Question

I am experiencing a problem with Microsoft Surface 4 Pro audio.

Using the Studio One Prime as a trial currently using (and pretty much hating) Sonar X2 which is unaffected by this issue.

Recording is fine, using my Xenyx 302 and mics or instruments.

However, playback is less successful

I am unable to route sound out to the headphone socket for playback unless I completely override the standard Microsoft audio settings - playback through the internal speakers is fine but useless if I'm trying to edit stuff in a public place.

The Surface seems to have two sets of outputs both sent to the same socket (sometimes) but Studio One keeps saying it can't access the headphones and to check they are configured to stereo (which of course they are).

If I over ride the Microsoft settings to make the headphones default then playback will work as it should in Studio One but all other applications can't access the audio drivers - has anybody else come across this issue and have they worked out a solution that retains the portability of the surface and doesn't rely on an external audio interface?

I don't seem to have access to ASIO4All in the outputs either - is this a limit of the software or am I doing something wrong?

Thanks (in advance) for your advice

Answer 1

You may want to try running ASIO4all.  Once installed, make sure you go into Studio One>Options>Audio Setup and set ASIO4all as your audio device.  You can then open the control Panel for ASIO4all and choose all of your inputs and outputs that are built into your Surface.  You may want to take a look at your I/O setup inside of Studio One to see if you can manually configure it to your needs.  Here are instructions:

Software I/O Channels

In most recording applications, audio Tracks directly use your hardware audio device’s channels. In Studio One, there is a layer of software I/O (input and output) channels between your hardware audio device channels and your Tracks. This setup affords many advantages over the traditional method.

For instance, let’s say you produce a Song in your studio, using a multi-channel interface, then take your Song file to your friend’s studio, where you use a different audio interface. Simply connect your friend’s hardware audio device channels to the correct software I/O channels. When you get back to your studio, the original I/O configuration for the Song is automatically loaded for you, as if you never left. You can do the same thing if you need to open the Song on your laptop using its built-in audio hardware.

This is possible because Studio One stores I/O configurations with your Song, per computer and per audio device driver, ensuring that your Song remains highly portable and is never “broken” by changing audio devices.

Audio I/O Setup Menu

Each Track in a Song receives a signal from an input source and routes to an output destination. The input sources and output destinations made available to each Track are determined by the software I/O channel configuration created in the Audio I/O Setup menu. To view this menu and set up a default I/O configuration for each Song, create a new Song by clicking on Create New Song in the Start Page and navigate to  Song/Song Setup/Audio I/O Setup.

Software I/O Channels

In most recording applications, audio Tracks directly use your hardware audio device’s channels. In Studio One, there is a layer of software I/O (input and output) channels between your hardware audio device channels and your Tracks. This setup affords many advantages over the traditional method.

For instance, let’s say you produce a Song in your studio, using a multi-channel interface, then take your Song file to your friend’s studio, where you use a different audio interface. Simply connect your friend’s hardware audio device channels to the correct software I/O channels. When you get back to your studio, the original I/O configuration for the Song is automatically loaded for you, as if you never left. You can do the same thing if you need to open the Song on your laptop using its built-in audio hardware.

This is possible because Studio One stores I/O configurations with your Song, per computer and per audio device driver, ensuring that your Song remains highly portable and is never “broken” by changing audio devices.

Audio I/O Setup Menu

Each Track in a Song receives a signal from an input source and routes to an output destination. The input sources and output destinations made available to each Track are determined by the software I/O channel configuration created in the Audio I/O Setup menu. To view this menu and set up a default I/O configuration for each Song, create a new Song by clicking on Create New Song in the Start Page and navigate to  Song/Song Setup/Audio I/O Setup.