<s>
Audio	B-Library
Stream	I-Library
Input/Output	I-Library
(	O
ASIO	O
)	O
is	O
a	O
computer	B-Device
sound	I-Device
card	I-Device
driver	B-Application
protocol	O
for	O
digital	O
audio	O
specified	O
by	O
Steinberg	O
,	O
providing	O
a	O
low-latency	O
and	O
high	O
fidelity	O
interface	O
between	O
a	O
software	O
application	O
and	O
a	O
computer	O
's	O
sound	B-Device
card	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Whereas	O
Microsoft	O
's	O
DirectSound	B-Device
is	O
commonly	O
used	O
as	O
an	O
intermediary	O
signal	O
path	O
for	O
non-professional	O
users	O
,	O
ASIO	O
allows	O
musicians	O
and	O
sound	O
engineers	O
to	O
access	O
external	O
hardware	O
directly	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ASIO	O
bypasses	O
the	O
normal	O
audio	O
path	O
from	O
a	O
user	O
application	O
through	O
layers	O
of	O
intermediary	O
Windows	B-Application
operating	I-Application
system	I-Application
software	O
so	O
that	O
an	O
application	O
connects	O
directly	O
to	O
the	O
sound	B-Device
card	I-Device
hardware	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Each	O
layer	O
that	O
is	O
bypassed	O
means	O
a	O
reduction	O
in	O
latency	O
(	O
the	O
delay	O
between	O
an	O
application	O
sending	O
audio	O
information	O
and	O
it	O
being	O
reproduced	O
by	O
the	O
sound	B-Device
card	I-Device
,	O
or	O
input	O
signals	O
from	O
the	O
sound	B-Device
card	I-Device
being	O
available	O
to	O
the	O
application	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Interface	O
support	O
is	O
normally	O
restricted	O
to	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Starting	O
with	O
Windows	B-Application
Vista	I-Application
,	O
KMixer	O
has	O
been	O
removed	O
and	O
replaced	O
by	O
WASAPI	O
and	O
a	O
new	O
WaveRT	O
port	O
driver	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
is	O
also	O
an	O
experimental	O
ASIO	O
driver	B-Application
for	O
Wine	B-Application
,	O
WineASIO	B-Library
,	O
for	O
a	O
Windows	O
compatibility	O
layer	O
for	O
Linux	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
WineASIO	B-Library
driver	B-Application
uses	O
the	O
JACK	B-Application
sound	O
server	O
as	O
its	O
audio	O
back-end	O
and	O
allows	O
many	O
ASIO-aware	O
applications	O
to	O
run	O
with	O
low	O
latency	O
under	O
WINE	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
the	O
user	O
manual	O
of	O
the	O
Audacity	B-Language
audio	I-Language
editor	I-Language
states	O
:	O
"	O
Licensing	O
restrictions	O
prevent	O
us	O
including	O
ASIO	O
support	O
in	O
released	O
versions	O
of	O
Audacity	B-Language
,	O
but	O
Audacity	B-Language
can	O
be	O
compiled	O
with	O
ASIO	O
support	O
for	O
private	O
,	O
non-distributable	O
use.	O
"	O
</s>
