User Manual-Mac

AUDIODESK
84
Figure 8-1: The ‘Configure Hardware Driver’ menu items opens the
PCI Audio Console window shown above. This window provides all of
the settings for your PCI-424 hardware.
BRIEF OVERVIEW OF PCI-424 SETTINGS
Before you begin using your PCI-424 hardware
with AudioDesk, review the settings in the PCI
Audio Console window (shown in Figure 8-1). The
following sections provide a brief explanation of
each setting from the perspective of AudioDesk.
For a more complete overview of the settings in the
MOTU PCI Audio Console window, see chapter 6,
“MOTU PCI Audio Console” (page 65).
Sample rate
Choose the desired overall sample rate for the
PCI-424 system and AudioDesk. Newly recorded
audio in AudioDesk will have this sample rate.
Imported audio or soundbites in existing files that
do not match this sample rate will be displayed in
the Soundbites window with a red ‘X’ on its move
handle to indicate that it cannot be played.
Clock Source
This setting is very important because it
determines which audio clock the PCI-424 system
will follow.
If you do not have any digital audio connections to
your audio interface (you are using the analog
inputs and outputs only), and you will not be
slaving AudioDesk to external SMPTE time code
or video, choose Internal.
If you are slaving the PCI-424 system to the ADAT
sync Input connector on the PCI-424 card, choose
PCI-424: ADAT.
If you have multiple digital audio devices
connected, or if you are not sure about the clock
source of your setup, be sure to read “Make sync
connections” on page 35 and “Clock Source” on
page 66.
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
AudioDesk. 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
AudioDesk. 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