Tips And Instructions - ALCATECH BPM STUDIO 4 PRO User Manual

General information:
The different virtual devices of BPM Studio can
be put on two different sound cards, respectively
one multi-channel sound card. Assignments are
made in the Audio I/O section of the Program
Options. Usually BPM Studio works with all sound
cards serving DirectSound, installing one driver
for all available channels.
If you experience any problems, you should at
first (as a rule) load the newest driver for your
sound card, searching for it on the Web Site of
the manufactuirer. Normally drivers are
continuously updated and as the sound card is
the most important system component for BPM
Studio, you should regularly check if a new driver
is available.
ALCATech recommends and tests actual sound
cards for Windows 98 systems, however we
cannot support NT or 2000, so we recommend
to use Windows 98 resp ME. Most sound cards
are anyway not equipped with useful drivers for
those systems and they might have some
disadvantages opposite to Windows 98/ME. They
are suitable as server operating systems, but for
multimedial pur poses they are completely
unsuitable.
Several sound cards in one PC:
(This information concerns the „normal" sound
cards with one stereo output, for example
Soundblaster, Terratec etc.).
Sound card driver usually can support only one
sound card. They do not recognize the presence
of 2 identical sound cards in one PC. So, as a
rule you should use different sound cards. If actual
driver by Creative Lab from November '99 shall
be used, these drivers must be from other
manufacturers, for example SB-Live and Terratec
DMX. The preference should be given in any case
to a multichannel card, because they are
essentially more simpler to install and mostly
cascadable.
The distribution of resources:
The BPM Studio evaluates all frames of a MP3
file and needs therefore a little more resources
than other simple MP3 player as WinAmpTM for
example. BPM Studio has essentially a much
greater function range than this player and a direct
comparison does not make any sense. So, we
should point out, that all sound cards possess
their own, free IRQ and that is no other card or
PC element uses it.
Also other components like hard disk, CD-Rom
or graphic card play a role whcih is not to
underestimate for the total performance of a
system. It is also recommended to use a PC
exclusively for BPM Studio (for professional use).
Driver latency:
Under „latency", we understand the „delay"
between a command as for example 'Play', 'Pau-
se' or 'Stop' and the moment the sound card
reacts to these commands and begins play for
example. Fundamentally 'latency' depends on the
used driver type and partially on the driver too.
As lower the latency of a driver is, the more
qualified is the driver for exact Beat-mixing.
More information, description of our
current sound card tests, program
updates and answers to frequently asked
questions (FAQ), can be found on our
web site: www.alcatech.com

Tips and Instructions