Performance tweeks

classic

I have developed a Delphi application that plays a list of mp3 files. When list1 starts List2 fades away and fades back in when List2 finishes.

Using the KX driver I can out put these mixes as mono to the 6 surround sound speakers.
I run the program 6 times and set the souncard outputs for each speaker.

Bearing in mind that with all 6 programs running there are 12 MP3 file playing at once.
I can get 3 cards in a machine and therefore could have 36 MP3 files playing at once.

What tweeks are there to ensure whatever decoding, file buffering etc etc is being maximised to stop any execptions errors etc.

I am using WinXP pro, Sounblasterlive 5.1 cards. 768 meg ram.

On a Pentium P4 1.5 gig the CPU usage is between 25% and 38% when running the program 6 times.

The machines only run this program and an internet connection for updates to the files. What operating system options can I leave out to free resources?

Is there a better card that can process the files more efficiently?. This must work with the KX drivers.

Are there any physical limits with regards how many files can be opened at once?

The KX web site has a link to a PDF tweeks file that is broken.

Any help or guidance appriciated.