Sonar Audio Driver -ASIO or else?

**Raymond62** · 07-25-2007, 05:22 PM

Sonar says: when you have all three drivers WDM/KS, ASIO and that other one (forgot the name), you should choose WDM/KS first.
Why not ASIO? I thought it has the lowest latency?

I am experimenting with it, because sometimes the whole lot stalls while playing back or recording and NOT because of CPU load. It just stops for a couple of seconds maintaining the last notes during that stalling-time.

Don't know what triggered this?
It cannot be the system (I think).
Dual Core 2 CPU, 4 Gb internal memory, 2 SATA HD's (one for programs and other for data = Sonar data). Let's say: the latest development in PC building. Yes, I set Sonar to have that dual processor thing.

Raymond

**reberclark** · 07-25-2007, 05:32 PM

I have a similar system to yours (dual processor/4GB RAM) but only one hard drive. I recently tried the ASIO driver to see what would happen and it caused a dropout immediately and the Audio Engine halted. I boosted the latency a bit and it improved but it still seemed "iffy" to me. I switched back to the WDM/KS (kernel streaming?) driver and it works ALOT better for me. No dropouts.

When you say "I set Sonar to have that dual processor thing" could you elucidate a bit? Maybe I'm missing a technique or a tweak.

**diligamus** · 07-25-2007, 05:38 PM

There's a whole bunch of threads on the Sonar support forum about this subject.

For me, WDM is the only one I've ever been able to get to work. Since it works, I haven't spent too much time digging into why the others don't.

**Haydn** · 07-25-2007, 08:19 PM

What driver you choose in Sonar depends on the soundcard. The WDM/KS driver worked best with my old system which had an ESI Waveterminal soundcard. ASIO works best in my new system with an EMU 1212M card.

Jim

**Raymond62** · 07-26-2007, 03:53 AM

Originally Posted by reberclark

When you say "I set Sonar to have that dual processor thing" could you elucidate a bit? Maybe I'm missing a technique or a tweak.

Under Audio Options Dialogue it asks Use multiprocessor, check it when not greyed out [when greyed out then you don't have a multiprocessor].

Raymond

**Nickie Fønshauge** · 07-26-2007, 03:36 PM

Originally Posted by Prince of Music

I was kinda supprised to read this and went searching the Sonar site. I couldn't find anywhere where they recommended using WDM over ASIO.

Sonar 6 Help file:

WDM/KS drivers are the latest available and typically have very low latency. MME is an older driver type and has higher latencies. ASIO drivers also offer lower latency. Your hardware may have all three driver options. If so, you should try WDM first.

**reberclark** · 07-27-2007, 12:58 PM

Originally Posted by Raymond62

Under Audio Options Dialogue it asks Use multiprocessor, check it when not greyed out [when greyed out then you don't have a multiprocessor].

Raymond

Thanks Raymond, I had missed that option. I have a multiprocessor and checked the box. It works fine and doesn't tax my machine as much. Thanks!

**Nickie Fønshauge** · 07-27-2007, 03:50 PM

I won't say I know much about audio drivers, so I Googled "WDM" and found this interesting article. It says about WDM/KS (at the very bottom of the page):

By accessing the kernel module of the driver directly from the application without the usage of any high level API, very low latency figures can be achieved (similar to ASIO, depeding on the driver structure and hardware even lower than with ASIO).

Apparently the people at Cakewalk do have a point, when they recommend WDM/KS.