Super low volume with ASIO4ALL output & Traktor Pro
So let me explain my setup first. I’m running a Dell 1420 Inspiron with Vista Home SP2. I use Traktor Pro for software, and I’ve mapped keyboard shortcuts to a USB gamepad via Joy2Key to control playback.
I use ASIO4ALL so I can cue sound in my headphones using the laptop’s sound card, and route the output through a generic USB sound card that has RCA output (Onkyo MSE-U33HB). This USB device has no physical adjustment for output volume so what I get is not amplified in any way (i.e. very quiet). What I wind up doing is cranking the volume on the mixer or amp instead which I hate doing as a workaround.
The obvious answer is to buy an external USB sound card with adjustable volume output, but 1st I wanted to see if there is a way to do this with software or if I haven’t set up ASIO4ALL properly.
I have used asio4all alot, and there is no option for adjusting sound levels using the software, it is merely a wrapper to provide a unified interface to audio applications.
Things to check:-
Check that windows mixer app has your volume settings at maximum.
Check with your dj software that you have auto gain or equivalent set to 0db.
Try outputting without asio4all, just a single channel. Does it get louder ?
I tried both of those things but I think I just need to suck it up and buy another USB device. I’ve tried it all, but still no dice. No matter what I do the volume is too soft. Thanks for the help!
If the volume is low, even without asio4all, you can obviously rule that out as a cause.
I’ve never yet come across a soundcard that outputs at very low volumes like you describe. If you use it simply to output sound in windows, say with a game, or winamp, does it still sound quiet ?
Finally, you can do perfectly well with soundcards that don’t have a pre amp, if you are using a mixer. Its not a workaround, its what its for
That said, if you are having to crank the gain right around to max, just to get an acceptable output level, then something isn’t right.
The USB card sounds fine outside Traktor. It’s nice and loud in Windows. But back in Traktor, it only works under ASIO4ALL. And then it’s still too quiet. What you mentioned about having to crank the gain to the max… that is precisely what I have to do to get any halfway usable sound.
I guess I will tinker more with the windows side and see if there’s a way to control it there more thoroughly. It’s useless to me if ASIO4ALL can’t pipe any volume through the USB card in Traktor though… which is the only way I can get it to work
Have you tried, just as a test, setting traktor to use the soundcard without asio ?
If it works as a standard windows sound card, it should be listed as one of the cards in traktor. Admittedly, you won’t be able to route your cue to your second card without asio4all, but it will at least tell you where the issue maybe.
Nope, it’s just a normal USB sound card, no HD or surround sound features, just RCA in and out. It’s about 8 years old and there are no drivers for it so I’m just using the generic USB device driver through Windows Vista.
I use Traktor 3, asio4all, vista and a super budget soundcard (cost like £15). I often had problems with low volume but solved it by simply going to playback devices and setting my budget soundcard to be my computers default soundcard whenever I use traktor + asio4all. Ya probably tried it already as its simple but just in case
Dude, solid advice. Seems simple, I thought about it a thousand times, but I had it all wrong, I was missing a key element. Turns out the card was DISABLED in the ‘Playback Devices’ panel in Vista. Right-clicked, toggled on disabled devices and suddenly it appeared. I selected it, right-clicked, and enabled it and presto… full volume in Traktor, and even with ASIO4ALL on. It’s weird that Traktor can pick up the USB device through ASIO4ALL even when Vista has disabled it, albeit with low volume. I am used to a mac though, so I have to say when it comes to windows I am not very good at making things work yet. Thanks for helping out the windows noob!
So thanks djmoonie & DnBass… your efforts have paid off!
The reason traktor could pick up the sound card even tho it was disabled, is because asio bypasses the normal windows sound system, but as asio4all is only a wrapper, I’m guessing that some of the configuration settings in windows, were still having an effect, hence the wierd behaviour.
