I’m experiencing latency or audio dropouts while recording!

Latency and Audio Dropouts are no joke! You can reduce Latency by reducing the buffer settings, but dropouts can occur if those settings are too low for the amount of processing (track count, plugins, etc). If you are experiencing dropouts where the audio engine is completely stopping and you see a dropout message within Cakewalk by BandLab, try increasing your sound card's latency settings by doing the following:

1. Go to Edit > Preferences > Audio > Driver Settings
   
   
2. If you are using a Windows driver mode (WDM/KS or MME, or WASAPI Shared in Windows 10), try moving the Buffer Size slider to the right towards "Safe"

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3. If you are using ASIO drivers, click on the ASIO Panel button. This will launch your audio interface’s proprietary control panel. Adjust the buffer settings accordingly.
   NOTE: for the majority of dedicated audio interfaces you will want to use ASIO drivers for the best stability. This can be applied by going to Edit > Preferences > Audio - Playback and Recording and setting the Driver Mode to ASIO. If the ASIO Panel button does not launch your device's control panel, try accessing it from the Windows Taskbar or search tool.
   
   
4. Click Apply and then OK (if available) to apply any changed settings
5. Re-launch your Cakewalk software and then test performance again

Hard Disk Buffer Size Settings Need to be increased:

If events aren't sounding and/or you are hearing pops and clicks at random points in playback, then this behavior may be related to your hard disk buffer size settings. Typically when this is the case, projects containing more tracks and more demanding virtual instruments that load large sample libraries will exhibit more clicks and pops than simpler projects with lower track counts.

Increase your hard disk buffer settings by doing the following:

1. In Cakewalk by BandLab, go to  Edit > Preferences > Audio - Sync and Caching
2. Try increasing your Playback I/O Buffer Size and Record I/O Buffer Size. Typically you will want to increase these settings in double increments. For example, settings such as 128, 256, 512, 1024 and 2048 are recommended.

NOTE:  It is not recommended to select "Enable Read Caching" and "Enable Write Caching". Choosing either of these options lets your software use the Windows disk cache while reading or writing audio data. Your software will usually perform best with all caching disabled, which is the default setting. If your computer has an older IDE disk controller, or a disk controller that does not use DMA transfers, enabling caching may improve audio performance.

1. Click Apply and then OK (if available) to apply any changed settings
2. Re-launch Cakewalk by BandLab and then test performance again

Ultimately, the larger the hard disk buffer size, the easier it is for your hard disk to stream audio files with stability.