Reference Guide

865
Improving Performance with Digital Audio
Improving Audio Performance
• If you can't reduce your project's complexity, or if problems persist even after the complexity has
been reduced, proceed to the next step.
Upgrade your computer hardware: More RAM, a faster CPU, and a faster
disk drive
If your project makes extensive use of real-time effects (plug-ins), you should consider upgrading to
a faster CPU. If your primary concern is playing or recording a large number of tracks, a faster CPU
will help, but you may find that adding more RAM, a faster hard disk, and/or an improved hard disk
controller may help even more.
The following are some tips on upgrading your hardware:
Audio problems are often caused by a hard disk which is transferring data too slowly. The disk could
simply be physically incapable of reading and writing data fast enough, or the disk controller could
be causing too much CPU time to be consumed when transferring audio data to/from the disk.
Consider upgrading your equipment as follows:
• Ensure that your hard drive controller is NOT configured to operate in “compatibility mode” which
can greatly slow data transfer to/from your hard disk and make it almost impossible to record/play
audio in Cakewalk reliably. To do this, go to the Control Panel and double-click on the System
icon. Click the Performance tab. At the top of the Performance screen read the entries across
from File Systems and Virtual Memory. They both need to say 32-bit. If they mention MS-DOS
Compatibility Mode, then your computer has a serious problem, beyond the scope of what a
Cakewalk technician can fix. Your computer is processing the audio data very slowly and
Cakewalk will not work properly until the MS-DOS Compatibility Mode problem is eliminated.
Help is available on the Microsoft Technical Support Web page at www.microsoft.com/Support.
Click on the Support Online link and search for the phrase Troubleshooting MS-DOS
Compatibility Mode on Hard Disks. This problem can arise when installing a new hard disk in
your computer; if Windows cannot find a suitable driver for the disk, it installs a generic driver and
operates in Compatibility Mode.
• If you're using a hard disk controller that employs "programmed I/O", upgrade to a disk controller
that uses "bus mastering" instead. (This is sometimes also known as an UltraDMA IDE
Controller). The former technique relies on the CPU to transfer the data to/from the hard disk,
stealing cycles which the CPU could be sending audio data to/from the sound card. With the latter
technique, the hard disk controller itself is primarily responsible for transferring the data to/from
the hard disk, relieving the CPU of much of that burden.
• Install a faster hard disk. If you're using an IDE- or E-IDE-type hard drive, try to find one which has
a lower disk access time (e.g., less than 9msec). Use the Win Tune test application available at
www.winmag.com, this diagnostic tool measures your hard drive's uncached transfer rate.
Optimized Picture Cache Redrawing
There are several options in the .ini files to speed up picture cache redrawing The biggest
improvement will be seen on machines with multiple processors. Parallel processing can yield a
significant boost in performance.