external midi controller causing audio artifacts

I have a big list of midi mappings I've made in my project to control both things on the force and process midi to control an external synth. I'm finding that every time I adjust a parameter with either of the external midi controllers I'm using if I move the knob too quickly it causes an audible audio buffer error. Have I just reached the limitations of the hardware? I don't see the CPU meter spike when I do this.

The project admittedly has a lot of tracks in it, but it's meant to be a continuous live performance so it kind of needs them all.