Member Avatar for HARMONYMAN

I purchased a Stereo-Link 1200 USB DAC (Digital-to-analog converter) to improve my digital music from my computer a couple of years ago, and using Windows XP Home Premium, I never had a problem with this operating system recognizing the USB DAC unit as my default audio source whenever I turned on or rebooted my computer.

Since November, 2009, when I purchased a new Dell Studio 8000 computer with Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit pre-installed, I have had nothing but problems with this OS not recognizing the USB DAC unit. There are no drivers that the manufacture has created, since it was designed to use the native Windows OS drivers in order to function.

The problem with the Windows 7 OS is that the USB audio drivers pre-installed for the OS use a DRM (Digital Rights Management) code wherein if the hardware (my USB DAC) is not a Microsoft approved or compatitble type, the native USB audio drivers will not be able to recognize the unit. The only way that I can get the Windows 7 OS to recognize my USB DAC unit, and thus get it to function, is the right-click on the USB audio device that shows in the device manager area, and "enable" and "disable" the USB Audio Device showing in the properties screen of the Device Manager several times until the "error triangle" disappears next to the device, wherein suddenly the OS recognizes my Stereo-Link USB DAC, and allows the Windows native audio drivers to control my device, and it finally will work.

This is an extremely tedious and frustrating process just to get my hardware to work with Windows 7. Is there any other way that I can get Windows 7 to recognize and thus "use" my device in a normal manner, without having to enable and disable the device several times to get it to work?

Thanks for any assistance that anyone can lend to me.

Lee Michael Malin
SNIP

Edited by happygeek because: email snipped
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Short summary: the symptom you describe — the Stereo‑Link only working after several manual disable/enable cycles — usually means the device is failing to finish USB enumeration or the wrong driver/USB controller is interfering, not a deliberate “DRM block.” has already shown the problem reproduces reliably at boot, which is useful diagnostic information.

Practical checklist (try in order, make a restore point first):

  • Test the DAC on another PC to confirm the hardware itself is OK.
  • Try different USB ports (use rear motherboard ports, not front-panel), a different cable, or a powered USB hub. If the machine has USB 3.0 ports, plug the DAC into a USB 2.0 port.
  • In Device Manager, uninstall the DAC (right‑click → Uninstall) and check “Delete the driver software” if present; then reboot and reconnect. Use View → Show hidden devices and remove any ghost USB/audio entries.
  • Check Device Manager → Properties → Driver Details for the driver filename (standard Microsoft driver will usually be usbaudio.sys); note provider/version.
  • Disable USB power-saving: Device Manager → USB Root Hub properties → Power Management → uncheck “Allow the computer to turn off this device…” and in Power Options → Advanced settings disable “USB selective suspend.”
  • Update the laptop’s chipset/USB host controllers and BIOS from Dell’s support for the Studio model (these commonly fix USB enumeration/timing bugs).
  • Look in Event Viewer → System for Kernel‑PnP or UserPnp errors at the time the DAC fails to enumerate; the event code/text can point to driver or power issues.

If a permanent fix isn’t found, a safer workaround is to reset the device automatically (avoids manual toggling). Microsoft’s DevCon (or NirSoft’s USBDeview) can restart the USB device from a script; example template (replace with the DAC’s hardware ID from Device Manager → Details → Hardware Ids):

devcon restart "USB\VID_aaaa&PID_bbbb"

Notes: ’s XP-mode idea only applies to Pro/Ultimate; compatibility mode is for applications (as and noted). Prefer fixing the USB/driver root cause before relying on VM or scripted workarounds, and check the Stereo‑Link vendor for any 64‑bit/Win7 firmware or driver updates.

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Member Avatar for Bob_180_Bob

Hi,
You can run XP inside Windows 7 and that should help with your problem.

Member Avatar for HARMONYMAN

Hi,
You can run XP inside Windows 7 and that should help with your problem.

Bob:

Thanks for the advice, but unfortunately, I cannot run XP inside my version of Windows 7 as it is a Home Premium Edition. It has to be a Professional or Ultimate version to be able to download Microsoft's Windows XP Mode in Windows 7.

Lee Michael Malin

Member Avatar for Bob_180_Bob

Hi,
Sorry about that, I did not know that, I just did not think it would be any different to my Windows 7.
Thats why the statement in my signature..Once I thought I was......
I will not be able to offer any help for you problem, but some one else here will help you, (I hope).

Good luck,
Bob

Member Avatar for caperjack

maybe some will come by with a fix,maybe not .
my opinion ,some times we just upgrade to far, to be able to use some of our old hardware ,i think this might be one of those times ,good luck

Member Avatar for Biker920

You have 7 64bit was xp 32 or 64 bit there are compatibility issues between 32bit & 64bit hard ware & their soft ware try w-7's compatibility mode. I moved from Vista hm premium 32bit to W-7 hm prm 64 bit & ended up running several items in compatibility mode. Good luck post back results, later---

Member Avatar for HARMONYMAN

You have 7 64bit was xp 32 or 64 bit there are compatibility issues between 32bit & 64bit hard ware & their soft ware try w-7's compatibility mode. I moved from Vista hm premium 32bit to W-7 hm prm 64 bit & ended up running several items in compatibility mode. Good luck post back results, later---

Biker920:

Thanks for taking the time to respond to my problem. You mentioned trying to use Windows 7 compatibility mode. Unfortunately, the compatibility mode is used for software, not for hardware. There is no way to run my hardware device (the Stereo-Link USB DAC) in compatibility mode. There is no software that runs my device. It uses the native Windows Audio drivers, and has successfully been used on every Windows OS from Windows 2000, through Windows XP.

Lee Michael Malin

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