32 bits float recording doesn't work on Windows 10

[Sky3RN]

Bug description

Hi,

I have the brand new soundcard Zoom UAC-232 which is a very special soundcard that records in 32 bits float.
On Audacity for Linux (Ubuntu 20.04) it works fine, I can record with a high amount of input gain and reduce it in post and the sound is clear.
On Windows (10 Pro) it's a struggle.. If I record the same way, I can't have a clear sound, all saturated.

Steps to reproduce

1. Get a Zoom UAC-232
2. Increase the volume until you have saturation
3. Record on Audacity
4. Normalize the volume

Expected behavior

Clear sound, with no saturation.

Actual behavior

Saturation and distorded waveform.

Audacity Version

latest stable version (from audacityteam.org/download)

Operating system

Windows

Additional context

No response

[LWinterberg]

And you have set your mic to 32-bit in the windows settings as well? The dialog looks something like this:

[Sky3RN]

Last time I checked in this window there was no settings for for 32 bits float.

I'll check it out afterwork when I'm home just to be sure and let you know.

[Sky3RN]

Here it is, I simply can not select anything in this window.

[LWinterberg]

that's very strange! But it would explain why Audacity seems to run into trouble on Windows for you: Windows simply doesn't see any other options than 24 bit 48k. You may be able to fix this by installing drivers or maybe something else, but that's out of scope for this bug tracker and if anything, zoom support would know why this is.

[Sky3RN]

But everything is installed correctly, I'm not the only one experiencing this issue.

[DavidBailes]

But everything is installed correctly, I'm not the only one experiencing this issue.

https://zoomcorp.com/media/documents/UAC-232_32bit-float_applications_2023JAN_E.pdf

[Sky3RN]

But everything is installed correctly, I'm not the only one experiencing this issue.

https://zoomcorp.com/media/documents/UAC-232_32bit-float_applications_2023JAN_E.pdf

I already know this file, I work with Zoom France. :) (Not for but with.)

And for the moment no one knows how to solve this issue.

That's why I'm here, posting, hoping for a solution. It works fine on Linux so.. Does it come from the compilation of Audacity ? Or does it come from Microsoft itself ?

[crsib]

Audacity has different ways to work with audio devices. You can change the setting with "Audio Setup" -> "Host".

Probably WASAPI allows 32-bit float sample formats. However, you probably need ASIO support. For legal reasons, we are unable to distribute Audacity binaries with ASIO enabled, but you can build it from the source.

https://github.com/audacity/audacity/blob/master/BUILDING.md#building-with-asio-support-on-windows

[DavidBailes]

I don't know too much about this stuff, but...
Portaudio documentation says:
The floating point representation (paFloat32) uses +1.0 and -1.0 as the maximum and minimum respectively.
In bool AudioIO::StartPortAudioStream(), in the call to Pa_OpenStream(), PaStreamFlags does not include paClipOff, which disables default clipping of out of range samples.
Though I don't see how this explains why there's a problem on Windows but not Linux.

[Sky3RN]

Audacity has different ways to work with audio devices. You can change the setting with "Audio Setup" -> "Host".

Probably WASAPI allows 32-bit float sample formats. However, you probably need ASIO support. For legal reasons, we are unable to distribute Audacity binaries with ASIO enabled, but you can build it from the source.

I tried with WASAPI and it didn't work.

https://github.com/audacity/audacity/blob/master/BUILDING.md#building-with-asio-support-on-windows

I'm trying to compile it but it's a real struggle.
As far as I've succeed to compile it, I don't understand how to open Audacity then. I can't find any .exe file in my folder.
I've tried to click on Debug > Run with, or without debug, but it get stuck on the splash screen.

I'm not familiar with Visual Studio, it's the first time I'm using it.

[Sky3RN]

I'm trying this script : https://gist.github.com/SteveALee/da24c2be633340b8791066dd98eb5d0b
Everything seems to be installed correctly and, same thing when Audacity opens : Stuck on the splash screen.

[Sky3RN]

It looks like the file portaudio_x64.dll is blocking the starting of Audacity. But if I read well, it's THE important file for ASIO ?

[crsib]

ASIO scanning can be very slow.

it's THE important file for ASIO

Pretty much the only one, yes.

[Sky3RN]

@crsib I understand but I waited for 30 minutes before I gave up.
I've tried on my desktop computer and my laptop. I don't understand why it blocks on the splash screen ?