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Set Precision

Description

Sets the calculation precision for computing the system.

(set-precision ... )

Syntax and Default Values

The (set-precision ... ) function can be created using the following Lisp syntax:

(set-precision mode)

Parameters

The (set-precision ... ) function takes one argument:

  • mode: either 'float or 'double

The default precision is 'double (64-bit precision).

Discussion

You can take advantage of vector processing on your computer by switching to the 'float precision. This can be especially useful in real-time contexts. Warning: the sound may be slightly different, but the computation is about 30% faster. After each (new), the mode is reset to 'double.

[This was definitey true on PowerPC computers which used the motorola chips' AltiVec vector optimization. In theory, the same kind of vector optimization also exists on intel chips as SSE... this should be verified.]

Options

There are no special options for this function.