Topic by timedriver

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  • timedriver
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  • Registered: 26-04-2013
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Topic: ASIO notes,question

After installing pt yesterday I could'nt receive any audio from my headphones in the ASIO format.I could only use it as a standalone with the virtual keyboard with real tek computer speakers.After googling on utube their was a video on the work around for this.All I had to do in pt was go to the control panel in pt for the active headphones and play around with the buttons there.Now thats fine and dandy and works alright...but I have to disable the asio & use the windows audio to listen to any other videos when leaving pt.Is their something obvious I'm missing here.Also in checking my device manager...their is no indication of an asio driver or in any of the other sound properties.And its not really an inconvience to re apply the asio setting everytime I start up pianoteq.
My other question..........
I'm currently using Casios Previa PX 350 Keyboard with a Roland KC-350 keyboard amp.
Should I lose the amp and spring for a decent speaker system or is the Roland sufficient..and if it is what type of cable or interface between the pc and the amp?
Any recomendations would be appreciated..again thanx in advance

David
W6DLB

Reply by custral

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  • custral
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  • Registered: 22-08-2010
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Re: ASIO notes,question

I  use headphones, and because they're hi-impedance need an amp to drive them. I use a combo device to do this, one benefit of which is I can bypass the laptop's onboard soundcard with an FiiO companion device to the amp, which it docks with. This FiiO device thus appears in Windows' Mixer-listing (which you get by clicking 'Mixer' at the bottom of the popup window raised by clicking the speaker icon in the Quick Launch area of the Taskbar).

INSERT : thus FiiO is the device I listen by. You will have an equivalent, so read on with it in mind.

In my system, since the docked FiiO device is always connected to laptop via USB it always appears in the Mixer's listing, under its Devices page. Under the Mixer's Applications pages, one for System Sounds always appears. Other applications (for example Mozilla Thunderbird, Mozilla Firefox, Adobe Flash) may or may not appear in Mixer's Application pages, one page per application, according to Windows' utterly mysterious appraisal of your current YouTube use, etc etc.

Smooth use of ASIO4ALL needs that on the Sounds tab of the System Sounds page, No Sounds is set, so System Sounds don't interfere with playback. Also, on MY system, under System Sounds' Playback tab, with FiiO chosen and under its Advanced tab,  'Allow applications to take exclusive control of this device' set (and one application would be Pianoteq, another Firefox) a potential for conflict exists. Nevertheless, setting this makes control-management explicit, rather than hidden, so seems sensible. And 'Give exclusive applications priority' falls right in line with the same aim. YMMV, but I always set both.

And my latest management-wrinkle for this is, if I want Pianoteq after using other media in the course of a day, I simply raise Mixer FIRST (that's to say ahead of invoking Pianoteq, or any application using Pianoteq VSTi), and MUTE all visible applications, bar System Sounds (whose setting mutes itself, recall). Naturally since Pianoteq isn't invoked it doesn't appear - but say it did appear, I wouldn't mute it.

And THEN invoke Pianoteq, Standalone or VSTi. With this management-approach, I've yet to have one of those mysterious and extremely frustrating episodes in which ASIO4ALL simply will not work.

Simple, once you're past the tangle of icons and pages and tabs. Hope it helps.

Last edited by custral (28-04-2013 09:29)