I installed ASIO4ALL. And Sibelius recognizes it as an option in the "interface" drop down box for "audio engine options." So far so good. But when I choose that option, the sound comes out of the computer speakers, not the AV-40 speakers connected through the speaker jack. It looks as though the DS settings are the only ones that will play back through the speakers. There must be some way to get the ASIO to play through the speakers. Any suggestions? Thanks.
Look at the Audio Engine Options page in Sibelius. See where it says "Outputs 1/2" on my screenshot? Can you change yours to something else>
Don't look for logic in the way outputs are labelled, just try them all!
You mean your criticisms of the sound quality are based on never having got sound coming through the external speakers at all? :-)
What IS your computer? You talk of internal speakers, so do we assume it's a laptop? Could you run us through just what model it is, and exactly what audio-related equipment is connected?
Thanks, Laurence. I will answer your questions in order. First: Where it says "Outputs 1/2" on my Sibelius, the box is greyed out whether I put ASIO or "speakers (high def audio device)" under "interface."
Second: yes I am now getting the sound through the external speakers, and I can do that as long as "speakers (high def audio device)" is in the interface box.
Third, it's a desktop Dell Optiplex. I did install the AP 192 in an empty slot, but it is now disabled and (I assume) should not affect anything. I pulled the old cables too.
I just discovered something new, though. There are actually two listings for "Speakers HDAD." The first plays through the external speakers, the second through the computer's speakers. But there is only one ASIO4ALL. I am attaching a screenshot showing the options. And another screen shot showing the settings.
Finally, when I choose the ASIO option and right-click on the ASIO setup, it shows high-def audio device as the chosen option in that list.
Here is a screen shot of the list of playback devices. It says M-Audio is disabled. There are no other speakers connected to the computer, but the computer has a speaker of its own. But I can open the computer and take out the card (I think - an IT guy put it in).
Looking at the list of available devices in Sibelius, it seems the driver for the M-audio card is still installed. You need to uninstall that as well as physically getting rid of the card.
I'm going to ask a really dumb question here: Are your external speakers plugged into the right output from your computer? Presumably you have two sets of audio output on the computer back panel, one from the internal sound system and the other from your M-audio card.
Also I'm not entirely convinced you have got Sibelius to use ASIO at all. If you have done that, you should get an icon for the ASIO control panel in the Windows System Tray (right hand end of the taskbar). That's where you tell ASIO which speakers to use.
See the "ASIO instruction manual" PDF. There might be an icon on your desktop to open that, otherwise it is in Windows Start Menu/All Programs/ASIO4All/... (or the equivalent in Windows 8).
ASIO is a bit "non-standard" in that the icon for its control panel only appears when it is actually being used. So if you never got Sibelius to use it, you won't have seen it yet.
First, thanks to all who have replied to my query. I uninstalled the M-Audio driver and it no longer appears on the audio engine list. See screen shot. I also disabled the DS device that played through the computer's speakers - or at least i thought I did; when I tried the ASIO option in Sibelius, it still played through the computer speaker not the connected AV-40 speakers.
I do get the ASIO control panel in the Windows system tray, and it's also accessible via Sibelius if I choose "ASIO4ALL" from the dropdown menu. But I cannot get ASIO to work with the speakers. In answer to Rob, the speakers are connected to the correct output on the back - Sibelius does play through them now (but without ASIO). I have also consulted the ASIO manual.
I think I have tried all the suggestions, but I cannot get the combination of ASIO and the AV speakers. It's very frustrating.
You still have not configured ASIO4ALL to output to the correct speakers. You must do this configuration within the ASIO4ALL control panel, not within Sibelius, and not within the Windows control panel Sound. Once you have configured ASIO4ALL to the correct speakers, you must quit and relaunch Sibelius to get the settings to "take".
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Sibelius 7.5.1/7.1.3/6.2/5.2.5, PhotoScore Ult 7.0.2, Dolet 6.3 for Sibelius, Windows 7 32-bit SP1 4GB, Windows 8.1 64-bit 16GB.
Thanks, Robin. I did what you suggested. Here is a screenshot. I closed Sibelius and restarted. But the sound still comes from the computer speakers when ASIO is selected. I will note that the ASIO4ALL control panel opens only when Sibelius is configured for it. Is there some other place where it should be available? It does not appear under ASIO4all in the start panel.
> In the ASIO4ALL control panel, deselect "HD Audio Headphone/Speakers" and instead select "HD Audio Speaker".
>
I'm not sure that's right, but the Asio program won't let me. Here is a screen shot. I try to select the HD Audio Speaker, but I can't get the little blue arrow to appear on that line of the device list. Nor does it say unavailable. It just doesn't seem to recognize it at all, even though it's on the list. Any suggestions? Thanks.
Don't worry about the blue arrow at first. Just get the adjacent switch symbol to light up, then close and restart Sibelius. The blue arrow should be illuminated next time you look at it.
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Sibelius 7.5.1/7.1.3/6.2/5.2.5, PhotoScore Ult 7.0.2, Dolet 6.3 for Sibelius, Windows 7 32-bit SP1 4GB, Windows 8.1 64-bit 16GB.
Thanks, Robin. I got ASIO to play through the connected speakers, and I did not even have to restart Sibelius. I appreciate your help with that. Alas, the sound isn't much different. Do you see any settings I might change? (See screen shot.) There is a discrepancy on buffer size, but i tried changing both, and 512 on Sib definitely made the sound worse.
If I installed the Sibelius 5 Sounds, could I use those? Or are they no longer compatible with Sibelius 7 and Windows 8.1? How about an external interface?
From my expirience, ASIO4ALL, at least with the cards I've tried it with, made things worse rather than better.
The only exception would be if using a sound engine that is very buffer-sensative (East West Quantum Leap, for instance, which has major timing issues if the buffer size is more than a certain quite low value).
> I would not expect ASIO4ALL to improve the sound quality.
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> I would expect it to reduce latency, and to reduce break-up distortion.
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> But, on-board audio chips are cheap, not of high quality, and will never sound like hi-fi.
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Thanks - That's what I was afraid of. I think I'll start a new thread and ask: can someone recommend a sound card (as good as or better than the AP 192) that will replace the on-board audio chip?
The difference in "hi-fi" credentials between onboard audio of a modern computer and a sound card isn't likely to cause the sort of gross differences you're describing though. I think something else is wrong, or you're being super-critical.
I am going to partially disagree here. As long as DirectSound latency isn't an issue (and with Sib it really isn't for most uses), onboard is more than fine if using it as a _digital_ source to e.g. an external integrated amp or DAC.
> onboard is more than fine if using it as a _digital_ source
But looking at the specs, AV40 speakers don't have a digital audio input option, so you are going through your computer's on-board DAC chip. Since the OptiPlex range are marketed as "business computers", that chip probably cost less than $1 (literally). Sometimes, you get what you pay for.
I would look at an external USB audio interface rather than an internal sound card. It's a bit more desktop clutter (though the smallest ones are only the same size as a USB thumb drive) but it it's likely to be a lot more future-proofed than an internal card that doesn't have drivers for the next OS upgrade, or your next PC doesn't have the right type of expansion slot for it.
Whether you pay $50 for something aimed at games players and home cinema installations, or $500 for something that claims to be the ultimate in hi-fi sound quality, is up to you.
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Rob
Thanks, Rob. I am certainly willing to spend more than $50, but $500 is more than I'd want to pay. Is there something halfway between that you (or anyone else) can recommend?
I just remembered that I have a DAC made by Peachtree - the DAC-IT. It is connected to my audio system, but I don't think I'm using it - I got it for SONOS, which I'm not using at all. The manual says it's for a computer. If I connected the input to the computer via USB and the output to the speakers via RCA, would that work?
Looking at the web page, it should work. It's not very clear what sample rates it supports apart from the advertised 24-bit 192k (which would be overkill for the Sibelius samples even if the Sibelius player can output that), but you can't lose anything trying it.
Thanks, Rob. But there is a disconnect here (no pun intended). The page at the link shows the unit I have. But the installation instructions midway down the page lists several Peachtree "components" - none of which is specified in my Dac-it manual. That says no custom USB drivers or software programs are required to listen to music from a computer. Also, you'll see that the USB connector at the back (the picture showing the connection) is a strange-looking connector (the little white one, third from the left) that doesn't match any cable I have. But if it's a unique connector the cable should have been included in the package. Does it look familiar to you?
This supplements the last message. The manual says that the "line out" (on the left) should be connected to an amplifier or receiver. It appears that the AV-40 speakers have a 20-watt internal amplifier (Amazon). So maybe that would work after all.
AFAIK recent versions of Windows (e.g. 7 and 8) have Microsoft drivers for most "standard" interfaces like digital audio over USB, so maybe you don't need another driver. But even if it works that way, the manufacturer's driver might let you access some more functionality (or exactly the same functionality as the Windows controls but with prettier graphics!).
The connector looks like a USB type B. If so you should be able to get a standard cable. Compare it with the pictures here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB
Note there are "type B" and "mini type B" USB connectors which are different. Check the pictures carefully if you are buying online. Or take the Peachtree box to a computer shop and ask!
If you connect the USB and the computer recognises something with sensible looking name (e.g. "audio device", you are probably OK.
> The manual says that the "line out" (on the left) should be connected to an amplifier or receiver. It appears that the AV-40 speakers have a 20-watt internal amplifier (Amazon). So maybe that would work.
I agree (otherwise I wouldn't have suggested trying it!)
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