Bypassing Windows Mixer - Revision history

198.48.181.80: /* Pros */

2015-08-25T03:37:58Z

Pros

← Older revision		Revision as of 03:37, 25 August 2015
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	* Full control over what gets delivered to your soundcard drivers.		* Full control over what gets delivered to your soundcard drivers.
	* Full control over what gets delivered to your soundcard, but only when your configuration ensures preventing other software from playing sounds at the same time (e.g. by using WASAPI exclusive mode).		* Full control over what gets delivered to your soundcard, but only when your configuration ensures preventing other software from playing sounds at the same time (e.g. by using WASAPI exclusive mode).
			* Switching to ASIO mode can bypass driver conflicts within the WDM framework in windows.

	== Cons ==		== Cons ==

198.23.103.80: /* Impact on audio quality */

2014-12-30T09:07:53Z

Impact on audio quality

← Older revision		Revision as of 09:07, 30 December 2014
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	== Impact on audio quality ==		== Impact on audio quality ==
	Quality gains are questionable at ~~least~~. In most cases the differences are irrelevant unless the output is digitally captured back and needs to be bit-exact for further processing.		Quality gains are questionable at best. In most cases the differences are irrelevant unless the output is digitally captured back and needs to be bit-exact for further processing.

	== Impact on latency ==		== Impact on latency ==

DEATH: And again

2012-10-05T07:27:55Z

And again

← Older revision		Revision as of 07:27, 5 October 2012
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	== Impact on latency ==		== Impact on latency ==
	Bypassing Windows Mixer typically results in lower latency between decoding/rendering and output, though Windows Vista allows low latency playback through WASAPI shared mode without bypassing the mixer.		Bypassing Windows Mixer typically results in lower latency between decoding/rendering and output, though Windows Vista and newer allows low latency playback through WASAPI shared mode without bypassing the mixer.

	Note that low latency playback is relevant to real-time processing and editing only. It's completely useless for music playback; in fact, higher latency is better in this case as it gives better protection against glitching from buffer underruns.		Note that low latency playback is relevant to real-time processing and editing only. It's completely useless for music playback; in fact, higher latency is better in this case as it gives better protection against glitching from buffer underruns.

DEATH: Minor

2012-10-05T07:27:28Z

Minor

← Older revision		Revision as of 07:27, 5 October 2012
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	== Alternate solutions ==		== Alternate solutions ==
	* Windows Vista lets you control what data format gets sent to your soundcard so you can get rid of the resampling step without bypassing the mixer by setting mixer's output sample rate matching the sample rate of what you play (44100Hz for CD-sourced material).		* Windows Vista and newer lets you control what data format gets sent to your soundcard so you can get rid of the resampling step without bypassing the mixer by setting mixer's output sample rate matching the sample rate of what you play (44100Hz for CD-sourced material).

Canar at 20:59, 7 May 2009

2009-05-07T20:59:21Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:59, 7 May 2009
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	Note that low latency playback is relevant to real-time processing and editing only. It's completely useless for music playback; in fact, higher latency is better in this case as it gives better protection against glitching from buffer underruns.		Note that low latency playback is relevant to real-time processing and editing only. It's completely useless for music playback; in fact, higher latency is better in this case as it gives better protection against glitching from buffer underruns.

	== ~~How-to~~ ==		== Player support ==
	~~===~~ foobar2000 ~~===~~		foobar2000 can bypass Windows Mixer using [[Foobar2000:Components 0.9#Output\|optional output components]]. Other players also support techniques for bypassing Windows mixer.
	~~Foobar2000~~ can bypass Windows Mixer using [[Foobar2000:Components 0.9#Output\|optional output components]].
	~~=== Winamp ===~~
	~~Todo.~~
	~~=== XMPlay ===~~
	~~Todo~~.

	== Pros ==		== Pros ==

DEATH: New section about latency, clarified some other things.

2008-07-03T10:21:42Z

New section about latency, clarified some other things.

← Older revision		Revision as of 10:21, 3 July 2008
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	== Impact on audio quality ==		== Impact on audio quality ==
	Quality gains are questionable at least. In ~~general, bypassing Windows Mixer doesn't really make sense~~ unless the output is digitally captured and needs to be bit-exact for further editing.		Quality gains are questionable at least. In most cases the differences are irrelevant unless the output is digitally captured back and needs to be bit-exact for further processing.

			== Impact on latency ==
			Bypassing Windows Mixer typically results in lower latency between decoding/rendering and output, though Windows Vista allows low latency playback through WASAPI shared mode without bypassing the mixer.

			Note that low latency playback is relevant to real-time processing and editing only. It's completely useless for music playback; in fact, higher latency is better in this case as it gives better protection against glitching from buffer underruns.

	== How-to ==		== How-to ==

DEATH: Clarifications.

2008-07-02T10:05:59Z

Clarifications.

← Older revision		Revision as of 10:05, 2 July 2008
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	* Forfeits advantages of modern Windows audio pipeline: audio stream formats that aren't natively supported by your audio hardware will fail to play. You're likely to get errors with:		* Forfeits advantages of modern Windows audio pipeline: audio stream formats that aren't natively supported by your audio hardware will fail to play. You're likely to get errors with:
	** Mono streams.		** Mono streams.
	** Multichannel streams on a soundcard with stereo output only.		** Multichannel (more than two channels) streams on a soundcard with stereo output only.
	** ~~Less common multichannel~~ configurations.		** Uncommon channel configurations.
	** ~~Less common~~ sample rates.		** Uncommon sample rates.
	To workaround these issues, you'll have to use additional DSPs such as resampler or "convert mono to stereo" in foobar2000.		To workaround these issues, you'll have to use additional DSPs such as resampler or "convert mono to stereo" in foobar2000.
	* Interacting with soundcard drivers directly rather than letting Windows Mixer do it will often expose soundcard driver bugs that can't be triggered otherwise and lead to system-wide instability. There have been countless documented cases of stable ~~otherwise~~ soundcard drivers causing BSODs when using KS, ASIO or WASAPI. This happens because:		* Interacting with soundcard drivers directly rather than letting Windows Mixer do it will often expose soundcard driver bugs that can't be triggered otherwise and lead to system-wide instability. There have been countless documented cases of otherwise stable soundcard drivers causing BSODs when using KS, ASIO or WASAPI. This happens because:
	** KS and WASAPI: while these output methods rely on the same driver code as playing sounds through Windows Mixer, various quirks such as buffer sizes are different; drivers tend to make unsafe assumptions that whoever is invoking them behaves exactly as Windows Mixer does; these drivers would also stop working correctly after OS updates that change these behaviors.		** KS and WASAPI: while these output methods rely on the same driver code as playing sounds through Windows Mixer, various quirks such as buffer sizes are different; drivers tend to make unsafe assumptions that whoever is invoking them behaves exactly as Windows Mixer does; these drivers would also stop working correctly after OS updates that change these behaviors.
	** ASIO: many major hardware vendors release massively buggy ASIO drivers and suspend any work on their drivers as soon as they get some subset of ASIO software working with their product without obvious problem symptoms.		** ASIO: many major hardware vendors release massively buggy ASIO drivers and suspend any work on their drivers as soon as they get some subset of ASIO software working with their product without obvious problem symptoms.

DEATH: Initial draft.

2008-07-01T20:37:20Z

Initial draft.

New page

== Impact on audio quality ==
Quality gains are questionable at least. In general, bypassing Windows Mixer doesn't really make sense unless the output is digitally captured and needs to be bit-exact for further editing.

== How-to ==
=== foobar2000 ===
Foobar2000 can bypass Windows Mixer using [[Foobar2000:Components 0.9#Output|optional output components]].
=== Winamp ===
Todo.
=== XMPlay ===
Todo.

== Pros ==
* Full control over what gets delivered to your soundcard drivers.
* Full control over what gets delivered to your soundcard, but only when your configuration ensures preventing other software from playing sounds at the same time (e.g. by using WASAPI exclusive mode).

== Cons ==
* Forfeits advantages of modern Windows audio pipeline: audio stream formats that aren't natively supported by your audio hardware will fail to play. You're likely to get errors with:
** Mono streams.
** Multichannel streams on a soundcard with stereo output only.
** Less common multichannel configurations.
** Less common sample rates.
To workaround these issues, you'll have to use additional DSPs such as resampler or "convert mono to stereo" in foobar2000.
* Interacting with soundcard drivers directly rather than letting Windows Mixer do it will often expose soundcard driver bugs that can't be triggered otherwise and lead to system-wide instability. There have been countless documented cases of stable otherwise soundcard drivers causing BSODs when using KS, ASIO or WASAPI. This happens because:
** KS and WASAPI: while these output methods rely on the same driver code as playing sounds through Windows Mixer, various quirks such as buffer sizes are different; drivers tend to make unsafe assumptions that whoever is invoking them behaves exactly as Windows Mixer does; these drivers would also stop working correctly after OS updates that change these behaviors.
** ASIO: many major hardware vendors release massively buggy ASIO drivers and suspend any work on their drivers as soon as they get some subset of ASIO software working with their product without obvious problem symptoms.

== Alternate solutions ==
* Windows Vista lets you control what data format gets sent to your soundcard so you can get rid of the resampling step without bypassing the mixer by setting mixer's output sample rate matching the sample rate of what you play (44100Hz for CD-sourced material).