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Setting up your system
Note also that Cubase AI features full support for multi-
processor systems. So, if you own a computer system with
more than one processor, Cubase AI can take advantage
of the total capacity and evenly distribute the processing
load to all available processors. See “The advanced opti-
ons” on page 21.
Hard disk and controller
The number of hard disk tracks you can record and play
back at the same time also depends on the speed of your
hard disk and hard disk controller. If you use E-IDE disks
and controllers, make sure that the transfer mode is DMA
Busmaster. Under Windows, you can check the current
mode by launching the Windows Device Manager and
looking for properties of the IDE ATA/ATAPI Controller’s
primary and secondary channel. DMA transfer mode is en-
abled by default, but may be turned off by the system
should hardware problems occur.
Audio hardware and driver
The hardware and its driver can have some effect on re-
gular performance. A badly written driver can reduce the
performance of your computer. But where the hardware
driver design makes the most difference is with latency.
This is especially true when using Cubase AI for Windows:
• Under Windows, ASIO drivers written specifically for
the hardware are more efficient than the Generic Low La-
tency ASIO Driver or a DirectX driver and produce shorter
latency times.
• Under Mac OS X, audio hardware with properly written
Mac OS X (Core Audio) drivers can be very efficient and
produce very low latency times.
However, there are additional features currently only available with ASIO
drivers, such as the ASIO Positioning Protocol.
Optimizing processor scheduling (Windows only)
To get the lowest possible latencies when using ASIO un-
der Windows XP (on a single-CPU system), the “system
performance” has to be optimized for background tasks:
1. Open the Windows Control Panel from the Start menu
and select System.
2. Select the Advanced tab and click the Settings button
in the Performance section.
The Performance Options dialog appears.
3. Select the Advanced tab.
4. In the Processor Scheduling section, select “Adjust
for best performance of: Background services”.
5. Click OK to close the dialogs.
Making settings that affect performance
Audio buffer settings
Audio buffers affect how audio is sent to and from the audio
hardware. The size of the audio buffers affects both the la-
tency and the audio performance. Generally, the smaller the
buffer size, the lower the latency. On the other hand, work-
ing with small buffers can be demanding for the computer.
If the audio buffers are too small, you may get clicks, pops
or other audio playback problems.
• Under Mac OS X, you can adjust the size of the buffers
on the VST Audio System page in the Device Setup dialog.
You may also find buffer settings in the control panel for the audio hard-
ware.
• Under Windows, you adjust the buffer size settings in
the control panel for the audio hardware (opened by click-
ing the Control Panel button on the driver page in the De-
vice Setup dialog).
The advanced options
On the VST Audio System page you will find the “Ad-
vanced options” section. Here you find advanced settings
for the VST Engine, including a Multi Processing option.
When this is activated and there is more than one CPU in
your system, the processing load is distributed evenly to
all available CPUs, allowing Cubase AI to make full use of
the combined power of the multiple processors. See the
dialog help for details.
!!
Again, we strongly recommend that you use audio
hardware for which there is a specific ASIO driver!