Instruction Manual

Chapter 24
Computer Audio Resources and
Strategies
Real-time audio processing is a demanding task for general-purpose computers, which were
likely designed to run spreadsheets and surf the Internet. An application like Live requires
a powerful CPU and a fast hard disk. This section will provide some insight on these issues,
and should help you avoid and solve problems with running audio on a computer.
24.1 Managing the CPU Load
To output a continuous stream of sound through the audio hardware, Live has to perform
a huge number of calculations every second. If the processor can't keep up with what
needs to be calculated, the audio will have gaps or clicks. Factors that affect computational
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