Possible bug (output res/rate higher than input)

[J]

ASIO4ALL seems to have a tendency to say that the OUTPUT driver handles a higher Bit-Res and a higher Sampling-Rate than the INPUT driver. This seems odd. I tried 3 different WDM drivers with ASIO4ALL 2.2, and virtually the same thing happened every time. I'm using a good ole' SB Live 5.1 with WinXP SP2.

The first driver I tried was the kX driver (which also comes with its' own ASIO driver, which has worked fine for me). With this WDM driver, ASIO4ALL said that the Output (Kx 1/2) was 24-bit. I pretty sure it said the input was 16-bit, and I did not try input.

Next, I uninstalled the kX driver entirely and let WinXP choose a new SBLive driver automatically. It chose the EMU101K (sic?), and this worked just fine in apps for NON-ASIO output.

With the EMU101K driver, ASIO4ALL claimed that the output driver, in this case, was 32-bit, and the input driver was 16-bit. None of my apps were able to make any sound out of the card when set to ASIO mode. I did not try ASIO input.

Next, I went into Control Panel | Sound and Audio Device Properties | Hardware | Driver Properties | Update Driver, and then manually selected the Creative "SB Live (WDM)" driver from a list and rebooted. After this, ASIO4ALL said the Output driver was 24-bit and the Input driver was 16-bit. Playback worked, but only in apps that supported 24-bit. I did not yet try input.

Anyway, it just seems odd that ASIO4ALL is reporting a higher Bit-Res and higher Sampling-Rate for OUTPUT than INPUT.

SUGGESTION: It also would be nice if ASIO4ALL would allow the choice of plain old 16-BIT for *ANY* WDM driver that supports 16-bit (even if the driver supports beyond 24 bit.) Forcing the host to use 24-bit or higher is problematic for older apps that can't handle this. (And forcing this for ONLY the output seems odd.)

Just was wondering if this behavior is due to a bug or some system-related issue?

Thanks,

J.

[Michael Tippach]

Guest-J said:

ASIO4ALL seems to have a tendency to say that the OUTPUT driver handles a higher Bit-Res and a higher Sampling-Rate than the INPUT driver. This seems odd. I tried 3 different WDM drivers with ASIO4ALL 2.2, and virtually the same thing happened every time. I'm using a good ole' SB Live 5.1 with WinXP SP2.

This is specific to the SB Live! i.e. what its driver(s) advertize(s) as the cards's capabilties.

[quote author=Guest-J
link=board=Bugs&thread=1106717149&start=0#0 date=1106717149]SUGGESTION: It also would be nice if ASIO4ALL would allow the choice of plain old 16-BIT for *ANY* WDM driver that supports 16-bit (even if the driver supports beyond 24 bit.) [/quote]

On the WDM side of things, this is what the "Force 16 Bit Samples" option is for.

[quote author=Guest-J
link=board=Bugs&thread=1106717149&start=0#0 date=1106717149]
Forcing the host to use 24-bit or higher is problematic for older apps that can't handle this. (And forcing this for ONLY the output seems odd.)[/quote]

ASIO bit depth is completely independent of WDM bit depth and always 32 for both output _and_ input. An ASIO host application not prepared to handle Int32LSB would not work with about 2/3 of all audio cards on the market that come with their own ASIO drivers and as such is very unlikely to have survived if it ever existed. Or do you have a specific app in mind when you mention "older apps"? Which one?

[J]

Sorry I misunderstood with regard to the bit-depth of ASIO vs. the WDM bit depth. Currently the only existing problem mentioned in the prior message is the silent audio when using EMU101K WDM driver with ASIO4ALL. I'll have to experiment further to see if I can get it to work.

J.