DigiDesign Mbox 2 Micro Getting Started Manual page 30

In most cases, the default settings for your system pro-
vide optimum performance, but you may want to ad-
just them to accommodate large or processing-intensive
Pro Tools sessions.
Hardware Buffer Size
The Hardware Buffer Size (H/W Buffer Size) controls the
size of the buffer used to handle host processing tasks
such as Real-Time AudioSuite (RTAS) plug-ins. The H/W
Buffer setting can also be used to manage monitoring la-
tency.
Lower Hardware Buffer Size settings reduce monitor-
ing latency, and are useful when you are recording live
input.
Note that you can still bus record in Pro Tools
LE even though Mbox 2 Micro provides no exter-
nal input.
Higher Hardware Buffer Size settings allow for more
audio processing and effects, and are useful when you
are mixing and using more RTAS plug-ins.
In addition to causing slower screen response
and monitoring latency, higher Hardware
Buffer Size settings can increase the latency
caused by RTAS plug-ins, and affect the accu-
racy of plug-in automation, mute data, and
MIDI track timing.
To change the Hardware Buffer Size:
Choose Setup > Playback Engine.
1
From the H/W Buffer Size pop-up menu, select the au-
2
dio buffer size, in samples.
Click OK.
3
22 Mbox 2 Micro Getting Started Guide
RTAS Processors
The RTAS Processors setting determines the number of
processors in your computer allocated for RTAS (Real-
Time AudioSuite) plug-in processing.
With multiprocessor computers, this setting lets you
manage multi-processor support for RTAS processing.
With multiple processor computers that support Hyper-
Threading (and have it enabled), you must disable Hy-
per-Threading for this setting to become available. See
your computer's documentation for steps on how to en-
ter the computer's BIOS and disable Hyper-Threading.
Used in combination with the CPU Usage Limit setting,
the RTAS Processors setting lets you control the way
RTAS processing and other Pro Tools tasks are carried
out by the system. For example:
• For sessions with large numbers of RTAS plug-ins, you
can allocate 2 or more processors to RTAS processing
and set a high CPU Usage Limit.
• For sessions with few RTAS plug-ins, you can allocate
fewer processors to RTAS and set a low CPU Usage
Limit to leave more CPU resources available for auto-
mation accuracy, screen response, and video.
• Depending on the importance of video and overall
screen response, and on the density of automation
being employed, try different combinations of RTAS
Processing and CPU Usage Limit settings to achieve
the best results. For example, to improve screen re-
sponse in a medium-sized session using a moderate
number of RTAS plug-ins, try reducing the number of
RTAS plug-ins, but keep the CPU Usage Limit set to its
maximum on a single processor system.