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System requirements and installation
Audio hardware
Cubase AI will run with audio hardware that meets the fol-
lowing specifications:
•Stereo.
•16 bit.
• Support of at least the 44.1kHz sampling rate.
• Windows – The audio hardware must be supplied with a spe-
cial ASIO driver, or a DirectX compatible driver, see below.
• Windows Vista only – If there is no dedicated ASIO driver avail-
able, you can also use the Generic Low Latency ASIO Driver.
• Mac – The audio hardware must be supplied with Mac OS X-
compatible drivers (CoreAudio or ASIO).
Using the built-in audio hardware of the Macintosh
(Mac only)
As of this writing, all current Macintosh models provide at
least built-in 16 bit stereo audio hardware. For detailed in-
formation, refer to the documentation describing your com-
puter.
Depending on your preferences and requirements, using
the built-in audio hardware may be sufficient for use with
Cubase AI. It is always available for selection in Cubase AI
– you don’t need to install any additional drivers.
About drivers
A driver is a piece of software that allows a program to
communicate with a certain piece of hardware. In this
case, the driver allows Cubase AI to use the audio hard-
ware. For audio hardware, there are two different cases,
requiring different driver configurations:
If the audio hardware has a specific ASIO driver
Professional audio cards often come with an ASIO driver
written especially for the card. This allows for communica-
tion directly between Cubase AI and the audio card. As a
result, audio cards with specific ASIO drivers can provide
lower latency (input-output delay), which is crucial when
monitoring audio via Cubase AI or using VST instruments.
The ASIO driver may also provide special support for rout-
ing, synchronization, etc.
Audio card-specific ASIO drivers are provided by the card
manufacturers. Make sure to check the manufacturer’s
web site for the latest driver versions.
If the audio card communicates via the Generic Low
Latency ASIO driver (Windows Vista only)
If you are working with Windows Vista, you can use the
Generic Low Latency ASIO driver. This is a generic ASIO
driver that provides ASIO support for all audio cards sup-
ported by Windows Vista, thus allowing for low latency.
The Generic Low Latency ASIO driver provides the Win-
dows Vista Core Audio technology in Cubase AI. No addi-
tional driver is needed.
Ö Though the Generic Low Latency ASIO driver pro-
vides low latency for all audio cards, you might get better
results with on-board audio cards than with external USB
audio devices.
If the audio card communicates via DirectX
(Windows only)
DirectX is a Microsoft “package” for handling various types
of multimedia data under Windows. Cubase AI supports
DirectX, or to be more precise, DirectSound, which is a part
of DirectX used for playing back and recording audio. This
requires two types of drivers:
• A DirectX driver for the audio card, allowing it to communicate
with DirectX. If the audio card supports DirectX, this driver
should be supplied by the audio card manufacturer. If it isn’t
installed with the audio card, please check the manufacturer’s
web site for more information.
• The ASIO DirectX Full Duplex driver, allowing Cubase AI to
communicate with DirectX. This driver is included with Cu-
base AI, and does not require any special installation.
!!
If your audio hardware comes with a specific ASIO
driver we strongly recommend that you use this.