EDIT: Sorry this is so long but I hope someone can help me. I think this would be useful to know for anybody that may look into this. I would be very grateful.
So.. I'm just confused. I'm not sure how I could find out any of the following stuff without help XD. Just to mention, I've always understood that if randomly installing a bunch of things or even by default that somewhere along the chain, the sound could be impaired (it may not be transferred bit for bit). I understood pretty much all parts of the chain with sufficient clarity. For this reason, I started using and still use Media Player Classic for everything because it shows what's being implemented for the whole decoding and transcoding (or the opposite rather) process. In my case, I use the latest version of AC3Filter and it shows the entire chain. It pretty much does the full thing.
So I really just now stumbled upon ASIO and installed ASIO4All on the XP system I'm currently on after reading up on it. I tried using it with the Windows Media Player plug-in for it. No matter what I tried, it didn't seem to output to the DAC; it didn't seem to find it and instead just said "USB Audio". Searching "FiiO E17" with "ASIO", I stumbled upon this and as usual, you guys are awesome and actively wrote your own thing for it. Thanks for that; things like this don't go unnoticed by me. 1The one thing that bothers me I guess is that the E17 doesn't display the same values as the output the driver GUI displays, even though I'm sure it receives the signal correctly. But anyway, I don't understand how this ASIO driver does what the fundamental idea behind it should be. 2Wouldn't it in this case just be something extra on top of the AC3Filter processes already - just another thing at the end of the chain? 3The chain indicated within AC3Filter before was "-> AudioDecoder (MP3) -> (PCM Float Stereo 44100) -> AudioProcessor -> (PCM24 Stereo 44100) -> Dejitter -> (PCM24 Stereo 44100)" (I have the output set to 24-bit) and it still is now. Maybe it just doesn't show the effects of this driver but Media Player Classic also doesn't seem to indicate any interfacing with it. The only indication I actually have of it working and doing something is the "Streaming Status" which I like because at least I know exactly what's being sent to the DAC.
4I assumed that the point of ASIO was for it to pass through everything after "(PCM Float Stereo 44100)" in the chain or at least to replace and better handle it. 5I'm also curious if it automatically runs or if it actually needs to be open to have any effect. If it's the latter, that also seems to defeat the purpose as I thought it's supposed to be internal. I'm not sure at all about the effect it has on something like Windows Media Player as I have no idea how it handles anything. 6What does it actually technically do, whether it's changes or additional functions to what already was? Is it even supposed to be what I understand it to be - a replacement for ASIO4All for better compatibility? It was commented here that it's merely a driver for the most part. So then, is it any different than the default installed drivers by Windows when the device is recognized in relation to that it would simply route the end of the chain to the appropriate USB host (if I'm saying that right >.<)? 7Finally, the ASIO Driver Status always says "Non-Active" & "Stop". What does this mean?
A response to mentioned inquiries (numbered 1-7) would be EXTREMELY helpful! I mean, it would really be appreciated, sincerely; thank you! I really just don't know how else I could figure any of these things out getting less thanat least a comment in response to them.
PS- 8On a sort of related note, what's concerning me is that the E17 seems to not be compatible with significant things which other amps are (even the E7 which is its predecessor), e.g., USB OTG for new Android phones it doesn't work with which makes no sense to me especially when there's an included USB Charge "Off" functionality, and now, something as basic (from what I gather) as default ASIO implementations (maybe that has something to do with a DSP chip). In general, these things make me question certain things relatively, but mainly it's the whole not interfacing with new Android phones like the Samsung Galaxy S3.
(with asio)
