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Does not recognize my laptop as an Audio device


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Ever since I installed Cakewalk on my laptop, I've had to use an external USB audio interface because the laptop's own built-in equipment does not show up in the list of Audio Devices in Cakewalk. Is there a way to fix this? I'd like to be able to listen to tracks, mix - do things other than recording - without connecting an external audio interface. It'd be nice to be able to just plug headphones into the laptop's headphone jack.

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18 hours ago, BRainbow said:

Try not to use ASIO4ALL if you can help it.  It ain't the greatest.  Better to buy a cheap USB interface (if you can afford it) and use it's native drivers than using your onboard sound chip with ASIO4ALL,    Mackie Big Knob series is inexpensive, sounds fine and doubles as a speaker controller right on your desk.

Sorry but have you used asio4all in the last few years?  It actually good software now and works well for most on board sound cards. I used it for a  over year on this very laptop I'm typing on. I had it set up at work to mess around with Home Studio and midi files. I would also play with larger projects that had audio as well..   And as a test I then hooked up my Scarlette 6i6 and had no issues using that and it's proper driver. 

You can also use WASAPI mode for on board audio without issue unless your overdubbing new audio tracks. You will need to adjust your timing offset. 

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19 hours ago, BRainbow said:

Try not to use ASIO4ALL if you can help it.  It ain't the greatest.  Better to buy a cheap USB interface (if you can afford it) and use it's native drivers than using your onboard sound chip with ASIO4ALL,    Mackie Big Knob series is inexpensive, sounds fine and doubles as a speaker controller right on your desk.

Hi, I've been using ASIO4ALL the past few days and it works fine. It sounds good too. As previous poster said, maybe they got previous bugs fixed on it.

That said, when it comes time to mix and record, I'll use my Focusrite.

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  • 1 year later...

I think the bottom line is every system is different. What works perfectly for one person might not for the other. So no harm in trying your options and sometimes Asio4all is a solid solution to the on board sound blues. I haven't had to use it for a long time as I now only use my interface because that's best practices with Cakewalk. 

Also it's worth mentioning that my laptop is still on W7. Asio4all might not work as well on W10.  We have WASAPI mode which works for most folks. 

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Definitely do not install ASIO4all or any other generic ASIO if your computer already has any type of ASIO installed. They do not play well together!

Just install one ASIO at a time! Remove any others that you may have installed before trying a different one.

I have used ASIO4all on my laptop with the onboard Realtek sound chip without issue.

But I have  also run demos of other audio products on my desktop DAW that slipped in a generic ASIO driver without asking first, even though I already had ASIO from my audio interface vendor. That caused issues where Cakewalk could not detect ASIO properly.

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Once again depends on system

My main DAW has 3 ASIO drivers for my 3 different interface. A Tascam, Scarlett and a Soundcraft Mixer. The minute I hook up an interface Cakewalk will ask me if I want to use it. I just swap the USB cable with Cakewalk open.  The other 2 are greyed out in the lists. But there's no conflict as far as I know with proper ASIO drivers. 

Yes I had that pesky Steinberg asio driver that comes with Wave Lab and Cubase ( which I use) I had to get it totally out of my system, because it took over the Recording Latency Adjustment. 

When I was using Asio4all on my laptop I could hook up my Scarlett or the Soundcraft and it always worked fine using their proper drivers. Asio4all would be greyed out on the lists. It never took over as was reported in the past. But that was W7 and at least 2 years ago.  I uninstalled asio4all just because I didn't think I'd ever use it again and I like things tidy. 

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8 hours ago, John Vere said:

 Yes I had that pesky Steinberg asio driver that comes with Wave Lab and Cubase ( which I use) I had to get it totally out of my system

That is exactly what happened to me!

And it is probably best to be aware of the possibility of conflict until you have tested on your system.

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Absolutely. I disable all other audio devices on my main DAW. I didn't even install the drivers for the on board audio when I re did the OS. 

You have to be pretty careful about what you install to a serious DAW machine. I always try and test new plug ins and stuff on my office computer or laptop first. I used to keep my DAW unplugged from the internet but that has seemed to changed as there too many things that now depend on that connection to work including Cakewalk. 

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If you are not recording and just playing back you should NOT need to use ASIO4All. All onboard audio devices should work with Cakewalk in WASAPI mode. Use WASAPI shared mode by default. There are many advantages to using WASAPI shared. For one it wont block audio if another application like Youtube is using it.

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  • 4 months later...

I installed ASIO4ALL and tried to play something in Cakewalk and the sound was distorted. I didn't know how to fix it so I uninstalled it. But now Cakewalk doesn't recognise my interface. When i go to devices in preferences, I'm set to ASIO but when i go to select drivers, the Scarlett is listed, but in grey not black, and I can't select it. Windows says the drivers are all up to date and I've made sure to select Focusrite for the speakers. Did ASIO4ALL mess something up in my computer? I have also uninstalled/installed both cakewalk and Focusrite software. I'm super frustrated since I'm not a techy person. Any help would be appreciated.

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