That's good to know, thank-you @gdaddy1
Windows Sound Basics - ASIO WASAPI etc
It seems surprisingly hard to get basic information on improving sound from a Windows PC to external DAC.
Specifically I want to bypass the default sample rate set in sound settings and have this passed as per the source. Source could be browser, Tidal app, music player etc
I'd appreciate any help to confirm if the below is on the right track and if there are any good links that I have not found yet.
Seems to be plenty of technical discussions but nothing on the basics to get there.
What I think so far:
- WASAPI, ASIO and a kernel method are the options to bypass windows sample rate
- WASAPI should be standard on any recent windows build and to use it there needs to be a setting in the app. I can find no settings in the Tidal app. Haven't checked browser yet.
- ASIO has to be installed and relies on compatibility with the DAC chip or driver. Unclear how to check compatibility with my old and out of support DAC - Auralic Vega.
PC in this case is an Intel NUC and output to DAC is via USB.
Starting to see why streamers are popular, but even with one of those in the system the NUC will remain for streaming TV and Apple Music and I want this to be good.
In terms of general settings I cam across these sites, but it doesn't cover bypassing windows sample rate.
https://support.focusrite.com/hc/en-gb/articles/207355205-Optimising-Windows-for-Audio
And these were good to understand WASAPI and ASIO but not how to implement:
ASIO https://www.thewelltemperedcomputer.com/KB/ASIO.htm
WASAPI https://www.thewelltemperedcomputer.com/KB/WASAPI.htm
- ...
- 11 posts total
I have always tried to download the ASIO driver that manufacturers offer for Windows. The original VEGA (and subsequent versions) has a downloadable AISO driver that you can find by digging around their site The original one was for older Windows versions such as “VISTA and Windows 8”. There is possibly a newer option available. I was informed I should avoid the WASPI drivers to remove as much interaction with the Windows operating system as possible. |
Thanks @drrsutliff I need to find out more about the ASIO driver. I have the latest Vega driver, and indeed needed it to get the dac working. Maybe there is additional configuration to bypass the windows sample rate?
|
This was posted by Brian from Roon on their site 2 years ago: ”ASIO and WASAPI are different interfaces that applications can use to play sound on Windows. WASAPI is Microsoft’s current native interface for audio playback, and ASIO is a 3rd party alternative built to suit the pro audio market decades ago. Your main goal should be to bypass the "software mixer" built into the operating system. This mixer is what allows you to hear Windows noises mixed with notification sounds, mixed with Youtube at the same time. This is convenient, and appropriate for most software, but it modifies the audio content along the way in a manner that is optimized for performance/battery life over sound quality. Not ideal for focused music listening. ASIO always bypasses the software mixer. WASAPI bypasses it only if you choose to do so. If you want to bypass the software mixer with WASAPI, you use something called "Exclusive Mode", which means that your app takes exclusive control over the audio hardware while it’s playing, thus boxing out other apps and the software mixer. If you are having a focused listening session with an external DAC, I would recommend using either ASIO or WASAPI Exclusive mode to ensure that the communication between software and DAC is as clean as possible.” Though no the identical situation I do use Roon and when I installed the Gryphon drivers it gave me the option to choose which one I would employ. I chose ASIO and have not had any desire to revels it that choice. |
Thanks @drrsutliff . The Gryphon drivers were for your DAC? This would make sense to me technically. I am not aware of any configuration available in the Vega driver, but worth a deeper dive on that. |
- 11 posts total