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WASAPI delay

post #1 of 18
10/18/10 at 4:01pm
Thread Starter 

Just curious here, I've started using WASAPI recently and I noticed that it's causing delays in Foobar. About a one second delay to pause/switch tracks.

 

I apologize if I'm missing something obvious. As usual, I tried using the search feature extensively before posting. Turned up no useful results.

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post #2 of 18
10/19/10 at 8:01am

I got this when I used it too, tbh though I just gave up on it, the delay and the fact I had to close foobar to hear sound from another program rather than just pause it got rather more annoying than knowing my music could sound better. If anyone knows any way to get round these problems or what causes it, i'd be another one most interested to know.

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post #3 of 18
10/19/10 at 8:34am

it's your buffer i'd guess, though it doesn't cause those issues for me.

 

preferences>playback>output>buffer length smily_headphones1.gif


Edited by googleborg - 10/19/10 at 8:40am
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post #4 of 18
10/19/10 at 8:39am

as for sound from another program, that's foobar taking exclusive control of the device, can disable that ability in the windows control panel sounds bit.

 

for me it's control panel>sound>digital output>options>advanced>allow applications to take exclusive control of this device (un-tick it) or something.  I just let foorbar take control because if i want to hear other stuff, i don't care about any possible improvements from bypassing the windows mixer etc so i run foobar through the normal digital out (DS digital out)

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post #5 of 18
10/19/10 at 8:47am

@Maytan - The delay you are experiencing is not from wasapi. Perhaps it's the way you have it setup in Foobar. I don't use Foobar, but many do and have no problem with wasapi delays. I'm sure someone will chime in with specific help.

 

@MarcusC - If you use the same speakers/headphone jack to listen to music as you do to listen to other sounds (from apps, websites or email beeps, etc) you need to use shared mode instead of exclusive mode for wasapi. If you use a soundcard or a dac to listen to music, go to control panel and choose built-in speakers for system sounds and configure your music player (foobar) to use the soundcard or external dac to play music through. I do it the second way. All the 'sounds' come out my speakers and my 'music' comes out the usb to my dac (or soundcard for some people). I can pause the music and listen to the computer.

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post #6 of 18
10/19/10 at 9:22am
Thread Starter 

I fixed it (the delay) thanks to the poster I quoted below, take a look.

 

As for sound, you can either hit 'stop' instead of 'pause' (which shouldn't be more than a minor annoyance), or you can put your device in shared mode. (as posted here) I don't know if shared mode has any negative effects, but I don't see why it would.
 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Marcus_C View Post

I got this when I used it too, tbh though I just gave up on it, the delay and the fact I had to close foobar to hear sound from another program rather than just pause it got rather more annoying than knowing my music could sound better. If anyone knows any way to get round these problems or what causes it, i'd be another one most interested to know.


Thanks! That fixed it. (set to 120ms or something, I tried the lowest latency but it gave my some crackling) For some reason, when using WASAPI, buffer length effects Foobar's responsiveness. (hence, 1000ms = my 'one second delay') I wonder why this only happens with WASAPI, and not ASIO or DS. Anybody know?

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by googleborg View Post

it's your buffer i'd guess, though it doesn't cause those issues for me.

 

preferences>playback>output>buffer length smily_headphones1.gif



Well, I don't have any customizations done. I just plopped the WASAPI plug-in into Foobar's components and told it to use it with my DAC. Quite an interesting problem.
 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Justin Uthadude View Post

@Maytan - The delay you are experiencing is not from wasapi. Perhaps it's the way you have it setup in Foobar. I don't use Foobar, but many do and have no problem with wasapi delays. I'm sure someone will chime in with specific help.

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post #7 of 18
10/19/10 at 9:47am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Justin Uthadude View Post

@MarcusC - If you use the same speakers/headphone jack to listen to music as you do to listen to other sounds (from apps, websites or email beeps, etc) you need to use shared mode instead of exclusive mode for wasapi. If you use a soundcard or a dac to listen to music, go to control panel and choose built-in speakers for system sounds and configure your music player (foobar) to use the soundcard or external dac to play music through. I do it the second way. All the 'sounds' come out my speakers and my 'music' comes out the usb to my dac (or soundcard for some people). I can pause the music and listen to the computer.

 

I thought these replies were rather familiar. I think i've just got to the point I got to last time when I gave up. I don't have any built in speakers so all sound goes through the DAC and as soon as I put the device in shared mode I get an unrecoverable playback error in foobar. I will have one last go later and a major search of hydrogen audio but until then it's still not working properly.

 

Glad you got it sorted @Maytan
 

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post #8 of 18
10/19/10 at 2:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marcus_C View Post

...I don't have any built in speakers...

 


Maybe I used the wrong term.  If you unplug your dac, your computer won't even beep? no startup sound? If it makes a sound, that's built in speaker(s).

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post #9 of 18
10/20/10 at 5:06am

What i meant was; at the moment if I have foobar playing in the background while browsing and i'm sent a video link on youtube or an artist recomendation on spotify etc. I have to close foobar and restart my browser before any sound come out. If i put the device in shared mode I get the unrecoverable playback error. I know youtube sq is bad but it's better than a system speaker. Also mine isn't connected as I built my computer and left the buzzer off the mobo. It doesn't greatly matter not using wasapi though so i'm not too bothered if I never sort it out.

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post #10 of 18
10/20/10 at 5:27am

Pardon my ignorance but what does Wasapi do? Improve sq? I have it on my foobar player but have never tried  it because I don't know its purpose. I read a technical explanation of it but it didn't answer too much for me.

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post #11 of 18
10/20/10 at 12:40pm

WASAPI in exclusive mode bypasses the Win mixer and sample rate converter.
WASAPI is the big trick if you want to play all audio at its native sample rate.
I do think it sounds a bit more transparent than the Win default DS (Direct sound).

 

The answer to your question is very simple one, compare Foobar using WASAPI  and using DS. If you do hear a difference, use the one you think sounds best
http://thewelltemperedcomputer.com/KB/WASAPI.htm

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post #12 of 18
11/28/10 at 2:49pm

"control panel>sound>digital output>options>advanced>allow applications to take exclusive control of this device (un-tick it)"

 

interesting; never thought to try that. now if I pause audio in foobar I can go open a youtube video and hear the audio from it. the delay is just something I have to deal with I guess as I do really believe I can discern an positive difference between wasapi and asio4all/direct sound.

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post #13 of 18
1/3/11 at 11:55pm

In reading about WASAPI, I see a lot of information about DAC's but I don't have one. I do have an M-Audio 24/96 sound card so I'm wondering if WASAPI will work in my setup? Also, I'm terribly sure what "install the plug in" means? Any ideas if I try to use it? 

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post #14 of 18
1/4/11 at 1:19am
Quote:
Originally Posted by roadcykler View Post

In reading about WASAPI, I see a lot of information about DAC's but I don't have one. I do have an M-Audio 24/96 sound card so I'm wondering if WASAPI will work in my setup? Also, I'm terribly sure what "install the plug in" means? Any ideas if I try to use it? 



 

^ Yes WASAPI will work with any DAC you throw at it. You're terribly not sure you mean? You download the WASAPI plug-in from the foobar site, extract place the .dll it in Program Files -> Foobar2000 -> Components, then in Foobar itself go to Library -> Configure -> Playback (in list on left) -> Output and under Device select WASPI -> (Output device you want sound to come out of). That might sound slightly complicated but you should be able to follow those steps and for me its worth it, I'm sure I can tell the difference between WASAPI and DS on my setup.


Edited by Wulvy - 1/4/11 at 1:21am
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post #15 of 18
1/4/11 at 1:21am

A DAC is a Digital to Analog converter.

You can't play digital audio without.

It is a chip set doing the D/A

If this chip set is in side a separate box it is called a DAC (audio speak)

If this chipset is on a card inside a PC it is called a sound card (PC speak)

 

Plugin

If you use Foobar and want to use WASAPI you need to download a plugin: http://www.foobar2000.org/components/view/foo_out_wasapi

If you use J River Media Center it comes standard with support for WASAPI

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