Basically, the sound card in the factory setup computer is junk. It's OK for playing music MP3 and watching the video's and other such low demand stuff.

When recording and playing music that has multiple audio tracks and any number of synths and FX/VST's in it, you need a sound card that can handle that heavy load.

the factory cards use a light weight driver... usually MME as their default. It's small and light weight and can do a good job running the audio file. However, what we do requires much more processing power to run the audio files and process the midi with the synths and get it all to the speakers at the same time.

The advice given above on the BB & CW site is basic info that we offer as well to people having issues. Increase buffers, adjust the latency settings...etc.... Sometimes it works and mostly it is only a temporary solution since it works best on small audio projects. Once you start working on larger projects, you are back in the same situation.

To get around this, there is a program called ASIO4ALL that is kind of a wrapper..... it tries to fool the card into thinking it is working fine, and the DAW software into thinking it is running on an ASIO driver. Because, ASIO rarely works with the factory chips. Kinda like trying to drop a Chevy turbocharged hemi V-8 into a volkswagen beetle frame.... It's not a good fit. ASIO being the V-8.

A dedicated USB external interface, running a driver specifically made to handle this load, ASIO, makes all the difference in the world.

At the cakewalk forum, we have lots of new users come in there on a weekly basis complaining about poor performance, latency, pops and clicks, audio drops....and they are all related to trying to use the factory card and driver. Once they upgrade to the dedicated interface running ASIO, the process becomes smoother and transparent.

M-Audio, Roland, Presonus, and my favorite, Focusrite, are some of the brand names for the better interfaces. I personally use the Focusrite interface and it is a superb performer.

With the right card and driver, there is no need to tweek the computer settings to try to nurse the last ounce of performance out of the factory card.

Although this is not scientific.... look at it this way. Your computer can run at 100% capability to what the processor chip can deliver. The factory card can deliver 100% of what it can do BUT it's only going to be at about 10 to 25% of what the computer can handle. Drop in an external sound card with the proper drivers and now you can realistically expect 90% or more in the performance level relative to what the computer can actually handle... at this point, the hardware becomes transparent in the process and music is the focus of your sessions, not tweeking the software to get it to run smooth.

I have not had to tweek my computer or the sound card since it was installed and set up. I turn the DAW on and jump right into recording the music and give no thought to how many synths or tracks are in a project.

Clicks, pops, audio drops and stutters, latency, what are they?

Last edited by Guitarhacker; 08/19/13 05:43 AM.
You can find my music at:
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