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Sound and MIDI configuration

Here you can configure your output device and (optionally) MIDI input device.

sound-config

Output device

Select the output device and API for sound output. The available APIs to choose from depends on your operating system.

When changing the API the device combo will be repopulated with all available devices in that API. You can also refresh the device combo by clicking the Rescan button.

If the API cannot be used, the message "API Unavailable" will be shown under the device combo box.

Default device

Every API has a "Default device" option in the device list. This option will use the API's definition of a default device. For some APIs, this allows for automatic stream routing (ie switching the default device during playback).

Null API

The Null API is available for every platform. This API contains one device, the null device, which outputs sound nowhere. You can use this device if you don't want sound to play out.

Output settings

  • Buffer size - sets the size, in milliseconds, of the playback buffer. This setting determines the overall latency of the output. 40 ms is the default setting. It is recommended that you increase this setting if you get any underruns.
  • Period - this is the rate audio is generated and queued in the buffer. It also determines how often the UI is updated. It is recommended that the period is less than or equal to half the buffer size. Lower values requires more CPU use, so increase this if lower utilization is perferred. The default period is 5 ms.
  • Samplerate - the sample rate, in Hz, of the generated output. Output will be resampled using a linear resampler if the configured device does not support the sample rate. See here for more details on the resampler. Since Trackerboy uses bandlimited synthesis, higher samplerates do not improve audio quality. So it is recommended you select the same samplerate the device uses.

Notes on latency

Latency depends mainly on two things: the buffer size and the latency provided by the audio API. Trackerboy will try to use the lowest latency possible for the configured device, which on WASAPI is usually 10 ms. You may need to configure your audio API if a lower latency is desired, but for most cases the default is acceptable.

MIDI input

Click the checkbox if you would like to enable MIDI input handling for note input. Similarly to the output device, select a backend and device to use. If you need to update the device combo click the Rescan button.