diff --git a/src/PortAudio.jl b/src/PortAudio.jl
index 4ee7630..30c4e0d 100644
--- a/src/PortAudio.jl
+++ b/src/PortAudio.jl
@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@ function __init__()
         config_folder = "ALSA_CONFIG_DIR"
         if config_folder ∉ keys(ENV)
             ENV[config_folder] =
-                seek_alsa_conf(("/usr/share/alsa", "/usr/local/share/alsa", "/etc/alsa"))
+                seek_alsa_conf(["/usr/share/alsa", "/usr/local/share/alsa", "/etc/alsa"])
         end
         # the plugin folder will contain plugins for, critically, PulseAudio
         plugin_folder = "ALSA_PLUGIN_DIR"
@@ -230,19 +230,25 @@ function devices()
 end
 
 # we can handle reading and writing from buffers in a similar way
-function read_or_write(a_function, buffer, use_frames = buffer.frames_per_buffer)
+function read_or_write(a_function, buffer, use_frames = buffer.frames_per_buffer; acquire_lock = true)
+    pointer_to = buffer.pointer_to
+    data = buffer.data
     handle_status(
-        # because we're calling Pa_ReadStream and Pa_WriteStream from separate threads,
-        # we put a lock around these calls
-        lock(
-            let a_function = a_function,
-                pointer_to = buffer.pointer_to,
-                data = buffer.data,
-                use_frames = use_frames
-                () -> a_function(pointer_to, data, use_frames)
-            end,
-            buffer.stream_lock,
-        ),
+        if acquire_lock 
+            # because we're calling Pa_ReadStream and Pa_WriteStream from separate threads,
+            # we put a lock around these calls
+            lock(
+                let a_function = a_function,
+                    pointer_to = pointer_to,
+                    data = data,
+                    use_frames = use_frames
+                    () -> a_function(pointer_to, data, use_frames)
+                end,
+                buffer.stream_lock,
+            )
+        else
+            a_function(pointer_to, data, use_frames)
+        end;
         warn_xruns = buffer.warn_xruns,
     )
 end
@@ -407,21 +413,25 @@ eltype(::Type{Buffer{Sample}}) where {Sample} = Sample
 nchannels(buffer::Buffer) = buffer.number_of_channels
 
 """
-    PortAudio.write_buffer(buffer, use_frames = buffer.frames_per_buffer)
+    PortAudio.write_buffer(buffer, use_frames = buffer.frames_per_buffer; acquire_lock = true)
 
 Write a number of frames (`use_frames`) from a [`PortAudio.Buffer`](@ref) to PortAudio.
+
+Set `acquire_lock = false` to skip acquiring the lock.
 """
-function write_buffer(buffer::Buffer, use_frames = buffer.frames_per_buffer)
-    read_or_write(Pa_WriteStream, buffer, use_frames)
+function write_buffer(buffer::Buffer, use_frames = buffer.frames_per_buffer; acquire_lock = true)
+    read_or_write(Pa_WriteStream, buffer, use_frames; acquire_lock = acquire_lock)
 end
 
 """
-    PortAudio.read_buffer!(buffer::Buffer, use_frames = buffer.frames_per_buffer)
+    PortAudio.read_buffer!(buffer::Buffer, use_frames = buffer.frames_per_buffer; acquire_lock = true)
 
 Read a number of frames (`use_frames`) from PortAudio to a [`PortAudio.Buffer`](@ref).
+
+Set `acquire_lock = false` to skip acquiring the acquire_lock.
 """
-function read_buffer!(buffer, use_frames = buffer.frames_per_buffer)
-    read_or_write(Pa_ReadStream, buffer, use_frames)
+function read_buffer!(buffer, use_frames = buffer.frames_per_buffer; acquire_lock = true)
+    read_or_write(Pa_ReadStream, buffer, use_frames; acquire_lock = acquire_lock)
 end
 
 """
@@ -907,6 +917,7 @@ end
 isopen(stream::PortAudioStream) = isopen(stream.pointer_to)
 
 samplerate(stream::PortAudioStream) = stream.sample_rate
+
 function eltype(
     ::Type{<:PortAudioStream{<:Messenger{Sample}, <:Messenger{Sample}}},
 ) where {Sample}
@@ -927,7 +938,7 @@ function show(io::IO, stream::PortAudioStream)
     print(io, "PortAudioStream{")
     print(io, eltype(stream))
     println(io, "}")
-    print(io, "  Samplerate: ", samplerate(stream), "Hz")
+    print(io, "  Samplerate: ", round(Int, samplerate(stream)), "Hz")
     # show source or sink if there's any channels
     sink = stream.sink
     if has_channels(sink)
@@ -1043,4 +1054,6 @@ function unsafe_read!(
     exchange(source.stream.source_messenger, as_matrix(julia_buffer), already, frame_count)
 end
 
+include("precompile.jl")
+
 end # module PortAudio
diff --git a/src/precompile.jl b/src/precompile.jl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7dd9ab3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/precompile.jl
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+# precompile some important functions
+const DEFAULT_SINK_MESSENGER_TYPE = Messenger{Float32, SampledSignalsWriter, Tuple{Matrix{Float32}, Int64, Int64}, Int64}
+const DEFAULT_SOURCE_MESSENGER_TYPE = Messenger{Float32, SampledSignalsReader, Tuple{Matrix{Float32}, Int64, Int64}, Int64}
+const DEFAULT_STREAM_TYPE = PortAudioStream{DEFAULT_SINK_MESSENGER_TYPE, DEFAULT_SOURCE_MESSENGER_TYPE}
+const DEFAULT_SINK_TYPE = PortAudioSink{DEFAULT_SINK_MESSENGER_TYPE, DEFAULT_SOURCE_MESSENGER_TYPE}
+const DEFAULT_SOURCE_TYPE = PortAudioSource{DEFAULT_SINK_MESSENGER_TYPE, DEFAULT_SOURCE_MESSENGER_TYPE}
+
+precompile(close, (DEFAULT_STREAM_TYPE,))
+precompile(devices, ())
+precompile(__init__, ())
+precompile(isopen, (DEFAULT_STREAM_TYPE,))
+precompile(nchannels, (DEFAULT_SINK_TYPE,))
+precompile(nchannels, (DEFAULT_SOURCE_TYPE,))
+precompile(PortAudioStream, (Int, Int))
+precompile(PortAudioStream, (String, Int, Int))
+precompile(PortAudioStream, (String, String, Int, Int))
+precompile(samplerate, (DEFAULT_STREAM_TYPE,))
+precompile(send, (DEFAULT_SINK_MESSENGER_TYPE,))
+precompile(send, (DEFAULT_SOURCE_MESSENGER_TYPE,))
+precompile(unsafe_read!, (DEFAULT_SOURCE_TYPE, Vector{Float32}, Int, Int))
+precompile(unsafe_read!, (DEFAULT_SOURCE_TYPE, Matrix{Float32}, Int, Int))
+precompile(unsafe_write, (DEFAULT_SINK_TYPE, Vector{Float32}, Int, Int))
+precompile(unsafe_write, (DEFAULT_SINK_TYPE, Matrix{Float32}, Int, Int))
+
+
+
+
+
+