Operation Manual

MENU AND DIALOG REFERENCE
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D If you are using audio hardware for which there is a specific ASIO driver,
you should select this.
With an ASIO driver written specifically for the audio hardware you will get lower
latency (see below), support for higher sampling frequencies (up to 96 kHz in 24
bit/32 bit float resolution), and possibly better support for additional hardware fea-
tures such as multiple outputs.
D If there is no specific ASIO driver, you should select the Direct Sound
driver for the audio hardware.
This makes Reason communicate with the hardware via Direct Sound (a part of
the Microsoft DirectX package). For this to be possible, you need to have DirectX
installed on your computer, and there must be a Direct Sound driver for the audio
hardware.
D If the audio hardware doesn’t support Direct Sound (i.e. there is no Direct
Sound driver for the audio hardware), select the MME driver for the audio
hardware.
This makes use of Windows Multimedia Extensions, the part of Windows that han-
dles audio, MIDI, etc. Using MME often results in larger latency values (see below).
Audio Card Driver – Mac OS X
This menu lists all the available Audio Card Drivers on your system, and lets you select
which one Reason should use. Which option to select depends on the audio hard-
ware:
D Normally, you select “Built-in audio”
Select the option that corresponds to the hardware you want to use (the built-in
audio connectors or some additional audio hardware that you have installed).
D Other options may be available, mainly for compatibility with all possible
hardware/software configurations.
You should use these only when required.
Active Channels
This displays the number of audio channels (outputs) the currently selected audio
hardware supports. For a regular stereo card, this number will be “2”. If your audio
card has multiple outputs and a driver that supports this is selected, the “Channels”
button will be available. By clicking on it, you will be able to select which channel out-
puts (stereo pairs) should be active. Active outputs will be indicated in the Reason
Hardware Interface.
Clock Source (ASIO Only)
If you are using an ASIO driver for your audio hardware, you have the possibility of se-
lecting a Clock Source. This is used for determining the source to which audio play-
back should synchronize its sample rate. If you have an audio card and a driver that
supports it, you can choose to synchronize to external sources.
ASIO Control Panel (ASIO Only)
If you have selected an ASIO driver, this button brings up a control panel window spe-
cifically for that audio hardware. This may contain buffer settings, routing options, syn-
chronization alternatives etc.
Sample Rate
This lets you specify the playback sample rate. The options available on this menu de-
pends on which sample rates are supported by your audio hardware.
Play in Background
When this is activated, Reason will not “release its grip” on the audio hardware when
another application is active.
• The advantage is that Reason will keep playing while you work in the other appli-
cation.
• The disadvantage is that other audio applications may not be able to play any au-
dio, depending on the type of driver used.