Ignoring Mic Settings Suddenly
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Hey all.
I've been happily using EAPO for a while now, but have run into a really weird problem that started seemingly at random some time ago.
I'm a hobby content creator so I have an admittedly crazy audio routing setup. It basically goes like this:
Rode Podcaster USB Mic -> EqualizerAPO -> ReaGate and ReaComp VST plugins -> Voicemod -> BEACN Mix Create
I know that's a lot of layers, but it's worked great for some time now. The problem I'm currently having is that EAPO for the mic just seems to be getting ignored entirely. The VSTs aren't being processed and what's getting input into Voicemod is just the unprocessed mic.
I've tried all the following so far:
-Reinstalled EAPO, BEACN, Voicemod, the ReaPlugs and my Realtek audio drivers (including full uninstalls first).
-Reconfiguring each of these from scratch.
-Using Troubleshooting Mode in the Configurator and trying all 3 of the modes.
-Bypassing all the other layers and just trying to record off the Mic input in EAPO.
I am on Windows 11, but have been for some time without issue until recently. Does anyone have any suggestions here? I'm kind of baffled.
Thanks!
Usually such a problem is caused by a Windows update. One of the next updates could solve it but I guess you don't want to wait for that :)
As it's a mic also the recording/streaming app might have changed. When such an app uses the mic in exclusive mode for instance by a setting then Equalizer APO (or any Audio Processing Object) will bypassed. So all exclusive mode checkboxes on the Windows sound panel of the mic should be unchecked.
Did the Rode Podcaster came with some software? Installing a new version might cause this issue.
Also , you could uncheck the "Use original APO" checkboxes. Although this bypasses the sound enhancements (APO's) of the Podcaster software it may cause Equalizer APO to work.
All good suggestions, but no love unfortunately. I've tried multiple applications and I've confirmed the BEACN software is set to use Voicemod's output, which is the normal configuration. I actually tried setting it to use my mic directly, but that didn't change anything. The Podcaster has firmware that can be updated, but no software of its own. It just detects as a USB audio device to Windows.
The mic, the BEACN mic device and the Voicemod mic device all were ticked to allow exclusive access, but I disabled it on everything and nothing changed.
So in the advanced settings in the Configurator, "Use original APO" is both unchecked and greyed out on the Rode Podcaster device. That's where I have EAPO installed, but I checked the BEACN Voice Chat Mic device (which is only used to feed data into applications such as Discord) and that has the ability to uncheck it. I can try that, but it's a different part of the audio route so I don't know if it'll help.
This might be a red herring, but here's another odd thing that's always happened, even when things were working. If I launch the Configuration Editor (which is where I setup the VST properties), every time it comes up, it says EAPO is not installed on the selected device. I have my Realtek output and my Rode Podcaster specified in the list to process certain things and the Realtek audio is also selected as the default. No device which EAPO isn't installed on is selected, but it gives the error anyway (see attached). Is there anything to that or does it really matter?
Just did Windows Updates last night and sadly, the problem persists. :(
That's unfortunate. I don't have any other solutions. And I also don't get the popup. I think the developer checked the device of the (useless) upper right dropdown box, in your case the Realtek speakers (as in Equalizer APO isn't installed on it). What I know about the popup is that all devices on which Equalizer APO is installed are checked if the reroutings have been changed. In principle "installing Equalizer APO" is about overwriting some Windows registry keys to get the audio stream through the audio engine of Equalizer APO (equalizerapo.dll file). The issue here is that any app of an audio manufacturer and any antimalware app may undo this registry keys overwrite, usually at a computer restart. This obviously causes that Equalizer APO is "uninstalled" from a device and the Configurator and Configuration Editor notice this. The Configurator usually repairs this.
So, I'm happy to say I've resolved the issue! In Configuration Editor, I selected Settings -> Reset all global preferences, just for kicks.
After the window came back up, it no longer recognized my audio devices as being selected. I reselected the same audio devices I always used and magically, everything started to work again!
I'm not sure what specifically that option resets beyond the audio device references, but I will take the win and I'm posting it here so hopefully, it can help out someone else. If this happens again, I now know what to look for.
Thanks!
That's remarkable as this reset doesn't do anything useful, especially nothing audio related. But you can't complain about the result :) Just good to know you have managed to resolve the issue.
And just like that, for no reason I can tell, the same problem is back and the prior solution doesn't work. Interestingly, I discovered that it's only my mic that things aren't properly applying to. I also use EAPO and Peace to change the EQ that goes to my headphones and I've verified there's no issue there. I'm baffled. I assume it must have something to do with this mic being USB. Oh also, for no apparent reason, it now considers my mic device to be experimental. It never did before and literally nothing has changed with the mic.
I've attached the way I have both EAPO and Peace configured. Is there anything here that appears off to anyone? I mean, this worked before so I don't think so but my head hurts from bashing it against my desk so much. I also get an "EqualizerAPO is not installed on the selected device" error every time I start the Configuration Editor, even though it is 100% installed on the devices I'm trying to control.
Last edit: Gerry Corcoran 2023-10-06
So I did some more testing and the issue seems to be that EqualizerAPO has just decided to ignore VST plug-ins. I've been using ReaGate and ReaComp, but tried to install some other compressor and gating plug-ins and they aren't working either. It just ignores them outright.
Does the developer actually read the forums? I'm not trying to be snarky, but I'm out of ideas here.
The developer probably doesn't visit his forum very often. I do the most support and others like Juha and Etienne do some support too.
I guess when it's seen as experimental then the USB mic driver is updated by a Windows update. If so, this means you need at least to try all "Install as" options. Also someone else got the "Equalizer APO is ..." popup when using the Configuration Editor. Although in his case Equalizer APO did work. Anyway, it's another clue that a Windows update has changed things.
Knowing the above the plugins may be ignored because Equalizer APO isn't working on the mic any longer due to the Windows update.
Btw. If you one to target one specific device with "pxa-server .... \equalizer apo configuration.txt" then you should use a device selection command. And ignore the top devices dropdown box. It does nothing.
I did try that actually, though it didn't do any good. However, I seem to have had another breakthrough. So the secondary configuration file you references normally lives on my home server, so I can ensure the "known good" copy is always is in the same place. I've run it this way for quite some time. However, last night, after making some adjustments to the file, I inadvertantly saved it to my local drive instead. Everything instantly started to work again and has since. Like most things with EAPO, I have no explanation for why this worked, especially since it has for literally years befoer that. But needless to say, I'm leaving things this way and will just make sure to make a copy of any changes I might make in the future. Thanks. :)
Well, that's a nice "accident". I always advise to only use the c:\program files\equalizerapo\config\config.txt file as this the file which Equalizer APO (well, the audio changing engine) uses. In principle one could change this location in the Windows registry. Anyway, great that things are working again.