Is there an alternative to Windows audio drivers?

Discussion in 'PC' started by Luka, Jul 25, 2018.

  1. lbnv

    lbnv Platinum Record

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  2. loCurnus

    loCurnus Ultrasonic

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    you nearly can remove a lot of the drivers from win7. try to find a win7 custom release which is upgraded for audio stuff.
     
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  3. SineWave

    SineWave Audiosexual

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    Steinberg Generic ASIO driver gets installed with any of the Steinberg Cubase or Wavelab demos. The best way to get the Steinberg ASIO driver only is to install it in a Virtual OS and just copy the files and registry entries. It is not so complicated. :wink:

    Interesting to hear about the Magix ASIO driver. I'll check it out when I find some spare time. Thanks for the info! :)
     
  4. Iggy

    Iggy Rock Star

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    Not true, at least not in the case of Macs. CoreAudio (the Mac equivalent of ASIO?) is what runs the default or internal sound hardware on Mac computers. When you install a third-party driver, like a driver for an audio interface or a sound card, it will usually bypass CoreAudio (and the internal hardware) and route all sound in and out of the interface or card, unless you set it up to do otherwise in the computer's Audio/MIDI setup. Not sure why this isn't a thing on Windoze.
     
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  5. tzzsmk

    tzzsmk Audiosexual

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    not sure if I can agree on that,
    hardware is always addressed through Kernel and additional layers within every OS,

    CoreAudio is pretty much THE audio mode in MacOS, even let's say RME interfaces use CoreAudio mode despite providing tailored drivers,
    there is no way to bypass audio mode, the aforementioned RME cards obviously do lots of stuff within internal DSP hardware, so features like monitoring, mixing, eq, dynamics can be done without computer running at all, but any audio interaction (playback, recording etc..) is done through CoreAudio

    regarding Windows, as a matter of fact Microsoft hasn't been able past more than 30 years (!) to provide low latency audio mode usable for professional audio use (recording, virtual instruments playing etc.), so Steinberg came up with their own (ASIO) which obviously isn't part of Windows (and isn't free to implement, hence why for ex. Audacity doesn't support it by default)
     
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  6. Luka

    Luka Platinum Record

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    Thanks for all your replies. In general you have answered all my questions. This has been a much needed crash course. Again, thank you.
     
  7. famouslut

    famouslut Audiosexual

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    There's no real downside to installing lots (aka some =) ASIO drivers, rly. It allows you to pick and choose the one that best suits. I usually find the manufacturer one is the best for the job. As a side note, it's a good idea to turn on the "background services" thing in Windows, so that ASIO is prioritised.
     
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  8. Luka

    Luka Platinum Record

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    @quadcore64 I have to agree as to the Magix Low Latency driver being excellent. I did try others but receive the following error in FL Studio: "Not enough ASIO output Chanel's available. At least 2 channels are missing." With Ableton I receive a different one: "Failed to open the audio device xxxx". Does anyone know how to fix it? Thanks.
     
    Last edited: Aug 13, 2018
  9. orbitbooster

    orbitbooster Audiosexual

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    I got the same, but for any instance of software, and I suspect the problem is tied to the Conexant internal card. Now I try another PC with a Realtek and see if it's working. In that case Conexant has to be blacklisted for Mgx Asio driver.

    Addendum: it seem Realtek works. So Conexant is not supported.
     
    Last edited: Nov 4, 2018
  10. meow

    meow Guest

    Maybe you're using vsts that produce lot of latency, check each one of them in the bottom left of the DAW.
    Do you have the same issue with a new empty project and a stock synth?
    In reaper?
     
  11. orbitbooster

    orbitbooster Audiosexual

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    OK, I succeded to install Magix ASIO by installing Samplitude demo, as suggested by someone (sorry I don't remember who wrote it). In this case ASIO driver is recognized, BUT you have to disable first Conexant in ASIO4ALL, if you don't, no sound will be available. This post is only for users who have Conexant audio board, of course.:wink:
     
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