USB Audio And Performance Optimization

The USB specification defines a standard interface, the USB audio device class, allowing a single driver to work with the various USB sound devices on the market. Microsoft Windows and Apple Mac provide support for USB audio device. An external USB audio device plugs into the computer via USB interface. The sound is produced in software within the computer. A USB DAC converts the USB digital data to analog signals. Therefore the performance of the USB DAC and analog circuit implementation will greatly affect the sound quality.

Users who are interested in knowing more about USB can refer to this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Serial_Bus

Some optimization tips:

If you have a desktop or a tower, be sure to connect your audio interface to a port that is on the back of the computer. Generally, ports on the front of the computer, on the monitor, or keyboard don't perform as well as those on the back. This can help prevent noise, dropouts and connection issues.
If you use a USB hub to connect your device, use a hub that has its own AC power adapter. If necessary, upgrade to a premium USB cable. If you are in an area that has a high level of radio or electrical interference, and you experience noise or hum when using USB audio, upgrade your USB cable to a premium cable with extra shielding and a ferrite bead (a cylindrical bump on one end of the cable), which can filter out some external noise.

Windows PC Driver Optimization

ASIO4ALL is a hardware independent low latency ASIO driver for WDM audio devices. It uses WDM Kernel-Streaming and sometimes even more sophisticated methods to achieve its objectives. Casual users should not attempt to perform these optimization techniques.

What ASIO4ALL will NOT do:

Replace your existing sound card drivers or mess with them in any way.
Install any kernel mode components that could potentially affect the stability of your system.
"Overclock", or otherwise operate your audio hardware in ways that could potentially be harmful and/or void your warranty, except, of course, in cases where the manufacturer of your hardware has specifically stated that the use of ASIO4ALL would void your warranty indeed.

There is no software driver optimization required on the Apple Mac OS.

Foobar2000

ASIO Kernel Streaming with Foobar2000:

In order to use ASIO Kernel Streaming with Foobar, you must download ASIOsupport.dll from the ASIO Main Page. After you have downloaded .DLL, you will need to paste it in the Component Folder in the Foobar Directory. Go to Peference=>Otput and set your output device as ASIO or ASIO4all. Next, bring up the ASIO Offine-Setting Menu and guide the desired audio devices through the ASIO Driver by selecting the component’s name on the menu. The USB Dac should always be set at 16-bit Output Data Format.

WASAPI:

To set up your WASAPI, you will need to download and place WASAPI.DLL in the Foobar Component Folder. Then you can set the output device in Preference=>Output to WASAPI. Set the Output Data Format as 16 bit, and the Buffer Set below 1000. Restart Foobar. It should be good to go.

Winamp:

ASIO Kernel streaming with Winamp:

To set up the ASIO in Winamp, you will first need to download ASIO.DLL and an output plugging. Then paste the file ASIO.DLL and the output plugging into the Winamp Plug-In Folder. Having followed the above steps, set the output as ASIO. Restart Winamp. Once again, good to go.

WASAPI:

To set up WASAPI in Winamp, you will need to first download WASAPI.DLL and place it in the Winamp Plug-In Folder.

ITunes:

ASIO:
You cannot use ASIO with Itunes for playback by bypassing your Window or Mac interfaces. The only option here is to use Itunes’ multi-plug-in feature to bridge to programs such as Foobar2000 in order to pass through your computer’s interface.

Media Monkey:

ASIO:
To set up ASIO with Mediamonkey, you will first need to download ASIO.DLL, and the output plugging identified as out_asio(dll).dll. Media Monkey supports 32-bit output plug-ins. The Media Monkey Player cannot support ASIO’s 64-bit out_asio(dll).x64. After you have download ASIO.DLL and the correct output plug-in, copy both files into Media Monkey Plugging Directory. Next, change the ouput to ASIO in Media Monkey. You can connect the program source to your USB device from the offline setting in ASIO. Finally, do a restart.

WASAPI:
No WASAPI plug-in is available for Media Monkey.

J River Media Center:

ASIO:
After correctly installing and setting up ASIO4all, go to Media Center and access Tools=>Option=>Playback. Once inside Playback, reconfigure the output mode as ASIO. Select the output mode setting Right below Output Mode: ASIO. In the output mode setting, configure the device to be ASIO4allv2. Go back to the Option Screen and access DSP Studio. Select Output Format in the DSP Studio. Everything should work correctly.

WASAPI:
Download and install J River Media Center and WASAPI. Go to Options and select CD & DVD. Under CD Ripping go to Advanced Ripping Options and set the Copy Mode to Secure. Next, go to Option=>Playback=> DSP & Output Format and select Output Format. Unselecting what remains in the DSP Studio’s left column. Set Bit Depth to 24 bit. Go to Option=>Playback and set the Output Mode as WASAPI.