I have a Focusrite Scarlett 2i4. I would like to use Audacity with ASIO. I compiled it in Win8 as it’s written in Wikipedia. It works fine on this computer.
I have a notebook with Win10 too. I would like to use the same compiled Audacity (and the Focusrite), but I have problems in this machine. If I change the interface settings to ASIO in Audacity, still no problem (only sometimes clicks and cracks while recording), but if I exit then start the Audacity again with this saved ASIO interface setting, all sound playback in Win10 will be like in slow motion, unlistenable (e.g. MP3 playing, Youtube etc.). The only solution is reinstalling Focusrite’s drivers every time, it solves the problem - still using Audacity with ASIO again. Or I have to start Audacity with other interface setting (e.g. MME), then change to ASIO, use it, then change back to MME before exiting every time.
I don’t know, what would be the problem, what is the difference, because in Win8 it works perfectly. Or I would have to compile Audacity with the Visual Studio in Win10, too? Can it depends on the operating system of the compiling?
Thank you very much in advance!
I doubt that is the problem. If your compiled version works OK on Windows 8, then it’s pretty safe to assume that it’s not a problem with the Audacity binary.
It’s important to remember that ASIO requires exclusive access to the audio device. Audio applications that don’t use ASIO will not run properly (or more commonly “at all”) while ASIO is using the device.
As for the difference between Windows 8 and 10: Probably the most important difference is “sound card drivers”. Sound card drivers designed for Windows 7, 8 or Vista “may” work to some extent, but are very likely to have problems. For reliable performance it is essential that Windows 10 drivers are installed on Windows 10. Have you checked that your device drivers officially support Win10?
Thank you for the quick answer!
There is only one version of Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 drivers for Windows as I see, and it’s written in the homepage to be compatible with Win10 too.
and I presume that you have checked that your computer is using the 4.36.4 driver?
I don’t think that this is an Audacity problem. I think that the problem is that on Windows 10, ASIO is not releasing the sound card as it did on Windows 8.
If you use Audacity with ASIO, then close Audacity and all other audio applications (including web browser), then wait for at least a full 10 minutes, then try playing an MP3, what happens?
What if you do a complete shutdown of the computer (not just go to sleep) and reboot after using Audacity with ASIO?
I use the latest (4.36.4) driver.
The waiting and shutting down/rebooting didn’t help, and I realized after detailed tests, that not only starting Audacity with ASIO settings can cause the problem - after changing once to ASIO settings in Audacity and exiting, next Audacity starts still cause this, regardless the interface set.
But I think I found the solution meanwhile! As I changed the buffer size in Focusrite’s ASIO Control Panel, the problem has dissapeared, I didn’t have to reinstall the drivers, and if I use other buffer size than the default (largest), this problem has not even occurred since then. I hope it’s an ever-lasting solution.