Optimize Kontakt DFD

DFD stands for “Direct from Disk” and is a Source Module mode for playing very large Sample sets in real-time without having to load all sample data into RAM. In today’s video tutorial we’ll take a look at how to use and Optimize Kontakt DFD.

DFD stands for “Direct from Disk” and is a Source Module mode for playing very large Sample sets in real-time without having to load all sample data into RAM. When using DFD, only the first part of each sample is loaded into RAM. And when a sample is played the first part is played instantly from RAM while the rest of it is streamed from your hard disk.

Here are a few things you should be aware of when using DFD:
-The maximum number of voices will be lower compared to the Sampler module, because the latency and throughput of your hard disk will be a bottleneck for sampling performance. Of course if using an SSD, the latency and throughput will be minimal if any at all. If you are using a HDD, you can optimize your overall voice count by putting only Groups and Instruments that access very large Samples into DFD mode, while keeping all others in Sampler mode.
-Do not try to use DFD mode with Samples that reside on a CD-ROM. Copy them to hard disk first.
-Although the DFD mode minimizes RAM usage in comparison to the Sampler mode, it still has a noticeable memory footprint, as it needs to pre-load the start of all Samples into memory.
-You can switch between DFD and Sampler mode at any time. However, when switching from DFD to Sampler, there may be a slight pause, as the entire Sample set needs to be loaded into RAM.

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