ASIO driver causes conflict with Windows Media Player

[ptmconsulting]

I installed the ASIO driver and it works fine on my Windows 7 machine, however when I try to play a music track on Windows Media Player all sorts of things go wrong. When I exit Ableton Live Lite 10 I can now play music again. The same thing happens when I load an instrument into my Arturia keyboard. I have that set with an ASIO driver and Windows Media Player will not work at all (can;t find tracks, duplicates tracks, all sorts of screw ups). But if I change the driver from ASIO to Windows driver I can use Windows Media Player at the same time.

Unfortunately I don;t have the choice to use the Windows driver with Ableton Lite Live 10. It isn;t even a choice in my Audio Preferences.

Any suggestions other than don;t run both programs at the same time? Sometimes I want to hear a music track and copy a line or a sound, so using them together is helpful.

Thanks

[jestermgee]

When you say you installed an ASIO driver, was it for a specific audio interface (and which one) or was it ASIO4ALL ?

ASIO is a 1:1 audio driver which connects the software directly with the audio driver(hardware). It bypasses the internal windows audio routing which means that if you have one application connected to your interface with an ASIO driver you cannot have another connect to it.

However, most pro grade (decent) audio interfaces will operate with both ASIO and WDM/Direct audio drivers simultaneously so that you maintain all your windows applications using the WDM driver but the ASIO driver can connect to a specific application for more reliable and lower latency processing. AFAIK if you use ASIO4ALL this is a "hack" driver that attempts to emulate the ASIO functionality but replaces the WDM functionality instead of operating alongside so it may be that you cannot use an ASIO driver application and WDM based audio at the same time.

Only other thing to keep in mind is even with ASIO and WDM being available it may be required to have your sample rates in all applications match.

[ShelLuser]

It's not a bug but a feature.

Most ASIO instances rely on exclusive control over the audio interfaces. Ergo: as long as Live is active it's not very surprising that other programs no longer work.

My suggestion therefor would be to get a 2nd external audio device. Even an "el cheapo" Sweex (which I am using) could make a difference here.