So, you're curious about how to get sounds from your PC on a basic USB audio interface concurrently with sounds from NI Guitar Rig 5 and that's why you clicked this link after reading Solution No.1?
Well then, here is
Solution No.2
So, as (semi-)pro audio applications tend to take complete control over the audio interface, they have to be tricked. Windows itself offers next to no help to achieve that. This is where VB-Audio's Voicemeeter virtual audio mixer software enters the scene.
It comes in three 'flavours', i.e. complexity levels, of which I recommend the banana version, which is the one in the middle. My setup could not be handled by the basic version, but as the software is released as donationware, I can afford to use whichever I like. VMB can handle 3 hardware in/outputs and 2 virtual ones, offers a compressor and a limiter on the physical inputs as well as echo, modulation and panorama effects, effect inserts, graphic equalisers and a sound recorder. (Of course, volume sliders, too.)
Installation creates virtual audio devices corresponding to the virtual main and insert channels of the software. Running it takes control of one ASIO interface as the first hardware device of the mixer (A1), accessing the other ones (A2-A3) via WDM, MME or KS protocols, and routing the signal from any hardware or virtual input to any such output or combination thereof.
Let me demonstrate it via my own example!
My goal is to be able to use GR5 on my guitar signal while playing quality backing tracks from Youtube. So I set my Peavey Xport as hardware input 1 on the left and A1 physical output on the right. You can see that on the left strip A1 is chosen, which means that the signal entering the XPort is routed to its own physical output; as a result, the preamplified clean guitar signal exits via its line out and headphone ports, after applying the gain, volume, EQ, compression, etc. of VM - the case when GR5 is not running.
Now, you cannot see, but in settings, I have activated the insert send and return for HW input 1, which is a virtual ASIO device. I have set that device as the main I/O port for GR5 - thus my XPort signal leaves the mixer, gets processed in GR5, returns to the mixer, then leaves via the XPort output.
Let's add the backing track from Youtube!
I have chosen Voicemeeter VAIO on the Windows system tray as the active audio device, so when the browser plays its sound on the default device, it enters via the 4th strip (in the middle), conveniently named 'From PC' (Voicemeeter VAIO) there. As you can see, the signal is routed to A1, which is the output on my XPort.
And some further options:
Should I want to hear it on my laptop speakers, too? I'd have to switch on A2 as well, having set the on-board audio chip as HW I/O2.
Should I want to add a VST drum machine running in my Cantabile VST host? The second virtual input on the Voicemeeter Aux virtual device 'From Cantabile' takes care of that - having set it as the I/O in Cantabile settings.
Capturing my voice too? Unmute and route the microphone on HW input 2 to A1.
What about recording? Meet the recorder in the top right corner! Unless I want to route my inputs to B2 for example and set the VM Aux as the input device in Audacity.
And this is but the tip of the iceberg and the second-born of the VM software package.
Would you like me to present further scenarios to you? Do leave a comment!
From Hungary with love,
BLC
Now, you cannot see, but in settings, I have activated the insert send and return for HW input 1, which is a virtual ASIO device. I have set that device as the main I/O port for GR5 - thus my XPort signal leaves the mixer, gets processed in GR5, returns to the mixer, then leaves via the XPort output.
Let's add the backing track from Youtube!
I have chosen Voicemeeter VAIO on the Windows system tray as the active audio device, so when the browser plays its sound on the default device, it enters via the 4th strip (in the middle), conveniently named 'From PC' (Voicemeeter VAIO) there. As you can see, the signal is routed to A1, which is the output on my XPort.
And some further options:
Should I want to hear it on my laptop speakers, too? I'd have to switch on A2 as well, having set the on-board audio chip as HW I/O2.
Should I want to add a VST drum machine running in my Cantabile VST host? The second virtual input on the Voicemeeter Aux virtual device 'From Cantabile' takes care of that - having set it as the I/O in Cantabile settings.
Capturing my voice too? Unmute and route the microphone on HW input 2 to A1.
What about recording? Meet the recorder in the top right corner! Unless I want to route my inputs to B2 for example and set the VM Aux as the input device in Audacity.
And this is but the tip of the iceberg and the second-born of the VM software package.
Would you like me to present further scenarios to you? Do leave a comment!
From Hungary with love,
BLC
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