• Registered: 2019-01-27
  • Posts: 6

Topic: DAC: Windows shows "Analog"

I set up my W10 install for my ADI-2 DAC by installing the MADIface driver.

The sound does work fine, but I'm just worried that in the Sound settings in W10, the only output for the ADI-2 that shows up is called "Analog (1 + 2)" by default.  ? It should be Digital.

Also, on a high-end computer used with ADI-2 and used partly for high-load games, what should I set the Buffer Size to in MADIface?

2 Reply by joachim.herbert (edited by joachim.herbert 2019-06-01 14:28:48)

  • Registered: 2018-06-29
  • Posts: 89

Re: DAC: Windows shows "Analog"

The ADI-2 DAC converts digital to analog, so the output must be analog. You would not hear anything otherwise.

3 Reply by ramses (edited by ramses 2019-06-01 10:48:47)

  • ramses
  • DAW Mastermind
  • Offline
  • From: UTC+1
  • Registered: 2012-10-14
  • Posts: 12,097

Re: DAC: Windows shows "Analog"

The ASIO buffer size should be set so that there are no audio dropouts on the PC even under load.

The smaller the ASIO buffer size, the more often the CPU has to pick up audio/data packets. This increases the CPU load a little and generates more interrupts, which means that the system has to execute more high-priority interrupt routines.

The latter should be avoided because interrupt routines must not be interrupted by the process scheduler of the operating system during the execution time. In a way, this blocks a CPU core by interrupt processing for the execution of other tasks (unnecessarily).

Setting a low ASIO buffer size is actually only desirable or necessary when musicians work with virtual instruments (VSTi) to ensure that the RTL (round trip latency) over USB does not get too high. So the time between playing a note until the finished audio signal comes back via USB.

Small ASIO buffer sizes are not necessary for pure playback of audio, so you should simply set a value that is "pleasant" for the system and does not unnecessarily increase the system load (CPU/interrupt load).

At 44.1/48 kHz sample rate, ASIO buffer sizes from 512 are completely ok.

I'm not sure if fast games will benefit if you set a lower ASIO buffer size.
But even then I would tend to set a moderate value of 128-256 for the ASIO buffer size rather than 32 samples.

RME ASIO drivers are pretty much the most stable and best on the market. Even with a 400 track project with 800 VST plugins, you can still get crackle-free audio at both 44.1 and 96 kHz with an ASIO buffer size of 32:
https://www.tonstudio-forum.de/blog/ind … cks-de-en/

On my system with an UFX+ I use an ASIO buffer size of 128 regular, because it does it all even for recording with VSTi.
If I play with VSTi's (rare) then RTL stays below 10ms, in fact 7.4ms, which is fine for everything on my system. In my setup the ADI-2 Pro FS BE is connected behind the UFX+ via AES, therefore I need to add the D/A converter latency of the ADI: 7.415+ 0.14ms = 7.555ms RTL. See table below and handbook ("Latency and Monitoring").

https://www.tonstudio-forum.de/index.php/Attachment/2343-UFX-UFX-RayDAT-Latencies-v2-jpg/

BR Ramses - UFX III, 12Mic, XTC, ADI-2 Pro FS R BE, RayDAT, X10SRi-F, E5-1680v4, Win10Pro22H2, Cub13

4 Reply by concorde (edited by concorde 2019-06-01 11:11:09)

  • Registered: 2019-01-27
  • Posts: 6

Re: DAC: Windows shows "Analog"

joachim.herbert wrote:

The ADI-2 DAC converts digital to analog, so the output must be analog

I neglected to mention I'm using the unit via USB. So the USB out in Windows should be outputting Digital. For example, I have another DAC unit and as expected, its Windows name is "Digital [name]" because the unit requires a Digital signal. I know the end result is always analog.

Maybe the "Analog" name that shows up for the ADI-2 is just a quirk.


@ramses   Thanks for that comprehensive explanation. Much appreciated

Edit: also I neglected I'm always at 16bit 44.1K

5 Reply by ramses (edited by ramses 2019-06-01 13:21:42)

  • ramses
  • DAW Mastermind
  • Offline
  • From: UTC+1
  • Registered: 2012-10-14
  • Posts: 12,097

Re: DAC: Windows shows "Analog"

concorde wrote:

Maybe the "Analog" name that shows up for the ADI-2 is just a quirk.
@ramses   Thanks for that comprehensive explanation. Much appreciated

You're Welcome.

Not a quirk, more an operational requirement.

My UFX+ is connected via USB3 and has 94 Inputs and Outputs.

Do you see any merit in it to call them all USB for the user ? Obviously this makes not sense ;-)

From user / appliction perspective its more important to pick the proper I/O port, so you need to label it according to the name of the HW input or output (where the signal originates from / will be routed to).

The transport to the recording interface (or DAC in your case) via USB is irrelevant / not interesting, as it will always be the same no matter to port the audio signal will finally be sent / routed to.

BR Ramses - UFX III, 12Mic, XTC, ADI-2 Pro FS R BE, RayDAT, X10SRi-F, E5-1680v4, Win10Pro22H2, Cub13