Topic by jimmo

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Topic: Having problems with asio device selection within Pianoteq

Hey folks,

I've been using Pianoteq 2.3.0 with the asio4all driver under XP fine, without any problems.  I recently bought a new laptop (full specification Alienware m17x) which comes with Vista and I installed the same versions of Pianoteq and the asio4all driver...now, when I select ASIO from the sound preferences, I only get one choice of device - the HDMI output...which, of course, means I can't hear anything as I don't have an HDMI device to plug it into.

The ASIO control panel can see the other devices, as can all the other apps I've tried (so far).  I tried disabling HDMI and everything except the normal speakers in the control panel but still no joy - Pianoteq refuses to offer any output device except HDMI.  It works fine with DirectSound but, of course, I want to use ASIO to reduce latency to a minimum.

Does anyone have any ideas?  I've tried every approach I can think of and I'm hitting a wall.

Thanks
-Jimmo

Reply by Jake Johnson

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Re: Having problems with asio device selection within Pianoteq

Hate to say the obvious, but---have you checked the asio4all site for updates? There were several in August and September of this year--not too long ago. I think some of them fixed problems with Vista. Here's the link:

http://www.asio4all.com/

Reply by jimmo

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Re: Having problems with asio device selection within Pianoteq

hehe...yeah I have checked - I had to go to the asio4all site to get the driver for the new laptop.  I've tried both the latest one and the same version I had working previously on my old laptop.

In the asio4all manual it has an entry:

(Vista) The meters are moving, everything looks ok but there is no sound:

Drivers for High Definition Audio devices have a habit of listing SPDIF outputs before the analog ones. As a consequence, the first two or more ASIO channels will be routed to SPDIF, if you use the default
configuration. You can change this by either disabling the SPDIF output in the ASIO4ALL control panel or correctly assigning ASIO channels in your audio application

In my case, its HDMI rather than SPDIF but I've tried this anyway - disabling everything except normal "stereo speakers" makes no difference - Pianoteq still only provides the HDMI output option (obviously this means I can't do the latter and change the output device).

Reply by Jake Johnson

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Re: Having problems with asio device selection within Pianoteq

Oh well. How about your other sound drivers--for the internal sound card. Are these turned off in what WinXP would call the Sounds and Audio panel off of the Control Panel (I don't know if Vista even has this, or what it's called.)

Have you done the usual checks for IRQ conflicts in the Device Manager?

And come to think of it, can you provide more details? What kind of sound card and connection are you using?

If you are using an external sound card, have you checked the manufacturer's site for a device-specific asio driver? (I use a Tascam US-144, which has its own asio driver. If I try to use asio4all, I too have problems. Just longer latency, though).

Reply by jimmo

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Re: Having problems with asio device selection within Pianoteq

Jake Johnson wrote:

Oh well. How about your other sound drivers--for the internal sound card. Are these turned off in what WinXP would call the Sounds and Audio panel off of the Control Panel (I don't know if Vista even has this, or what it's called.)

Yes I did try disabling the other drivers but to no avail.

Have you done the usual checks for IRQ conflicts in the Device Manager?

Yup, the High Definition Audio Controller is on its own IRQ, no other devices at the same IRQ.  I also have the factory report detailing the IRQ assignments to verify this - benefit of a brand new laptop

And come to think of it, can you provide more details? What kind of sound card and connection are you using?

If you are using an external sound card, have you checked the manufacturer's site for a device-specific asio driver? (I use a Tascam US-144, which has its own asio driver. If I try to use asio4all, I too have problems. Just longer latency, though).

It's the internal High Def Audio Controller - no external card.  I suspect the problem may be with asio4all on this platform, rather than with Pianoteq - I need to find an asio test binary to see if that works.

Thanks for your help, though - do you happen to know of any other source of free asio drivers aside from asio4all that I could try, to see if the symptoms change?

Cheers,
J.

Edit: update - the asio test signal generator has the same problem with identifying a valid device ... this isn't a pianoteq issue.  I'll keep experimenting.  (I'm learning to hate Vista in the process but I digress)

Reply by Jake Johnson

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Re: Having problems with asio device selection within Pianoteq

Is there a brand name for the internal card? (Or is the name you gave, the High Def Audio Controller, the brand name?) You might have to e-mail the maker of the card, or of the computer, if the card is made by the same people. ASIO is such a popular standard that they must be working on a fix by now, or know how to solve the problem. Releasing a card that doesn't support ASIO just doesn't make sense, yes?

Reply by jimmo

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Re: Having problems with asio device selection within Pianoteq

It's an integral RealTek High Definition Audio controller.  RealTek don't appear to have an ASIO driver.  Nevermind, I've ordered an external USB audio card which specifically says it supports ASIO, so that should hopefully solve the problem.  Thanks for all your help!

EDIT: problem solved - Edirol UA1 EX usb audio device works beautifully with ASIO and Pianoteq

Cheers
J.

Last edited by jimmo (14-10-2008 16:18)