ABSTRACT
With the developments of audio workstation, the functions of software are becoming more powerful for engineers. In terms of audio processing, the related engineering, as well as combination with video productions and the parameter settings, the hardware buffer size should be modified in order to keep the production flows smooth in a timely manner. Nowadays, most audio engineering has long relied on software to perform nonlinear processing. In the technical specifications of audio workstation, there are two roles relied for computing: the Central Processing Unit (CPU) and Digital Signal Processing (DSP) cards. In the past, due to the stronger computing power of the DSP card, it was relied for the main computing, while CPU was used for the auxiliary computing work. Recently, due to the processing power of the CPU becoming more powerful, budgeted studios may then choose not to purchase expensive DSP cards, under the considerations of the cost. In audio production, the status of monitoring latency is the most affected issue by the hardware buffer size during recording. After recording, the issue affected by hardware buffer size is the processing power of the CPU left for plug-ins processing during mixing. This paper takes the model example of the world-famous Avid Pro Tools audio workstation to explore the impact of hardware buffer size settings, and performs in-depth interviews, descriptive statistics and linear statistical analysis to investigate the psychological differences toward engineers. The findings of this research are expected to suggest better hardware buffer size settings for audio production.
