Hello all, been away from the forum and music for a while. Now I've got Biab on a new laptop. I want to use softsynths with usb midi keyboard, but as expected, there's too much latency with the onboard sound (Realtek). So I'm thinking about a usb audio interface (Focusrite?). But I want the audio to go to a bluetooth speaker (thanx Peter G for recommending the Bose Minilink). And I realize, even after all these years, I don't understand the pathway of the audio signal. Couldn't find an explanation searching either.

Is it correct to think that the analog signal generated by the usb interface can only be tapped off the outs on the interface? Or does it feed back to the computer analog bus? (If there is such a thing?) Perhaps another way of stating it: will I find the Bose speaker as a possible output option within the interface's driver (as I do now with ASIO4ALL)? If not, how do you folks with bluetooth speakers and a laptop use BiaB?

Sorry for the fundamental question. The years are catching up.

-Ron

EDIT - I moved this from the Off Topic forum when I saw this one; seems more appropriate. But I may have crossed the deletion with a response. Apologies!

The speakers shouldn't matter.

The answer is in how you set up your interface.
It can be used for input or output or both.

For example I often use my Focusrite as an input and the MAduio as output.
Just hook the speakers up to wherever the sound is routed to. You'll find it in the Audio Prefs section. Could be the Focusrite, the Windows out or maybe the Bose.

It's possible the Bose Minilink connects as it's own output device .. you've mentioned a few routing possibilities with no real guideline on how you plan to use them.

TBH, that speaker system looks geared more toward mobile devices (to me) than as an audio monitoring system for music software.
I'm guessing that in order to use ASIO you'll connect those speakers to the Focusrite audio outputs, probably via an adapter.

Thanks RHarv.

I cabled (usb) a Novation midi controller to the laptop, and, since the laptop has bluetooth, can transmit the softsynth output - through ASIO4ALL - to the bluetooth speaker. (It's separate from the desktop setup, for doodling along with BiaB and perhaps entertaining small gatherings.) But the softsynth response to the controller has intolerable latency, even after tweaking the ASIO4ALL buffers. Not unexpected. So I've been thinking about a usb audio interface, just to improve the latency, not for audio I/O. But the interfaces don't come with bluetooth.

What I wasn't sure about is whether the audio signal, as generated by the DAC in the interface, is sent back to the laptop so that it could be transmitted over bluetooth. Appears the answer is no.

Your mention of an adapter caught my eye, and I see now that there are audio to bluetooth transmitters. They are mainly intended for things like mobile devices (as you suggest), not for serious 1/4" jacks. But I suppose I could adapt one.

From scanning the forums, I got impression a lot of folks use an external usb audio interface with a laptop. Would be interested to hear if anyone has integrated a bluetooth speaker and if so, how they did it.

-Ron

I think your misconception may be the Drivers and how they work.
Your remark "What I wasn't sure about is whether the audio signal, as generated by the DAC in the interface ..."

The VSTi's and DXi's get installed in the computer and the ASIO drivers handle them there.

Some drivers may force you to send the audio back to the USB device (via USB) afterwards and then be available in the audio outputs there, which is why I thought maybe some adapters may work or be needed. I know my Focusrite 2i2 has very little routing possibilities (no mixer software in the computer).

I have never researched ASIO drivers that will feed Bluetooth.
Then again, I never use Bluetooth .. though the Bluetooth speakers I have seen usually have a little 1/8" audio input available (for phones and such).

What OS are you using? Windows 7 PC may not have the necessary A2DP & AVRCP (audio-capable) Bluetooth software & drivers installed. There is a lot of information on the net, i.e. http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-hardware/how-to-pairconnect-bluetooth-audio-device-to/fb49798d-9fb5-451f-95fc-301f8f76942b

Using Win10x64. Thanks for the link, but bluetooth itself is not a problem. The lappy is paired with the Bose speaker and connects to it easily. When I use BiaB with ASIO4ALL (which admittedly is not a true ASIO driver, but a WDM wrapper), ASIO4ALL sees the Bose as an output option and BiaB uses it. The problem there is latency of the keyboard controller when I play along with a BiaB song.

So I'm thinking a usb audio interface will solve that latency issue. At moment, I wouldn't care about the I/O on the interface if I could get it's output to the bluetooth speaker.

What I wasn't clear about is whether the (true) ASIO driver for, say the Scarlett, will offer the bluetooth speaker as an option. Since it'd be a dedicated driver, it appears the answer is no. Darn it.

New with Win 10 is the WASPI driver. Supposed to have much less latency than ASIO. I believe Win 10 has many WASPI drivers built-in (similar to the way Microsoft has built-in a bunch of USB drivers). If it is available you're likely to be much better off using a WASPI driver.

Thanks Jim. I'd like to try that but I can't find them on my system. For example, BiaB offers only two choices: MME and ASIO. Searching brings up a lot of discussion for users and developers, but I haven't yet found an explanation of how to download or activate WASAPI drivers. I'm running Win10 Home x64, version 1607, OS build 14393.447.

Ah, Just discovered: when I switch from ASIO to MME and use the Microsoft Sound Mapper (is that the WASAPI?) the latency is improved significantly! But it's still audible, and since the TTS-1 softsynth is DXi, BB insists on resetting any (midi) latency tweaks I make.

And there's also the (long standing issue) that with MME, I can't audition the thru patch without playing the song. Big bummer for me. I think I've seen hints on the forum this may change in the next version. Fingers crossed. Both hands

Thanx again, -Ron

EDIT - I see on my desktop Win 10x64 system (same build as on lappy), for Sonar (but not for BiaB), there is a WASAPI driver mode.