ASIO Drivers will bridge the gap between your computer’s sound card and your DAW. If you don’t own an audio interface, or if your interface is class-compliant (no native ASIO driver), you will want the third party driver called ASIO4ALL.
| Operating system | Microsoft Windows |
|---|---|
| Type | API |
Audio Stream Input/Output (ASIO) is a computer sound card driver protocol for digital audio specified by Steinberg, providing a low-latency and high fidelity interface between a software application and a computer's sound card. Whereas Microsoft's DirectSound is commonly used as an intermediary signal path for non-professional users, ASIO allows musicians and sound engineers to access external hardware directly.
ASIO Gear was started out of a passion for whitetail bowhunting by a guy who has been part of the hunting industry for over 30 years. Joe Miles, ASIO Gear’s founder and CEO, is an over-the-top whitetail bowhunter who was looking for a way to take his bowhunting to the next level. In the end, he created a never-before-seen camo pattern that he. ASIO is a professional level audio driver for Windows. ASIO usually allows you to set lower buffer sizes, which helps to reduce latency. ASIO performance is generally stable, with fewer audio dropouts and other artefacts. ASIO drivers are usually not included on Windows and need to be installed separately. Sep 01, 2010 USB Audio ASIO driver helps you connect USB audio interfaces to music applications via ASIO at latencies down to 4ms. Features: USB-audio support for ASIO compatible applications like Cubase. Again, for standalone asio, there's no 'standard' cmake Module to do thins, (but googling finds some that you'd only have to amend with a few hints for windows), but for boost::asio, you get well-tested, robust Library finding routines.
Overview[edit]
ASIO bypasses the normal audio path from a user application through layers of intermediary Windows operating system software so that an application connects directly to the sound card hardware. Each layer that is bypassed means a reduction in latency (the delay between an application sending audio information and it being reproduced by the sound card, or input signals from the sound card being available to the application). In this way, ASIO offers a relatively simple way of accessing multiple audio inputs and outputs independently.
Operating systems[edit]
Interface support is normally restricted to Microsoft Windows. Starting with Windows Vista, KMixer has been removed and replaced by WASAPI and a new WaveRT port driver.
There is also an experimental ASIO driver for Wine, WineASIO,[1] for a Windows compatibility layer for Linux. WineASIO driver uses the JACK sound server as its audio back-end and allows many ASIO-aware applications to run with low latency under WINE.
Other free or open source alternatives are ASIO4All,[2] FlexASIO,[3] ASIO2KS,[4] and ASIO2WASAPI.[5]
Being a proprietary protocol, it does not have any universal compatibility with Windows-based DAW and other recording software. For example, the user manual of the Audacity audio editor states: 'Licensing restrictions prevent us including ASIO support in released versions of Audacity, but Audacity can be compiled with ASIO support for private, non-distributable use.'[6]
See also[edit]
- JUCE, an open-source C++ toolkit that includes support for ASIO audio devices.
References[edit]
- ^WineASIO website
- ^ASIO4All website
- ^FlexASIO website
- ^ASIO2KS website
- ^ASIO2WASAPI website
- ^'ASIO Audio Interface'. 2008. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
External links[edit]
Universal ASIO driver
The primary use of Asio4All today is to creating music on your PC when your built-in drivers just won’t cut it. However, its applications extend beyond that.
Free and universal
Asio4All is a free, hardware-independent, low-latency universal Asio driver for WDM-supported devices and software.
Asio drivers bypass Windows mixer to make audio output fast and reliable. However, not everybody has such a driver. In that case, Asio4All serves as an intermediary, connecting your audio software to your sound card.
The installation is simple. After your download, you just need to access DAW preferences and choose this program as the driver.
Primarily, Asio4All allows FL Studio to run on low latency, adding to the speed. You'll grant it exclusive access to the audio driver, and it will replace some of its functions and add some new features.
This program acts as an emulator for Asio drivers, so you can use any digital audio workstation without the need for an external audio card. It's ideal for those starting their home studio.
Where can you run this program?
Asio4All is only available for Windows devices with operating system versions Vista, 7, 8, and 10.
Is there a better alternative?
Yes. Asio4All is great, but it hijacks your audio and doesn’t let you play other audio output. If you’re on a Mac, try Soundflower. For Windows, FL Asio is a good option.
Our take
While it does come with its share of issues, Asio4All boasts a fantastic range of compatibility, making it a logical go-to choice.
Should you download it?
Yes, especially if you want to create music on your PC and your custom driver isn’t sufficient.
Highs
- Universal audio driver
- Works with all WDM-supported audio devices
- Low latency
- Independent software
Lows
Asio Official
- Difficult to use
- Sometimes displays verification errors
Asio4all.com
ASIO4ALLfor Windows
Asio Hunting Gear
2.9