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Asus Essence ST Asio fix and questions

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a9ennis:
Hello - i have been an avid reader and user of the interact forum and rarely had the need to put pen to paper. However i love a challenge so getting ASIO bit perfect driver to work well with the Essence ST was a challenge. If the stuttering and pops have been resolved before then apologies, but i have not seen it.

System Config
JRiver version 15
Asus Essence ST - using analogue out to 2 channel stereo
Asio Bit perfect driver Beta Beta Version 7.12.8.17731 and current release Version 7.12.8.1792
Windows 7 64bit
Media - CDs ripped in lossless formats 16bit 44khz ,other audio 24bit 48khz/96khz lossless

all system volumes set to 100% - incl speaker volumes in mixer panel

Volume control being done by JRiver internal digital volume

Issue
breakup and stuttering on play back.
Increasing buffer size in JRiver has no effect. Increasing sample, or bit rates make the problem worse. Scrolling rapidly through images or cover art significantly increases break up.

Solution – download the following tool to gain access to the ASIO settings.

http://www.djdecks.be/asioconfig.exe

It appears that by default Asus has set the Latency in the ESSENCE ST to 10ms. This cannot be adjusted by any control in JRiver or the Asus control Panel.
Reading one of the pro audio forums i found a Steinberg tool for adjusting the latency and setting bit depth of the ASIO sound system.
Looking through the registry I found the Keys that are altered depending on 2 audio parameters
1)   The settings in the downloaded ASIO control Paned
2)   The Sample rate adjusts according the signal being fed by the Audio application (eg JRiver)
Using this tool we can now increase the latency beyond 10ms which resolves the stuttering and breakup.

some interesting thoughts for those with more knowledge.
When I first opened the ASIO config tool, the ASIO bit depth was set to 16bit, this I confirmed by the entry in the registry. Even though I had just been playing a 24bit audio track. In JRiver it states that the output format bit depth will be set by the audio hardware. Where does JRiver get this information from ?
Surely it must be from the registry. It cannot send an audio signal see if the hardware senses it, the audio driver changes the registry setting, then JRiver reads this and adjusts accordingly. This does not seem possible?
So if Asus sets the bit depth in the registry, stating that the native bit depth is 16bit how can JRiver determine if the hardware supports 24 or 32 bit without the correct 24 or 32 bit reg entries?
Obviously one for the JRiver core support guys.
I am interested in folk thoughts

Here is the ASIO reg key locations
HKEY_CURRENT_USER/SOFTWARE/CMEDIA/xxxx.xxxx_ a long hex code/PARAMS/

Matt:
Thanks for the post, and all the good details.



--- Quote from: a9ennis on January 28, 2011, 06:35:11 pm ---Even though I had just been playing a 24bit audio track. In JRiver it states that the output format bit depth will be set by the audio hardware. Where  does JRiver get this information from ?
Surely it must be from the registry.
--- End quote ---

The ASIO driver (ASUS in this case) requests a sample format for delivered data.  It is not configurable from our side.  I would be surprised if it requested different formats depending on a setting, because normally the hardware requests the native format of the card in ASIO.  I suppose it's possible that their ASIO driver is just a layer that talks to their regular driver, and the regular driver is designed to take all sorts of formats.

If you enable the diagnostic message-box in our ASIO settings, it will report the sample type requested when starting playback.  I can look up the sample type Monday if you like.



--- Quote ---It appears that by default Asus has set the Latency in the ESSENCE ST to 10ms. This cannot be adjusted by any control in JRiver or the Asus control Panel
--- End quote ---

The ASIO buffer size should be configurable by a client like Media Center.  That's what our 'Use large hardware buffers' option does -- sets the hardware bufers to a larger size instead of using the card's default / current size.

Perhaps ASUS would consider improving their support for hardware buffer sizing in a future driver revision?  We would be happy to help them if they're interested.

a9ennis:
Matt,
Thanks for the reply, its all very interesting, using regedit and refresh you can actually see the reg keys changing as you change audio sample rates and bit depths. I am going to look at the reg keys for buffer size and see if the JRiver panel is actually adjusting the buffers in the card.

Asus have got lots of criticism from the Pro Audio forums for making great hardware then implementing a poor driver.
If a tool like the lactency control allow more stable ASIO playback, any chance the Asio LAtency tool could be built into JRiver Asio Panel. Latency control is a standard freature on any pro audio ASIO application.

The ASUS ASIO driver bypasses everything on the card, nothing in the control panel or windows control works, which i believe is a good thing.

Interesting the analogue signal output is signficantly reduced, which raises more thoughts of, when everthing isn't bypassed is some sort of gain applied?

Fun and games. It sounds good too.

Matt:

--- Quote from: a9ennis on January 28, 2011, 10:19:06 pm ---Asus have got lots of criticism from the Pro Audio forums for making great hardware then implementing a poor driver.
--- End quote ---

I've been there myself with ASUS:
http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=55607.msg381051#msg381051

With that said, I've heard from some users of their newer cards that seem really happy with them.



--- Quote ---If a tool like the lactency control allow more stable ASIO playback, any chance the Asio LAtency tool could be built into JRiver Asio Panel. Latency control is a standard freature on any pro audio ASIO application.
--- End quote ---

My understanding is that latency setting is just setting the hardware buffer size.  And like I mentioned, we try to set the hardware buffer size if you enable 'Use large hardware buffers'.  It's possible there's only some special buffer sizes that the ASUS card will support.  I haven't seen this with other hardware though.

mojave:
I have an ASUS Essence ST, too. I use the Unified Drivers 1.28 with low DPC latency. I still plan to test the ones that use the original C-Media Audio Panel, but have not installed them yet. I have also used the official ASUS beta drivers. I have not had a problem with either drivers with regard to stuttering or pops.

I'll have to check on the bit depth with ASIO. I haven't used ASIO in a while and am currently using WASAPI event style.

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