Native Instruments AUDIO 4 DJ User Manual page 44

10.5.3 Warning: Different Types of ASIO
It is extremely important to use the ASIO driver written for the AUDIO 4 DJ. There are
also generic ASIO drivers, typically called (for Windows) ASIO DirectX Full Duplex Driver
or ASIO Multimedia Driver. If you're not sure which one to use, try them all, and choose
the one with the lowest latency. There should be an obvious difference when you use the
correct AUDIO 4 DJ driver.
10.6 Using the AUDIO 4 DJ with a Laptop
10.6.1 Check the Laptop's Latency
First you should check if your computer can handle real-time audio processing without au-
dio dropouts. Dropouts can be caused by certain components in your computer. A software
utility that can check your computer's suitability for audio processing is available at:
www.thesycon.de/deu/latency_check.shtml
There is no software installation required, just launch the tool after downloading.
With your audio interface disconnected, the tool will report if your laptop can handle real-
time audio streaming without audio dropouts.
In case your computer is unable to handle glitch free audio processing, the tool will show you
red latency bars and report this in the box on the bottom. Run it with both settings – audio
interface connected and disconnected – to find out about your computer's capacities.
10.6.2 Avoid Shared Memory
In general it is not recommended to use laptops with shared-memory graphic cards for
audio applications. A shared-memory graphic card accesses the same memory as the
CPU. Other graphic cards have their own, dedicated memory, so that the main memory
is reserved for other tasks (like audio processing). You will need memory and processing
power available for your audio project.
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