Sailor55

@joens I/O operations such as streaming large amounts of data to and from Audio interfaces are driven under hardware interrupt. A buffer is loaded with data and the hardware is triggered to send it on its way independently. The CPU is not bothered again until all the data has gone. Somewhere before that time (when the buffer is getting low) an interrupt is generated to run an OS service to reload the buffer. Those interrupts are 'background services'. If 'program priority' takes precedence these interrupts will not be serviced in time. The result: hiccups and chokes in the audio stream. The smaller the buffer the more often interrupts will occur. By prioritizing background tasks buffers can be smaller. That's my story and I'm sticking to it! And yes, I think it's also a good idea to run your PC in the 'High Performance' power mode too.

I'm using a Focusrite 2i4 interface connected by USB 3 port to a Win 10 desktop with an i7 processor (HP EliteDesk 800 G3, small form factor). My ASIO control panel is set to a buffer size of 128 with a sample rate of 44.1 KHz. I was getting a few pops and crackles at that sample rate which got much worse when I lowered it to 64 and still persisted (although, very rarely) even when I raised it to 256. I Went to Focusrite's site and found a lot of tips for optimizing a Win 10 PC for use with a DAW here: https://support.focusrite.com/hc/en-gb/articles/207355205-Optimising-your-PC-for-Audio-on-Windows-10 Here's the one suggestion that seemed to make all the difference for me: 3. Set processor scheduling to "Background services" This will improve the performance of your audio drivers on your computer. To do this: - In control panel select "system" - Go to "Advanced system settings" and then the "Advanced" tab - Click on "Settings.." under Performance to bring up the "Performance Options" window. - Go to the "Advanced" tab and set processor scheduling as "Background Services" - Click "Apply" then "OK" Now I get zero crackles all the way down to a sample rate of 64 (but a few do start to show up again at 32). Anyway, It's rock solid at 128 so I'm leaving it there for now.

I also find this feature a bit unnerving, although I haven't noticed that the Aim Assist font is any smaller (or different) than the underlying Time Ruler font. What I don't like is that the aim assist display covers up tick marks on the Time Ruler. I find that frustrating when I trying to position the 'now' time. What might be helpful is to raise the aim assist bar numbers slightly so they don't cover up tick marks. It looks like there's room on the time ruler to do that. Thx.