Dorico Pro 5.1 is running fine. Thank you so much, Steinberg. Dorico is a dream come true.
But the “good old” Cakewalk (the latest version), doesn’t start with asioglld.dll (the older Steinberg “Generic Low Latency ASIO driver”) or asiobdin.dll (the new “Steinberg Built-in ASIO driver”, which I updated to version 1.0.6.18 – thanks, ULF [see Dorico 5.1 crash - #21 by Ulf]) installed. CW, when run, is just spinning endlessly while checking and checking the audio device setup. I need to kill the task using the Task Manager to get rid of this funny spinning guy.
When I rename asiobdin.dll and asioglld.dll in C:\Program Files\Steinberg\ASIO to for example asio*.dl- thus “disabling” them, Cakewalk starts (and runs) just fine (using the ASIO driver of my audio interface).
I’ve tried everything, but the above doesn’t change. Poor Cakewalk doesn’t love Steinberg’s ASIO driver(s).
I sure can always do this renaming when needing to use Cakewalk, not a big deal, but is there anything else that can be done so that Dorico Pro can always have asiobdin.dll available without my renaming ceremonies?
Both Dorico and Cakewalk are starting and running fine also using the ASIO driver of my audio interface. I only thought that using Steinberg’s driver is somehow much preferred. Maybe I just go on using what already works.
Actually no, Steinberg’s drivers (both, Generic Low Latency ASIO driver & Steinberg Built-in ASIO driver) are not preferred. The newer Steinberg Built-in ASIO driver will eventually replace completely the Generic Low Latency ASIO driver.
But even the Steinberg Built-in ASIO driver does not claim to be the best driver that is always to be used. It is also a generic driver and will work acceptably well with any audio device, so you will (almost) always get sound out to your ears with that driver.
If you have an audio device with a dedicated ASIO driver, then it is always the preferred choice. Because these drivers can use their knowledge of the hardware to get the best performance out, and that is what you want.
Recently I could not launch Cakewalk by Bandlab - neither the free nor the new version under subscription (that looks gorgeous, btw.). I have been using the Steinberg UR44 interface. Re-instalation or downgrade to the older version of CW or Steinberg UR driver did not help. I fixed it by unplugging the Steinberg UR card, launching CW, and going to Preferences/Configuration File/Reset Config to Defaults. After the reset, my CW started working with the Steinberg UR card again. Hope this hint helps somebody… Cheers.
So why, would Steinberg insist that I install it by including it in the Additional Content folder?
This is reminiscent of the situation with the eLicenser software that is not needed but is continually asked for by the Steinberg Activation Manager, and when uninstalled with standard cleaning utilities, creates issues with other Steinberg software.
Because there are still a great number of users that don’t have an external audio interface but instead use the built-in sound chip (e.g. Realtek). And guess the outcry when such people install Cubase or Dorico and then no audio comes out. With the generic Steinberg driver at least you get sound out with virtually any sound device (built-in or extern). Guess if it would not be there, how much grief and disappointment it would cause. And the driver is so tiny, you don’t want to tell me that the footprint poses a problem.
Similarly with the old eLicenser. There are still people that have and want to use Steinberg software that is protected by the eLicenser. This will get fewer and fewer in the future, and at some point it will get thrown out.
I respect the situation, but why must these types of software be bundled in this way?
Surely, the Steinberg Download Assistant was meant to do away with such scenarios, so while I can’t wait for the eLc to finally breath its’ last breath, the so-called built-in ASIO driver could be promoted to those who actually need it, not pushed on those who do not.
Dorico is a dream come true.
Non-existing problem solved. 