What exactly is ASIO4ALL and do you need it for fl studio?

[dkan808]

What does it do that you cant just use your computers sound drive instead. Also, when i use it the volume from FL becomes insanely loud. Putting volume on the lowest setting is like having the volume half way up on an ipod.

 

[krushing]

Normally, a computer's sound system works in a way that when the computer requests some kind of sound-related thing for the soundcard to put out, the command goes through all kinds of layers in the operating system to ensure there are no conflicts with whatever other programs may be wanting to do at the same time (like playing music from a music player and watching a Youtube video at the same time). This is fine for regular computer usage, but going through all those layers takes time, so it's not ideal for music production tasks where you'll want to have low latency and a no-compromise sound. ASIO is a driver system used by pro soundcards that bypasses all these layers and lets the programs access the soundcard hardware directly. These are usually written specifically for certain devices to ensure as tightly integrated system as possible. Asio4All is simply a generic ASIO driver for soundcards that don't have their own low-level drivers to allow for a more low-latency operation. It's mainly used when you don't have a proper audio interface or for some reason the audio interface's own drivers aren't performing as they should be.

Whether or not you need it depends a bit on your audio hardware - FL requires an ASIO-compatible soundcard if and when you want to actually record audio; if not, then the regular DirectSound drivers should work as well (but you won't be able to record external sources). Dunno about the volume issue, maybe check their forums?