User Manual-Mac

DIGITAL PERFORMER
79
Monitor Outputs
The Monitor Outputs option determines which
outputs the MOTU PCI Sound Manager driver will
use.
Samples Per Buffer
The Samples Per Buffer setting can be used to
reduce the delay — or latency — that you hear
when live audio is patched through plug-ins in
Digital Performer. For example, you might have a
live microphone input that you would like to run
through a reverb plug-in that you are running in
Digital Performer. When doing so, you may hear or
feel some “sponginess” (delay) between the source
and the processed signal. If so, don’t worry. This
effect only affects what you hear: it is not present in
what is actually recorded.
Yo u c a n u s e Samples Per Buffer setting to reduce
this monitoring delay—and even make it
completely inaudible.
Smaller settings reduce latency, but they also put
more demand on your computer’ processor (as
shown in the Performance Monitor window). For
best results, try 256 samples or lower, which
reduces latency enough to be inaudible for most
audio material. Keep an eye on the Processor meter
in the Performance monitor when making this
adjustment. Be sure to try playing some audio, too,
as the processor meter can jump up significantly
during playback at lower settings. Also, use
CueMix Console; it’s message center feature helps
you find the optimum Samples Per Buffer setting
for your system.
For further information about CueMix Console
and reducing latency, see chapter 12, “Reducing
Monitoring Latency” (page 105).
Figure 7-2: When adjusting the ‘Samples Per Buffer’ to reduce patch
thru latency, watch the ‘processor’ meter in the Performance Monitor.
From the Windows menu, choose Performance Monitor. If you hear
distortion, or if the Performance meter is peaking, open CueMix
Console and look at its message center for hints as to what’s going
on.
ENABLING INPUTS AND OUTPUTS
The middle portion of the PCI Audio Console
window determines which inputs and outputs
you’ll see in all of Digital Performer’s audio input
and output menus. To make an input or output
available in Digital Performer, check its box. For
further information about making these settings,
see “Interface settings” on page 70.
BE SURE YOU HAVE ENOUGH VOICES
Once you’ve enabled the desired audio inputs and
outputs on your audio interface(s), go to the Basics
menu and choose MOTU Audio System
Options>Configure Studio Size. Then check to
make sure you have enough mono and stereo audio
voices for the work you need to do. Consult the
MOTU Audio System chapter in your Digital
Performer manual for further information about
the settings in this dialog.
24-BIT OPERATION
Your PCI-424 hardware fully supports Digital
Performer’s 24-bit recording capabilities, including
both analog and digital 24-bit recording. If you
would like to record and play back 24-bit audio
files, go to the Basics menu, choose Configure
Audio System>Configure Sample Format, and
choose 24-bit recording as the sample format. This
setting is saved with the Digital Performer project.