Options Page

Disk Streaming Section

Some of the programs include a large amount of data. Ideally, a computer loads all the program data into the RAM for fast access. However, this leaves less RAM for other applications. In addition to this, your computer may not be able to handle this data load. Therefore, Groove Agent only loads the initial milliseconds of each sample into the RAM. You can specify how much RAM to use and how much you want Groove Agent to rely on accessing the hard-disk.

Balancing Disk vs. RAM

Use the Balance slider to balance the hard disk versus the RAM usage.

• If you need more RAM for other applications, drag the slider to the left, towards the Disk setting.

• If your hard disk is not supplying data fast enough, drag the slider to the right, towards the RAM setting.

Note

The Disk vs. RAM setting applies to all plug-in instances. It is not saved with the project.

Used Preload and Available Memory

These displays provide information on the memory load in MB, based on the balance slider setting.

Max Preload

Determines the maximum amount of RAM that Groove Agent uses for preloading samples. In most cases, the default values are sufficient. However, it may become necessary to reduce this value, for example, when working with other applications or plug-ins that require a lot of memory.

Expert Mode (EXP)

Activate Expert Mode if you want to adjust the Disk Streaming settings in greater detail.

• Preload Time defines how much of the start of the samples is preloaded into the RAM. Larger values allow for more samples to be triggered within a short period of time.

• Prefetch Time determines the read-ahead capacity into the RAM while streaming samples for a voice that is playing. Larger values allow for better transfer rates from disk, and usually for more voices. However, this requires a larger streaming cache in RAM. If you increase the Prefetch Time, we recommend to also increase the Streaming Cache.

• Streaming Cache determines the amount of RAM that is reserved for prefetching. The required size depends on the Prefetch Time, the number of voices streamed simultaneously, and the audio format of the samples. For example, higher sample and bit rates need more RAM.

Performance Section

The Performance section contains settings to optimize the overall CPU performance of the plug-in.

Max Voices

Determines the total number of voices that a plug-in instance can play back. As soon as this limit is reached, Groove Agent starts stealing voices.

Max CPU

To avoid clicks or audio dropouts from CPU overloads, you can specify a limit for the CPU load of the plug-in instance. Groove Agent automatically steals voices when this limit is exceeded. With a setting of 100%, this parameter is deactivated.

Note

The reaction time of the plug-in may result in CPU peaks that exceed the set limit. This can lead to artifacts, such as audio drop-outs. Therefore, it is good practice to set the Max CPU setting to a value slightly lower than actually needed.

Voice Fade Out

Sets the time to fade out voices that need to be stolen because the Max Voices setting or the Max CPU setting has been reached.

Load Preference

Determines how agents that include 16 and 24 bit samples are loaded by default. The 16 Bit setting results in faster loading times, whereas with the 24 Bit setting, you can achieve a higher audio quality.

Note

Not all agents feature 16 and 24 bit versions of their samples.

Multi Loading

Normally, when loading multi-programs, the previous multi-program is kept in the RAM until the new multi-program has been loaded completely.

• To clear a multi-program before loading a new one, select Clear before from the pop-up menu.

Multi-Core

Via this pop-up menu, you can specify how many of the available CPU cores of your system can be used by the plug-in. This allows Groove Agent to compute each program on a different core, for example. The best setting depends on multiple factors and varies from system to system and from project to project. A good starting point is to set this value to one core less than the available number of cores.

Note

If you encounter any issues, reduce the number of cores, or set the pop-up menu to Off, and load multiple instances of Groove Agent instead. This way, the host application distributes the work load among the available cores.

Global Section

In the Global section, you can specify general settings for Groove Agent.

Show Tooltips

If this option is activated, a tooltip is shown when you move the mouse over a control.

Show Value Tooltips

If this option is activated, parameters without a value field display their value in a tooltip when you use the corresponding control.

High DPI Mode

If High DPI Mode is activated, the plug-in uses high-resolution bitmaps when it is displayed with a scaling of 150% and higher on a high-resolution monitor, such as 4K (UHD), 5K, etc. This allows for sharper images on high-resolution displays.

Note

• Windows systems currently only support scaling factors that are multiples of 100. For example, if you use a scaling factor of 150%, in Groove Agent, the scaling factor used is 200%.

  High DPI Mode may not be compatible with some software and hardware combinations. If you experience display issues with your setup, you can deactivate High DPI Mode.

  If High DPI Mode is deactivated, the native monitor resolution is used.

• If you use Groove Agent as a standalone application, the High DPI Mode option on the Options page is deactivated. Instead, the corresponding option in the Preferences dialog is used.

Solo Mode

• In Standard mode, you can solo multiple instrument pads and mixer channels to hear them combined.

• In Exclusive mode, only one instrument pad or mixer channel can be soloed at a time.

Number of Undo Steps

Specifies the number of available undo steps.

Key Commands

Opens the Key Commands dialog, where you can view and assign key commands.

Reset Messages

If you click this button, all message dialogs that have been suppressed with the Don't Show Again option are displayed again.

MIDI Controller Section

Controller Assignment

With the two buttons in this section, you can save your customized MIDI controller assignments as defaults or restore the factory MIDI controller assignments.

Note

Save as Default does not include any of the MIDI controller assignments of the AUX FX.

The current MIDI controller mapping is also saved with each project. This way, you can transfer your settings to other systems. The project includes the MIDI controller assignments of the AUX FX as well.

Note

The controller assignments for the parameters Volume (CC 007) and Pan (CC 010) are fixed and cannot be edited or removed. To change volume or pan of a kit slot, send CC#7 or CC#10 messages to the corresponding MIDI channel of the kit slot.

Pattern Playback

Hold Reset sends a global hold reset message to all patterns that are used.

The Reset Controller pop-up menu allows you to assign a dedicated MIDI controller to the Hold Reset button for remote-controlling it.