kX Playback Buffer Size in 3538m @ 0.25ms latency

cics · Mar 27, 2007, 09:49 PM

Under 'Setup Buffers' I currently get excellent and stable playback at 240 bytes (latency of 0.25ms) using foobar2000 (at 24/96) and Audigy 2 ZS Platinum.

What is the ideal setting here? My readings suggests that lower is better but this depends on system setup.

Russ · Mar 28, 2007, 03:18 AM

There is not really any info about this. The only info I can recall, was that you should not change those settings unless told to do so, as your system can become unstable. With the above setting my system is unstable (random BSOD with loud squeal), so I would give it some time to see if it truly is stable for you (i.e. if your system starts crashing in 2 hours/day/weeks/months/whatever from now, check that first (put it back to the default setting), maybe it works ok now, but it could act up when you try other programs, or your system is under a heavier load, etc).

cics · Mar 28, 2007, 09:43 AM

Default setting is 8ms which I dropped to 2ms a few weeks ago - no problems whatsoever.

On the agressive 0.25ms setting, no problems after a few hours. My stripped down computer is striclty used as transport to DAC - nothing else runs and kX is setup for pure 24/96 output. Doing a clean install of Windows XP SP 2 Professional helped.

Soundwise, there is an improvement (as was the case from dropping 8ms to 2ms)... would like to know why though. Less jitter?

Russ · Mar 28, 2007, 10:59 AM

I am not an expert, but I do not know of any reason why there would be any improvement in anything other than latency. As far as I know, it should be the same, or worse (audio quality and system stability).

cics · Mar 29, 2007, 09:54 AM

A few days of 12 hours continous play (using Kernal Streaming from foobar) and system is very stable.

I'm looking into PCI bus architecture to see if this could explain the improvements.

Mar 27, 2007, 09:49 PM	#1
cics DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 16 Rep Power: 0	kX Playback Buffer Size in 3538m @ 0.25ms latency Under 'Setup Buffers' I currently get excellent and stable playback at 240 bytes (latency of 0.25ms) using foobar2000 (at 24/96) and Audigy 2 ZS Platinum. What is the ideal setting here? My readings suggests that lower is better but this depends on system setup. Last edited by cics; Mar 27, 2007 at 09:57 PM. Reason: buffer size corrected

Mar 28, 2007, 03:18 AM	#2
Russ HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 5,563 Rep Power: 62	There is not really any info about this. The only info I can recall, was that you should not change those settings unless told to do so, as your system can become unstable. With the above setting my system is unstable (random BSOD with loud squeal), so I would give it some time to see if it truly is stable for you (i.e. if your system starts crashing in 2 hours/day/weeks/months/whatever from now, check that first (put it back to the default setting), maybe it works ok now, but it could act up when you try other programs, or your system is under a heavier load, etc). Last edited by Russ; Mar 28, 2007 at 11:01 AM.

Mar 28, 2007, 09:43 AM	Thread Starter #3
cics DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 16 Rep Power: 0	Default setting is 8ms which I dropped to 2ms a few weeks ago - no problems whatsoever. On the agressive 0.25ms setting, no problems after a few hours. My stripped down computer is striclty used as transport to DAC - nothing else runs and kX is setup for pure 24/96 output. Doing a clean install of Windows XP SP 2 Professional helped. Soundwise, there is an improvement (as was the case from dropping 8ms to 2ms)... would like to know why though. Less jitter?

Mar 28, 2007, 10:59 AM	#4
Russ HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 5,563 Rep Power: 62	I am not an expert, but I do not know of any reason why there would be any improvement in anything other than latency. As far as I know, it should be the same, or worse (audio quality and system stability).

Mar 29, 2007, 09:54 AM	Thread Starter #5
cics DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 16 Rep Power: 0	A few days of 12 hours continous play (using Kernal Streaming from foobar) and system is very stable. I'm looking into PCI bus architecture to see if this could explain the improvements.