ASIO what...?
I posted recently that following some treatment from Dr. Jason I was in a position to try out ASIO on the TFS without the clicks and pops that had previously made ASIO unlistenable. Unfortunately the clicks and pops returned. (I didn't touch anything, honest...!)
But, I had liked what I'd heard ASIO doing during the brief no-clicks-and-pops period, and was determined at least to try to solve the problem...
Well isn't the internet a wonderful thing. My first discovery was that the clicking and popping was likely due to a too brief a latency setting for ASIO in the TFS' Xonar sound card. All that was needed was to increase the latency from its 10ms default setting... :-)
But hand on a minute, the Xonar control panel offers no way of making such an adjustment. Only the sampling rate can be adjusted as far as processing is concerned. Hmmmm. Back to wise old Mr. Google.
After a while, and on a couple of digital music forums, I came across this tool beng mentioned as the solution to my very problem,,,
www.djdecks.be/asioconfig.exe
The claim was that the tool gives access to the Xonar's ASIO settings. Usually when I come across such techy things at least 2 of the following 3 things happen:
1. My computer can't make them work.
2. I can't make them work.
3. I am told to "be quiet, the kids can hear!" by Mrs. Docfoster as a stream of angry filth flows from my mouth.
Well well well, my delight was surpassed only by my surprise when the ASIO tool worked exactly and as simply as hoped.
Increasing the latency to 20ms removed almost all pops and at 30ms I am hearing none at all. Happy times.
Solving the ASIO problem has allowed me to do some quality listening comparisons betweem ASIO and the other available protocols in JRiver.
Prior to solving the ASIO's touretts I had been using WASAPI event style as my favourite, so in a Harry Hill stylee I've been deciding between the 2 of these for the past couple of days.
First thing to say is that the 2 protocols sound different. Very different in fact. I want to say 'night and day', but that might be overdoing it, let's say 'mid afternoon and twilight'. In my system and to my ears ASIO sounds clearer, cleaner and spatially sublime. Instruments, voices and sounds are better defined in their own space than they have ever been in my system. The sound is freer from all the potential problems that can befall poor digital front ends (grain, indistinctness, mush, HF roll-off, etc.,...) than I have ever achieved. There is smoothness about things that makes for a very realistic reproduction. Cymbals ring very sweetly. Last night there were some drum fills that really made me grin.
The only downside is/was that on some recordings (mainly those that are over produced generally and/or include over compressed vocals) ASIO's efforts can sound a bit thin, and this was putting me off initially. But, as I'm hearing this less and less may be it just says more about how ASIO differes from what I am, or was, used to. The old default WASAPI event style certainly produces midrange sounds (vocals, brass, strings) that sound richer, but it also smudges their edges in space compared to their chiselled appearance in ASIO. In fact flipping back to WASAPI event style now sounds like a lurch backwards in performance. It sounds like CD direct. Heaven forbid. ;-)
I'd be interested to read of anyone else's impressions on this subject, although I know most of you use Apple MacIntoshes, and that they are different somehow (don't they run on pixie piss rather than electricity or something...?).
Also 2 questions:
1. By increasing latency (which I understand, perhaps wrongly, as something to do with the buffering time available), I'm getting rid of the pops, but what am I trading this against...?
2. The asioconfig tool also gives access to the bit depth for ASIO in the Xonar sound card. I hadn't realised that this had to be set manually in ASIO. I assumed that JRiver would gently whisper ("16" or "24" or "32") gently and according to the file being played into the Xonar's ear. Is this not the case? And if not, why not?
Ben
EDIT - I really am hearing no thiness on "commercial" recordings at all now. Just degrees of bad production. ;-p Conversely, good stuff is now wringing the tears out of me.
The TFS goes from strength to strength. Remarkable piece of kit!!!
EDIT2 - ASIO conveys bass sounds in a very powerful way. I love this thing!
But, I had liked what I'd heard ASIO doing during the brief no-clicks-and-pops period, and was determined at least to try to solve the problem...
Well isn't the internet a wonderful thing. My first discovery was that the clicking and popping was likely due to a too brief a latency setting for ASIO in the TFS' Xonar sound card. All that was needed was to increase the latency from its 10ms default setting... :-)
But hand on a minute, the Xonar control panel offers no way of making such an adjustment. Only the sampling rate can be adjusted as far as processing is concerned. Hmmmm. Back to wise old Mr. Google.
After a while, and on a couple of digital music forums, I came across this tool beng mentioned as the solution to my very problem,,,
www.djdecks.be/asioconfig.exe
The claim was that the tool gives access to the Xonar's ASIO settings. Usually when I come across such techy things at least 2 of the following 3 things happen:
1. My computer can't make them work.
2. I can't make them work.
3. I am told to "be quiet, the kids can hear!" by Mrs. Docfoster as a stream of angry filth flows from my mouth.
Well well well, my delight was surpassed only by my surprise when the ASIO tool worked exactly and as simply as hoped.
Increasing the latency to 20ms removed almost all pops and at 30ms I am hearing none at all. Happy times.
Solving the ASIO problem has allowed me to do some quality listening comparisons betweem ASIO and the other available protocols in JRiver.
Prior to solving the ASIO's touretts I had been using WASAPI event style as my favourite, so in a Harry Hill stylee I've been deciding between the 2 of these for the past couple of days.
First thing to say is that the 2 protocols sound different. Very different in fact. I want to say 'night and day', but that might be overdoing it, let's say 'mid afternoon and twilight'. In my system and to my ears ASIO sounds clearer, cleaner and spatially sublime. Instruments, voices and sounds are better defined in their own space than they have ever been in my system. The sound is freer from all the potential problems that can befall poor digital front ends (grain, indistinctness, mush, HF roll-off, etc.,...) than I have ever achieved. There is smoothness about things that makes for a very realistic reproduction. Cymbals ring very sweetly. Last night there were some drum fills that really made me grin.
The only downside is/was that on some recordings (mainly those that are over produced generally and/or include over compressed vocals) ASIO's efforts can sound a bit thin, and this was putting me off initially. But, as I'm hearing this less and less may be it just says more about how ASIO differes from what I am, or was, used to. The old default WASAPI event style certainly produces midrange sounds (vocals, brass, strings) that sound richer, but it also smudges their edges in space compared to their chiselled appearance in ASIO. In fact flipping back to WASAPI event style now sounds like a lurch backwards in performance. It sounds like CD direct. Heaven forbid. ;-)
I'd be interested to read of anyone else's impressions on this subject, although I know most of you use Apple MacIntoshes, and that they are different somehow (don't they run on pixie piss rather than electricity or something...?).
Also 2 questions:
1. By increasing latency (which I understand, perhaps wrongly, as something to do with the buffering time available), I'm getting rid of the pops, but what am I trading this against...?
2. The asioconfig tool also gives access to the bit depth for ASIO in the Xonar sound card. I hadn't realised that this had to be set manually in ASIO. I assumed that JRiver would gently whisper ("16" or "24" or "32") gently and according to the file being played into the Xonar's ear. Is this not the case? And if not, why not?
Ben
EDIT - I really am hearing no thiness on "commercial" recordings at all now. Just degrees of bad production. ;-p Conversely, good stuff is now wringing the tears out of me.
The TFS goes from strength to strength. Remarkable piece of kit!!!
EDIT2 - ASIO conveys bass sounds in a very powerful way. I love this thing!