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Sunday, May 04, 2008 3:49 PM PT Posted by MattMik

ASIO4ALL Enhances Your Sound Card!

Many amateur music producers face the problem of selecting a decent sound card that will work well with their creations. However, because decent sound cards and interfaces are pretty high-priced, many producers who are just starting out do not have enough money to purchase one. Sometimes their sound card has great sound quality, but is not ASIO-compatible. ASIO (Audio Stream Input/Output) is a protocol for audio that was created by Steinberg and is used by many professional producers because of its low-latency and high-fidelity operations. Low-latency is especially important for musicians who use a computer with MIDI equipment, as it decreases the time between when a key is pressed and when a sound is heard.

Chances are the cheaper sound cards on the market do not support ASIO. Fortunately, there is a solution for Windows users called ASIO4ALL that acts as a universal ASIO audio driver for the majority of Windows-compatible sound cards. It uses kernel-streaming and a variety of other methods to achieve ASIO compatibility. All that's needed is a WDM (Windows Driver Model) compatible operating system (Windows Vista, XP, and 2000 all are), a WDM audio driver for your audio hardware, and, as the website says, a little bit of luck. Thankfully, ASIO4ALL worked with the crummy sound card built into my DELL laptop. If it works with that piece of garbage, I highly suggest trying it with your sound card.

ASIO4ALL will not replace or change existing sound drivers in any way, install components that could affect the stability of your system, and overclock your sound card. It will usually not void any warranties, too, and the best part is it's absolutely free!

By writing this article, I do not guarantee that ASIO4ALL will work with your sound card, and although ASIO4ALL's website says that it will not affect your system, I and ASIO4ALL are not responsible for anything that happens to your system!

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