The thing to appreciate about audio drivers in BIAB (MME, ASIO (if it's installed) and WAS) is that the final sound that emits from the speakers/headphones is identical.

All these drivers take exactly the same sound that's created by the computer's electronics and send it to the speakers. Where they vary is that some drivers get the sound to the speakers quicker than others. ASIO and WAS get the sound there the quickest.

There's a trade-off, though. With the ASIO and WAS, if BIAB is open, these drivers will take control of the speaker and will not allow other audio to be heard (thus your problem with your DAW not working when BIAB is open). While some latter versions of ASIO do allow multiple audio sources (as Matt points out), my experience is that this can never be assumed until tested.

WAS is new to BIAB this year and it is indeed ulta-low latency (hence the sales comments). Low latency is very important in you record or use a MIDI-controlled instrument that plays through BIAB. It's not a better driver than MME or ASIO (i.e. it doesn't make the instruments sound better), it just gets the audio to the speakers quicker.

If you need ultra-low latency, then use WAS and keep in mind that if you need to use a DAW at the same time as BIAB, then the DAW probably won't have any audio sound. This is how WAS works and it's by Windows' design.

If you want to have both a DAW and BIAB open and both being able to use the audio, it is necessary to use MME as your BIAB driver. There's no reason why you can't change the driver to suit your day-to-day requirements. That's what I do. Sometimes I use ASIO4ALL (or WAS or even ASIO) when I want lower latency. Mostly I use MME. When I use ASIO or WAS, though, my DAW does not work.

Hope this helps clarify things.

Regards,
Noel

MY SONGS...
Audiophile BIAB 2025