Trouble getting Pro Tools and System Audio to Play Nice

[weezerboy]

I just switched from using Pro Tools on MacOSX to using it on Windows 10. Is there any way to get all of my software to use my Audient iD14 interface?

I was able to get SoundMiner and Pro Tools to both work at the same time but I'm not able to get my system sounds (Quicktime, VLC, Youtube, etc) to work when Pro Tools is open.

I'm sure this is an ASIO issue or something as I've never run into this situation on Mac. I've used an RME interface on PC without having this issue so I'm assuming there's some fundamental thing I just haven't set up right.

Please let me know what settings to change to get this all to work. Thanks!

[Darryl Ramm]

It's dependent on the interface driver supporting multi-client OK, if nobody else here has an idea, contact your interface vendor for help/advice--but that it works at all with two simultaneous clients implies that it supports multi-client OK. Check things are trying to work at the same sample rate.

[albee1952]

On Windows, you should set Windows(under Control Panel>Sound Properties) to NOT use the interface as its default playback device. Set Windows to use the on-board sound card. This avoids any hardware conflicts(as you are now having).

There are a few ways to get Windows sound out of your studio speakers(or you could just connect a set of computer speakers). A "good" method(not cheap) would be to add a monitor/source selector(like the Presonus Central Station, Mackie Big Knob, etc) to your setup(I have enjoyed mine for 8 years now). A "cheap" method would be to route the interface outputs and computer outputs thru a small and inexpensive mixer(Mackie, Alto, Behringer).

[weezerboy]

I get that I can avoid the situation by setting the system sounds to not use the interface and getting an external mixer of some kind.

But this feels like a work around, aren't interfaces able to handle this now? I've been able to do this successfully with RME and Presonus interfaces without issues. As a matter of fact, I've been able to do this successfully using the same Audient interface, iMac and Pro Tools. The only difference now is that I'm using a bootbamp Windows 10 partition instead of the MacOSX partition.

Does that mean that this is an issue with the Windows drivers for the Audient interface?

[sw rec]

It isn't an interface issue, it's a software issue, but PT won't function correctly unless you un-designate your PT interface as the default Windows sound device. It's just the way it is.

[The Weed]

Originally Posted by weezerboy

I get that I can avoid the situation by setting the system sounds to not use the interface and getting an external mixer of some kind.

But this feels like a work around, aren't interfaces able to handle this now? I've been able to do this successfully with RME and Presonus interfaces without issues. As a matter of fact, I've been able to do this successfully using the same Audient interface, iMac and Pro Tools. The only difference now is that I'm using a bootbamp Windows 10 partition instead of the MacOSX partition.

Does that mean that this is an issue with the Windows drivers for the Audient interface?

It is completely dependent on the interface manufacturer's drivers. RME has great drivers and allows multi-client, others, not so much. Again, best practice is to NOT use your interface for Windows sounds/audio.

[weezerboy]

That's what I was trying to figure out... Is it Windows OS, the iD14 or the Windows drivers for it? I was looking at using Asio4All. I'm not sure if that will really help me much at all, just a thought.

[albee1952]

My opinion; ASIO4ALL is a
last resort" to get an interface to work at all. Factory ASIO drivers are preferred(but feel free to give it a whirl). Just trying to save you lots of headaches

[The Weed]

Originally Posted by weezerboy

That's what I was trying to figure out... Is it Windows OS, the iD14 or the Windows drivers for it? I was looking at using Asio4All. I'm not sure if that will really help me much at all, just a thought.

It's the drivers AFAIK.

[weezerboy]

Maybe you PC guys are already used to all this but I just got things figured out.

Turns out the Audient interface has no problem being used by several programs at the same time as long as they're all set to use the same sample rate. Pro Tools and SoundMiner can share the interface since they're both set to 48K. System sounds were set to use 44.1. Resetting Windows system sounds to 48K solved the problem and now everything can share the interface with no issues.

To change the system audio sample rate, right click the speaker in the toolbar and select Playback Devices>Properties>Advanced and set the sample rate you want.

Again, maybe this is common knowledge, but coming from Mac I never had to do this.

Thanks for the help everyone!