What is the best buffer size for ASIO4ALL?

D

D-Funkdafied

Guest
ASIO4ALL is amazing for latency especially if you haven't a proper soundcard yet but I am wondering what the best buffer size is?
Default is set to 512 samples - is it ok to lower this a bit for more latency but not too much?

Also, when I am using my software with ASIO4ALL, I seem to loose the sound from elsewhere like YouTube and et cetera.. How do I get it to work along with my software so I can hear tutorials and hear my MIDI keyboard at the same time?
 
Depends on what your system can handle. The lower the buffer, the more stress on the CPU...

And ASIO is built so that it'll give priority to a single app, which is why you "lose sound" - that's how ASIO works, one app at a time (with the exception of ReWire).
 
D-Funkdafied said:
ASIO4ALL is amazing for latency
Click to expand...

ASIO4ALL is the absolute worst ASIO driver I've used for latency. It's zippier than "Primary Sound Driver" in FL, though.

I regularly run my RME HDSPe AIO at 32/64 samples and usually raise to 256 towards finishing a huge project.
I ran my Echo IOx at 64/128 samples, going up to around 2048 samples when finishing a huge project.
Ages ago, when I first started out, I had a Tascam US-122L. I don't remember it ever being stable at latencies under 256 samples. Way back then, though, I clicked notes in and didn't care.

I used ASIO4ALL before I had each of these interfaces, and even the worst of them whooped its ASIO4ALL's a$$.

Like krushing said, the buffer setting depends on what your system can handle. Just lower it until you get pops and clicks, then raise it one setting higher. As your projects get larger, you'll generally need to gradually increase the buffer size, especially if you're using a lot of CPU-heavy plugins.

I'm guessing you're using an integrated soundcard... Am I right?

-Ki
Salem Beats
 
Yes, I am not loaded like a lot of people are which is weird since this is still a recession (UK anyway). So I don't YET have a budget for some more gear. But I just installed ASIO4ALL and it is so much better than my ordinary primary driver... And I have used this standard sound card for 3 years..
 
krushing said:
Well, it isn't a "real" ASIO driver - it's a WDM driver wrapped to operate like ASIO.
Click to expand...

Which is exactly why its performance doesn't come close to any soundcard's native ASIO drivers.

-Ki
Salem Beats

---------- Post added at 10:21 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:02 AM ----------
D-Funkdafied said:
Yes, I am not loaded like a lot of people are which is weird since this is still a recession (UK anyway). So I don't YET have a budget for some more gear. But I just installed ASIO4ALL and it is so much better than my ordinary primary driver... And I have used this standard sound card for 3 years..
Click to expand...

Besides their performance problems, integrated soundcards (they're generally all based on the same "AC97" chipset) have a "lifeless" quality to them. It's not subtle at all -- the average consumer can very easily discern the difference when A/B'd.
I'm not an electrical engineer by any means, but the integrated soundcards I've heard sound like a blend of what I hear with impedance mismatch and MP3 conversion -- the high end gets a a gradual rolloff combined with a sudden steep rolloff at some point, and the low-mids get smeared and lose their "thud".

If only you could hear your beats the same way I've heard them, through an RME or an Echo, you'd understand what I'm saying. Here's to hoping your next gear purchase is a nice soundcard or external interface -- you'll really get a lot out of it.

-Ki
Salem Beats
 
krushing said:
Depends on what your system can handle. The lower the buffer, the more stress on the CPU...

And ASIO is built so that it'll give priority to a single app, which is why you "lose sound" - that's how ASIO works, one app at a time (with the exception of ReWire).
Click to expand...

^^^ QFT

All you need to know right there.

------------------------------------------------------
And as far as the other reply:

Salem Beats just regurgitates crap he reads and has no idea what it all means. Seriously, do some research and you'll see that clown is clueless.
 
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macbeat said:
^^^ QFT

All you need to know right there.
Click to expand...

My Echo and my RME both have multi-client drivers, meaning you can use your ASIO driver and play back audio from other sources simultaneously.
I believe that Native Instruments has multi-client drivers as well.
These are just a few that I know from first-hand experience -- I'd bet that there are other manufacturers with multi-client drivers.

This is fun. You're keeping the forum better informed by coaxing me to reveal more information in order to prove you wrong.
#1 - I get to prove you wrong and have some fun.
#2 - You get to learn something.
#3 - Lurkers and members on the forum get to learn something.
Win-win-win scenario.

-Ki
Salem Beats
 
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Salem Beats said:
My Echo and my RME both have multi-client drivers, meaning you can use your ASIO driver and play back audio from other sources simultaneously.
I believe that Native Instruments has multi-client drivers as well.
These are just a few that I know from first-hand experience -- I'd bet that there are other manufacturers with multi-client drivers.

This is fun. You're keeping the forum better informed by coaxing me to reveal more information in order to prove you wrong.
#1 - I get to prove you wrong and have some fun.
#2 - You get to learn something.
#3 - Lurkers and members on the forum get to learn something.
Win-win-win scenario.

-Ki
Salem Beats
Click to expand...

LOL, Corny dude is corny.
 
Salem Beats said:
bool doesMacBeatHaveBeats()
{
return false;
}
Click to expand...

wow, you're just as bad at java as you are at making beats.

And I'm assuming you meant to use Java since this is an if()statement.

Boolean logic > Salem "wack ass" Beats
 
Last edited:
macbeat said:
wow, you're just as bad at java as you are at making beats.

And I'm assuming you meant to use Java since this is an if()statement.

Boolean logic > Salem "wack ass" Beats
Click to expand...

No, it's C++. Java doesn't have a "bool" data type (it's "boolean"). This isn't an "if() statement" at all. It's a function. It returns a value. You'd USE it later on in an "if" or "while" block, like this:

void main()
{
while(doesMacBeatHaveBeats())
{
// Who cares what code we have here, it'll never execute
}
}

bool doesMacBeatHaveBeats()
{
return false;
}

I simply got bored of asking the same question over and over again in plain English.

-Ki
Salem Beats
 
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