Multi audio out in WF12 Free

[washboardmac]

Hi

1st post here!

Have just got back in MIDI stuff after a loooong break.

Downloaded and very impressed with Waveform 12 Free. A seemingly shallow learning curve to understand the GUI.

I'm trying to find a way of auditioning a VST instrument patch change while my project is playing back.

What I have is 4 tracks of MIDI data across 4 channels (for interest the output of an Atari ST emulator running an algorithmic music generator program from 1988!) and I've duplicated these 4 tracks to tracks 5-8 so that I use an 8-channel MIDI mixer control surface to, for example, keep track 5 volume at 0% while I choose a patch and then bring up track 5 while bringing down track 1.

This all works really well apart from not be able to hear the patch before I commit to it. I'm using the favourites feature of Surge XT, which is great but I can't remember the sound of every favourite!

I thought I could simply plug in another output device and route a track to it for auditioning purposes via headphones but that doesn't work. I'm using just the internal sound device of my Win 10 PC, which is fine for my needs. I've added a (old, but working) SB Live! 24-bit USB device and also a newish USB-C DAC, both of which work fine to make sound but I'm only able to choose between them not add them simultaneously.

Is this a limitation of Windows or of Waveform? I read another post on this forum on a similar topic to this but the guy was using an expensive Behringer mixer device, which present 18 USB outputs. That would be overkill and way beyond my budget.

Is there an device I can add that presents itself as an additional audio output device? I'm not even sure what to google as many USB interfaces are for getting audio in, not out. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Thanks

Andy

[Kott]

Yes, only one device at once. Mainly because different "consumer" devices can't be sample-accurate synced.
There are a lot of multi-output sound interfaces (from 2 and up to 2^n outputs) on market for that purpose.

[Peter Widdicombe]

You should be able to accomplish this - although not sure that you can with just Windows audio. ASIO4Free does enable this capability, although there are some quirks about possibly needing to have all devices respond at either 44.1k or 48k.

With ASIO as the audio device, you should be able to open up the ASIO control panel and verify all the devices are "SEEN". Note they all need to be connected BEFORE you start Waveform.

You will then need to select the "default" device; but what you can then do is, on the right hand side on each track, there is a "speaker" icon that you can click and redirect audio output for that track, to an alternate output device.

Now, there DOES seem to be another quirk here - the "default" output device gets the master meters. Anything you're redirected to alternate devices does NOT show up in the master output -or- on the master meter; although the track output levels do show up normally. Tested with master being the computer sound card, and "alternate" device being a Plantronics USB headset.

[pough]

ASIO4Free

ASIO4ALL?

[Peter Widdicombe]

Sorry, ASIO4All (free).

[washboardmac]

Hi

Thanks for all your answers. As I said I'm way behind the curve so I appreciate your up-to-date knowledge. I thought using the right-hand speaker icon was the way to acheive this but of course I need the outputs to choose between.

I'd come across ASIO4ALL in other forum posts so will give it a go.

Regards

Andy

[washboardmac]

Hi again folks

Reporting back for those who are interested.

Have had no actual success with ASIO4All. It's installed, it seems to operate ok but I haven't achieved what I wanted to.

I can now see my input and output devices listed together and select more than 1 of them. Even better the speaker 'output' icon gives me those options. Even the VU meters work for channels routed to other outputs so I'm guessing Waveform is happy.

What I'm not getting though is any sound out of the 'secondary' devices. My main device is still the onboard output and I've been careful to enable the correct output as there are few built in. The same with the external SB Live!. The advanced view of the Control Panel in ASIO4All shows all the components. The USB-C DAC has fewer - only a stereo out and an in, so there can be no confusion there. I've made sure the play arrow is selected in the Control Panel as necessary.

But, as I say, there's never any noise out of the headphones attached to the SB or the DAC.

Not sure where to go now as I don't think it's a Waveform issue. It could be an ASIO4All issue but that's not giving any errors and everything looks like it should, from what I've read. I have toggled a few of the options in ASIO4All but nothing changed. I wondering if it's a Win 10 issue but I can't find an obvious problem/solution.

Cheers all

Andy

[washboardmac]

For anyone reading this and looking for an answer I bought a Behringer UMC204HD, which has 4 outputs, i.e 2 X stereo and this works exactly as I was hoping.

Output A (1 & 2) are the live output and Output B (3 & 4) are auditioned in headphones.

Cheers

[Watchful]

Thanks for updating everyone. I am confident someone else will need this someday, and your step-by-step solution will be useful.