Operation Manual

OPTIMIZING PERFORMANCE
141
General procedure
The basic procedure for optimizing the latency is the following:
1. Open a song and start playback.
You want to choose a song that is reasonably demanding, i.e. with more than just
a few tracks and devices.
2. Open the Preferences dialog.
Under Mac OS X, this is found on the Reason menu; under Windows it’s found on
the Edit menu.
3. Select the Audio page and locate the buffer settings.
If you are using an ASIO driver, you need to click the ASIO Control Panel button,
for Mac OS X/Built-in audio, Windows/MME or DirectX you should use the Buffer
Size slider.
! If you are making adjustments in the ASIO Control Panel for hardware
with an ASIO driver, you should make a note of the current buffer set-
tings before changing them.
4. While the song is playing, listen closely for pops and clicks and try lowering
the latency (buffer size/number).
5. When you get pops and clicks, raise the latency value a bit.
6. Close the Preferences dialog (and ASIO Control Panel, if open).
About Latency Compensation
In the lower right corner of the Preferences-Audio dialog, you will find a setting called
Latency Compensation. This value is used internally in Reason to compensate for the
latency when synchronizing Reason to another MIDI sequencer or similar. Usually, La-
tency Compensation is set to the same value as the Output Latency, but it is possible
to increase it (see page 131). Normally however, you shouldn’t need to touch this pa-
rameter.
Optimizing Your Computer
System
In this manual we do not have the possibility to give you detailed procedures for opti-
mizing your computer for maximum power. This is a subject that we could write com-
plete books on! However, we’d like to share a couple of important tips:
D Quit other programs that are running at the same time as Reason.
D Remove background tasks on your computer.
This might be any background utilities you have installed as well as networking,
background internet activities etc.
D Under Windows, make sure you use the latest and most efficient driver
for your audio card.
Generally, ASIO drivers are the most efficient, followed by DirectX and last MME.
D Only work on one Reason document at a time.
Songs that are open in the background do consume some processing power even
though they’re not playing.
D Lower the sample rate setting in the Preferences dialog.
While this also reduces sound quality, it is a very quick and convenient way to try
to play a song that your computer otherwise can’t handle.