Had an online lesson with a tutor using Zoom, but even though I could hear audio on my computer, he couldn’t hear my audio on his computer through Zoom. I have a PC and he has a Mac. I have a content filter called Net Nanny on my PC, could that be what’s blocking my Cubase audio from being heard on his computer through Zoom?
Hi,
It’s probably nothing to do with that. Most likely you are using an ASIO driver for your audio interface, which talks directly to the audio interface on a low level for maximum performance. This will as a consequence bypass any processing done by Windows itself, including the hooks that Zoom uses to capture audio, and make it impossible to capture the audio.
Because Cubase currently forces you to use some kind of ASIO driver, you’ll have to use an ASIO driver that wraps regular WDM/DirectSound audio like the Generic Low Latency Driver or FlexASIO in order for Zoom to be able to capture the audio. This will make the audio performance much worse, but Zoom should work.
Michael,
Thanks for your response! The tutor I worked with, who used a Mac, said he
never had issues hearing audio when it was Mac to Mac via Zoom. It was only
when it was my PC to his Mac that my Cubase audio did not come through.
When you said to use an “ASIO driver that wraps regular WDM/DirectSound
audio like the Generic Low Latency Driver or FlexASIO”, is this a card that
can be installed into my PC? Will it affect the sound of Cubase on my
speakers, or only what is heard through Zoom on his Mac?
Thank you so much for your help! I have been stuck for weeks trying to
figure this out, as almost everybody uses Mac. I have used a PC for over 30
years and do not want to switch to Mac at this point. - learning Cubase is
hard enough!
Scott Johnston
615-496-1311
Mac doesn’t have any equivalent to ASIO that bypasses the operating system and talks directly to the audio interface, so this can’t happen on Mac.
No, it’s not a card. You change your ASIO driver via the “Studio Setup” menu, under “Audio System”. And yes, that changes the audio configuration completely, and most likely the latency will be higher (more sluggish performance), so you’ll want to change the setting for Zoom and change it back again when you are done in Zoom.
Thank you, I’ll give it a shot!
Scott Johnston
615-496-1311
Almost forgot: when I change the ASIO driver in Studio Setup, under Audio System, what do I change it to? And what do I change it back to once the Zoom session is over?
Scott Johnston
615-496-1311
You change it to the Generic Low Latency driver, or you can install FlexASIO and change it to that. After the Zoom session is over, you change it back to whatever you have right now - I do not know what you have right now. Make a note of what you have now before you change it.
What audio interface do you use? I have an RME audio interface and this can route asio to windows audio without the need of anything extra
I use a Focusrite.
You can also search for info on how to set up Cubase with OBS. This is basically the same usecase only that instead of OBS you’d be using Zoom. The settings in Cubase and in your audio interface apply just the same.
Out of curosity, how can you do this? I have an RME interface as well (HDSPe AIO PCIe card) and was not aware of this functionality. I always have to change the driver myself to get Windows Audio to capture it.
Hello… Just signed up and saw this post!
It might be worth checking that you only have a single Zoom installation. Having both app and desktop versions of the software installed can cause audio/video problems.
Got other RME forum as this has been answered a few times
Is the method that you refer to using the “Loopback” functionality in the RME Totalmix? I know that allows you to send audio output to an audio input without cables. I was already familiar with this but it isn’t exactly the same thing because it would be picked up as a microphone feed rather than Windows sound, so it would be placed through the echo cancellation in Zoom that desktop audio normally bypasses.
See here:
What Focusrite model do you have exactly?
If you have a vacant pair of inputs and outputs on your device you can create a physical loopback by connecting output 3/4 into input 3/4 for example. Then adjust the gain and levels via Focusrite Control (use a test generator and aim for the same level at the inputs).
On your output channel in Cubase you configure a Send that is set to output 3/4. All the other audio on your computer is set to a different output obviously (including Cubase main output, you can just set them all to output 1/2). This way you can select input 3/4 in Zoom and the others will only hear the audio from Cubase. Additionally you may want to use the same Send method on your microphone channel in Cubase so they can hear you talk.
In case you also need to send the audio from Windows then it’s a bit more complicated, because people on the other side will almost always hear themselves back with the typical loopback. I believe VoiceMeeter can achieve the correct routing as it can virtually separate the apps from windows but I don’t remember exactly how it works.
The BEACN Mix Create can achieve a perfect routing but is a bit expensive. It also requires a physical loopback as explained in the first part of my reply, in case you don’t have an RME interface, in order to capture the audio from Cubase and send it to the BEACN App. It’s still a bit buggy because it’s new, but it really is the ultimate gear for this since you can literally separate and sort all the running apps from Windows to different pages, and choose what to send to the dedicated virtual outputs (you can then exclude other people’s voice from the loopback).
It’s also possible to use multiple instances of Sonobus that you connect together, as VST inside Cubase and one standalone that will send the mixed sources to Zoom via a Virtual Cable.
And last but not least, you can eventually use ASIO4ALL instead of your audio interface’s driver in Cubase, and use the Virtual Cables as the Send trick, though it will probably not be very stable but it’s worth the try.
Don’t forget to check the guide shared by @mlindeb just above as this is a requirement for all of this to work properly.
Rather than going through all that complicated stuff, it is probably easiest for the original poster to just use the Generic Low Latency driver or FlexASIO for the Zoom calls as either of those should work perfectly with Zoom. They weren’t even sure how to change their ASIO driver so doing complex audio routing like that is probably off the table.
I highly disagree. I don’t think this is the easiest method.
Maybe this video helps with setting up your Focusrite. I learned that different models require a different setup, though.
The DAW being used in this vid is Live but the part about using Loopback in your focusrite applies just the same.
What is covered in your video is not easier. Changing the ASIO setting, then Zoom works then changing it back is much easier. The problem with the loopback method is not only that it is complicated but also that it gets brought in as microphone sound instead of being picked up by “share computer sound” options in the Zoom screen sharing.