Audigy2 as digital crossover (via ASIO)

wingfeather · Apr 25, 2006, 12:47 AM

I'm in the rather unusual position of using my Audigy2 for purely hi-fi listening purposes, acting as a digital crossover for my 3-way speakers (+ subwoofer). The method I'm using is one I found on the diyaudio.com forums, where he routes his sound through an ASIO VST-host application ("Console" in the example) and back out to the card's outputs. In this way, standard VST plugins are responsible for the digital crossover and it's all very configurable.

I've got this method to work very well, by connecting FXBus 0/1 to ASIO 0/1 in the kX DSP, and then connecting the 7 ASIO outputs to the relevant physical outputs. Latency is good, and all is well.

However, I'm concerned about what happens to the audio before it reaches the ASIO application. For example, if I want to use a resample plugin for Winamp (HQSoftProc) which will output my audio at 24bit/48kHz (being output to "kX Wave 0/1"), will the sound end up going through the ASIO application in this format? Or will it get molested along the way? I don't understand the signal formats as they move through the kX driver.

I've also been reading about ASIO4all and am unsure how this fits in. In some ways it promises the ability to get my audio into my ASIO application in up to 24/48 format, something which is desireable as I want to avoid multiple dither operations if possible.
From the sounds of it it intercepts the Wave 0/1 signal directly - before it reaches the kX driver. If this is the case, where then does it go?
I've had a quick play with this ASIO driver but haven't got anything to work as yet.

Can anyone help?

Thanks,
Wingfeather

**dj_stick** · Apr 25, 2006, 02:54 AM

kX ASIO is 16.48 ONLY, as is any DSP routing for a crossover

wingfeather · Apr 25, 2006, 12:42 PM

Thanks, dj_stick. So just to clarify - any signals that end up passing through the DSP window are truncated to 16 bits? I didn't realize that.
So there's no way for any 24-bit audio to pass through the soundcard (except for waveHQ of course). Interesting.

Assuming potential use of ASIO4ALL, do you think it would be possible to get the signal from winamp (or whatever) and through my ASIO processing application at 24-bit, and then dither it down to 16-bit before sending it through the kX DSP? That would, to my mind at least, minimize the errors associated with the crossover processing.

Sorry for the long posts!

Thanks,
Wingfeather

Apr 25, 2006, 12:47 AM	#1
wingfeather DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: UK Posts: 18 Rep Power: 0	Audigy2 as digital crossover (via ASIO) I'm in the rather unusual position of using my Audigy2 for purely hi-fi listening purposes, acting as a digital crossover for my 3-way speakers (+ subwoofer). The method I'm using is one I found on the diyaudio.com forums, where he routes his sound through an ASIO VST-host application ("Console" in the example) and back out to the card's outputs. In this way, standard VST plugins are responsible for the digital crossover and it's all very configurable. I've got this method to work very well, by connecting FXBus 0/1 to ASIO 0/1 in the kX DSP, and then connecting the 7 ASIO outputs to the relevant physical outputs. Latency is good, and all is well. However, I'm concerned about what happens to the audio before it reaches the ASIO application. For example, if I want to use a resample plugin for Winamp (HQSoftProc) which will output my audio at 24bit/48kHz (being output to "kX Wave 0/1"), will the sound end up going through the ASIO application in this format? Or will it get molested along the way? I don't understand the signal formats as they move through the kX driver. I've also been reading about ASIO4all and am unsure how this fits in. In some ways it promises the ability to get my audio into my ASIO application in up to 24/48 format, something which is desireable as I want to avoid multiple dither operations if possible. From the sounds of it it intercepts the Wave 0/1 signal directly - before it reaches the kX driver. If this is the case, where then does it go? I've had a quick play with this ASIO driver but haven't got anything to work as yet. Can anyone help? Thanks, Wingfeather

Apr 25, 2006, 12:42 PM	Thread Starter #3
wingfeather DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: UK Posts: 18 Rep Power: 0	Thanks, dj_stick. So just to clarify - any signals that end up passing through the DSP window are truncated to 16 bits? I didn't realize that. So there's no way for any 24-bit audio to pass through the soundcard (except for waveHQ of course). Interesting. Assuming potential use of ASIO4ALL, do you think it would be possible to get the signal from winamp (or whatever) and through my ASIO processing application at 24-bit, and then dither it down to 16-bit before sending it through the kX DSP? That would, to my mind at least, minimize the errors associated with the crossover processing. Sorry for the long posts! Thanks, Wingfeather