ASIO versus WDM

RE: ASIO versus WDM (timfarman)

Fri, 24 Jun 2005 13:44:27 GMT

Once again I've learned useful stuff
many thanks guys
Gotta love this forum" />

RE: ASIO versus WDM (ohhey)

Fri, 24 Jun 2005 13:30:39 GMT

It does vary by card. When I had an M-Audio card the WDM worked better, but like Middleman I too get better performace with my Lynx II card with ASIO.

The only big difference is the ASIO one card (or one driver) limit. Some vendors make their driver such that it will support more then one of their cards with one driver, but you can't have two ASIO drivers loaded at the same time like you can with WDM.

It would also depend on how you use your system. For example someone who uses input monitoring in Sonar would want to pick the driver with the lowest latency, but if you monitor with the card vendors zero latency monitor mixer and need to use more then one card then WDM would be better.

RE: ASIO versus WDM (Middleman)

Fri, 24 Jun 2005 13:21:20 GMT

WDM can handle multiple soundcards. ASIO is single card only. Some feel that ASIO are more stable. From my experience, I would have to agree. This is due to less drop outs, clicks and pops etc. When I was using WDM M-Audio devices in the past I had clicks, pops and dropouts which I eventually worked out. WDM drops out fast under heavy CPU load, ASIO makes a better effort under heavy load but eventually will exhibit drop out too.

Totally agree however that it varies by manufacturer. I use a Lynx IIA and it has a very difficult time with WDM but it is solid on ASIO. I also get lower latency with ASIO.

RE: ASIO versus WDM (davidberry)

Fri, 24 Jun 2005 13:09:46 GMT

I think it's really just a matter of how well written the drivers are. Delta has been making the WDM drivers for a long while for cakewalk, so they are well tested and written. I have a firepod and had been using the WDM drivers, which worked fine with the exception of distortion from INPUT ECHO after a few loops when loop recording.. or even playing for that matter. Changing to ASIO corrected that problem but then the overall CPU usage shot up a little.

ASIO versus WDM (timfarman)

Fri, 24 Jun 2005 11:53:52 GMT

Are there any advantages to ASIO drivers over WDM?
I have Delta Audiophile and I've been using the WDM, I've read on this forum that some of you achieve better latency with ASIO...
Are there any differences apart from latency? Would one type of driver be more stable / compatible with, say, VST plugins, than another?
sonar will default to WDM given the choice, but many VST seem to have been designed with ASIO in mind? Any thoughts?
Thanks in advance