Patok said:
It probably does, but does the OP even need to install the ASIO? My
point is that he likely could do what he wants out of the box, without
installing anything.
I need to take a look at this ASIO driver to see if it can emulate a
microphone. Fristratingly, there are no virtual microphones for XP. One
app that I tested was Virtual Audio Cable, but it is payware, and
unfortunately didn't run well on my system.
The only reason for pursuing ASIO, is the possibility of a multi-client
audio playback scenario.
Media player (client_1) ------ ASIO ----------- Front Left/Right
Media player (client_2) ------ ASIO ----------- Rear Left/Right
In that example, the ASIO audio stack (if the right kind of driver
is present) can treat multiple audio devices, each having multiple
audio channels, as independent resources. For example, if you have
two PCI audio cards with 5.1 sound each, that is a total of six
stereo facilities. You could connect six media players (with ASIO
output capability and ability to select *which* card and stereo
channels get the output), and play six different tunes at the same
time.
It was my understanding, that the Windows KMixer doesn't allow this.
You can select one PCI card or select the other PCI card. You can
change the audio model to 2, 4, 5.1 channels or whatever. But you
can't run independent clients with it. You can certain "mix" a bunch
of sources together, and the noises all come out of one set of
speakers. But you can't play the BeeGees in the living room, and
symphony in the bathroom. With the Windows audio model, that takes two
computers.
ASIO has the *potential* to solve the problem. I've read accounts
of multiple audio players working at the same time, outputting to
independent sets of speakers. But I haven't tried it myself. Apparently,
Steinburg may have released source code for ASIO single client driver
code, which companies have used. Steinburg products may have included
the ability to support multiple clients. Some sound cards come with their
own ASIO drivers, but if they're based on the Steinburg code (without
adding significant software development effort), the sound card may be
limited to supporting one client at a time. So it isn't a given, that
switching to ASIO, instantly solves the problem.
The availability of the "asiomulti.msi" adds a new variable to
the mix, in the form of some kind of proxy. So at least
it's a "rich experimental environment", if you have the time
and inclination to play with it.
The usual warnings - back up your C: partition, before trying it.
If all that added cruft breaks Windows sound, then roll back to
your stable software configuration.
Paul