[InsanityOne]

Hello Head-Fi,
 
Intro:
 
Today I have come across quite the conundrum. Upon receiving my CEntrance Mini-M8 I was very eager to get it set up, so I did everything properly and followed all of the instructions perfectly. I am using the Mini-M8 via. a dedicated USB 2.0 port on my Windows 10 Laptop with Foobar2000 and the ASIO component. I am using CEntrance's Universal Driver and I have the output set to ASIO in Foobar2000. The problem is, only Foobar2000 produces any sound through the Mini-M8, nothing else. And while it sounds great I definitely want to be able to hear things OTHER than Foobar2000 through the Mini-M8 sometimes. (e.g. YouTube, Twitch.TV, any form of operating system audio)
 
Problem:
 
According to this article, Foobar2000 takes EXCLUSIVE control of all audio output when running in ASIO mode. This means that only Foobar2000's audio output is sent to the Mini-M8 and nothing else. Normally this would be completely fine, because I should be able to just close Foobar2000 and all operating system audio should start being sent to the Mini-M8 again, but it is not. Powering off the Mini-M8 and powering back on with Foobar2000 closed does not solve the issue either.
 
Even on a fresh boot of the laptop, operating system audio is blocked and only Foobar2000 will output audio to the Mini-M8. The only way I have figured out to get operating system audio through the Mini-M8 is to completely uninstall the CEntrance Universal Driver and re-install it again. But as soon as I open Foobar2000 after a fresh install of the driver the problem starts again. So what am I supposed to do?
 
Solution:
 
(TBA)
 
Notes:
 
1.) Being an IT professional, this is really perplexing to me.
2.) I am not using ASIO4ALL as my laptop appears to support it by default and the laptop model is the Lenovo Ideapad U530 Touch, it only has USB outputs.
3.) I have posted in the CEntrance Mini-M8 thread here on Head-Fi and browsed CEntrance's forums but no one in either place seems to know what is going on.
4.) I know that listening to ASIO via. Foobar2000 and operating system audio at the same time is impossible. But I should at least be able to listen to operating system audio when Foobar2000 is closed.
 
After-Post Testing:
 
1.) I just completely uninstalled the drivers, rebooted and then re-installed the drivers and just like I said operating system audio now works perfectly. As soon a I start Foobar2000 it will be gone though.
2.) After doing a "fresh" install of the driver and leaving Foobar2000 at its DEFAULT (DS: Primary Audio Device) settings I can now use Foobar2000 and operating system audio at the same time. Although this still does not allow me to switch between ASIO and operating system audio without re-installing the drivers.
3.) After switching Foobar2000 to ASIO and then "initializing" (playing a song), the Mini-M8 got "locked" into ASIO mode again and will not come out. There has to be a way to get the Mini-M8 to switch between using the ASIO and DS part of its driver without having to re-install it from scratch.
4.) When the Mini-M8 is "locked" in ASIO mode attempting to play music via. Foobar2000 in DS: Primary Audio Device mode results in the songs not playing at all. No error is reported by Foobar2000 though.
 
Thanks!
 
P.S. - I would really appreciate any input on this, I am just sitting here enjoying the Foobar2000 output from the Mini-M8 but I would really like it to work with all operating system audio...
 
- InsanityOne 

 

 

[Mython]

I'm not an expert on this, but you might obtain a clue or two from this post:
 
 

   
For any USB DAC, the user has to choose between whether to give the DAC an exclusive access by a particular program (e.g. JRiver) or allow multiple programs to output sound at the same time.
 
Giving exclusive access means the program can directly send the digital data (bit perfect) to the DAC without compromise, so most audiophile programs like JRiver default to this method.
 
When you install Mojo's drivers onto Windows, it actually installs three different drivers. DirectSound, ASIO and WASAPI. Windows can only see DirectSound, whereas JRiver can see all three, and you can choose which one to use. Generally ASIO or WASAPI are preferred because they are designed to give exclusive access to the DAC.
 
DirectSound is what Windows uses (this is what shows up on Windows Sound Properties). It isn't preferred for audiophile listening because it is designed to send the music to Windows Mixer, which allows multiple programs to output the sound at the same time. Because each program may be using different bit depths and sample rates, Windows Volume Mixer's job is to make sure they are all converted and mixed to the sample rate specified in Windows Sound Properties (e.g. 44.1kHz). All sound is converted to 32 bit float then dithered back to 16 or 24 bits, so it is not bit perfect.
 
Old Windows Mixer on Windows XP were horrible so people historically stay away from DirectSound. Mixer on Windows 7 and up are pretty decent, but people still prefer exclusive access via ASIO/WASAPI drivers, because we want to ensure pure playback and avoid random noise (e.g. e-mail notification sound effect etc.) to interfere with music.
 
The bottom line is, you have to choose between absolute purity vs. convenience. You can set up to have multiple programs to output to Mojo at the same time, but JRiver is not set up to do that by default, so you need to change the settings.

 
 
 
If not, then no harm done, but at least worth a quick look!
 
Good luck 

 

 

[InsanityOne]

  I'm not an expert on this, but you might obtain a clue or two from this post:
 
 
 
 
 
If not, then no harm done, but at least worth a quick look!
 
Good luck 

 

 
Foobar2000 defaults to "DS: Primary Audio Driver." Which is "Windows Direct Sound: Windows Primary Audio Device". From the excerpt that you quoted I am going to assume that the CEntrance Universal Driver does the same sort of thing as the Chord Mojo's driver by installing a DS, ASIO, and WASAPI module. This does not explain why it gets stuck on ASIO mode when I select it in Foobar2000 though. I appreciate your input though!
 
Thanks!
 
Edit: Be sure to check #2 - #4 under the "After-Post Testing" section in the OP.
 
- InsanityOne