JackTrip for Windows10 (5-Feb-2021, v1.3.0 stable)

Instructions for installing JACK, and jacktrip

• If you are using an external sound card/audio interface (e.g. connected over USB), you should use the dedicated ASIO driver that comes with your audio interface. Refer to owner’s manual for installation instructions. In case your sound card does not come with a dedicated asio driver, use the instructions for the built-in soundcard below.
• If you want to use JackTrip with your built-in sound card, then you need to install ASIO4ALL driver.
• USB microphones typically do not provide a dedicated ASIO drivers; in that case use ASIO4ALL driver as well.

Installing ASIO drivers

• For external sound cards/audio interfaces, install driver from the manufacturer’s website. If you have previously installed drivers for your sound card, you have likely completed this step already.
• For internal sound cards or USB mics, install ASIO4ALL.
  • ASIO4ALL is an audio driver that allows regular sound cards to be used through low-latency ASIO drivers. Install this before running Jack.
  • Download ASIO4ALL here.
  • Install ASIO4ALL.

Installing JACK

Since JackTrip works with JACK, it is important that you download and install JACK before you install JackTrip.

1. For new installations, download JACK for windows here. For legacy versions of JackTrip, download JACK for Windows here (this is Jack2 v1.9.17)
2. An older version of JACK for Windows is available here (this is Jack2 v1.9.11)
Other versions of JACK may not work with JackTrip. If in doubt, uninstall all other versions and reboot first.
3. Follow the directions in the JACK installer

Installing JackTrip

Of historical note:

1. Download the Windows executable (this is v1.3.0) for Win10 only. This should work with JACK 1.9.17 and JACK 1.9.11.
2. An earlier version of JackTrip v1.3.0 compiled against JACK 1.9.11 is available here
3. The v1.2.1 executable is here and may work on earlier versions of Windows (or not).
4. No need for an installer
5. Copy it to another folder or just run it from Downloads

Instructions for running JACK and jacktrip

Running JACK

1. Select JACK Control from the program menu
2. Click the Setup button

   

3. In the Jack Setup window, select portaudio for the driver and your ASIO device for the Interface.
   1. If you use ASIO4All, then choose the device ASIO::ASIO4ALL v2.
   2. If you use a dedicated ASIO driver, the device name will reflect your device name, e.g. for Behringer UMC404HD soundcard the driver name is ASIO::UMC ASIO Driver.

   

   Other important settings here are Frames/Period and Sample Rate. Note that I have Frames/Period at 512 and Sample Rate at 48000 but other values will also work e.g., 256 or 128 Frames/Period and other sample rates supported by the attached soundcard like 44100. These values will be used by JackTrip as shown below.

4. Click the Start button to start JACK

   

   If you use ASIO4all, once JACK is started, you should see the following indicator:

   

   Dedicated soundcard drivers typically don’t show such indicators, but their status can be checked in an application provided with the sound card driver. See your device’s manual for details.

5. Once JACK is running, it should look like this:

   

6. With ASIO4ALL, you may need to manually configure it to use your built-in microphone and output. To do this, JACK must be running. There should be a green arrow icon in the Windows notification area. To see it you may need to click the "up" button on the left side of the notification area to show hidden icons:

   

   When the hidden icons are showing, you should see the green arrow icon for ASIO4ALL. Select it:

   

   You should now see the ASIO4ALL program window:

   

   ASIO4ALL should list your built-in audio interface and your external audio interface. If you are using an external sound card that does not come with its own ASIO driver, activate it here. I am using the built-in Realtek Audio soundcard. However, we still need to check whether we are using the built-in microphone as opposed to e.g. line input (even if such a line input is not exposed physically). To check this, click on the wrench icon at the bottom right of the window.

   

   Now you should be able to click the little plus (+) sign next to the device name and list individual inputs and outputs. In my case, I have Realtek HD Audio Mic Array input and Realtek HD Audio output with SST selected. It is important that a device like Realtek HD Audio Stereo input is not selected. Once you make changes here, you might need to restart JACK for the change to take effect.

7. Adjusting input level with the internal sound card

   Input level might need to be turned down so that singing or playing does not result in clipping when the signal level is too high. External audio interfaces usually have a gain knob that allows for input level adjustment. For the internal sound card the setting can be accessed through:

   Start → Settings → Sound → Input Device properties

   Adjust the Volume to avoid clipping. The level meter is visible in the Sound window.

Running JackTrip

1. To open a command prompt, depending on the version of Windows you are running, you can hold the Windows button and type "x" to produce a menu where you select Windows PowerShell or you can right click on the start menu and select Command Prompt.

   

   The Command Prompt window looks like this:

   

2. If the command prompt does not start in the C: drive, type c:. Once you are using the C: drive, change the directory of the command prompt by typing cd to whichever folder jacktrip is in (after downloading). Note: jacktrip must be run from its installation directory.

   

3. To run jacktrip, type jacktrip -s. When jacktrip is running, it will show the output shown below:

   

4. Check that jacktrip shows up in Jack by clicking on the Connect button

   

   jacktrip should appear in the Jack Connections windows:

   

5. Type Ctrl-C to exit jacktrip