diff --git a/src/fft.c b/src/fft.c
index 41a7756..06e9f91 100644
--- a/src/fft.c
+++ b/src/fft.c
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@
   }
 
   outputComponents = _fast_ft(inputComponents, inLen);
-  for(i=0; i<N_SAMPLES; ++i){
+  for(i=0; i<N_SAMPLES/4; ++i){
     fftSig[i] = amplitude(outputComponents[i], inLen);
   }
 
diff --git a/src/music_visualizer.c b/src/music_visualizer.c
index 885c069..815b829 100644
--- a/src/music_visualizer.c
+++ b/src/music_visualizer.c
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@
 }
 #endif
 
-#define PADDING 4
+#define PADDING 1
 
 static int maxR = 0;
 static int maxC = 0;
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@
 
     // computes an average of the signals in fftBuf
     // based on the number of columns of the screen
-    average_signal(fftBuf, nsamples, maxC, basefreq, oratio, fftAvg);
+    average_signal(fftBuf, nsamples/2, maxC, basefreq, oratio, fftAvg);
 
     unsigned int avg = 0;
     if(energyBuffer->count > 0) {
@@ -114,14 +114,14 @@
     FD_SET(fifo, &set);
 
     // allocate buffers used
-    unsigned int* fftBuf= (unsigned int*)malloc(N_SAMPLES*sizeof(unsigned int));
+    unsigned int* fftBuf= (unsigned int*)malloc(N_SAMPLES/2*sizeof(unsigned int));
     unsigned int* fftAvg = (unsigned int*)malloc(maxC*sizeof(unsigned int));
     cebuffer energyBuffer;
 
     cb_init(&energyBuffer, 43);
 
 	// set the result buffer to 0s
-    memset(fftBuf, 0, N_SAMPLES*sizeof(unsigned int));
+    memset(fftBuf, 0, (N_SAMPLES/2)*sizeof(unsigned int));
     memset(fftAvg, 0, maxC*sizeof(unsigned int));
 
     // open connection to mpd and set alarm to refresh status
diff --git a/src/settings.h b/src/settings.h
index 940c1d6..bba59d0 100644
--- a/src/settings.h
+++ b/src/settings.h
@@ -8,11 +8,6 @@
 // (POWER OF 2)
 #define N_SAMPLES 2048
 
-// zero-padding of input samples
-// append a number = PADDING*N_SAMPLES of empty samples (0) to the input data
-// higher padding -> more precise FFT peak detection (but heavier computational cost)
-#define PADDING 4
-
 // if adaptive sampling should be used
 // (adjust N_SAMPLES to sample rate of current song)
 // uses N_SAMPLES as maximum for 44100 Hz