OS X users will no doubt laugh at the thought of having to install specialist drivers, but for anyone on the Windows platform, it’s a fact of reality you just have to live with. Which is why the ASIO4ALL drivers were such a big deal when they came out. Essentially, installing the drivers meant getting the performance from low latency ASIO-enabled hardware on pretty much any soundcard, from a built-in laptop part to a SoundBlaster PCI card.
Along with the ASIO-like latency, the software also brings with it some other nifty abilities such as aggregating multiple devices. For many Windows-based DJs, this is an essential bit of kit. This latest version seems to be mostly about fixing a few issues, particularly with 64-bit OSes as well as other bugs.
Changes since version 2.10
- Improvement: Make an attempt to reclaim an unavailable audio device, includes workaround for a (confirmed) Windows bug.
- Improvement: Add general fixed factor resampling capability
- Improvement: Latencies now displayed for the preferred buffer size, if host elects to violate the spec.
- Improvement: Support for single common sample rate that is *not* a multiple of 8 or 11.05
- Workaround: Realtek PULL mode not supported for “odd” ASIO buffer sizes. Symptom was a “Beyond Logic” error depending on ASIO buffer size.
- Fix: Potential application compatibility issue regarding ASIO reset request message
- Fix: Increased latency in x64 mode
- Fix: Pull mode _and_ latency display now working
- Fix: ASR issue with MSVC 2013 x64 -> Performance impact with hosts compiled with MSVC 2013
- Fix: UI appearance with different system locale
- Fix: Hang with some x64 hosts
- Fix: Crash on exit of A4Apanel64.exe
- Fix: Minor memory leak
- Fix: All known 2.11 Beta(1,2) regressions fixed!
My favourite bit of the FAQ is this:
Q: (Version 1.x) An 80kB file is all I get. Is the download broken?
A: No at all. The ASIO4ALL driver itself has a size of a mere 24kB. The remainder is taken up by the installer. This is one of the benefits of assembly language coding: It doesn’t take more than that in order to do what ASIO4ALL does!
The file size for this version has gone up slightly (five times) – to a whopping 430kB – but for what the software can do, it’s pretty amazing.
If your connection can handle it, here’s a direct link to the file download.
Do you use ASIO4ALL? Share your tips and tricks in the comments!
Thanks to Steve at digital vertigo for the link.