Audio

Inputting audio to a Notch Block #

To receive audio inside of a Notch Block, you will need to use the Sound Capture node. This will allow you to work with all of the audio reactive features in Notch as described in Working With Audio. Follow the steps below for a guide to setting up audio devices for use in Notch Blocks.

To receive audio directly from your media server, on the same machine, it is possible to create a loop back from the audio output of your server into the audio device being used to capture in Notch. This can be done with an audio interface, or with an audio looppback software.

Audio outputs #

Notch Blocks are not designed to handle audio playback. In general with blocks, you want to be receiving audio from elsewhere.

Standalone files do provide audio playback and can output audio. However, for complex sound deign and audio implementation, using a designated audio playback machine with designated audio software is a more robust solution.

Setting up audio devices for use in Blocks and Standalone Executable #

Notch uses search strings to find matching devices when running in Blocks or Standalone. This allows you to choose the audio device to use on the target machine without having an identical setup on the Builder machine.

To set the audio devices to use when running as a block or standalone:

Go to menu Devices -> Audio Devices…
In the Exported Block / Application panel you can type all or part of the name of the device to be used for Playback (WDM) / Capture (WDM) or ASIO.
If you are using planning on using ASIO devices, select Use ASIO In Exported Block (if available)

If no audio devices are set in this panel, the Block/Standalone will use the default Windows audio devices for playback and capture.

You do not need to enter the whole device name. Notch will use ‘fuzzy logic’ to find the closest match.

Using ASIO #

ASIO offers a number of distinct advantages over Windows Audio Devices:

Much lower latency capture, which is important in audio reactive applications
Multi-channel audio support, useful for taking stems from audio desks.

However, there can be limitations to ASIO audio:

ASIO driver quality varies from device to device. Pro audio devices (such as RME) generally have excellent driver support, but your ‘on-board audio’ ASIO driver may not be as robust.
Only one block/program can access the ASIO device at once (in single client driver environments)

Most ASIO drivers are single-client. This means that only Builder, or a single Notch block can access the audio device at one time. See below.

For single client ASIO drivers: Always ensure that only one program/block is accessing the ASIO device. This means:

closing Notch Builder before starting your media server (on the same PC)
ensuring you are not loading two blocks that are both trying to use the same ASIO audio device
ensuring your host media server is not also trying access the ASIO device.