Why can't I have ASIO and another audio input?

[fwrunner2018]

Hi;
I am trying to get audio from an old drum synth (BTV Pro) running on my Windows 7 system into Reaper.
My main audio system is Behringer UMC202HD which is using its native ASIO driver.
In order to get the audio from the drum synth program, I need to use a virtual audio cable. I have VB Audio cable installed.
In order to use this cable as an input to Reaper, I must first change the audio device in Reaper from ASIO to WASAPI and then I can select the VB cable output as an input. In BTV I then select the VB cable (input) as the output.
I had this working for a while, then something happened and it stopped working. But in Reaper, it is impossible to still use ASIO output while selecting another (non-ASIO) input. I prefer the ASIO output because it is the native driver for my AI.

Any ideas on this?

Thanks
FW

[solger]

Try to disable the 'exclusive mode' option for all Playback & Recording Devices in the Windows Sound Control Panel: https://help.uaudio.com/hc/en-us/art...nd-Preferences

But in Reaper, it is impossible to still use ASIO output while selecting another (non-ASIO) input

In general, it's the same case in other applications - you can only select/use one audio system (ASIO or WASAPI, etc.) at a time.

For mixing audio from different sources (using different drivers), you can have a look at using VoiceMeeter: https://www.vb-audio.com/Voicemeeter/index.htm

[fwrunner2018]

Originally Posted by solger

Try to disable the 'exclusive mode' option for all Playback & Recording Devices in the Windows Sound Control Panel: https://help.uaudio.com/hc/en-us/art...nd-Preferences



In general, it's the same case in other applications - you can only select/use one audio system (ASIO or WASAPI, etc.) at a time.

For mixing audio from different sources (using different drivers), you can have a look at using VoiceMeeter: https://www.vb-audio.com/Voicemeeter/index.htm

Thanks for the info. I don't think I had the exclusive mode selected. I will try VoiceMeeter - again. I was using it a while back before I bought the UMC202HD, but uninstalled it as I didn't seem to need it at the time. There is also something called "ASIO Bridge" by VB Audio. I'm not exactly sure, but I think that is a driver that allows non-ASIO devices to use ASIO drivers to get low latency.

BTW; That BTV software I have isn't working all that well anyway. I get distortion on all buffer settings regardless of whether I have its output set to the ASIO for the UMC202HD or the VB Audio Cable to send audio to Reaper. So I'm probably best off not spending too much time with that, and instead use a plugin for Reaper. I do have one (ErsDrums) that I like, but the BTV has all sorts of effects and pre-programmed sounds.

Perhaps using VoiceMeeter I can set the buffers more precisely to eliminate the distortion.

[solger]

Originally Posted by fwrunner2018

There is also something called "ASIO Bridge" by VB Audio. I'm not exactly sure, but I think that is a driver that allows non-ASIO devices to use ASIO drivers to get low latency.

I haven't used the ASIO Bridge myself, but according to the description and setup example image on the webpage it looks like you can basically route audio directly from Windows applications (which don't support ASIO itself) to ASIO devices. And the other way round, as well:

HIFI-CABLE driver is a virtual audio device appearing in the audio device list with a Gold Cinch Connector icon.

HIFI CABLE is working like VB-CABLE except it needs to be configured with the same samplerate on its Input and Its output. HI-FI Cable is bit perfect and supports up to 24 bits 384 kHz audio stream.

With ASIO-Bridge Application, HI-FI CABLE's Input can be routed to ASIO Device Output, and ASIO Device Input can be routed to HIFI CABLE's Output.

[solger]

Instead of using the Virtual Audio Cable, another option to check out in general is also using WASAPI loopback mode (see post #7): https://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=190798

[fwrunner2018]

Originally Posted by solger

Instead of using the Virtual Audio Cable, another option to check out in general is also using WASAPI loopback mode (see post #7): https://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=190798

Thanks;
I have used the loopback mode when recording audio from YouTube and other Windows sources. I did try to do that for BTV, but there were some issues; I'm not exactly sure what I did. I am kind of going back and forth between different projects right now, so I'll come back to the audio setup a bit later on.

[Bri1]

Any ideas on this?

Aye- it's totally possible to run seperate 'instances' of reaper all using different interfacings.
Find your project file,right click--open new instance-- then goto audio devices and tell each to play different drivers-- both wave and asio can be used all @ the same time.--using wasapi will give other options to route >in< <out> ><thru><.
This is true,hope it worx4u. =)

[fwrunner2018]

After playing around with VB Audio cables (both the standard and Hi-Fi), and VoiceMeeter, I have come right back to where I started...
What I was actually trying to do is have two different audio sources assigned to two different tracks. VM will only allow me to work with one audio system; same as what I already have, so it is really not of much use.
That said, I was able to get the BTV drum app sending audio to Reaper using the VB audio cable.

One thing I noticed when using VoiceMeeter (Banana) is the huge amount of delay it adds. From hitting a pad (using the QWERTY keyboard) in BTV to the sound coming into Reaper, there must have been 500ms delay!
I tried changing the buffering settings in VoiceMeeter, but none of the parameters I could change made any difference. I also tried different input/output combinations.

what does work is the simple VB Audio cable.

I am kind of surprised that Reaper doesn't allow different tracks to use different audio devices. Perhaps I am missing something here.

In any case, I think I would be better off using virtual instruments as plug-ins in Reaper rather than trying to use an outdated non-compliant separate app.

One last query:
The Behringer UMC202HD came with an ASIO driver, which I have been using. But is there really any advantage to using it over one of the native Windows drivers - like WASAPI?

[mschnell]

Originally Posted by fwrunner2018

WASAPI?

AFAIK: While the WASAPI Windows subsystem accepts plain old (pre-WASAPI Windows-Audio - not ASIO) drivers for hardware devices, and WASAPI does support aggregating multiple input devices (which obviously includes re-sampling them to a common sample clock - hence the delay you see in VoiceMeter), WASAPI seemingly can only do the aggregation with drivers that adhere to the new "native" WASAPI standard.

I have yet to see any hardware that comes with "native" WASAPI support.

Let me know if there are news...

-Michael

[fwrunner2018]

Originally Posted by mschnell

AFAIK: While the WASAPI Windows subsystem accepts plain old (pre-WASAPI Windows-Audio - not ASIO) drivers for hardware devices, and WASAPI does support aggregating multiple input devices (which obviously includes re-sampling them to a common sample clock - hence the delay you see in VoiceMeter), WASAPI seemingly can only do the aggregation with drivers that adhere to the new "native" WASAPI standard.

I have yet to see any hardware that comes with "native" WASAPI support.

Let me know if there are news...

-Michael

Is there really any advantage to using ASIO drivers?
My Behringer UMC202HD came with an ASIO driver, but I can use WASAPI as well and don't hear the difference. Matter of fact, I have had some trouble with the UMC202HD losing communication with Windows (and Reaper) while running the ASIO driver. I don't know whether that has anything at all to do with the driver, but I am experimenting with using WASAPI now.