Can't use audio devices

[CAPTAIN CLOCK]

I've been having a problem that is very unusual and I haven't found anyone else having it.

Apparently, Cakewalk can't use any audio device that's currently being used by the system. I was trying to record from my interface and playback on my computer, but I wasn't able to do any of those because those devices were "already in use by other apps". I noticed Zoom running in the background so I closed it and restarted Cakewalk, to no avail. Turns out whatever recording or playback device is marked as default in my Sound Control Panel becomes unusable by Cakewalk. How do I solve this problem, apart from having to set different devices as default whenever I want to use Cakewalk? If this is not an issue it's a terribly annoying quirk that's not present anywhere else but Cakewalk. 

[tecknot]

Hi Alexandre,

Try changing the settings under your internal sound card's properties (Control Panel > Sounds > Advanced | Exclusive Mode) and uncheck the two options, i.e., "Allow other applications to take exclusive control of this device" and "Give exclusive mode applications priority."

Hope that does the trick.

Kind regards,

tecknot

[tecknot]

One question:  What drive mode do you have set in Cakewalk?

[CAPTAIN CLOCK]

39 minutes ago, tecknot said:

One question:  What drive mode do you have set in Cakewalk?

Damn, forgot to mention that one. I use ASIO, and also if I try to use different devices for input and output, audio is not recorded.

[CAPTAIN CLOCK]

1 hour ago, tecknot said:

Hi Alexandre,

Try changing the settings under your internal sound card's properties (Control Panel > Sounds > Advanced | Exclusive Mode) and uncheck the two options, i.e., "Allow other applications to take exclusive control of this device" and "Give exclusive mode applications priority."

Hope that does the trick.

Kind regards,

tecknot

I also couldn't find that setting.

EDIT: Found it. Didn't solve the problem. Now the default devices don't show up on Cakewalk, only on the ASIO Panel.

Edited December 14, 2020 by Alexandre Falcão Viriato Filho

[57Gregy]

Welcome to the forum.

You can only use one driver when using ASIO. So you can's record through your interface and hear it through the PC speakers; only the interface's outputs.
You can if using the WASAPI Shared driver provided with many newer Windows computers, or the older WDM and MME drivers. Quality will not be the same, and latency may not be good enough to play/record in time to already-recorded tracks.

[CAPTAIN CLOCK]

1 hour ago, 57Gregy said:

Welcome to the forum.

You can only use one driver when using ASIO. So you can's record through your interface and hear it through the PC speakers; only the interface's outputs.
You can if using the WASAPI Shared driver provided with many newer Windows computers, or the older WDM and MME drivers. Quality will not be the same, and latency may not be good enough to play/record in time to already-recorded tracks.

I know that, but it's not my problem. Cakewalk is unable to use devices being used by the system.

[scook]

If Windows is using the device for audio make sure it is set to the same sample rate as the DAW.

Please post images of Preferences > Audio

• Devices
• Driver Settings 
• Playback and Recording

If using RealTek, do not use the RealTek ASIO driver. It is buggy.

[CAPTAIN CLOCK]

19 hours ago, scook said:

If Windows is using the device for audio make sure it is set to the same sample rate as the DAW.

Please post images of Preferences > Audio

• Devices
• Driver Settings 
• Playback and Recording

If using RealTek, do not use the RealTek ASIO driver. It is buggy.

Didn't work. Device is set to 16bits, 48000 Sampling rate. Project was on 24 bits, made a new 16bit one to no avail.

[scook]

Bit depth does not matter.

Sample rate does.

[CAPTAIN CLOCK]

32 minutes ago, scook said:

Bit depth does not matter.

Sample rate does.

Ok but it didn't solve the problem. Both sample rates were at 48000 and the problem persisted, actually giving me an error dialog this time.

[scook]

10 minutes ago, Alexandre Falcão Viriato Filho said:

 actually giving me an error dialog this time.

This is not very helpful.

Images of errors and setup screens mentioned above may be  helpful

 

[CAPTAIN CLOCK]

1 minute ago, scook said:

This is not very helpful.

Images of errors and setup screens mentioned above may be  helpful

 

[scook]

There are two generic ASIO drivers installed.

They are likely conflicting with each other. Notice how the input on ASIO4All shows "Not Connected."

 

If you must use a generic ASIO driver (not necessary for CbB) pick one and uninstall the other.

Chances are ASIO4All is the better choice.

 

That said, neither is a true driver. They both wrap Windows WDM drivers and present them to ASIO hosts as ASIO drivers.

 

As mention above, WASAPI shared and exclusive mode may work better for Cakewalk. It does not require an ASIO driver.

[CAPTAIN CLOCK]

7 minutes ago, scook said:

There are two generic ASIO drivers installed.

They are likely conflicting with each other. Notice how the input on ASIO4All shows "Not Connected."

 

If you must use a generic ASIO driver (not necessary for CbB) pick one and uninstall the other.

Chances are ASIO4All is the better choice.

 

That said, neither is a true driver. They both wrap Windows WDM drivers and present them to ASIO hosts as ASIO drivers.

 

As mention above, WASAPI shared and exclusive mode may work better for Cakewalk. It does not require an ASIO driver.

Thanks, I believe one of the ASIO drivers is specifically for FL Studio (I have a free version I never got around to using). There were also sixteen for REAPER, which disappeared after uninstalling it. 

Changing to WASAPI Shared solved the problem, though it gave me a little bit of delay. Gess I'll have to deal with that one.

Question: Can you import FL Studio's built-in plugins into Cakewalk? I was avoiding uninstalling FL because of that.

Edited December 15, 2020 by Alexandre Falcão Viriato Filho

[scook]

FL Studio does not need its generic driver.

They install it just in case there is no ASIO driver available.

 

If you do not want to uninstall the FL Studio ASIO driver, if you rename it or remove the reference to it from the registry so that Cakewalk will not see it. You can always restore the file name or registry entry at a later date if necessary.

The registry entry where ASIO drivers are stored is HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ASIO

There is one record for each driver.

 

WASAPI exclusive has adjustable latency but will not allow any other program access to the sound chip while Cakewalk is running.

 

[CAPTAIN CLOCK]

46 minutes ago, scook said:

FL Studio does not need its generic driver.

They install it just in case there is no ASIO driver available.

 

If you do not want to uninstall the FL Studio ASIO driver, if you rename it or remove the reference to it from the registry so that Cakewalk will not see it. You can always restore the file name or registry entry at a later date if necessary.

The registry entry where ASIO drivers are stored is HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ASIO

There is one record for each driver.

 

WASAPI exclusive has adjustable latency but will not allow any other program access to the sound chip while Cakewalk is running.

 

...the built-in plugins from FL, can you move them to Cakewalk? If so, how?

[scook]

I do not have FL studio but my understanding of their product line is their plug-in are available in a proprietary format usable in their DAWs and as VST plug-ins for use in other DAWs. The VST format plug-ins are sold separately,

[CAPTAIN CLOCK]

4 hours ago, scook said:

I do not have FL studio but my understanding of their product line is their plug-in are available in a proprietary format usable in their DAWs and as VST plug-ins for use in other DAWs. The VST format plug-ins are sold separately,

Got it.