Ableton Intro 8 / Asus Essence STX II problem

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iggystooge

New member
Hello all,

Basically I've just bought an Asus Essence STX II and have come to use it with Live Intro 8 and I'm getting a message - "Failed to open the audio device Essence STX II ASIO(64)"

I was using an Asus Xonar D2X before with no trouble at all but unfortunately its now broken.

I've googled this problem but couldn't find a solution. I don't really know where to start.

I'd appreciate very much any help you can give me.

Thanks

Iggystooge
 
Couple of things, what OS, check another USB port and make sure that you have it selected in the preferences. Try the ASIO device selection first, if that doesn't work, try the MME drivers (Windows drivers) as a part of the test.

Also, you need to have the device installed and on before opening Ableton. If you bring it up after you open, seems Ableton can't see it. I would suggest after installing the device rebooting the computer might cure issues if you haven't already done that.

Give an update after you have tried a few things.
 
It's Windows 7 64 bit. When you say USB port do you mean for the sound card because its an internal card connected to the motherboard. I've tried the MME drivers and they work. I have rebooted since I installed the card. By ASIO device selection do you mean the audio device option in Ableton/Preferences/Audio?
 
OK, I didn't do my homework. Made some bad assumptions. The card you have is a good gaming card, not intended for recording, but it should work.

If the card is working in Windows, should work in Ableton, just a matter of selecting the correct type and card.

In Ableton, Preferences->Audio->Driver Type (Select MME/DirectX). Then your card should show up. Could be your old card if it is on the MB is still showing up and being used by Ableton. Your new card should be on the list, just select it and it should work.

Let us know if you get it resolved.
 
I had a Xonar D2X before which always worked fine for recording so I kind of assumed the Essence STX II would be suitable but I didn't get it primarily for recording.

Anyway, the STX II does show up in the audio device list but when I select it I get the message "Failed to open the audio device Essence STX II ASIO(64)". The old card was removed when I installed the new one.

Do you think having the D2X installed previously has had some effect on the new one being installed? It was uninstalled properly but was still showing up in Ableton until I went into the registry to remove it.
 
Sounds like something didn't get installed right. Uninstall everything, pull the card out (I know it is a pain), boot up with nothing showing. Make sure nothing is showing up in Windows. Once you have that, follow the instructions from your card. Some say install the drivers first, some later. At this point, just follow what it says. Once installed, you should get the warm sound of Windows booting up. If that happens, card is working. Now go into Ableton and make sure it is selected. You should be set.

Also, if that card does have an ASIO driver, try using that, you will get better performance out of Ableton, but I suspect it doesn't have that driver. Usually card dedicated to recording have those and not general sound cards.
 
The card does support ASIO, that's one thing I made sure of before I got it. According to the quick start guide the card should be connected first then drivers should be installed which is what I've done. I will however go through the process again and report back.
 
Ok, I've re-installed the card following the instructions exactly and I still get the same message "Failed to open the audio device Essence STX II ASIO(64)" when I go into Ableton and try to select the sound card as audio device. The card is working because I have sound in media player and in games. Anything else I can try?
 
Try the MME drivers first. Once you get it to work with the MME drivers, then you can focus on the ASIO drivers.

At this point the only thing I can think of is that another device is calling it. MME driver should allow for sharing, ASIO requires exclusive control. Therefore, nothing can be calling it (no games, youtube, nothing). If it works in MME, then the ASIO drivers supplied may need updating or you have another program calling it.

Since the card is not primarily designed for recording, I question the drivers. But work on the MME working first.
 
MME drivers work ok. I have today re-installed windows 7 in the hope a fresh start would solve the problem but it hasn't. At least now I know its not the previous sound card causing the problem.
 
iggystooge said:
MME drivers work ok. I have today re-installed windows 7 in the hope a fresh start would solve the problem but it hasn't. At least now I know its not the previous sound card causing the problem.
Click to expand...

If MME is working, then ASIO drivers are not probably tops. Make sure there are no updates.

Man, I have to hear when people reinstall the OS. For future reference, Win7 is so stable, you really should never have to do that. A last resort if at all.
 
There are no updates for the sound card unfortunately. I appreciate your help. Not sure what else you can suggest. I think I'll contact Ableton tech support and maybe ASUS to see what they suggest. Thanks.
 
iggystooge said:
There are no updates for the sound card unfortunately. I appreciate your help. Not sure what else you can suggest. I think I'll contact Ableton tech support and maybe ASUS to see what they suggest. Thanks.
Click to expand...

I am 99.99% confident, Ableton will push back on the card.

Try a download of Reaper, it is free to download. It very clean program. Might be a little learning curve, but all you need to do is bring it up, put a clip in the track, set the Audio using ASIO and see if it works. Unless you have another software that works with ASIO compliant hardware. I use Reaper for live tracking as Ableton is too CPU/memory heavy for my tracking laptop. That would eliminate one or the other. If is doesn't work with Reaper, then it is the card, and vice versa.
 
Just tried it with Reaper and it doesn't work. Get a message saying "There was an error opening your audio hardware, error initializing ASIO driver" so it would appear it's the Sound Card driver at fault.
 
iggystooge said:
Just tried it with Reaper and it doesn't work. Get a message saying "There was an error opening your audio hardware, error initializing ASIO driver" so it would appear it's the Sound Card driver at fault.
Click to expand...

Something on the OS/card side. Another option could be to try to put it in a new slot and see if it picks it up as a new card or there is something up with that slot (I doubt it, but exhausting all options).
 
I've contacted Asus to inform them of the issue and they suggested I try the ASIO4ALL driver. I'll install it and report back.
 
iggystooge said:
I've contacted Asus to inform them of the issue and they suggested I try the ASIO4ALL driver. I'll install it and report back.
Click to expand...

You gain nothing with ASIO4ALL, or very little. It mimics ASIO, but stills uses MME drivers. I haven't fully researched it and what gains if any you get, but ASUS should provide an ASIO compliant driver if they advertise that they do.
 
I didn't know that about ASIO4ALL, that's unfortunate. I'll get onto to ASUS again and see if they can't offer another solution.
 
I've tried a couple of things including installing the card on another PC and using the UNi Driver but I get exactly the same message. Seriously thinking about sending the card back now. It doesn't look like there's a anyway of getting it to work with Ableton which is just ridiculous. Thanks for your help DM.
 
Yup, Same problem here. I recently got this card and discovered the same issue. MME works great but ASIO has major issues. From my testing and other sources, it does seem to be an issue with the 64bit version of the STX II ASIO drivers. I tried using the STX II ASIO driver with Audition CC which is 64 bit and it would not work. I then tried it with Audition CS6 which is 32 bit and it worked fine. I got the same results with the 64 and 32 bit versions of Izotope RX. It's a shame that ASUS still hasn't updated their bad 64 bit ASIO driver since the card is great otherwise. It's also a shame that they are pushing you off to ASIO4ALL instead of promising an updated driver to fix it.
 
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