I'm a new user, and I can't get my project to play

Dorico
1

Hello all. I’m a brand new Dorico Elements 6 user, and I’m still finding my way. My main problem right now is that I can’t get any of my projects to play.

Here’s what I’ve tried so far. First, I ran the Download Assistant, to make sure that all the components were installed properly. I found a couple that weren’t, and reinstalled them.

I checked to make sure everything was correct in my Device Setup. ASIO driver is Steinberg built-in; Output is Speakers/Headphones. All good.

I tried playing some of the example projects included with Dorico, and they play just fine. I tried comparing the settings in the Track Inspector and VST and MIDI panels between my projects and the examples, but I can’t see any differences.

Then I clicked on the Edit Instrument button in one of the tracks in my project. When the Halion Sonic app opened, I noticed that the list of instruments on the left side of the window was empty. I right-clicked on one of the instruments and clicked Load Program, but nothing happened. Then I clicked Init Program and got this error message: Audio Connection unavailable (due to deactivated plug-in output or mismatching bus widths).

That’s where I am, and I’m stuck there. Can anyone give me any ideas? Thanks.

2

The first thing to do is to Re-apply the “Auto” Playback Technique in the Play menu, to reset all your instruments.

If the example projects play, then that suggests it’s just a configuration issue with your document.

3

Welcome to the forum.

For simplicity, you should also check that your Edit>Preferences>Play... are set to use the Auto playback template.

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That means Dorico will automatically load the best available instrument (from its factory defaults).

5

Thanks to both of you! That did the trick.

6

But now there’s another problem. Now my project plays through the speakers, but not through my AirPods. I make sure to go to Bluetooth Settings and connect my pods before starting Dorico, and I go to Device Setup and select the pods for output. But when I press play, there’s no sound. In fact, while Dorico is running with the AirPods connected, nothing comes through the pods, even when I play a song in Media Player.

Any ideas?

7

There are threads about setting up the audio on macs. (I’m on windows so cannot help)

8

I’m on Windows 11.

9

Perhaps you should set the destination on the ASIO driver interface?
(I don’t use bluetooth devices)

10

Dorico has its own settings for audio output, under Edit > Device Setup.

11

In Windows world there are lots of ways different audio devices can be configured and work. It’s even common for a PC or Laptop to have more than one interface.

With that in mind here is a ‘concept’ of how Dorico’s audio engine works.

Dorico is purely ASIO on the Windows platform. It totally ignores anything that doesn’t set up an ASIO driver.

The standard Windows audio drivers are going to be WDM, WASPI, or MME.
Some audio devices for windows ship with an ASIO driver, but most do not (all the pro gear worth buying will have ASIO drivers).

If there is no ASIO driver for a device, Dorico doesn’t even know it exists.

The solution…

What Steinberg does is ship a special ASIO driver bridge with Dorico. I believe these days it’s called Steinberg Built in ASIO Driver. The job of this utility is to provide a bridge from a WDM device of your choice to any host that can use ASIO interfaces.

On my system it looks like this,

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and it’s where I assign any devices that don’t ship with an ASIO driver.

I can pull up this app by typing “steinberg bu” into the start bar search.
I.E. Tap Windows key, and type it in, and then I can see the App and start it.

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So, to use your BT speakers, you’ll need to get them connected first, then open this app and bridge it with the device you want associated with the ASIO bridge.

Next, launch Dorico, and have it set to use the Steinberg built-in ASIO Driver.
Edit/Device Setup…

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As you can see from my screen shots I have scads of audio devices!

Using this particular ASIO <> WDM bridge grants access to only one device at a time.

It’s possible to go with a 3rd party ASIO bridge that offers more options (such as aggregating multiple WDM devices into a single ASIO driver) than the the one that ships with Dorico. A very popular option that’s free to try and use is ASIO4ALL. I don’t know if this would give you more options and flexibility when using things like BT devices, but it’s worth a try.

One option might be to set up Steinberg’s driver to look for your main speakers, and have ASIO4ALL set to use the ear buds or vice verse. At least then you’d only have to swap it over in Dorico more or less ‘at will’. (Swap between the Steinberg ASIO driver and the ASIO4ALL driver).

12

PS…

Dorico has no ‘audio input’ at this time, but if you require complicated routing of Dorico’s output to other apps (I.E. To stream what you’re doing over an OBS stream, Skype, or whatever), then have a look the very powerful and free ASIO Link Pro software.

14

Hi @Grinnell_Almy ,

following the advice of Brian, did you get your BT ear buds working with Dorico?

15

No. I’m using the Steinberg built-in ASIO Driver, as he suggested. But no sound comes through the AirPods.

16

If this happens with Media Player as well, I think it is typical of Windows to not change or update the Audio Output Setting automatically. I may be wrong (but it’s one of the reasons that I’ve switched to MacOS)!

17

Hi @Grinnell_Almy ,

if you go in Dorico to Edit > Device Setup and in that dialog click the Device Control Panel button, a little window pops up that shows the two lists of potential audio devices for input or output. In the list of output ports, does there your BT headset/ear buds turn up? If so, make sure that it is selected, i.e. it is x-marked in front of the name. At the same time, make sure that the microphone of the BT headset is not x-marked in front, i.e. it is not used.
If you then close all dialogs and hit play, does then sound come through your ear buds?