Optimizing Audio
From the help files:
Getting the Most Out of Your PC
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The maximum number of audio tracks you can expect to play on your computer depends on the audio sample rate, the speed of your hard disk, and the speed of your computer's CPU.
There are a variety of things you can do to increase the number of audio tracks and effects you can play on your computer, as outlined in the following table:
Approach...
How it works...
Avoid compressed disks
If you use DoubleSpace, Stacker, or some other disk compression system, it will slow down playback of audio tremendously. Configure your system so that the Data directory is on a hard disk that is not compressed.
Exit other programs
The more programs you have open, the more CPU cycles you are taking away from your project. Exit any programs unnecessary to the task at hand.
Refrain from other activity during playback
If you open and close windows or do lots of editing while playback is in progress, you may steal CPU cycles that would otherwise be used for playback.
Apply some audio effects offline
If you are happy with your real-time effects, consider using the Process-Apply Audio Effects command to apply those effects offline. Then remove those effects from real-time use and free up lots of CPU power.
Archive unused audio tracks
Audio tracks that are muted continue to place a load on your processor. To lessen the burden and free up cycles to handle more audio, archive all unused audio tracks. See To Archive or Unarchive Tracks for more information.
Mix down your audio tracks
If your project contains many different audio tracks or many real-time effects, you can use the Edit-Bounce to Track(s) command to reduce all of this content to a stereo track. Having done this, you can archive the original tracks (in case you need them later) and play only the new tracks, lessening the computational burden on your computer. For more information, see Mixing Down and Distributing Audio.
Change I/O Buffer Size on the Advanced tab of the Audio Options dialog box
Most hard disks work best with the default setting of 64 KB. Yours may work better with 128, 32, or 16. If those values don't help, try 256, 512, or move on to another remedy.
Defragment your hard disk
If your hard disk is fragmented, playback of audio will be slower. Use the Disk Defragmenter to correct the situation.
Turn off the Clip Audio Mix Upon Overflow option on the Advanced tab of the Audio Options dialog box.
Unless your mix is really distorted, you won't usually need this option.
Turn off the Apply Dither option on the Advanced tab of the Audio Options dialog box.
Dithering subtly improves your mix, but most people can't hear it. Turn it back on for mastering.
Enable disk caching
By default, Music Creator bypasses all disk caching, which typically results in better performance with audio data. If your computer has a very large amount of RAM (128 MB or more) and your audio tracks include many repeated sections, enabling caching may improve Music Creator's audio performance. Choose Options-Audio and click the Advanced tab to change the disk cache settings.
Record audio at a lower sampling rate
If you don't require CD quality 44.1 kHz audio, then record your audio at a lower sampling rate of 22.05 kHz or 11.025 kHz. Choose Options-Audio to change the sampling rate. This method is useful only before you start work on a project. Once the audio sampling rate for a project has been set, it cannot be changed.
Disable the Display Clip Contents options
Drawing the contents of audio clips in the Clips pane uses some CPU cycles. If you are using a slow machine, you may want to disable this feature. To do so, right-click in the Clips pane, choose View Options, and disable the Display Clip Contents option.
Digital Audio Files and Storage
Digital audio requires a large amount of disk storage. The table below shows the disk space requirements in megabytes for a single minute of digital audio in mono and stereo at various sampling rates:
Sampling rate
16 bit
11 kHZ Mono
1.3 MB per minute
11 kHZ Stereo
2.5 MB per minute
22 kHz Mono
2.8 MB per minute
22 kHz Stereo
5.0 MB per minute
44.1 kHZ Mono
5.0 MB per minute
44.1 kHZ Stereo
10.1 MB per minute
48 kHz Mono
5.5 MB per minute
48 kH Stereo
11.0 MB per minute
See:
Mixing Latency
Queue Buffers
Status Bar/CPU Meter/Disk Meter
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