• SONAR
  • WDM, ASIO or MME?
2011/08/15 02:52:58
tommo_1
WDM, ASIO or MME 32 drivers?
Which ones best?
2011/08/15 03:08:05
Kalle Rantaaho
ASIO is usually the best (get the newest ASIO drivers made for your audio interface)
WDM can work equally well.
ASIO4ALL is not ASIO, but a WDM-wrapper.

MME 32 is the poorest one, often required for USB mics and integrated soundchips.

Integrated soundchips don't usually support ASIO, but may work with ASIO4ALL.
2011/08/15 13:07:09
bitflipper
None are "best" insofar as sound quality goes, they are all equal in that regard. MME goes through a lot more layers and consequently imposes greater latency than ASIO or WDM. However, MME will work with any audio interface on any computer, so it's good to have as a fallback if the other two aren't working right.

From a purely technical standpoint, WDM is more full-featured than ASIO. However, as a practical matter they are equally powerful. It would seem that some interface vendors expend more energy developing their ASIO drivers, or perhaps just have more expertise with ASIO, because the ASIO drivers are often more efficient. This doesn't mean ASIO is inherently more efficient, only that vendors' implementations are sometimes better than their WDM versions.

2011/08/15 13:49:36
tlw

WDM, ASIO or MME 32 drivers?
Which ones best?

 
WASAPI.
 
At least, that's what's working best for me at the moment.
2018/03/12 17:20:48
AMENRAMUXIK
I cant seem to get the asio to work and some of my instr. seem to only work on 64bit while  others on 32bit mme. I dont get it...but I want to do my music so i suck it up in mme
2018/03/12 17:53:34
JonD
AMENRAMUXIK
I cant seem to get the asio to work and some of my instr. seem to only work on 64bit while  others on 32bit mme. I dont get it...but I want to do my music so i suck it up in mme



MME is the last-ditch option that offers no low-latency feature - you shouldn't have to use that.  At the very least you can use the free ASIO driver-wrapper called ASIO4all.
 
But before you go that route, what is your audio interface?
2018/03/13 10:11:34
chuckebaby
AMENRAMUXIK
I cant seem to get the asio to work and some of my instr. seem to only work on 64bit while  others on 32bit mme. I dont get it...but I want to do my music so i suck it up in mme




It all depends on if you have a soundcard that supports ASIO drivers. If you do, then use ASIO (this is my opinion anyway).
MME ? It sox. I wouldn't use it. too much latency (delay).
2018/03/13 10:59:21
martins guit
i use a tascam us122l sound card,i found my way using ASIO when recording,then WDM when mixing...
 
 
cheer
martin
2018/03/13 17:50:32
Cactus Music
These are screen shots of a loop back test which shows overdubbed tracks re recorded back using an out to in loop back. 
Only ASIO calculates the system latency correctly and reports this to Sonar so it can adjust recording input of new tracks to be placed in sync with pre recorded tracks. 
 

 
As you can clearly see which modes will stay synced and which modes perform poorly. MME is the lowest quality of the 4 built in modes. 
You won't have ASIO unless you purchase a proper Audio interface, If you plan on recording audio and overdubbing parts this is the only proper way to work without compromise. 
 
If your just working with midi and dropping loops into projects then you can get by with an on board sound card. 
 
WASAPI exclusive offers the best performance of the built in drivers. I use Asio4all on my laptop I use only for midi stuff. It is also a good driver for on board sound. Don't use it if you have a proper interface always use the latest ASIO driver when using an Audio interface, Not sure why Martin is switching modes for mixing that should not be necessary. 
 
http://www.cactusmusic.ca...%20Loopback%20test.jpg
2018/03/13 18:20:25
scook
I have seen these images posted several times. They seem to be nothing more than a good argument for using the Manual Offset provided in the Record Latency Adjustment section in Preference > Audio > Sync and Caching.
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