Windows ASIO woes

[Peter Korsten]

Happy new year, everybody!

So, on the last day of 2022, I discovered why people complain about 
doing audio on Windows. And I was wondering whether somebody had some 
experience, or simply just went with Mac OS or Linux. Neither is an 
option for me, though.

My main audio interface is a MOTU 24Ai, which is quite nice for its 
price point. But crucially, it doesn't have a single output – not even 
headphones. So I figured, let me use my old M-Audio 2x2M for that.

Turns out that ASIO drivers in Windows can only be used as a single 
device. So I can either use the MOTU, or the M-Audio, but not one for 
input and the other for output.

I've installed ASIO4ALL, but I'm still getting confused. I've installed 
Jack, too, but that's even more confusing. Finally, I've installed 
something by an Australian who since passed away (forgot the name of the 
software), and like ASIO4ALL, it doesn't deal well with large displays, 
and looks like it comes from the mid 1990s. And I'm just unable to get 
sound to come out of the headphones when a rack synth is playing sound, 
like a demo song.

Sooo... short of purchasing a MOTU interface with outputs, like an 828es 
or 16A, and somehow making it work with the 24Ai, has anybody ever had 
to deal with this, and come up with a solution that didn't involve 
banging your head against a wall? 🙂

Thanks!

- Peter