ASIO Ravenna + Hapi with Windows Server 2012 R2

[robertopisa]

My Hapi finally arrived and I installed Ravenna ASIO successfully on a Mac OS X.

As for Windows, I am aware that it is suggested to use Windows 7... but I am a CS and wanted to experiment with Windows Server 2012 R2 since it is more stable and efficient IMHO.

I partially succeeded. After installing the ASIO driver 64 bits, I had a "DNSServiceBrowse" error when running MTdiscovery, which has been fixed by subsequently extracting with 7zip (and clearly running) the file Bonjour64.msi from the iTunes installer (itunes6464setup.exe) for Windows. So this is the current situation:

• MergingRavennaASIOPanel apparently works and connects to the Hapi through the local adapter (NIC).
  
• MTdiscovery finds the Hapi and clicking over it, open the Web browser with the Hapi menu etc...
  
• RavennaEasyConnect finds the Hapi on the right-hand column

Unfortunately, the ASIO driver does not appear in MTdiscovery and hence on the left-hand column of RavennaEasyConnect, even if MergingRavennaASIOPanel is apparently giving no errors.

I suspect that I should add some roles and features in "Server Manager" for Window Server 2012 R2. Any hint is appreciated. Thanks a lot.

Kind regards
Roberto

[Graemme]

Hi Roberto,

It's not clear from your message whether or not you were running an ASIO-capable application at the time you didn't see an entry for it in the Ravenna Easy-Connect panel. You will only see ASIO-enabled device entries in the MT Discovery window and the Ravenna E-C panel when they are actually running.

Regards,

Graemme

[robertopisa]

I installed Windows 7 and got the same situation. This means that I probably succeeded in installing the drivers also on Windows 2012 R2.

[robertopisa]

Thanks Graemme for answering. I would like to use Jriver with Hapi. What's the next step in using Jriver for example? If I choose Merging Asio as audio driver in Jriver, then playing it complains that the audio driver does not support the format. So I need to attach Jriver to ASIO in some way... ASIO bridge complains that a DLL file is missing: there is a web page on the MT site on Jriver but no instructions on how to attach Jriver to Hapi...

Cheers
-Roberto

Hi Roberto,

It's not clear from your message whether or not you were running an ASIO-capable application at the time you didn't see an entry for it in the Ravenna Easy-Connect panel. You will only see ASIO-enabled device entries in the MT Discovery window and the Ravenna E-C panel when they are actually running.

Regards,

Graemme

[Graemme]

I have JRiver running with a Horus. You will likely have to play around with the settings in JRiver's audio control section to configure the interface between your Hapi and the software. it's not very intuitive!

In JRiver, choose Ravenna ASIO as the driver: No need for the ASIO Bridge, as that is not useful for your setup. I sometimes see those 'format not supported' messages. Often, I just clear the message and start playback again and all is well.

Frankly, there is still some work to be done by both Merging and JRiver to make this combination work together easily and reliably. (At least that is my experience..I would love to hear from other who have it working 'properly', including details of how it was made to be that way!)

Graemme

[robertopisa]

Thanks Graemme, I did it but unfortunately it does not appear ASIO on the left-hand column of EasyConnect. I also see 'format not supported' but cannot play even if I clear the message. I wrote the MT staff, also because I would like to write a mini-tutorial on how to setup and optimise Jriver for Hapi, as it is a great opportunity. I really love this DAC.

I have JRiver running with a Horus. You will likely have to play around with the settings in JRiver's audio control section to configure the interface between your Hapi and the software. it's not very intuitive!

In JRiver, choose Ravenna ASIO as the driver: No need for the ASIO Bridge, as that is not useful for your setup. I sometimes see those 'format not supported' messages. Often, I just clear the message and start playback again and all is well.

Frankly, there is still some work to be done by both Merging and JRiver to make this combination work together easily and reliably. (At least that is my experience..I would love to hear from other who have it working 'properly', including details of how it was made to be that way!)

Graemme

[robertopisa]

A couple of snapshots of what is going on in Windows 7.

[Graemme]

As I said before: Even though JRiver often throws up the 'format not supported' message on the first attempt at playback, try it again...works the same way every time for me.

You aren't likely to see anything in the Ravenna ASIO panel's 'status' area (or Ravenna Easy Connect) until the first successful playback begins. Once playback happens, you can then connect your 'DA-1' in the Easy-Connect panel.

[EDIT] You need to turn 'Bitstreaming' on in JRiver for DSD usage with Hapi / Horus.

Graemme

[robertopisa]

Thanks Graemme for the suggestions, but I already tried what you suggest and also what my dealer suggests. The first snapshot shows that I tried many times with JRiver and it does not work (and I set also bitstreaming). The second snapshot shows that HQPlayer goes slightly better in that it allows me to connect DA-1 through EasyConnect but there is a protocol error (see bottom right in the EC window). I have a brand-new fanless PC and the latest version of software with the most recent updates, maybe this is the issue. My dealer told me that new drivers are coming for Prolight + Sound 2015.

[Graemme]

Well, all I can tell you is that 'it works here...'

But just saying that you have the 'latest' software, etc. isn't as helpful as telling us the exact versions you are using, including build numbers. And which version of JRiver?

Graemme

[robertopisa]

It works now! I spent an interesting night before going to work today

I could not make it work on Win 7 as it was no more a clean installation. So I decided to erase everything and install again Windows Server 2012 R2 from scratch and with renewed interest.

Initially the setup was not working on Windows Server 2012 R2, but having received the precise instructions from David, I have been able to trace the culprit (as a friend suggested): it was a missing PCI driver on the motherboard that was probably not crucial for normal tasks but showed to be so for ASIO Ravenna. I cannot yet say that it is 100% functional as I need some more testing, but I am quite confident. This week I spent most of my time on this issue... back to life

If anyone is interested, I can write my notes here to help people to replicate my installation. I hope to have written notes for all the steps I made so that I can make a small tutorial. Windows Server 2012 R2 is very stable (standard core version with GUI) and network oriented and, IMHO, the ideal setup for Ravenna and Hapi.

It works with Jriver MC20, HQPlayer, Winyl. I will test also Foobar. I cannot test Pyramix or Ovation unless MT borrows me a copy but they probably could do this much better by themselves.

Cheers
Roberto

P,S. I can probably make it work on Win 7 as well, but I am not interested at this point.

[robertopisa]

I installed Wavelab Le 7, and it works with Native ASIO Merging. Also VB ASIO Bridge works, so any app can potentially work using the latter as a sound card.
-R

[buggyboy]

It works now! I spent an interesting night before going to work today

Initially the setup was not working on Windows Server 2012 R2, but having received the precise instructions from David, I have been able to trace the culprit (as a friend suggested): it was a missing PCI driver on the motherboard that was probably not crucial for normal tasks but showed to be so for ASIO Ravenna. I cannot yet say that it is 100% functional as I need some more testing,

THANK YOU Roberto!!

I cannot say how much time I spent trying to fix this kind of problem, and on several installs, without knowing why it sometimes worked (and most times, didn't work, of course). I'll try this on my failed attempt at upgrading Win7 to Win10

but I am quite confident. This week I spent most of my time on this issue... back to life
If anyone is interested, I can write my notes here to help people to replicate my installation. I hope to have written notes for all the steps I made so that I can make a small tutorial. Windows Server 2012 R2 is very stable (standard core version with GUI) and network oriented and, IMHO, the ideal setup for Ravenna and Hapi.
.

I'm definitely interested about that, and about any tips or tricks that you may have to optimize such a system. I saw that you posted some network optimization that I'm trying right now viewtopic.php?f=54&t=11418&p=36915#p36915 It's working great, thanks for that too

[buggyboy]

Well, I've been a little too optimistic. Turns out my Win10 X64 Pro has all drivers installed (UAC down and firewall off, of course) and still, I cannot get a player like foobar to use the Ravenna ASIO driver.

If anyone has another idea, I'd be very interested. Solution : viewtopic.php?f=14&t=12002&p=36993#p36993

[DJS]

Battled with this in the last couple of days. Trying to run JRiver on my HTPC (Windows 10) to do real time convolution for 4-way xovers for my speakers. I tried installing a few of the recent versions of the 32 bit c++ redistributable but simply could not get JRiver (32bit) to engage with the Merging ASIO driver (64bit).

I tested Reaper x64 on the same machine and it connected to the ASIO driver just fine. A big clue. The solution was to install the 64bit version of JRiver (v23), this fixed all the problems.

Now JRiver is doing 8 channels of 96k IR convolution for xovers in real time and finally feeding HAPI via a single ethernet cable, no more AES/SPDIF adapters and cables.

Very impressed.