Windows General Information
1212 I/O Website
Contents
Serial numbers 6000 and above required for use with Windows
Excessive PCI Activity message
Synchronizing MME input and/or output pairs
Windows 95/98 Drivers: MME vs. ASIO, etc.
Do not use the 1212 I/O for system sounds
1212 I/O Utility opens the card
See also:
Optimizing Windows for Audio and MIDI
Serial numbers 6000 and above required for use with
Windows
1212 I/O cards with serial numbers 6000 and above are required for use with Windows. These cards will also work perfectly on MacOS computers.
Cards with earlier serial numbers 5999 and below were sold as MacOS-only, and will not work properly on some Windows computers.
(Note: cards with serial numbers 5999 and below *may* work with particular Windows systems, but this is no guarantee that they will work on a different Windows system. For reliable operation with Windows, the 1212 I/O serial number must be 6000 and above.)
Excessive PCI Activity message
The 1212 I/O card relies on being able to transfer small amounts of data across the PCI bus at regular intervals (roughly 3,000 times per second). If other devices tie up the PCI bus for extended periods of time, this can prevent the 1212 I/O from completing a transfer before the next scheduled transfer. If this happens, the audio stream will be corrupted.
The 1212 I/O attempts to detect such conditions; if it does, the "Excessive PCI Activity" warning will appear.
In our experience, most of these situations are the result of interactions with video or SCSI cards that tie up the PCI bus for extended periods of time. For more information and troubleshooting suggestions, see PCI Card Interaction.
USB devices may also cause this message to appear. For more information, see 1212 I/O and USB devices.
Synchronizing MME input and/or output pairs
Through the standard Windows 95/98 driver, each of the 1212 I/O's six input and output pairs appears to the system as an independent wave device. The digital audio program must start recording or playback on each of them, one at a time, which can cause small offsets between the stereo pairs.
The sync settings in the Korg 1212 I/O Wave Device Control solve this by creating groups of synchronized input and output pairs. The 1212 I/O will not start either recording or playback until all of the devices in the group have received the start command from the digital audio program.
Note that this synchronization applies only to input and output pairs on the same 1212 I/O card.
There are two options for synchronization: Auto Sync and Custom.
When Auto Sync is checked, synchronization happens automatically. Whenever you select or de-select a 1212 I/O input or output pair in your digital audio program, Auto Sync will add or delete the pair from the synchronization group.
Auto Sync should work well for most applications. If you like, however, you can disable Auto Sync, and make settings manually using the Custom Synchronization window (under the Custom button).
The Custom Synchronization window allows you to manually control the 1212 I/O's wave device synchronization, to group any desired set of inputs and outputs.
When Auto Sync is checked, the Custom button is disabled, and any previous settings in the Custom Synchronization window will be ignored.
Windows 95/98 Drivers: MME vs. ASIO, etc.
Korg provides two drivers for use with Windows 95/98.
The first is a low-level driver, which talks directly to the hardware.
The second is an MME (Multimedia) driver, which makes the 1212 I/O available as multiple Wave devices, for use with any Windows Multimedia- compatible programs. The MME driver talks to the 1212 I/O card through the low-level Korg driver.
Programs which directly support the 1212 I/O - such as Cubase VST, through Steinberg's Korg 1212 ASIO driver - talk directly to the low-level Korg driver, skipping over the MME driver.
The advantage of direct support (such as through ASIO) is that it is inherently more efficient than MME drivers. This is because MME drivers introduce an additional layer into the communication between the audio software and the 1212 I/O. MME drivers also may cause a large amount of delay when monitoring record inputs through software effects.
For instance, through MME, Cubase VST's audio path looks like this:
VST -> ASIO MME driver -> Korg MME driver -> Korg low-level driver
With a direct ASIO driver for the 1212 I/O, one step is eliminated, making for greater efficiency:
VST -> ASIO 1212 I/O driver -> Korg low-level driver
So, MME drivers provide broad compatibility, while direct support (such as through Steinberg's ASIO) provides enhanced efficiency.
For information on downloading the 1212 I/O ASIO driver for Windows, see Downloading ASIO Drivers.
Do not use the 1212 I/O for system sounds
We recommend not using the card for system sounds when digital audio software applications are running. Some digital audio applications may want to have the card open at all times, and this will conflict with the system when it tries to open the card to play a system sound.
To avoid this, you can either turn off system sounds (while still leaving the 1212 I/O selected as the preferred audio device), or you can select another audio card for use as the preferred audio device. To simply disable system sounds, go to the Sounds Control Panel, and select "No Sounds" in the "Schemes" menu.
To set the preferred audio playback and record devices to a device other than the 1212 I/O, go to the Audio section of the Multimedia Properties Control Panel. If you do not have another audio card to use as the preferred playback and record device, you can also simply select "None."
1212 I/O Utility opens the card
The 1212 I/O Utility appears to the card as any other digital audio software. When the Utility is in the foreground, it opens the card, locking it out from use by other programs. If another program has opened the card, the Utility will be locked out, and will not be able to change any of the card's settings; if this happens, the Utility will display a warning message.
When using the card as a wave device, most programs only keep the card open when playing, recording, or monitoring input; when the program is stopped, it will usually release the card, freeing it for use by other applications (such as the Utility).
Some programs may keep the card open as long as they are running - regardless of whether they are playing, recording, or stopped. In this case, you may need to exit the program in order to use the Utility (or any other digital audio program).
Installing under Windows 98
When Windows 98 starts up the first time after the 1212 I/O has been installed in a PCI slot, the Update Device Driver Wizard may, on some computers, incorrectly identify the card as a "PLX USB Test Board." To install the correct drivers for the 1212 I.O:
1. Insert the 1212 I/O Drivers floppy disk into the computer.
2. Select the "Display a list of all drivers in a specific location" option.
3. Click Next.
4. Select "Have Disk."
The 1212 I/O's driver will appear. Select it from the list, and then allow the Wizard to finish the installation.
Windows ME
While we have not yet completed extensive testing with Windows ME (Millenium Edition), we expect that compatibility should be the same as with Windows 98.
Copyright 1998-2000 Korg Inc. FAQ Version: 11/29/00