Exception [SPXERR_RUNTIME_ERROR 0x1b] When Using SpeechRecognizer with AudioProcessingOptions for Echo Cancellation

Question

I am trying to implement Acoustic Echo Cancellation (AEC) using Microsoft's Speech SDK in C#. I am using AudioProcessingOptions.Create(AudioProcessingConstants.AUDIO_INPUT_PROCESSING_ENABLE_DEFAULT) to enable audio processing. However, I am encountering the following exception when initializing the SpeechRecognizer:-

Exception: Exception with an error code: 0x1b (SPXERR_RUNTIME_ERROR)

Code Snippet:

using (var audioProcessingOptions = AudioProcessingOptions.Create(AudioProcessingConstants.AUDIO_INPUT_PROCESSING_ENABLE_DEFAULT))
{
    using (var audioConfig = AudioConfig.FromDefaultMicrophoneInput(audioProcessingOptions))
    {
        try
        {
            SpeechConfig config1 = SpeechConfig.FromSubscription(HaiStaticData.strSTTVoiceKey, HaiStaticData.strSTTVoiceRegion);
            
            using (SpeechRecognizer recognizer = new SpeechRecognizer(config1, audioConfig)) // Exception occurs here
            {
                // Recognition logic
            }
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            Console.WriteLine(ex.ToString());
        }
    }
}

I suspect the issue might be related to:

1. Incorrect use of AudioProcessingOptions for enabling AEC.
2. Missing or incompatible microphone settings for AEC.
3. SDK version compatibility issues.

Questions:

• Is AudioProcessingConstants.AUDIO_INPUT_PROCESSING_ENABLE_DEFAULT the correct flag for enabling AEC in Microsoft Speech SDK?
• Are there any specific microphone or hardware requirements for AEC to work properly?
• Could this error be caused by an unsupported SDK version? If so, which version fully supports AEC?

I am using .NETFramework 4.7.2 and Microsoft.CognitiveServices.Speech SDK 1.42.0.

Any guidance or troubleshooting steps would be appreciated.

Answer 1

Hi @Gaurav Rastogi

I'm glad that you were able to resolve your issue and thank you for posting your solution so that others experiencing the same thing can easily reference this!

Since the Microsoft Q&A community has a policy that The question author cannot accept their own answer. They can only accept answers by others, I'll repost your solution in case you'd like to Accept the answer. Accepted answers show up at the top, resulting in improved discoverability for others.

Issue: Exception [SPXERR_RUNTIME_ERROR 0x1b] When Using SpeechRecognizer with AudioProcessingOptions for Echo Cancellation

Solution: Case History Link: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/2168570/exception-(spxerr-runtime-error-0x1b)-when-using-s#comment-1930643

The below solution will work with 64-bit applications only. Here is a revised version of your code snippet with the necessary checks:

var speechConfig = SpeechConfig.FromSubscription("YourKey", "YourRegion");
using (var audioProcessingOptions = AudioProcessingOptions.Create(AudioProcessingConstants.AUDIO_INPUT_PROCESSING_ENABLE_V2))
{
    using (var audioConfig = AudioConfig.FromDefaultMicrophoneInput(audioProcessingOptions))
    {
        try
        {
            using (SpeechRecognizer recognizer = new SpeechRecognizer(speechConfig, audioConfig))
            {
                // Recognition logic
            }
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            Console.WriteLine(ex.ToString());
        }
    }
}

Please "Accept the answer" if the information helped you. This will help us and others in the community as well.

Thanks