.mb. Two USB ports on this hub are specifically meant for charging devices.

My sound card was plugged on a "standard" USB port on the hub. I moved it to a "special charging" port and...tadaaa. Everything works fine 😱

I swear I did not do anything besides switching on the vpin, trying vpx again with no success, switching the sound card usb cord to the hub "charging port"  , and it worked immediately with great 7.1 sound.

 

No clue what this means, but hey, it works. Time to backup the full working config before it starts messing up again. ...

 

Maybe this weird situation can help people with the same issue.

 

Clueless about the possible explanation behind this.

 

Cheers

You're absolutely right!

the usb card probably exceeds the maximum power rating of the usb port
standard ports are only rated at 500mA. if the card draws too much or the usb is tight in specs then the card usually disconnects. 
 

[SireB]

Yes...well, this is a powered hub, so one could expect it to deliver enough power for 2 devices ..(kl25z + soundcard). 

It seems only the "charging ports" deliver the required power.

And USB ports on the motherboard did not work either...strange

 

Anyway, problem solved, who cares about USB logic ? 😂

 

Cheers

[Thalamus]

Happy to see you resolved it - have fun !

[SireB]

Well...I spoke too soon...

I had to do some cable management, so I switched off the cabinet, sorted and cleaned  my cabless, switched vpin  on , and....again no sound from the main speakers 😤. Only sound from the exciters as before...

 

What I noticed : 

Blue Led on the USB soundcard is on.  Sound works great  fof YouTube videos or any other wi downs app.

Blue led stays on when I launch vpx and open a table.

But as soon as I "RUN" the table, I can hear the famous windows "USB disconnect" noise, and the soundcard led starts blinking.

 

It remains blinking (and no sound comes out of the main speakers) until I quit the table back to the editor. Then the led comes back to "normal still blue".

 

As if vpx was "disconnecting" part of the soundcard USB connection...

 

I tried a new soundcard from another brand, same results.

I plugged the soundcard directly to the motherboard same results.

 

It has worked fine for a while and now, back to the same problem with no change to the setup... USB power was not the explanation, just a coincidence.

 

I am losing my patience over this as I have no clue nor any idea on where to investigate...

 

Any help always welcome

 

Thanks

[deadmanworking]

@SireB It sounds like your usb hub is struggling so this would be the next I'd replace. 

[SireB]

Well, same issues when soundcard is plugged directly to the motherboard, so I don't think hub is the cause.(And 7.1 works fine outside of vpx)..

[Rappelbox]

Could you please unplug all audio cables and test again?!

 

[SireB]

Quote

Could you please unplug all audio cables and test again?!

Well...hmmm...my guess is if I unplug all audio cables, I surely will not have any problem with any sound of any sort..🤣

 

Anyway, I brought it back to life in the meantime by : 

 

- uninstalling APOEqualiizer

- changing a parameter in sound config that said "Allow apps exlusive access to the deviceé" (or something like that).

 

Seems to work fine now, so far so good, anyway I will restart the whole config from scratch on a clean windows 11 installation and a new hard drive for the final step, so I will see if these settings are the real solution or no (I guess not...)

 

Thanks for the efforts for helping, let's see what the future brings

 

Cheers

[William_van]

On 7/31/2025 at 5:24 PM, SireB said:

Well...hmmm...my guess is if I unplug all audio cables, I surely will not have any problem with any sound of any sort..🤣

 

Anyway, I brought it back to life in the meantime by : 

 

- uninstalling APOEqualiizer

- changing a parameter in sound config that said "Allow apps exlusive access to the deviceé" (or something like that).

 

Seems to work fine now, so far so good, anyway I will restart the whole config from scratch on a clean windows 11 installation and a new hard drive for the final step, so I will see if these settings are the real solution or no (I guess not...)

 

Thanks for the efforts for helping, let's see what the future brings

 

Cheers

Well I am  just a newby in VPX but what I´ve done is I've made a plastic box with 12 pushbuttons, (see the photo) to control the speakers and the exciters.

I used a Keyboard Interface from an old keyboard with a USB connector, mounted it in the cabinet and wired it via a male/female connector through the side of the cabinet with a cable to the box with the pushbuttons. For instance if you want to increase the volume of the Backbox, push the button in the upper right. The corresponding Keyboard key is the letter N in my configuration of PinVol. If all my Pinball Tables are set to the right sounds I can attach this box untill I install a new table.

 

It works fine until I push the button to lower the Global Volume (Lower red button in the picture), the sounds of all the speakers and exciters stop and I don´t get them back again.

 

Luckily I make backups once in a while so i'm back and running again in a couple of minutes.

 

As long as I don't touch the minus Global Volume button everything works ok . All other buttons work fine. 

 

So when playing a game don't lower the Global Volume. with the Keyboard or otherwise. Mine is set at 100% in PinVol.

 

I have no idea what causes this. By the way the same issue occurs when I push the Y button of an external Keyboard. Maybe it's the PinVol software ? 

 

(sorry for my poor english, it's not my native language)

Edited August 2, 2025 by William_van

[deadmanworking]

@William_van not sure what might cause your reset as I'm not aware of the Y key assigned to a special function but why don't you simply assign a different key to that button? I have a similar solution at the bottom of my pincab and no issues using it like in your case. 

[William_van]

Thank you for your reply.

It's not as easy as it sounds. I have 12 wires for 24 connections, so I have to combine wires and many buttons are reserved for other functions. But I'll have a look.

 

Here is the schematic

Edited August 7, 2025 by William_van

[deadmanworking]

Did you maybe change your keyboard scheme from QWERTZ to QWERTY so Y is now Z and therfore not recognized? 

[floyd5]

Hi, 
same Problem here with this external Soundcard from CSL.

I have SSF running. Exciter and Bass Pumps sound is ok, but no music and comments
Everything else works so far. Just needs some fine tuning.
I have PinVol and Equalizer APO installed, which allows for a reasonable volume.
But... the music and announcements no longer work on SOME tables. I can only hear the effects.
In VPX, I have set the primary driver and 7.1. For the toys: Both (but changing it doesn't help).

Tales of Arabian and Adams Family.... no backglass sound and no announcements, only SSF from the cabinet

Elvis and Leprechaun works fine!

And volume in VPX is set.

ControlPanel on 5.1 and it works, just like with stereo.
Only 7.1 doesn't...
I've already uninstalled Equalizer APO. no different effect
I haven't installed the driver for the CSL card.

I also used a different USB Slot 

I disabled all other Sound Outputs

Nothing helps.

 

Any ideas?

 

Best regards,
Hartmut

[floyd5]

soundcheck in controlPanel is also ok.

 

Did you configure the soundcard as 7.1 card in Windows sound options without center speaker?

YES

1. uninstall all related drivers

Yes
2. use only standard win 11 dirvers
Yes

3. do NOT use windows 11 channel phantoming (deactivation of center channel eg.)

Yes

4. deactivate all other soundacrds/HDMI sound out etc.
Yes

5.  make sure you don't use line-out for front (Backbox) but instead the green plug

Yes

6. check that vpx is using the primary sound device (that 7.1 card)

Yes

7. check vpx again as 10.7 and 10.8 store their settings differently and if you set it correct for both versions!!!

not checked

8. check vpx once again if sound is set to 7.1 enhanced

Yes

 

[floyd5]

set vpx audio options to "standard 2 channel", i have the same. only cabinet toys. but on the front channels. No Music

 

[deadmanworking]

@floyd5 ROM volume is probably low, try turning up the volume with 8 / 9 keys