Troubleshooting

The activity log first#

Most problems are already explained in the log. Toolbar ⋮ → Activity log.

Entries are tagged engine (the audio engine) or app (the interface). Engine entries are the ones to read when audio misbehaves.

The activity log showing engine and app entries.

activity-log

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No ASIO devices found#

Routling needs at least one ASIO device to start.

• Install your interface's ASIO driver from the manufacturer.
• No dedicated ASIO driver? Install ASIO4ALL, which wraps ordinary Windows devices.
• Confirm the interface is connected and powered before launching.

The device will not open#

"Failed to open device" almost always means something else holds it. ASIO devices are usually exclusive to one application.

1. Close DAWs, browsers playing audio, Discord, game launchers.
2. Try again.
3. Still failing? Unplug and reconnect the interface, then relaunch Routling.

No audio anywhere#

Work along the signal path:

1. Does the input node's meter move? No → wrong channel or the source is not sending. Try a different input node.
2. Is there a wire? Nodes do nothing until connected.
3. Does the output node's meter move? No → the connection is missing, or its gain is at minimum.
4. Meters move but silence? Check Windows is not sending your speakers elsewhere, and check the output node is the channel your speakers are actually on.
5. Check the gain. Click the wire to open its inspector; Alt + click resets it to 0 dB. A Volume Knob in the path may also be muted.

Audio only in one ear#

One side of a stereo pair is not connected.

ASIO channels are always mono - Out 1 and Out 2 are two separate nodes. Each carries one side, so a stereo source needs a connection to each.

1. Check you added both output nodes, not just the first.
2. Check each has a wire reaching it. A node with no connection stays silent.
3. Watch both meters while audio plays. A still meter is the unconnected side.
4. If both meters move and it is still one-sided, check the wire gains - one may be at minimum.

Sides swapped rather than missing means left is wired to right. Channel numbering follows the driver, not the labels on the interface, so trust the meters. See ASIO Channels.

Crackling, popping, dropouts#

In order:

1. Raise the buffer size. Toolbar. 256 → 512 → 1024. This fixes most cases.
2. Secondary device crackling while ASIO is clean? Raise the secondary buffer in Preferences → Devices to Safer or Safest, then reconnect the device.
3. Started after adding a plugin? That plugin is too heavy for your buffer. Bypass it to confirm.
4. Check CPU load. A pegged core causes dropouts regardless of buffer size.
5. Windows power plan. Set to High Performance; core parking causes audio glitches.

See Latency and Buffers.

Latency is too high#

The toolbar readout is the total through the longest path. Hover it for the breakdown - device buffer versus FX.

• FX dominating → find the expensive plugin. Linear-phase EQ and lookahead limiters are usual suspects.
• Device buffer dominating → lower the buffer size.

A plugin will not load#

Routling shows a dialog naming the plugin.

Plugins not appearing at all → Preferences → Plugins, check the scan directories include where they are installed, then Rescan Plugins.

A device disappeared#

Routling watches for Windows device changes and reports "Audio device change detected - refreshing".

If a secondary device was unplugged, its node stays as a disconnected placeholder and reconnects automatically when the device returns.

To force it: canvas right-click → Refresh Devices. That both rebuilds stale secondary streams and rescans for newly connected hardware.

Session restored with missing nodes#

Restore is deliberately conservative - anything it cannot recreate is skipped and reported. The log tells you which:

Placeholders revive on their own when the missing thing returns. Start the app or reconnect the device.

The device was renamed#

Windows sometimes renames audio devices. Routling matches on a stable identifier first, so it recovers and logs: Device "X" is now named "Y" - matched by stable ID. Nothing to do.

ASIO driver reset#

If the driver resets - a sample-rate change from another app, a hardware glitch - Routling detects it and reconnects, logging "ASIO driver reset - device reconnected".

A Pro feature stopped working#

Check Preferences → License. If the license expired or the machine was deactivated, the app is on Free limits: one FX Module, no Ducker, 4 Virtual ASIO channels. See Licensing and Tiers.

Feedback loop / echo#

Something is routed back into itself.

• Do not route a stream output back into a source that is already in the stream.
• System Audio already excludes Routling's own output, so it will not self-feed. Combining it with App Capture on the same app doubles that app.
• Check for a wire from an output node back to an input feeding it.

Getting help#

Include from the activity log: the engine entries around the failure, your buffer size and sample rate, the interface make and model, and whether it reproduces with a fresh session.

Related#

• Latency and Buffers - buffers and dropouts
• Sessions and State - restore behaviour
• Preferences - the settings mentioned here