Win 10, Audacity 2.2.2 I use a Creative Labs PCI card for amateut radio applications and an onboard Realtek chip for system apps. Since installing Audacity the input from the PCI card is captured by the system and is unavailable for other apps to use. How do I release the PCI card for non-system apps to use? The PCI card is used as a digital-analog converter where analog audio from the radio is digitized, processed by apps for input and app output is then converted from digital to analog and sent to the radio. The problem is the audio from the radio is coming from the system speakers and should be totally unrelated and the apps cannot access the PCI card. Thanks, bill
I’m confused about what you’re trying to do and and I don’t know what you mean by “non-system apps”, but…
Possibly you’re using WASAPI Exclusive mode?
Click the speaker/volume icon, then Recording (or Playback), then whatever device you’re using, then Properties → Advanced, then un-check Exclusive Mode.
Or, maybe you just need to make sure both devices are enabled and make sure you’ve selected the appropriate/desired default device.
Each device can only record from only input/source at a time. i.e. You can’t record from mic input and the line-input at the same time (except you can record the mixed output with Loopback or Stereo Mix, etc.).
If you’re recording streaming audio you have to use the same recording and playback device.
I am not trying to record or stream. The PCI card is sending audio feed to the onboard card and can only be turned off by disabling the PCI card. Non-system app are anything that wants to use the PCI card that did not come with Windows. Some of these apps are Logger32, HamRadoDeluxe and WSJT65. All feed the ham radio audio into a secondary sound card to extract intelligence from the received audio. As currently configured the radio audio from the PCI card is going thru the onboard Realtek sound chip and is coming out of the Realtek speakers. If I disable the PCI card the audio flow stops but the PCI card is still unavailable to the ham apps. I don’t think this is an Audacity problem as much as Audacity has changed a configuration in the computer system. It acts like the OS has captured the PCI card for exclusive use and will not release it. All was function properly before I installed Audacity. I am not familiar with MME, DirectSound or any of the ot
Windows sound processing apps. For what it’s worth the motherboard and PCI card have been around since I built this box with XP as an OS. Yeah, its 10 years old but it does what I need it to do and I don’t really want to reload 400 Gb of software. Thanks, bill