I'm getting a delay or distortion when recording or using synths

[GibsonPro-Audio]

Before you can get MIDI or Audio input monitoring to work with out a delay, you may need to make some adjustments in Music Creator 6 Touch audio options. Typically the easiest way of reducing latency is by doing the following:

• Go to Edit > Preferences > Audio - Devices
  
• Locate the "Buffer Size" slider and adjust it towards the left.
  
• If the Buffer Size slider is grayed out an you cannot adjust it, it is because you are using ASIO drivers..If this is the case you will need to adjust your buffer size/latency setting by going to your sound card's proprietary control panel. This can typically be done from this same menu by clicking the ASIO Panel button or by opening your device's control panel from Windows.

Ultimately, the smaller buffer size the less amount of latency you will here. If you can get your buffer size down to 10 msec or less, you probably won't notice a delay.

If you start to experience distortion or audio dropouts, you may have to increase your buffer size setting for stability.

Below are some additional suggestions regarding improving latency performance:

If you are using WDM Drivers:

• Make sure you have the latest drivers from your sound card manufacturer's website and not from the disc included with your hardware. Manufacturers are constantly updating drivers and there may already be more recent and more stable ones available.

Regarding DMA Buffer Size:

• Most high-end cards allow you to change DMA Buffer Size in their control panel or mixing software.
  
• After you lower the buffer, you must click the Wave Profiler button under Edit > Preferences > Audio - Devices for the changes to take effect.

If you have a device with ASIO Drivers:

• If your device has ASIO drivers, go to Edit > Preferences > Audio - Devices and change the Driver mode to "ASIO".
  
• If you use ASIO you can usually access the ASIO control panel under Edit > Preferences > Audio - Devices and by clicking on the ASIO Panel button.
  
• If the ASIO panel button does not open anything, go to your sound card's mixing or control panel software in Windows. Lower the buffer size here to improve latency.

If you are using the built-in sound card that came with your computer:

It is often recommended to use the MME driver mode.

These types of sound cards are typically designed for general media playback and not necessarily optimized for recording. Similar to some integrated GPU's struggling for playable frame rates, your built-in sound card may not be able to perform well at low latency settings.