I asked on Gearspace.com and a tech from MOTU said they’re working on it for the new 16A. I also asked about the Ultralite-mk5 but didn’t get a response yet.
P.S.: Further thoughts:
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Never heard of Fluid audio interfaces before, checked them out, very simple and nice-looking audio interface from 2019-ish, so I’m doubly-surprised they support Arm64 now… makes me suspect that they might use Thesycon drivers… which might mean perhaps other Thesycon-based products will support Arm64 soon?
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On further digging, looks like Fluid Audio’s driver is version 5.72.0 dated 24-11-13 which coincidentally lines up with Thesycon driver 5.72.0 dated 24-11-12, so I think that settles that. But what is curious is the changelog of the Thesycon driver doesn’t mention Arm64 support, yet Fluid Audio mentions they DO support Arm64. In any case, looks like Thesycon-related device drivers may be benefiting from some Arm64 builds of their driver…
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Also on further reflection… I recall in the past that Audient used (and perhaps still uses today) Thesycon driver technology (maybe I’m wrong about that!), so that might explain why Audient and Fluid both support Arm64 right now, before other major/popular developers do. Bodes well for other Thesycon-based device drivers, of course, but I would want to know how stable they are and how good of performance they provide.
Does anyone know if the Steinberg IXO22 interface is multi-client capable under Windows (x86 or ARM)?
Currently I use several pieces of software at the same time that all access my (old) MOTU 16A and I would prefer that on my next setup as well.
I thought I read somewhere that all the larger interfaces since Ultralite-mk5 and upcoming ones are based on same general platform, CueMix 5, etc., so I’d imagine Ultralite-mk5, new 828, 16A, etc., would benefit from same development.
I ordered the Ultralite and it’s been “stuck” in transit for a while now. I think I’m being ‘shafted’ because the price went up after I ordered it. I bet they want me to ask for a refund and re-buy at the higher price. Not MOTU’s fault of course, just incredibly annoying.
I wasn’t too serious about what I wrote, but thanks for the reminder that the hardware is not ready for the future since 2001.
WoA is already a complete system, so I don’t quite get the question.
When you save, playback stops? In what app is this happening? Is this a desktop or laptop? Are you saving to a local disk or to something USB-connected?
There’s no systemic reason why playback would need to stop.
Pete
Microsoft
As far as I’m aware, there’s no standard programmatic interface for those extra features. The way those control panels talk to the driver varies by vendor, so you can’t create something generic that works across all of them.
I have a to-be-retired MOTU pcie setup here (I have RME stuff to replace it). I never use their app.
But I know lots of folks use those apps. In those case, companies who want to support Arm64 will supply the apps for Arm64.
Pete
Microsoft
When you use multiple apps with your MOTU, they are not all using ASIO at the same time, correct? One ASIO and multiple Windows Audio?
The ASIO side of things is just about never multi-client, IIRC.
Pete
Microsoft
As far as I know / understand it the driver is ASIO:
I specifically also asked the MOTU tech if multi-client support was available on the Ultralite-mk5: Gearspace - View Single Post - MOTU Ships Redesigned 16A Audio Interface
Ahh, nice. That must be why they have a separate Windows service installed as part of their stuff. I’ve never had a reason to send multiple apps out through the same ASIO endpoint, so never tried it. I know most drivers do not support this.
For the in-box driver:
- ASIO is not multi-client.
- We are ensuring ASIO and Windows audio can be used at the same time for all devices (something many ASIO drivers today do not allow)
Pete
Microsoft
This is a really interesting thread. Speaking as someone who went to Mac quite a few years ago, the prospect of Windows on ARM on a powerful, cool running processor is a great prospect. Also extremely helpful to have Pete from Microsoft sharing his knowledge here, thank you.
Steve.
Right.
I’ll keep this short since I don’t want to move this off-topic (too much anyway); I use Nuendo to mix for TV, and my project is in a sense entirely self-contained and untouched by other things. The stereo mix goes to my MOTU 16A outs 1-2. But I also send it out to a separate pair, 15-16 and that then gets sent back in the MOTU as inputs 1-2.
When I have a client online review the software you saw, “Voicemeeter”, which is basically just a mixer, takes that returned signal and sends it to Zoom. Additional inputs to Voicemeeter are the clients from Zoom (goes to my MOTU out 1-2 along with my Nuendo mix) as well as a talkback input from my phone (networked via Voicemeeter).
So this way I never have to set up anything in Nuendo other than duplicating my stereo output. It’s always the same and there’s something comforting in not having to jump through hoops in Nuendo to get remote stuff to work. Granted, I do have to set stuff up in Windows of course but this way it just all works really well. And for non-work all other Windows audio and apps go into Voicemeeter.
I am really trying to resist going Apple for a laptop but it’s hard. I just don’t see great options at good prices that can compete. iLok support lacking on ARM is really the main thing holding me back I think. I’d really love just setting everything up the way I have right now on a Win laptop instead. Even Voicemeeter is WinARM-ready. But alas…
Anyway, the work example is just for sharing the experience in case you run into any conversations about multi-client support at some point. It seems to me that it is a beneficial thing to have.
Another thought – I was looking through some documentation and noticed that Black Lion Audio’s driver is also most likely Thesycon-based (version 5.72.0 dated 24-11-15).
And after a quick/casual search, some other drivers turned up that MIGHT also be based on Thesycon – including :
- SSL
- JDS Labs
- Auralic Limited
- Behringer
- Weiss Engineering
- FiiO
- SPL
I could be wrong. And I’m not suggesting ALL their products are Thesycon-based, but from what I can see there’s quite a list of companies that appear to be using Thesycon-based drivers with some extra mixer/UI stuff on top for some of their products. I’m guessing there are more than what I listed above, plus Fluid Audio, and possibly Audient too, as I mentioned in a prior post.
I’m not criticizing any of that (on the contrary, that’s probably a good thing in many ways), but I’m just pointing out that if Audient and Fluid Audio already support Arm64, then one can reasonably extrapolate that other devices MIGHT be closer to having native Arm64 support that we might realize. That’s why it’s relevant to post in this thread.
Perhaps it’s just a matter of adapting their custom mixer/control UI on top of their Thesycon-based driver component(s), so maybe it will still take time, or maybe it will never happen. Who knows? But I just find this very interesting that we might be on the verge of a BUNCH of devices being able to natively support Arm64. Just a thought, I am NOT claiming any inside knowledge from these companies.
I have no visibility into their license agreements, but I suspect some or all would have to pay additional for Arm64 versions if they license a third-party driver.
If that’s true, there’s no guarantee that using a particular company’s driver would make Arm64 support automatic.
This is 100% speculation on my part.
Pete
Microsoft
I think it’s down to low system resources, i.e., when the DAW is playing back.
I always need to turn off Windows Defender, while the DAW is playing back and if a browser is open.
I was just wondering if there might be a time-stamped method to ensure that even if disk resources, or memory speed are too slow, causing the DAW to “stutter”, that while ever there is no playback, in the background it is still in time, so wherever or whenever the DAW resumes, it is still in time.
P.S. By complete system, I was meaning an entire ecosystem, with all (or most) manufacturers on board, in a possibly formalised way
I don’t know about other mitigations, but here are a couple recommendations for you (I generally recommend these for everyone who does audio/video work):
- Exclude your DAW project and folders from Defender real-time protection.
- Exclude the Cubase process from the same.
Both of those are done through the Windows Security app
Windows Security >Virus & threat protection > Virus & threat protection settings > scroll down to exclusions and then “add or remove exclusions”.
For process, use the full path and process name for Cubase. You can get this by finding the Cubase folder under program files, then right-click cubase14.exe (or whatever version you are running) and choose “copy as path”
I also exclude my VST folders from scanning, and the data folders for those VSTs.
These all require that you are smart about what you put in those folders, and where you get your plugins from.
Unless you have a really marginal system, even those things probably shouldn’t cause the problems you’re seeing. So also check to see if you are saving to or reading from a folder that OneDrive is managing. If you are, you probably want your DAW project folder to be located elsewhere. You can manually back up your projects to the cloud if you want to afterwards. Up to you, of course, but I find any cloud sync on your projects folder can cause performance problems.
Much of the rest is up to how the DAW implements their playback. It’s not really something the OS can solve.
Honestly, I’ve never tried saving + playback + browsing at the same time, so not sure if this is typical in Cubase or not. It seems like it wouldn’t be, especially if you’re seeing improvement by disabling Defender.
Hope that helps, at least a little.
Pete
Microsoft
Thanks for all that Pete.
I’m a little confused about how to disable Defender, there are so many dialogs. Can you help simplify that please if you have a moment?
Hi Alexis,
I use the Microsoft PC Manager, to link to Windows Defender, which bypasses most of the links that you would normally need to go through, and it shows you whether or not Windows Defender is actually on.
It also allows you to scan for Windows updates but bear in mind, each time a Virus Definition is downloaded, the real-time anti-virus scanner, is re-enabled.
Another very useful aspect of the application is the memory defragmenter, which I use after I have started the DAW.
Once the DAW has started, if real-time scanning is disabled, it normally stays that way, i.e., while the DAW is running, unless a Windows Update is triggered in the background.
I have all of the folders, that @Psychlist1972 mentioned, skipped but with such low system resources as I have, there are many other reasons why Windows Defender may start arbitrarily but I have not found any other reasonable AV solution and I won’t look, now thanks to the MS PCManager.
I have the browser open sometimes (chrome), to change settings in the Mixer (MOTU AVB), and while I know I can use a networked machine, it is of course easier to simply open a browser window on the same system.
As for saving while playing, that is while the DAW is cycling over a specific part of a song, whilst I am making changes to notation, and saving without stopping normally works, but only sometimes, depending on what Windows is doing in the background.
In the past, I have had no issues doing all of these things together, but in those times, I was also asking less of the machine, in terms of sample playback, routing and synthesis.
Regards,
Garth