Official Mackie Resource Guide
no .1
©2005 LOUD Technologies Inc. “Mackie.” and the “Running Man” are trademarks or registered trademarks of LOUD Technologies Inc. All Rights Reserved. Thanks Scotty, now can you beam my clothes down?
2
Introduction
In the world of computer hardware and software, most computer systems are
not designed with professional audio recording in mind – and it’s nearly impossible to find a system identical
to another. So in order to get the best performance possible out of your computer, it’s a good idea to properly
allocate the resources on your machine for the task at hand. This guide offers a number of suggestions to best
accomplish this goal.
If you’re having issues getting your audio interface (such as Spike or Onyx FireWire) working, noise problems,
or poor performance from your interface, read on. If you’re NOT having any problems with your system and
you’re completely happy with its performance, just close this window and get back to mixing. As the saying
goes: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!
1. Dealing with Latency
If your audio is “glitchy” and seems to break up every once in a while (especially when you increase the
number of tracks), you might have some issues with latency. Latency is the time it takes for sound to travel
from an input on an audio device to its output or the delay between the time you play a sound and the time it
takes for that sound come out of your speakers. The greater the latency, the longer the delay, and the harder
it is to record (overdub) along with your recording. Thus, you need the lowest latency possible. But with low
latency comes higher demands on your computers processor.
The ASIO buffer size is one factor in many when considering your total amount of latency. Try adjusting these
settings in your DAW or your ASIO driver. In Tracktion, this can be done under the Settings tab by clicking on
“Show ASIO Control Panel”. If you have a Spike or Onyx FireWire, this will launch their own control panel,
allowing you to adjust latency. NOTE: Be sure to hit “Restart Device”
after making any changes.
2. Optimizing your Computer for Audio
To achieve the best results with your computer system, it is highly
recommended that you use your computer system solely for audio and nothing else. You need all the re-
sources you can get to ensure your recordings are not affected by other programs. That doesn’t necessarily
mean you can’t run other programs and connect to the net while recording audio; it just depends on your
computer hardware. If you’re having performance problems with your computer or if you’re building a new
machine, try the following:
1.
If you can, start with a clean installation of the operating system. If you’re running the same operating
system for the past few years, it might be good to reformat and reinstall your system to eliminate hidden
“bugs” acquired from years of installing various programs.
2.
With early versions of Windows XP, you will want to upgrade to Service Pack 2. You can get this directly
from Microsoft (www.microsoft.com). It’s also recommended that you run any patches associated with SP2.
See important note regarding
PC laptops on page 4
After you install Windows XP Service Pack 2, some
firewire devices may not perform as expected.
Be sure to update Windows XP SP2 with the firewire
patch (KB885222) Also see page 11
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/