Windows USB mic rant (again)

[stfual]

Due to a family emergency during lockdown I found myself stuck in a cheap hotel with rubbish internet, non English TV but a high end windows laptop and a decent USB headset for a few days. The inability of Reason to support USB or internal mics and just open up and record killed my creativity. Made lots of plunky 4 bar loops though. Yes i did try asio4all. Was a clicky scratchy mess.

I dont really get Asio . If its a standard and so f'ing great for 23 years why dont any Windows laptop vendors or microsoft just build it in? And why can't Reason support any other driver in Windows for recording when even basic freeware can? You can sh*t talk and not listen while simultaneously playing a high end PC game. Kills Reason as a basic "starter" recording tool because it doubles the budget if you have to buy an Asio interface to record anything.

After ranting found this excellent primer on windows audio. The answer seems to be buy a Mac. But i hate Apple...

http://shanekirk.com/2015/10/a-brief-hi ... udio-apis/

[guitfnky]

Reason supports non-ASIO drivers. the problem is they introduce a ton of latency. why would Windows be expected to provide drivers for all the different interfaces out there—that job belongs where it is, with the manufacturers of those interfaces.

ASIO4ALL isn’t the only game in town for ASIO. it’s just a way to aggregate multiple interfaces so you can use them simultaneously, like you’re trying to do with your USB headset and USB mic. as with any software, it’s not going to be flawless in every situation. I can’t use ASIO4ALL with my Focusrite interface either. something I just have to deal with.

not sure why you’d even consider the thought of buying an Apple for $$$$$$ just so you can use your USB mic and headphones, if you don’t like Apple products. there are many fairly inexpensive options for you that don’t involve buying a new computer. even buying a brand new PC laptop, a one channel interface, a new standard set of headphones and an SM57 mic would probably cost you less than just a new Mac alone.

any hobby requires certain tools, and one of the tools you really ought to have if you want to do any serious (or not so serious) audio recording is a dedicated audio interface—one that you plug ¼-inch jacks and XLR cables into, and that outputs to headphones with a standard TRS connection. I get that you want to use your USB stuff, but those aren’t really built for what you’re trying to use them for. it’s not ASIO4ALL’s fault it can’t work in every eventuality.

[chimp_spanner]

Due to a family emergency during lockdown I found myself stuck in a cheap hotel with rubbish internet, non English TV but a high end windows laptop and a decent USB headset for a few days. The inability of Reason to support USB or internal mics and just open up and record killed my creativity. Made lots of plunky 4 bar loops though. Yes i did try asio4all. Was a clicky scratchy mess.

I dont really get Asio . If its a standard and so f'ing great for 23 years why dont any Windows laptop vendors or microsoft just build it in? And why can't Reason support any other driver in Windows for recording when even basic freeware can? You can sh*t talk and not listen while simultaneously playing a high end PC game. Kills Reason as a basic "starter" recording tool because it doubles the budget if you have to buy an Asio interface to record anything.

After ranting found this excellent primer on windows audio. The answer seems to be buy a Mac. But i hate Apple...

http://shanekirk.com/2015/10/a-brief-hi ... udio-apis/

Yeah it's not an inability specific to Reason. Windows audio is garbage. And I say that as someone who's been on PC for most of their life. Only recently switched to Mac (like a year and a half ago). I got it through work and now I'm in a tough spot because if I had to buy a new computer, I probably couldn't afford the Apple Tax, but I really like the OS and core audio has been such a gamechanger for me. Running multiple USB recording sources and MIDI controllers at 64 samples without separate hardware? Yes please. I'm not sure I could go back now. I guess I'll know when the time comes.

In your case literally the best thing to do is just buy an interface. You can get something secondhand in the 100-120 buck region. I can only recommend what I've used. I've got a UR44 here that I paid 120 for. And a KA6 I got for 80. Both great interfaces. However, Windows being Windows, you still won't be able to use your interface's ASIO driver (including things like built in DSP, mixer interfaces, etc.) *and* record from a USB Mic at the same time. So you'd probably have to get a cheap microphone and just connect through the XLR inputs of the interface. I know ASIO4ALL can create aggregate devices...kinda. But when I tried it, I lost all my additional inputs and outputs except 1/2. Wasted a tonne of time getting it to work. So might cost a couple of hundred to get everything sorted but I suppose it's cheaper than buying a Mac for now.