V-Stack

V-STACK
Setting up your system 4 – 45
Optimizing audio performance
This section of the chapter gives you some hints and tips on how to get
the most out of your V-STACK system, performance-wise. Some of this
text refers to hardware properties and can be used as a guide when
upgrading your system. This text is very brief. Look for details and cur-
rent information at www.steinberg.net!
Two aspects of performance
There are two distinct aspects of performance in respect to V-STACK:
Tracks and effects
Simply put: the faster your computer, the more tracks, effects and EQ
you will be able to play. Exactly what constitutes a “fast computer” is a
science almost in itself, but some hints are given below.
Short response times (latency)
Another aspect of performance is response times. Latency is a phe-
nomenon based on the fact that in a computer, audio has to be “buff-
ered” (stored) in small chunks during various steps of the recording
and playback process. The more and larger those chunks, the higher
the latency.
High latency is most troublesome when playing VST Instruments and
when monitoring through the computer, that is when listening to a live
audio source via the V-STACK Mixer and effects. However, very long
latency times (several hundred milliseconds) can hamper other pro-
cesses like mixing, since e.g. a fader movement will affect the audio
noticeably late.
While Direct Monitoring and other techniques reduce the problems
associated with very long latency times, a system that responds fast
will always be more convenient to work with.
• Depending on your audio hardware, it may be possible to “trim” your
latency times, usually by lowering the size and number of buffers.
For details, refer to the audio hardware documentation, or, if you are using a DirectX or
MME driver under Windows, the HTML Help.