Workstation Pro 12.5.2 audio problems (USB headsets and speakers)

[HLBenton]

Hello everyone, I have a problem that I'd appreciate some thoughts and suggestions on how to resolve please...

I have VMWare Workstation Pro 12.5.2 installed onto a Linux host machine (Elementary OS 0.4 Loki 64bit).

For work, I am required to communicate with colleagues via Lync, so I have Windows 7 Enterprise installed as a guest OS, solely for this purpose ( I REALLY miss Unity, but I get that that's another thread)!

Whenever I'm on conference calls, or in fact, playing any audio at all, it pops, crackles and distorts to such an extent that it is unintelligible.

I have already tried the solutions proposed by threads for older versions of Workstation Pro, but without success.

Has anyone had this issue with 12.5+ and if so, how did you fix it please?

Thanks in advance!

[ant3351]

Got similar issue playing movie inside VM. My workaround is commenting (or remove) the line sound.virtualDev = "hdaudio"  in virtual machine .vmx file.

[HLBenton]

I've read about this working for older versions of VMWare - but it doesn't work for me sadly.

I also tried editing the file to include the line; sound.virtualDev = "es1371"

But whilst I'll say it's better, it's still not right.

Thanks for the input though.

[bonnie201110141]

Basically we did not test or support that Linux host. But have you tried to passthrough the USB headset to guest via Workstation VM->Removable Devices?

[HLBenton]

Hi Bonnie - Elementary OS is just Ubuntu with a different desktop environment - but yes, that's exactly what I'm trying to do. Pass the USB headset (MS Lifechat 6000 LX) through to the Windows 7 Ent VM.

It hadn't occurred to me that there might be any other way of doing it. I'm willing to try pretty much anything now though!

Happy to be a beta tester of sorts if you have some ideas?

Thanks for getting in touch.

[bonnie201110141]

If the device is connected to guest (thus exclusively usage for guest), changing "sound.virtualDev" won't help. That option is just for virtual sound device in shared mode, that is the device is connected to host and shared between host and guest.

So in passthrough mode, is your Windows 7 VM configured with USB 2.0 controller or 3.0 controller? Basically using USB 2.0 controller should perform better in audio.

And can you also try shared mode? That is the USB device is connected to host (from Workstation VM->Removable Device, it is connected to host), and we can still use the headset in guest. In this mode, changing sound.virtualDev to "hdaudio" or "es1371" can tune audio quality.

[HLBenton]

Hi Bonnie,

Here's where I'm at;

Shared mode works brilliantly for audio playback.I feel a bit daft for having not realised I could do it this way. Both music and VoIP audio work well. The vmx file option is standard (hdaudio) and I can tell no difference between setting USB to 2.0 or 3.0.

That said - there are noticeable dropouts when using the microphone on the headset in shared mode. Are there any buffer options that might help here?

Many thanks!

[bonnie201110141]

I will try this on Ubuntu host and let you know the result.

[bonnie201110141]

Hi HLBenton,

I tried on my Ubuntu 14.04.5 host (with Unity desktop) + Windows 7 guest (Configured with USB 3.0 controller).

Using virtual sound (i.e. shared mode), microphone is not working, the sound is very distorted. We have an internal bug to track this. But using passthrough mode, audio playback and microphone using Skype are both working well.

In passthrough mode, are you using USB 2.0 or 3.0?

[HLBenton]

Hi Bonnie,

Thanks again for looking at this!

I've tried both USB 2.0 and 3.0 in passthrough mode and there's no discernable difference in microphone/Skype call quality for me.

I took the headset home to test from a Windows VM running in Mac host via Parallels and that's all fine so I'm happy the mic is good.

I guess I'll have to keep an eye out for the bug to be resolved!

Cheers.

[munrobasher]

Same problem here but this fault has been present for years. USB headset (microphone & headphones) works perfectly in Windows 7 guest on Windows 10 host but Windows 8 or 10 guest results in distortion through the headset. Will have another play with pass-through and the HD audio settings to see if I can get it working.

There was a great thread on this somewhere else about some deep-rooted problems in Windows 8+ around this area. Excessive CPU use I think. Can remember where the thread was.

[bonnie201110141]

If you configure your Windows 8 or Windows 10 guest with USB 2.0 controller, and plug your USB headset into host USB 2.0 port, how is it working?

[munrobasher]

I'm having a look at this again this evening. Somebody mentioned pass-through audio above and I can confirm that this does indeed work fine. Let me just reboot with USB 2 configuration.

Cheers, Rob.

[munrobasher]

Well go to the foot of our stairs! That worked. You can even switch to USB 2 back from USB 3 in a live VM. I had a few quirks to begin with, i.e. no distortion and then distortion back - but twigged that having this sequence didn't work:

1. USB 3 guest with headset connected to guest
2. Shutdown and change to USB 2
3. Power back up - no difference
4. However, disconnect and reconnect the headset and perfect

Subsequent shut down and power up - perfect.

I'm pretty sure I tried this one before! I'm going to guess that USB 3 is stressing things out due to it's high transfer rates?

Cheers, Rob.

[munrobasher]

Doh! And it works probably on my Windows 7 VM because that was still set to USB 2 - probably because the VM is years old.

Cheers, Rob.

[HLBenton]

Good morning Bonnie!

Apologies for the late reply - I've been out of the office...

Sadly, I can't try this. My guest VMs are Windows 7 (not 8/10) and I have no USB 2.0 ports on my host machine. It's fairly new so USB 3.0 is all I have,

Thanks all the same.

[JohnMark550]

I'm using Workstation Pro v12.5.7.

This solution worked for me on Win 10 x64.

Switched from USB 3.0 to 2.0, rebooted the Guest, then voila Skype for Business audio is crystal clear with no stutter.