Reference Guide

860
Improving Audio Performance
Improving Performance with Digital Audio
• If SONAR's Auto Save feature is enabled, disable it.
• Remove all programs from the Windows Start Up folder (\Windows\Start
Menu\Programs\Start Up).
Cakewalk doesn't properly “recognize” your sound card
Re-run the SONAR Wave Profiler, which will attempt to analyze your sound card and establish
proper settings for it:
• Choose Options-Audio, then click on the General tab. Click on the Wave Profiler button at the
bottom of the dialog box.
• If Wave Profiler offers you the chance to use "default settings" for your sound card, accept the
defaults, close the Options Audio dialog box, and check audio playback/recording.
• If problem(s) continue, re-run the Wave Profiler, but this time do not accept any default settings.
• If you decline to use default settings (or if Wave Profiler can't find any for your sound card), Wave
Profiler will analyze your sound card's capabilities by running some tests and automatically
establish appropriate settings based on the test results.
• If your sound card is listed at www.cakewalk.com/Support/Docs/sound cardtips.html, read and
follow any special card-specific operating instructions listed there.
• Re-test audio recording/playback. If problem(s) persist, go to the Next Step.
The "I/O Buffer Size" may not be well matched to your hard disk
SONAR may be reading and writing audio data to/from your hard disk in chunks that are either too
large or too small for your particular hard disk's characteristics.
Select Options > Audio, click the Advanced tab, and try different values in the I/O Buffer Size box
until you find a value that works well for your particular hard disk:
• The default value is 64. Try reducing this value, to 32, then 16. After each change, close the
dialog box (click OK) and re-test your project's recording/playback behavior.
• If problem(s) persist, try increasing this value, to 128, then 256, then 512. Again, close the dialog
box and re-try your project after each change.
• If you have an older, slower computer or an older, slower hard disk, you should try increasing the
buffer size; decreasing is not advised on slower hardware. However, increasing this setting uses
more of your computer's RAM. If you have a smaller amount of RAM in your computer, increasing
the buffer size may not help.
If problem(s) persist, restore this value to its default and continue with the next step.
Mixing latency may be set too low
SONAR tries to send and receive audio data to/from your sound card with very a minimal delay (so
that any real-time adjustments you make to a track's volume, pan, or other settings will take effect
rapidly). If the latency setting is set too low, the sound card driver may not be able to keep up with
the SONAR, and audio will be disrupted.
Try higher latency settings:
•Select Options > Audio, and click the General tab. Move the Mixing Latency Buffer Size slider