User Manual

AUDIO BASICS
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! Note, however, that you may have to adjust the “External Sync Offset” in Preferences if Reason is synced via
MIDI from the host application (see “External synchronization considerations”).
For information on ReWire, see “ReWire”.
Reducing latency
There are a few general methods for making sure latency is as low as possible:
D Make sure you are using the latest version of the drivers for your hardware audio interface.
D Adjust the Sample Rate and Buffer Size parameters as described in “Audio settings”.
D Remove unnecessary background tasks on your computer.
This might be any background utility you have installed as well as networking, background Internet activities etc.
D Optimize your songs.
You might run into situations where you have to raise the Output Latency setting to be able to play back a very de-
manding song on your computer. Another option would be to actually optimize the song. See “Optimizing Perfor-
mance” for details.
D Get a better audio interface.
This is only required if you find that you need to increase Output Latency because your audio card can’t really cope
with the songs you try to play.
D Get a faster computer.
This is only required if you find that you need to increase Output Latency because your computer can’t really cope
with the songs you try to play.
About processors
When you run Reason, the numbers of physical CPU cores and the CPU clock speed are major factors determining
how many audio tracks and devices you can use at the same time.
If you plan to buy a computer specifically for Reason, you could play it safe and choose a computer with at least a
dual-core Intel i5 dual core processor, or equivalent AMD processor, running at 2.0 GHz or faster. MultiCore proces-
sors will give better performance and are highly recommended.
About RAM
Another important performance factor is the amount of installed RAM in the computer. Generally, one could say: the
more the better, especially if you’re running several applications simultaneously. To run Reason, a minimum of 4 GB
RAM is required, but more is highly recommended for better performance.