Specifications

Appendix B: Digidesign ASIO Driver (Windows Only) 65
The Digidesign ASIO Driver Control Panel can-
not be accessed under the following circum-
stances:
• When Pro Tools is running.
• When playing or recording in an audio
program that does not support the ASIO
Driver.
• When using a third-party audio program
that has an option to keep the ASIO Driver
“open” even when you are not playing or
recording. (You must close the audio pro-
gram before you can open the ASIO Driver
Control Panel.)
Buffer Size Control
When you play a file from a client audio pro-
gram, the client program divides the file into lit-
tle chunks (buffers) and sends each of these to
the ASIO Driver. The ASIO Driver copies the cli-
ent program’s buffers to your Digidesign hard-
ware’s own buffers in a double-buffering
scheme. The Buffer Size control in this dialog
lets you to set the size of each of the two buffers
the ASIO Driver uses on Digidesign hardware.
You may select from the following buffer sizes
(depending on your Digidesign hardware):
• 128 samples
• 256 samples
• 512 samples
• 1024 samples
• 2048 samples
Small buffers have the advantage of low latency
in the record monitor path. (Latency is the time
delay between a signal entering the audio inputs
and leaving the outputs during recording.)
Larger buffers have the advantage of making the
Digidesign ASIO Driver more immune to audio
dropouts during playback and recording.
In some ASIO-compatible audio programs, per-
forming various tasks will interrupt the ASIO
Driver and may result in clicks and pops in au-
dio playback or recording. Choosing medium or
large buffers (such as 256, 512, or 1024) can help
alleviate this problem.
Changing the Buffer Size for the ASIO Driver
does not affect the H/W Buffer Size settings in
the Pro Tools Playback Engine dialog.
Device
The Device Type will always be set to your in-
stalled Pro Tools hardware.
Advanced Button
The Advanced button opens the Hardware Setup
dialog for the Digidesign hardware that you are
using.