This is the multi-page printable view of this section. Click here to print.

Return to the regular view of this page.

Audio Settings

On this configuration page, general audio output settings can be adjusted, as well as the settings and options for all sound cards.

General

mAirList uses the BASS audio library for all audio operations. On this tab, the general parameters for the library can be adjusted. Most of these settings correspond to the BASS_CONFIG_xxx config options of the BASS library. Detailed information on these options can be found in the BASS documentation.

  • Update period: Corresponds to BASS_CONFIG_UPDATEPERIOD option.
  • Network buffer size: Corresponds to BASS_CONFIG_NET_BUFFER option.
  • Network prebuffer amount: Corresponds to BASS_CONFIG_NET_PREBUF option.
  • Network connection timeout: Corresponds to BASS_CONFIG_NET_TIMEOUT option.
  • Network read timeout: Corresponds to BASS_CONFIG_NET_READTIMEOUT option.
  • Asynchronous file buffer: Corresponds to BASS_CONFIG_ASYNCFILE_BUFFER option.
  • Default recording prebuffer length: Length (in milliseconds) of prebuffered audio when recording from a sound card (e.g. for Live Feed playback).

The Default Recording Format is used for all recording functions in mAirList for which no specific format is configured.

  • Pitch and tempo adjustment using BASS_FX.DLL: If enabled, all audio is routed through the BASS_FX add-on, to enable pitch and tempo adjustment. This involves additional overhead even if playing at the default pitch and tempo, so it is disabled by default, and any pitch or tempo set in the item properties won’t have any effect until you enable the feature here.
  • Force high precision cueing for VBR files (BASS_STREAM_PRESCAN): When enabled, all files will be scanned to determine the exact file position for a particular playback position. Enable this option if you deal with variable bitrate (VBR) files a lot, because cueing might be inprecise without it.
  • Cache remote files (faster opening, needs RAM): If enabled, files played from an HTTP/FTP URL will be cached into RAM during playback.
  • Use asynchronous file reading: If enabled, the reading of audio files will be performed in a separate background thread, which may improve stability in situations where you encounter audio dropouts.

WASAPI

WASAPI (Windows Audio Session API) is the default audio output method used by mAirList. All soundcards available in the Windows Sound Settings control panel support this output method. It has been available (and the default) since Windows Vista.

  • Use event-driven buffering: If enabled, the device is opened in “even-driven” mode, which means that WASAPI will pull audio data as required, rather than that the application periodically pushes it to WASAPI periodically.
  • Raw mode (disable enhancements): If enabled, the device is requested to be opened in “raw mode”, which disables all enhancements set up in Windows Control Panel.

DirectSound

DirectSound is the older audio output method provided by Windows before Windows Vista was released. It is still available as an API in modern Windows version, but you should avoid using it normally, and use WASAPI instead. Internally, Windows will route all DirectSound data through the WASAPI layer anyway, so there is no point in using DirectSound; however there is a small number of older soundcards that may not work properly when accessed directly through WASAPI, so the DirectSound functions are still available in mAirList as a last resort when WASAPI doesn’t work.

To adjust the settings for a playback or record device, switch to the respective tab and select the device from the drop down list. The following settings and options are available:

  • Sample rate: Select the sample rate to run the soundcard with. This should match the sample rate set up in Windows control panel for this sound card.
  • Buffer size: (playback only) The size of the output buffer. This is also the playback latency, so it should be set as low as possible, but not too low, or you will hear dropouts.
  • Force multichannel output: (playback only) If this option is checked, the soundcard is assumed to have 8 channels, and 4 stereo pairs are made available as virtual devices after you restart the software. Use this option if Windows does not report all available stereo pairs correctly.
  • Enable multichannel device: (playback only) For a 5.1 or 7.1 soundcard, you may enable this option in order to create another multi-channel audio device in the playback routing, which allows you to play 5.1 or 7.1 audio files.
  • Ignore speaker assignment: (playback only) Sometimes Windows will report the outputs/speakers in a wrong order; check this option to fix this.
  • Use floating point data (BASS_SAMPLE_FLOAT): If enabled, PCM audio will be passed in 32-bit floating point resolution. If disabled, 16-bit PCM data will be used.

ASIO

ASIO (trademark of Steinberg) is an alternative driver model supported mostly by mid- and high-end audio cards. You can use ASIO if your soundcard doesn’t support WASAPI.

  • Ignore this device: By default, mAirList will ignore all ASIO devices, as it would usually result in a conflict when the device is used in WASAPI mode at the same time (e.g. by being the Windows default device). So if you are going to use this device in ASIO mode, first unckeck this option, then restart the configuration.
  • Use floating point data (BASS_SAMPLE_FLOAT): If enabled, PCM audio will be passed in 32-bit floating point resolution. If disabled, 16-bit PCM data will be used.
  • Use a separate thread for processing.: If you are using more than one ASIO device at the same time, they will usually be processed in a common background thread. By checking this option, a separate thread will be used for this particular device.

Sound Processing