[ASIO] PFOA Lock ASIO Driver

[sun7radio]

Hello,

I've just discovered a big issue with PFOA:

While PFOA is running, I can't run any other software which also use the same ASIO driver (I have a M-Audio ProjectMix IO).

I'm using Adobe Audition to create/edit jingles,sweepers,etc.. and when I was using StationPlaylist (which was using the same ASIO driver) I could use Adobe Audition concurrently to work on audio editing while the radio was streaming, but now, with PFOA, I can't anymore. In Adobe Audition I get an error message saying the ASIO driver is locked/in use by another application.

Is there a way to run PFOA without it 'locking' the ASIO driver ?
(All my other audio applications using the same ASIO driver never lock it and I can use them concurrently)

Cheers,
Guy.

[radio42]

This is not a ProppFrexx issue - but an ASIO limitation - check Steinberg for further support! This is totally normal when using ASIO.
ASIO drivers require exclusive access.

[sun7radio]

Please read again my message, how do you explain I don't have this issue with StationPlaylist nor with any other audio software I'm using ?

If it was just an ASIO limitation then I wouldn't be able to use Adobe Audition while running StationPlaylist, right ? But I can.

Why can't I with PFOA ?

Cheers,
Guy.

[sun7radio]

Ok, problem solved.

Here is my solution if you encounter such issue:

Instead of setting all my audio softwares to directly use the ASIO driver of the M-Audio ProjectMix IO, I'm now using ASIO4All.

This way no driver is 'locked' or 'blocked' and I can use again my audio softwares (Adobe Audition, etc..) while streaming the radio with PFOA.

Hope this (or will) helps some others.

Cheers,
Guy.

[radio42]

As to your 'issue': ASIO4ALL is NOT a native ASIO driver, but just emulates the interface.
In the background it uses a Kernel-Driver model, which is not ASIO.

Using native drives might have various benefits - e.g. Audition, Cubase, Ableton, ProTools etc. etc. ALL professional DAW Software does use/recommend using native drivers if possible AND they claim this with a certain reason - same goes with ProppFrexx.

So again: ASIO is exclusive - dot.
ProppFrexx has NO issue when using native ASIO drivers - dot.

Of course you can use Asio4All, if that is sufficient for you - no problem.
But this has nothing to do with your initial post or your incorrect 'assumptions' in your other posts.

In the end - I think it is better to let people understand the real background, and then everyone can decide what is their core business and which application should leverage which driver or not.
E.g. you could also say: ProppFrexx uses the native ASIO driver and Audition might use Asio4All.

However, THIS IS NOT a ProppFrexx issue as you claimed in your posts above!
I really do not like it when quick and dirty assumptions are made and then posted as de facto 'facts'.

So when you say: "OK, problem solved" I guess mean: "Sorry, I was totally wrong" - since there was never a problem beforehand.

[sun7radio]

I was not "claiming" anything,
just pointing out the issue I had.

Facts:
1) When using StationPlaylist (using native ASIO), I could use at the same time other audio (native ASIO) softwares - dot.
2) When using PropFrexx (using native ASIO), I can't use anymore at the same time other audio (native ASIO) softwares - dot.

So, explain how my assumption is incorrect here ?

Unless you have a very clear explanation about why this is happening
(perhaps on my side, perhaps on your side, whatever.. I'm not trying to blame anyone, just trying to understand what's happening here),
then I stand by my previous message:

1) I had (and still have actually, but I found a workaround) an issue with ProppFrexx.
2) Using ProppFrexx has a different impact than other audio/native ASIO softwares about concurrent usage of audio/native ASIO softwares.

So when I say: "OK, problem solved", I meant exactly that, because there was (and still is) a problem beforehand.

ps:
On my side I really don't like when users are treated as idiots who are always wrong.
And remember, I am your client here.

Cheers,
Guy.

[sun7radio]

Bernd,

You are 100% right.

After looking again at SPL, it is using, indeed, WDM. I'm not sure why, I was pretty sure it was using native ASIO.

After realizing I couldn't use Audition at the same time than PFOA I was pretty angry because I had to work on some audio elements and I couldn't. I didn't think further and posted my message.

The simple solution would have been for me to use WDM from PFOA instead of native ASIO..

So you were right, I was wrong, I was indeed the idiot here.

My apologies.

Cheers,
Guy.

[radio42]

No problem at all !

[radio42]

I am far from treating you as an idiot - I just want to be sure, that correct issues are posted here.

I just installed the latest StationPlaylist version... - but unfortunately I was NOT able to configure it to use ASIO.
To me it seems, that StationPlaylist does ONYL support DirectSound (WDM) - but it does NOT support native ASIO (as you indicated).
Also in the help/documentation I can only find hint's about using DirectSound/WDM - but not ASIO!
Also in all forums I have scanned...one of the big wishes for a future StationPlaylist version is: Support for ASIO.

So I am really sorry, but what I see so far is: StationPlaylist does NOT support ASIO !
Can you please post a screenshot of your StationPlaylist 'Output' configuration showing the use of native ASIO!

As a little side note:
The same soundcard can be accessed using different drivers, for example your M-Audio card provides 3 different driver models:
- DirectSound/WDM
- WASAPI (if on Vista/Win7/8 or above)
- ASIO
As such each application can choose which driver to use...

ASIO whatsoever is an exclusive driver model - meaning only one application at a time can access the soundcard via the ASIO driver.
This is also one of the reasons, why you can achieve so much better (lower) latency when using ASIO.

So I do stick with my statement:
There is NO ProppFrexx issue! - using ASIO is by definition exclusive and your observed behavior is as expected.