Problems with ASIO4ALL v2 and Audigy2

nakamichi · Apr 18, 2005, 10:23 PM

Problems with ASIO4ALL v2 (2.6) , Hardware buffering,Audigy 2 and some other questions:

I installed the ASIO4ALL driver with kX Drivers already installed,since only ASIO4ALL currently offers 24/96 (actually it's 32/96) mode.
But I get seriously bad performance with it with my Audigy2 (in either 16/48 or 24/96),especially when Hardware Buffering is activated.

Before I tell you in detail of my problem,I want you to read this text,which I copied (and edited) from the PDF manual of the latest ASIO4ALL v2 drivers:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------
Hardware Buffer on/off
------------------------

Enables the hardware buffer for the selected device.

This only works for so called “WavePCI” miniports, as other types of WDM drivers do not usually allow direct access to the hardware buffer.
Hardware buffering works best for rather small ASIO buffer sizes. Try something between 128 and 256 samples as a starter!

The biggest advantage of using the hardware buffer is that this method uses a lot less CPU.
In addition, it may be possible to decrease latencies even further.

ASIO4ALL v2 also uses a kind of direct DMA transfer mode,which reduces latencies to a pro-level even with some on-board AC97 chips - up to 2ms!

If hardware buffering is not supported by a particular audio device, there will be an additional latency of a
couple hundred milliseconds, which is clearly audible.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So,I tried ASIO4ALL v2.6 with my Audigy2 and set Hardware Buffering" to on. I chose 512 samples of latency as a start,but I get very bad performance in either 16/48 or 24/96 mode.
It's lagging about nearly half a second.Changing the latency down to 64ms doesn't help.It still lags a lot.Also changing the hardware buffer offset from 10ms gradually down to 4ms doesn't help either.
Then I tried the Software Buffer mode.Selecting Software Buffers gives a bad performance also.I must up the buffers from 2 to 4 buffers,thus doubling the latency in order to work crackle-free.And what I get with this?
The minimum latency I can get is a terrible 16ms.How can someone with the crappiest AC97 audio get 2ms,and I get 16ms at best?
But with the kX ASIO in 16/48 mode I can go down to 2ms easily.Even much lower in the 100%-CPU-eating thread sync mode.

I wonder why Audigy2 doesn't support hardware buffering? Is that the kX driver does not allow direct access for ASIO4ALL or the SOUNDCARD does not support hardware buffering at all?
That's weird,since some of the crappiest on-board chips can run with "direct DMA transfer".

I don't know what is the problem here,so if anybody knows,please reply to this thread.

TravelRec. · Apr 19, 2005, 06:15 AM

There are many boards on the market and each board has it´s own pro and contra, you can´t expect that all possible support will run on one board you choose randomly. Have you asked your question in the ASIO4ALL forum?! Have you got any answer there? I would say, you live with the issues as long as kX will finally give you 24/96 and then you will have all that you want.

Apr 18, 2005, 10:23 PM	#1
nakamichi HardwareHeaven Lover Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 122 Rep Power: 0	Problems with ASIO4ALL v2 and Audigy2 Problems with ASIO4ALL v2 (2.6) , Hardware buffering,Audigy 2 and some other questions: I installed the ASIO4ALL driver with kX Drivers already installed,since only ASIO4ALL currently offers 24/96 (actually it's 32/96) mode. But I get seriously bad performance with it with my Audigy2 (in either 16/48 or 24/96),especially when Hardware Buffering is activated. Before I tell you in detail of my problem,I want you to read this text,which I copied (and edited) from the PDF manual of the latest ASIO4ALL v2 drivers: --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------ Hardware Buffer on/off ------------------------ Enables the hardware buffer for the selected device. This only works for so called “WavePCI” miniports, as other types of WDM drivers do not usually allow direct access to the hardware buffer. Hardware buffering works best for rather small ASIO buffer sizes. Try something between 128 and 256 samples as a starter! The biggest advantage of using the hardware buffer is that this method uses a lot less CPU. In addition, it may be possible to decrease latencies even further. ASIO4ALL v2 also uses a kind of direct DMA transfer mode,which reduces latencies to a pro-level even with some on-board AC97 chips - up to 2ms! If hardware buffering is not supported by a particular audio device, there will be an additional latency of a couple hundred milliseconds, which is clearly audible. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So,I tried ASIO4ALL v2.6 with my Audigy2 and set Hardware Buffering" to on. I chose 512 samples of latency as a start,but I get very bad performance in either 16/48 or 24/96 mode. It's lagging about nearly half a second.Changing the latency down to 64ms doesn't help.It still lags a lot.Also changing the hardware buffer offset from 10ms gradually down to 4ms doesn't help either. Then I tried the Software Buffer mode.Selecting Software Buffers gives a bad performance also.I must up the buffers from 2 to 4 buffers,thus doubling the latency in order to work crackle-free.And what I get with this? The minimum latency I can get is a terrible 16ms.How can someone with the crappiest AC97 audio get 2ms,and I get 16ms at best? But with the kX ASIO in 16/48 mode I can go down to 2ms easily.Even much lower in the 100%-CPU-eating thread sync mode. I wonder why Audigy2 doesn't support hardware buffering? Is that the kX driver does not allow direct access for ASIO4ALL or the SOUNDCARD does not support hardware buffering at all? That's weird,since some of the crappiest on-board chips can run with "direct DMA transfer". I don't know what is the problem here,so if anybody knows,please reply to this thread.

Apr 19, 2005, 06:15 AM	#2
TravelRec. Alternative Audioproductions Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Germany / Sachsen-Anhalt Posts: 1,710 Rep Power: 0	There are many boards on the market and each board has it´s own pro and contra, you can´t expect that all possible support will run on one board you choose randomly. Have you asked your question in the ASIO4ALL forum?! Have you got any answer there? I would say, you live with the issues as long as kX will finally give you 24/96 and then you will have all that you want. __________________ Always take a look behind.