ASIO driver..help!

dhart86

I'm currently using PC>HRT streamerII dac>Rotel integrated>LSI7
The USB Dac utilizes asynchronus stream mode.
Would an ASIO driver increase the sound quality to my set-up?
1. What do ASIO driver do?

quadzilla

First answer, unknown.

Second answer, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_Stream_Input/Output

heiney9

yes, it should be better.

ASIO bypasses the normal audio path from the user application through layers of intermediary Windows operating system software, so that the application connects directly to the sound card hardware. Each layer that is bypassed means a reduction in latency (the delay between an application sending audio information and it being reproduced by the sound card, or input signals from the sound card being available to the application). In this way ASIO offers a relatively simple way of accessing multiple audio inputs and outputs independently. Its main strength lies in its method of bypassing the inherently high latency and poor-quality mixing and sample rate conversion of Windows audio mixing kernels (KMixer), allowing direct, high speed communication with audio hardware. Unlike KMixer, an unmixed ASIO output is "bit identical" or "bit transparent", that is, the bits sent to the sound card are identical to those of the original source, thus having higher audio fidelity.

What operating system are you using?



H9

PrazVT

+1. Assuming your hardware supports ASIO, it is the way to go. Also, Winamp's kernel streaming plugin does the same thing.

dhart86

heiney9 wrote: »

yes, it should be better.

ASIO bypasses the normal audio path from the user application through layers of intermediary Windows operating system software, so that the application connects directly to the sound card hardware. Each layer that is bypassed means a reduction in latency (the delay between an application sending audio information and it being reproduced by the sound card, or input signals from the sound card being available to the application). In this way ASIO offers a relatively simple way of accessing multiple audio inputs and outputs independently. Its main strength lies in its method of bypassing the inherently high latency and poor-quality mixing and sample rate conversion of Windows audio mixing kernels (KMixer), allowing direct, high speed communication with audio hardware. Unlike KMixer, an unmixed ASIO output is "bit identical" or "bit transparent", that is, the bits sent to the sound card are identical to those of the original source, thus having higher audio fidelity.

What operating system are you using?



H9

Windows XP

dhart86

Thanks for the info...............How does one obtain ASIO drivers?

heiney9

My brother and a couple others use the HRT with Windows XP..............maybe they will chime in.

What did a Google search bring up? It's not that difficult, plus the HRT streamer has all kinds of activity on the 'net. Get your read on.

H9

heiney9

What program are you running for audio? Media Monkey, WINAMP, Foobar, etc? Usually you start by searching for an ASIO driver for your specific audio player.

H9

Face

http://www.asio4all.com/

heiney9

Face wrote: »

http://www.asio4all.com/

I was going to post that too, but I didn't have enough info at the time.

H9

dhart86

heiney9 wrote: »

What program are you running for audio? Media Monkey, WINAMP, Foobar, etc? Usually you start by searching for an ASIO driver for your specific audio player.

H9

Thanks 4 info H9 & Face
I run media monkey, is asio4all good for media monkey
Thank you guys for all your help,

Hey Face you modded a pair of Lsi7's for me (nice work) would you be interested in modding another pair for me in a month or so?

jinjuku

Keep in mind if you end up moving on to Windows 7 you don't necessarily need ASIO since WASAPI is a total rewrite (due to the aged audio subsystem in XP) and offers an exclusive mode for audio output.

A simple google of ASIO vs WASAPI will give you lots to read about.

dhart86

thanks for the heads up jinjuku

Face

PM sent.