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User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME
12.3 Low Latency under MME (Buffer Size Adjustment)
Under Windows 95 or 98, the MME buffer size was nothing to worry about. Latencies below 46
ms were not possible. Meanwhile both computers and operating systems have become much
more powerful, and with Windows 2000/XP latencies far lower can be used. SAWStudio and
Sonar allowed to use such low settings from the start. Sequoia was updated in version 5.91,
WaveLab in version 3.04.
In the Settings dialog the DMA buffer size is set using the list box Buffer Size (Latency). Val-
ues between 48 and 256 samples are available. This setting is valid for MME, ASIO and GSIF
at the same time, with values above 256 only effecting ASIO. Our test computers allow to use
even 48 samples without clicks, but will show a higher basic CPU load then. Therefore we rec-
ommend to use at least 64 samples. Please note that this setting only defines the buffer size of
the hardware. The true and effective latency is configured within the MME application!
Attention: the DMA buffers must not be larger than the application's buffers. Playback will
be stuttering and audio will be distorted.
Example: when you set the Fireface to 256 you can't use 128 in any program. But setting the
MME buffer to 128 allows to use 128 and all higher values within the software.
Please also note that this is a you're welcome to try feature. We can't guarantee that you will be
able to use 3 or 6 ms with MME. Simply check out by yourself which lowest setting your system
and software allows. Some motherboards with insufficient PCI bandwidth (especially VIA
based) suffer from crackling at settings below 512. Be sure to set the buffer size to 512 or
higher in such a case (or get yourself a new motherboard…).