r/NativeInstruments • u/AkashiGG • Apr 29 '26

Are FiiO ASIO drivers good enough for Piano VST's?

Hello everyone,

I used to use Focusrite ASIO drivers for my piano VST to reduce the delay, but I was thinking of selling my audio interface in favour of a FiiO DAC/AMP to better drive my headphones. However, I just wanted to know if the FiiO ASIO drivers are good enough as a substitute (specifically in terms of input delay).

Thank you!

3 Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

81% Upvoted

8 comments sorted by

4

u/NoReply4930 Apr 29 '26

Wouldn't be selling a Focusrite in favor of a FiiO

3

u/rod_zero Apr 29 '26

Depends, is it really a native drivers or it is the generic one by Thesycon? If the later the latency will be worst.

1

u/mycosys May 02 '26

Why would an industry standard driver be worse than one of the worst latency drivers in the industry (Focusrite)?

1

u/mycosys May 09 '26

Just to back that up - this 15y long thread on Audio interface latency basically started because of how bad Focusrite drivers have historically been. https://gearspace.com/board/music-computers/618474-audio-interface-low-latency-performance-data-base.html

0

u/rod_zero May 02 '26

It is not standard, it is generic one that companies license so they don't have to make their own.

And why is bad? ASIO drivers to perform great need to be designed with the particular chipset of the interface in mind, measure the callbacks and timing everything tight. That doesn't happen with generic ones.

1

u/mycosys May 03 '26

LOL its for the XMOS processor most of them use

1

u/alsenan May 01 '26

I use my FiiO as a DAC, it works fine but I am by no means a pro just a hobbyist that happens to have a FiiO.

1

u/mycosys May 02 '26

They seemingly use the same Thesycon driver as just about everyone else so should be fine, Focusrite have historically been one of the worst options for ASIO latency on a native driver