laptop -> firewire -> pc ( asio in ) -> speakers

LyyNx · May 8, 2008, 04:33 PM

would it be possible? i searched for some time on google for something like virtual sound card but couldn't find anything like that.

basically what i want it make the pc act as a sound card that's connected to the laptop via firewire. maybe some server - client model apps with custom drivers or smth..

has anyone come by anything similar to this?

babinosman · May 8, 2008, 08:02 PM

Maybe if you be more specific the experts here may help you.

Russ · May 8, 2008, 09:31 PM

I do not know a lot about it, and this probably is not the best place to ask such questions (since it is not really related to kX), but you could try using a program like VLC to stream audio from the laptop to the desktop PC.

i.e.
Check out the following link:
How-To: Stream almost anything using VLC - Engadget

LyyNx · May 9, 2008, 02:45 AM

nah, streaming audio isn't what i want. my problem is that my laptop is more powerful than my pc. but laptop has only crappy integrated audio card and no pcmcia slot, just expresscard so i can't get any cheap audio card with asio support.
i was just thinking that if an audio interface can work through firewire port, i could make the pc act as an audio interface that gets audio data via firewire and sends it to my audigy2. with as low latency as possible.

i dunno really... this just might be those crazy ass ideas that i come up with once in a while..

octave · May 9, 2008, 07:26 PM

Interesting question, made me go read about ReaMote (but I can't think of a VST which would be necessary) and then I also remembered Wormhole. Seems like Ethernet might work, otherwise maybe it would be possible to set up TCP/IP over Firewire? Just having crazy-ass ideas here too! There might me some more Audio over LAN commercial solutions...?

plasq.com - Wormhole
wormhole2 - Google Code
ReaMote - CockosWiki

LyyNx · May 10, 2008, 03:42 AM

i just tried wormhole and it's pretty much the concept i need. except that wormhole doesn't work that good for me and i don't know why. even with highest buffer i get drop outs / time outs. also at least in fruity loops, it still uses the soundcard so it introduces some more latency too. i would need some dummy soundcard driver maybe..

octave · May 10, 2008, 08:59 AM

Uh, yeah that might be a problem. However, just to take this out of the way, there are two relevant notes on the Wormhole page [1]:
Q. What are good buffer settings for Wormhole2?
Q. How do I get the lowest possible latency for a "live" connection (direct mode)?

Moreover, before I get to the driver part, it seems that in the freeware, independent from Reaper, plug-in package [2] there is a Wormhole equivalent "ReaStream".

What about:
1) Muting the master output? (Might require additional routing to some kind of a master bus?) Maybe somehow routing the tracks in the DAW to a bus that's routed to "none"??
2) Disabling the audio interface in the device manager? You can try, though I doubt

3) Googling "dummy audio driver" yields somebody's intriguing advice in some newsgroup:

There is no dummy audio driver, but perhaps installing a driver for an audio device that doesn't look very hard for it's hardware might do the trick. Presonus Firepod comes to mind but I'm not sure if they have a 2003 driver. M-Audio Firewire 410 is another contender.

4) ASIO4ALL? (Now you're gonna settle with that without the networking eh?

)
5) JackDMP's ASIO driver, possibly with everything disconnected in the routing dialog (LOL that's geeky).

[1] plasq.com - Wormhole2 PAQ
[2] REAPER | ReaPlugs

LyyNx · May 11, 2008, 03:25 AM

well i tried all of those and none of them did it even on a 'bearable' level. reamote has very low latency, but all of them distort the sound very much. i also tried to do something with FXTeleport, but i need some vst plugin that can actually send sound directly to soundcard via asio.

but nevermind, i managed to set up asio4all at even 5ms without any quirks. seems like i needed to tick the option 'force the driver to 16bit'. anyway, that's for your research on this

**dj_stick** · May 11, 2008, 04:09 AM

you might want to invest in a basic firewire audio interface - much less hassle

octave · May 11, 2008, 08:10 AM

Thanks for reporting back. However, if both
1) ReaMote has very low latency (it's almost sure ReaMote is the same code as ReaStream)
2) You get 5ms with ASIO4all (hence no stalling in the laptop)
It shouldn't "distort".
Of course, I understand the much better convenience of not using networking in most cases, though I personally don't like ASIO4all

.

LyyNx · May 11, 2008, 10:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dj_stick

you might want to invest in a basic firewire audio interface - much less hassle

yeah, i sure would if i could.. though currently i have no income at all and i'm a student. there's no money or time for serious stuff production wise. so this will be enough for now.

**dj_stick** · May 11, 2008, 05:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LyyNx

yeah, i sure would if i could.. though currently i have no income at all and i'm a student. there's no money or time for serious stuff production wise. so this will be enough for now.

i know exactly how you feel, i'm in the same boat - wanting a nice microphone, but i've got far too many bills to pay first lol

if you can fnd a behringer fca 202 second hand it'll be good value- i used one of those for a while