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I've been using Guitar Rig 4 for a year or two, and it's a fairly useful toy for a bedroom guitarist. Currently, I use a Behringer UCG102 USB interface, which has a guitar in and headphone out.

When connected to my computer, it works fine, I get the modified audio via the headphone out. However, if I want to listen to practice materials, media on my laptop for example, and play along, I have to jump through a few more hoops; my current setup is to use a 1/4" lead from the headphone out to my amp, use a 3.5mm cable from the headphone port on the laptop to the same port on my amp, and then plug headphones in my amp. This way I can get both my guitar audio and computer audio at the same time. It's convoluted, but provided I have an amp, it works.

However, I'm away from home at the moment and don't have access to my amplifier, though I have a guitar and USB interface along with GR software. I can't seem to configure the ASIO4ALL drivers in such a fashion that I get the normal laptop output via the USB interface, without cutting off the output from Guitar Rig. Can anyone advise me on a way to have the two working simultaneously?

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  • I've had this multiclient ASIO problem with Lexicon Alpha. The best solution I found after tons of research is using ASIO Link Pro, and still there was a small latency that was annoying. I have decided to buy a Steinberg UR22 MKII. I can confirm it works flawlessly, with no latency whatsoever, and without any special configuration. Their ASIO driver just works perfectly. I am playing Spotify / YouTube while playing my MIDI inside Ableton. My setup is Windows 10 + Ableton Live 9.5.
    – amiregelz
    Commented Dec 28, 2017 at 17:25

13 Answers 13

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Important note

This answer is now obsolete. FlexASIO seems to be the current solution.

I think I know where is the issue. My Windows-fu is rusty, but here is what I found.

Solution, in short

Get ASIO multi-client from here or here (they are different, you might want to try both). After installation you should be able to use your interface with more than one program.

What is happening?

Seems that ASIO in general (including ASIO4ALL) can't handle more than one program using one same output.

Support for using ASIO with multiple programs at once. Previously, if you were using an ASIO driver (so that you have low latency), you could only use ASIO with one program at a time. Now you can use multiple programs at once with ASIO - for example RealBand and Band-in-a-Box at the same time.

Steinberg solved this by creating an ASIO multi-client server that you need to download and install. Seems that this is exactly what you need, and seems to work with all ASIO capable interfaces.

More info: http://www.pgmusic.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=237170

There are other ASIO multi-client drivers you can try, like this one: http://vidance.com/asiomulti/asiomulti.html

From the above, we discover that:

ASIO (Audio Streaming Input Output) is a technology of Steinberg. It allows for low latencies and pretty much every state-of-the-art audio device is nowadays delivered with an ASIO driver (on Windows, at least). However, the basic idea behind ASIO is that professional audio applications entirely take ownership of the ASIO device. Only very few ASIO drivers support true multiple application access. This effectively means that you can not use 2 or more applications using the same ASIO device at the same time.

In other words, you'll need Steinberg's or Vidance's ASIO multi-client driver to route more than one program to the same audio interface.

Another alternative is to use JACK

I found some people were using JACK to solve this issue. It's an internal routing system for audio and MIDI. If it's anything like Soundflower, I believe they might be routing everything to JACK, and then routing JACK to the audio interface, using JACK like a mixer.

Edit: I've recently tried to use the Steinberg ASIO multi-client in Windows 10, and couldn't get it to work. The driver is really old and not officially supported, so it might be obsolete now (it probably works in other versions of Windows, but I can't test that atm).

What I found is that many audio interface manufacturers have a multi client built in in their ASIO drivers, so look for those specific interfaces if you want an easy solution.

Still no idea on how to solve this for ASIO4ALL though, other than the multi clients mentioned that might or might not work in different versions of Windows.

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    I remember to have tried Vidance's and Steinberg's ASIO multi-client driver in the past, but did not achieve to do this (have you been successful with this @JCPedroza?) : Run DAW (for example Ableton) with ASIO4ALL and have Firefox playing a Youtube video at the same time. Is this possible with one of these ASIO multiclient driver ? [Here it is ASIO + WDM at the same time rather than ASIO + ASIO at the same time, because Firefox doesn't use ASIO]
    – Basj
    Commented Feb 14, 2015 at 20:56
  • FlexASIO seemed like a good solution but unfortunately the lag is too big for live playing.
    – Jarzka
    Commented Dec 1, 2023 at 18:32
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I found ASIO Link and it lets you listen to windows audio as well and send audio over the network.

The price $39.95 AUD on Nov 10, 2016 so please ignore the price information in the below comment by mateen-ulhaq.

Update November 2019: As explained in this post, the developer of ASIO Link recently passed away, and his nephew authorised the software to be released for free. The original website is down, but you can still download the program via this Wayback Machine link. After installation, you need the patcher to turn the trial version into a full version. The source for this is down as well, but this Wayback Machine link gives you access.

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  • The developer died a few month ago and now it's impossible to purchasse the full version.
    – mruellan
    Commented Nov 27, 2017 at 15:17
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    @mruellan This is the best solution I've found after struggling with the same problem for two weeks. It's unfortunate it's impossible to purchase it legally. In any case, Team AiR crcked AsioLink and it works perfectly.
    – amiregelz
    Commented Dec 11, 2017 at 21:55
  • Alreay tried, But windows defender detected a virus. I have found a workaround to my pb. I bought Reaper and now all my vst works like a charm (with midi aftertouch for the drum). I needn't standalone versions anymore.
    – mruellan
    Commented Dec 12, 2017 at 11:21
  • @Rob After having tried to solve this problem since more than 10 years, and tested all possible software/driver, AsioLinkPro was indeed the only working solution, as of today.
    – Basj
    Commented Oct 5, 2018 at 11:46
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    From discuss.cakewalk.com/index.php?/topic/…: "The good news is, it now looks like the developer's nephew has authorised it to be released for free with a patch to remove the registration/authorisation": give.academy/posts/2018/03/02/AsioLinkPro
    – Richard
    Commented Aug 17, 2019 at 22:53
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I've spent years on this problem, trying every new solution (different ASIO drivers, virtual cable software, etc.) when I found them.

In the article Low latency audio on a Windows PC with the built-in soundcard I give the detail of all working and non-working solutions.

TL;DR: these don't work directly for this purpose: Asio2KS, Vidance AsioMulti, VirtualAudioCable, etc. The best solution available is FlexASIO.

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    Found out that while FlexASIO works great, it unfortunately can only handle one input channel at a time. From Richard's comment on Rob's answer here I found out that ASIO Link has become free in the meantime, and it works great for me, also with multiple inputs (I updated Rob's answer accordingly). Maybe you're already aware of this but if not, I thought it would make a nice update for your article :)
    – MaxD
    Commented Nov 5, 2019 at 18:48
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    Thanks @MaxD for this info! I have now updated my blog article :)
    – Basj
    Commented Nov 5, 2019 at 20:35
  • Just in case anyone else ever reads this, to avoid confusion I need to revise my previous comment. FlexASIO CAN handle multiple input channels, as long as they share the same so-called "logical device". Luckily in my case (Behringer UMC22) both inputs share one device, so after changing a little setting as show here FlexASIO works like a charm for me. The structure of inputs vs logical devices seems to vary from interface to interface, though. More information can be found here.
    – MaxD
    Commented Nov 5, 2019 at 23:53
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MOTU and RME are the only interfaces I know so far that use multi-client drivers. I have engaged some manufacturers and their support people don't even know what they are. I didn't either until I bought a non-MOTU interface (TASCAM US20x20 which I actually liked). I have tried the workaround drivers to no avail. I guess I'll stick with MOTU. They said they have always used multi-client drivers. It's critical for me to switch back and forth between audio apps without closing them down. Seems like a no-brainer.

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  • That's right, MOTU drivers are excellent for this! Multi-client is rare... Some Tascam do have multi-client too (US122L sure, and US1800 maybe, too, IIRC)
    – Basj
    Commented Oct 4, 2018 at 23:05
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I believe it's the sample rate. If you are recording at 48 KHz and your card is one of the basic ones it won't be able to switch between the two. So if you wanna use it to practice over a youtube video or something like that, just lower the sample rate of your daw to 44.1 KHz and that should solve it ;)

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The only way that works for me is using 2 monitor speakers separately. Means. 1 output from ASIO devices. And 1 output from your pc jack. In this setup you can play IRIG and other audio(youtube or video files) at the same time. Good luck.

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The answer depends a good deal on your operating system and precise setup, but you should be able to do this purely via software.

  • Try routing Guitar Rig's sounds into a DAW, and then listen to your DAW's output via your laptop speakers/headphone jack. This way you will have a software mixer, and be able to hear your effects laden sounds.

  • Try switching your core audio drivers over to the guitar rig, so that all audio is sent through it.

For what you are trying to do, you might have a lot more fun if you switch to a more fully featured sound card, such as those provided by M-Audio, or presonus. They make doing this kind of thing very easy.

Bonus?

You can get literally thouands of guitar effects for free via the VST plugin system.

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There's a recorder and a player in guitar rig I use it all the time. You drag a track and drop it over the player and you can play it and slow it down and change the pitch. Its a pretty useful tool helps with practicing. You can't play another media application on your PC if you have asio as in the first answer

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There is no Issue, just set the speakers to the same out put as the interface is on. if you are using asio of 44.1k and interface is at 48.0k you will only hear one, so make sure all sound is at the same 44.1k and everything should work

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In my experience, ASIO Link Pro "works," but it has some issues. It successfully routed my system audio to my DAW and my DAW audio to other programs, but it seems to have some glitches. On my system (Windows 10, Creative X-Fi Titinium HD, ASIO4ALL) the audio cuts out for about 4 or 5 seconds every minute. It happens precisely every one minute after starting ASIO Link Pro, and does not seem to be tied to any other background processes. I've tried everything I can think of, and nothing seems to stop this from happening.

Not sure if anyone else is having this problem or managed to solve it, but it's a deal breaker for me. I'm using the version of ASIO Link Pro from Give Academy. Going to give FlexASIO a try soon instead. I really wish ASIO Link Pro worked properly for me, it seems to have more features and functionality.

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  • From the ASIO Link Pro webpage it says this: Until registered, the ASIO Link sound cuts out for 5 seconds every minute so, when you are happy with ASIO Link, please purchase a license with one of the payment options to the right. The license will allow use on two machines and can be transferred.
    – Jeffrey Hall
    Commented Jul 2, 2020 at 7:23
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Try using a good external audio board for the daw audio input (like: computer audio out through a splitter(to input A of the splitter) in the external audio board with the guitar rig output(to input B of the splitter)so you can also record the audio of the backing track and your guitar together (figure out what you may do with two good external audio boards paired together... for example: computer out to external audio board 1 in and guitar rig out(if hardware) or in(if software) to/with (depends) external audio board 2 in in a way to (also) record the audio with your favourite daw of your guitar(effected) and the computer on two separated tracks

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I would recommend VB-Audio's ASIO Bridge, the only solution that has worked for me so far. It creates a virtual playback device named "Hi-Fi Cable Input" that will "capture" audio from your ASIO driver (in your case ASIO4ALL).

It's free and easy to configure, you just have to launch the ASIO Bridge and select the correct ASIO driver, and it automagically works!

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    "VBAudio's ASIO Bridge" is a cool tool, but it does not work in this case: Software #1 in ASIO mode => ASIO4ALL // Software #2 in WDM => ASIO Bridge => ASIO4ALL. The latter does not work because ASIO4ALL is already in use by Software #1. ASIO4ALL is not multi-client.
    – Basj
    Commented Oct 5, 2018 at 11:44
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I also bought a Beheringer Guitar Link as an input device for my laptop and am frustrated with it. The ONLY solution that I have found that works perfectly is my Line 6 Guitar Port, which I have connected to my desktop. The problem is that the AISO driver takes over and de-activates your sound card drivers. That means that only AISO programs work and not things like Firefox or Chrome. Using a proxy AISO program allows you to use multiple ASIO programs but not programs that use your sound card drivers simultaneously. Guitar Port works differently. It becomes your sound card and allows all programs to access it equally. I use it all of the time with Youtube, my audio collection, etc. I guess I'll be buying a second Guitar Port.

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  • old post, but this is false information: "sound card drivers" are not deactivated. If you were to route the output through the behringer headphones to external speakers, you would be able to use the laptop speaker/headphone out to listen to audio simultaneously. you would need speakers for each.
    – Yorik
    Commented Nov 10, 2016 at 15:53

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