<s>
A	O
software	B-Application
effect	I-Application
processor	I-Application
is	O
a	O
computer	O
program	O
which	O
is	O
able	O
to	O
modify	O
the	O
signal	O
coming	O
from	O
a	O
digital	O
audio	O
source	O
in	O
real	B-General_Concept
time	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
digital	O
audio	O
signal	O
,	O
whose	O
origin	O
may	O
be	O
analog	O
(	O
by	O
conversion	O
to	O
digital	O
)	O
or	O
be	O
in	O
an	O
already	O
digital	O
source	O
(	O
such	O
as	O
an	O
audio	O
file	O
,	O
or	O
a	O
software	B-Application
synthesizer	I-Application
)	O
,	O
is	O
stored	O
in	O
temporary	O
allotments	O
of	O
computer	O
memory	O
called	O
buffers	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Once	O
there	O
,	O
the	O
software	B-Application
effect	I-Application
processor	I-Application
modifies	O
the	O
signal	O
according	O
to	O
a	O
specific	O
algorithm	O
,	O
which	O
creates	O
the	O
desired	O
effect	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
this	O
operation	O
,	O
the	O
signal	O
may	O
be	O
transformed	O
from	O
digital	O
to	O
analog	O
and	O
sent	O
to	O
an	O
audible	O
output	O
,	O
stored	O
in	O
digital	O
form	O
for	O
later	O
reproduction	O
or	O
editing	O
,	O
or	O
sent	O
to	O
other	O
software	B-Application
effect	I-Application
processors	I-Application
for	O
additional	O
processing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
larger	O
the	O
buffer	B-General_Concept
is	O
,	O
the	O
more	O
time	O
it	O
takes	O
to	O
play	O
the	O
audio	O
data	O
sent	O
for	O
playback	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Large	O
buffers	B-General_Concept
increase	O
the	O
time	O
required	O
before	O
the	O
next	O
buffer	B-General_Concept
can	O
be	O
played	O
,	O
this	O
delay	O
is	O
usually	O
called	O
latency	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Every	O
system	O
has	O
certain	O
limitations	O
-	O
too	O
small	O
buffers	B-General_Concept
involving	O
negligible	O
latencies	O
cannot	O
be	O
smoothly	O
processed	O
by	O
computer	O
,	O
so	O
the	O
reasonable	O
size	O
starts	O
at	O
about	O
32	O
samples	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
processor	O
load	O
does	O
not	O
affect	O
latency	O
(	O
it	O
means	O
,	O
once	O
you	O
set	O
certain	O
buffer	B-General_Concept
size	O
,	O
the	O
latency	O
is	O
constant	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
But	O
with	O
very	O
high	O
processor	O
loads	O
,	O
the	O
buffer	B-General_Concept
is	O
n't	O
filled	O
with	O
new	O
sound	O
in	O
time	O
for	O
playback	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
sound	O
drops	O
out	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Increasing	O
buffer	B-General_Concept
size	O
or	O
quitting	O
other	O
applications	O
helps	O
to	O
keep	O
playback	O
smooth	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
a	O
solution	O
,	O
Audio	B-Library
Stream	I-Library
Input/Output	I-Library
(	O
ASIO	O
)	O
was	O
created	O
.	O
</s>
