I’ve been using FxSound for a very long time and very recently, I came across an issue that I’ve been having for some time.
My PC fans were speeding up when the screen was off and I couldn’t find out why until now.
So what I did to find out what was wrong, I set my PC to shut down the screen 1 minute so the fans would speed up faster, open up Task Manager and let the screen shut down. When the fans sped up, I moved the mouse to find out what was the process and it turns out, it was FxSound.
So to fully confirm that FxSound was the issue, I closed it then let the screen shut down. The fans were at a normal speed, meaning that FxSound was the problem.
I don’t want to uninstall FxSound because it really does help boost sound in some devices, specially in some speakers that should be louder.
If anyone could help with this issue, I’d appreciate it.
Hello Matthew,
First of all, apologies for our forum flagging your post automatically, and hence the delay.
Secondly, here is a list of settings to check and tips to address the issue:
In the Help section of FxSound’s Settings menu, check to make sure you have the latest version installed (v1.1.17.0) available from fxsound.com or the Microsoft Store;
Make sure your computer, Windows and sound hardware drivers have received the latest updates;
Try running FxSound as Administrator;
In Windows Sound Settings, make sure all your devices match at the setting “24 bit 48000 Hz” (max);
In Windows Sound Settings, make sure the FxSound device is set as the Default Device;
If this doesn’t work, try setting FxSound as the Default Communications Device;
In Windows Sound Settings, disable Exclusive Mode for all devices, Playback ànd Recording;
In Windows Sound Settings, disable all Enhancements including Loudness Equalization for all devices (except for FxSound which doesn’t have this tab);
In Windows Sound Settings, disable Hardware Acceleration;
In Windows Sound Settings, disable all devices you don’t use, including the hidden ones;
Try uninstalling and reinstalling the program (I’m guessing you’ve probably already done that);
Try downloading the program from a different source and installing that version instead;
Perhaps you could try using SpeedFan (freeware) to control your fans and monitor your system temperature (at your own risk);
And this tip is also a bit riskier, but you could also try increasing the priority of the FxSound process in Windows Task Manager;
When inquired on this topic, FxSound’s lead audio engineer advised checking your system for OpenGL support (see below);
Downloading LatencyMon and running a scan while FxSound is On, seems like a solid idea to find the cause of the issue;
And finally, one of our forum regulars recommended installing the latest Intel Rapid Storage Technology drivers…
Apologies for the mess I’ve made of my list of suggestions; I’ve tried to include all the advice I could find on the topic, and I hope they will be of help to you nonetheless.
Please post back with your results and findings after trying them.
If your issue remains unsolved, we can explore further options (this usually entails me calling in the assistance of @bvijay, FxSound’s lead audio engineer).
Hi @cracky,
In the latest version of Fxsound we have addressed the FxSound power consumption during standby/sleep. Are you finding FxSound active when display is off. When display is off we cannot stop audio processing because audio can be on when display is off. Are you seeing unusually high CPU activity with FxSound when display is off?
i have the same issue.
Found out when i noticed that my cpu temperatures (and so did the fans) were always going up after the screen went off.
Strange thing is: FxSound doesn’t consume much CPU but still works enough to get it hot. In the screenshot you can see the coreTemp graph, where the long periods with high temperature indicates the screen-off time.
This is definetly FxSound-Related, as i suspended the process and the Problem didn’t occur anymore. As i resumed the process it happend again.
same problem in win10 22H2 19045.3086, I use Acer Aspire A515-45 ,and when the screen went off, the cpu temperatures (and so did the fans) were always going up
I found it happened when I upgrade to 1.1.17.0, so i uninstalled this version and reinstalled 1.1.16.0, all the settings are default and all the thing works well in 1.1.16.0. Today when I upgrade to 1.1.18.0, I find this problem still exist, so i have to reinstalled 1.1.16.0
no，i set “do nothing” when close the lid and
"Never "enter the sleep mode in power options,and close the laptop lid without any audio playing, when use 1.1.16.0, the laptop is quiet when i close the lid,and when i use new version and close the lid ,soon i can hear the cpu fans speed up and make noise.
I have make a test , i open the task manager and close the lid, so that when i open the lid,i can see the task manager first. Then i close the lid without any audio output and wait until the cpu fans speed up and make noise ,i quickly open the lid and see fxsound.exe have a 20-30% CPU usage in task manager and also have hard disk write/read action, and when the lid opened for a while , the CPU usage of fxsound.exe quickly become low and run as normal
Then i make another test, i close most of the software include fxsound.exe in the background and close the lid ,the laptop is quiet. I open the fxsound.exe and make sure its the only software in the background,then i close the lid without any audio output,and the problem happend
This problem never happened when i use version 1.1.16.0
Thanks @Lspeed for the detailed steps to replicate the issue. I am able to replicate the issue of CPU usage with lid closed and also root caused it to the JUCE framework version which we updated and built our recent versions. Reverting to an older version fixes the issue. We will soon release a new version with the fix.
Thanks for this fix, it’s definitely working, but I wouldn’t say it gone for 100%. I still can hear fans kick-in a few moments from going into idle mode. Like ~15% from previous behavior
Hi @romix Thanks for verifying the fix.
Are you seeing that the CPU is running for a few seconds from display off or always running with 15% CPU fan sound when display is off?
Always when laptop was idle. But it could be Razer synapse making this weird behavior possible. If nobody else is experiencing this, well, that’s my problem
I see the CPU utilisation issue still present in JUCE 8. Upon debugging I have identified the root cause in the JUCE framework. JUCE handles vblank even when the monitor is off. I have asked for a solution in the JUCE forum Vblank handling on monitor off - Windows - JUCE
