Important: Don’t skip any of the following steps! Partially completing any of these steps also will not help!
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Disclaimer: This article mentions some third party tools which are not related to Native Instruments at all. Though we have successfully tested the mentioned tools in-house for a longer time, this and comparable tools can potentially damage your computer and harm the manufacturer's warranty for your computer and connected hardware. If you want to make sure that you do not act against the license agreements or other instructions given for the use of your computer, please contact the manufacturer of your computer or the developer of the third party tool directly.Important: Don’t skip any of the following steps! Partially completing any of these steps also will not help! 1. IntroductionThe list of brands for Windows computers, as well as the possible combination of hardware used in PCs is practically unlimited – this can lead to compatibility issues or undesired interaction of components. Also, many PC computers and their components are designed to deliver good performance for office applications or gaming. The demands placed on a computer used for music production are usually quite different than those for office or gaming computers. As a result, it is often necessary to tune off-the-shelf or self-built computer systems so they perform well enough for real-time audio. This article shows the most important tuning tips. Each tip mentioned here has already helped a lot of users, so in case you have to deal with audio dropouts and artifacts, take the time to print out this article, read it carefully and try one suggestion after another.
2. Use ASIO
Stands for \'Audio Stream Input/Output\' and is a transfer protocol for low latency audio in a digital environment.'); return false">ASIO DriversFirst, download and install the latest
driver
A driver is a computer program that qualifies the computer to communicate with an external device, such as an audio interface.'); return false">driver for your soundcard. From within
the audio application you use, make sure you always make use of the
"ASIO" driver for your soundcard, and NOT the DirectSound or WASAPI
driver.
If an ASIO driver is not available for your soundcard,
then you can download and install ASIO4ALL, a generic ASIO driver that
works with most soundcards. To use this, please download the latest
ASIO4ALL driver from the following link:
http://www.ASIO4ALL.comPlease
note that a professional audio device that provides its own ASIO driver
usually performs better than when using ASIO4ALL with a generic
soundcard. Typically, audio interfaces designed specifically for music
recording and production have better audio quality, better performance
and ship with ASIO drivers specific to the device. Native Instruments
offers a number of professional grade interfaces with ASIO drivers,
designed for different purposes, such as AUDIO KONTROL 1 or AUDIO 8 DJ.
3. Latency
As with any digital device (including hardware signal processors) that convert audio to data and back again, a computer adds a certain amount of delay when processing audio signals. This delay is referred to as Latency.'); return false">Latency SettingComputers
need to use an audio buffer in order to temporarily store audio data,
while the computer’s main processor switches between processing
different tasks, such as the graphical display, hard drive access, data
exchange with connected peripherals such as
MIDI
Stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface and is a standard real time protocol that enables electronic musical instruments, computers and other equipment to communicate, control and synchronize with each other.'); return false">MIDI controllers and, of
course, the processing of audio. Because it can’t do all of these things
at once, it needs to “buffer” data from the various processes – and
this is where the audio buffer (also named buffer size, latency, process
buffer, sample buffer) comes in. The rule of thumb is, the faster the
computer, the more calculations it can handle every second and the
smaller the audio buffer can be.
A smaller audio buffer is
preferable because there is a direct relation between the “audio buffer
size” and the resulting “latency.” The term “latency” describes the
delay between performing an action (e.g. singing into a microphone) and
hearing a result (e.g. hearing your voice come back out of the
speakers). The larger the buffer size the larger the latency, and with
it, the longer is the delay between taking an action and hearing a
result. This can be distracting when performing.
The downside of
using a smaller buffer size is, that the smaller the buffer
size/latency, the harder your computer has to work. If your computer
can’t handle all the work it is tasked with at the selected buffer size,
you will start hearing pops and clicks or other artifacts in your
audio. This means that you will have to increase the audio buffer size,
so your computer can cope with the workload.
Start out with an
ASIO latency setting (buffer size) of 512 and check if this gives you
artifact free results. If not, increase the buffer size by one increment
at a time and try again.
However, on some modern Multicore CPUs
you may get better results with lower latency settings than with higher
settings (e.g. there may be crackles with 512, but not with 256 samples
set as buffer). Therefore test at least the settings 256 and 512.
TRAKTOR
only: Try using multiples of 128 samples first as these settings often
deliver the best results for TRAKTOR users; i.e.: 128, 256, 384 and 512.
4. Third-party Analyzing ToolsIt
can at times be difficult to identify the root cause of PC performance
problems. Fortunately, some applications are available online and free
of charge, that can be a great help with resolving such issues. The DPC
Latency Checker (described below) visually shows if anything that is
running on your computer is getting in the way of audio processing, and
gives an idea how severe the problem is. Once you identify that there is
a problem, the LatencyMon application makes it possible to identify the
specific driver or service that is the cause of the issue. Both
applications and their general usage are explained below.
4.1 DPC Latency Checker- Download and run the "dpclat.exe" application from the Thesycon website under the following url:
http://www.thesycon.de/eng/latency_check.shtml
- Start the application (no installation required).
- Let it run for one or two minutes while your audio software is running as well.
Depending on the your computer's configuration you get only green bars (good) or you get yellow or even red bars (bad):
Good results: The screen shot above shows a computer system which should be well suited for real-time audio.
Bad results: This screen shot indicates that your computer most likely produces dropouts and audio artifacts.
If you see any yellow or even red spikes, they indicate that other
(usually non-audio related) processes are occupying your computer’s
CPU
CPU stands for Central Processing Unit and is the component in a computer that interprets computer program instructions and processes data.'); return false">CPU
for too long, with the likely result that this will cause the audio
buffer to run empty, resulting in glitches, clicks or distortion in your
audio.
While the DPC Latency Checker gives a visual impression
if your computer is running efficiently, or if anything is getting in
the way of good audio performance, it does not show which specific
device or driver is causing the problem. If DPC Latency checker is
showing that there is a problem, you can use LatencyMon (described next)
to identify which device, driver or service is the cause of the issue.
4.2 LatencyMonIf
DPC Latency Checker (see last section) shows any yellow or red spikes,
run LatencyMon to identify the exact cause of the problem. The
LatencyMon installer can be downloaded from here:
http://resplendence.com/latencymonAfter
you have launched LatencyMon, you first need to press the green Play
button in the upper left corner to generate an analysis of the processes
running on your computer. Run the analysis for at least 4 minutes while
your audio software is running as well:

Click
on the "Drivers" tab to see the results of the driver monitoring. Then
click the column header labeled "Highest Execution (ms)" twice in order
to see the highest values above (you may need to maximize the window to
see this column):
In this screenshot you can see no problematic drivers, since everything is significantly lower than 1. All
values below 1 are usually not problematic. Anything above may cause
crackles and/or dropouts with real-time audio applications.Note:
The individual latencies of single drivers may SUM UP to more then 1ms
overall latency (e.g. if you have drivers with results of 0.9 and 0.5,
then those may sum up to 1,4ms which then can also create problems in
the same way as if you would have one driver with 1.4ms latency). If
you have values above 1, check to which devices the affected driver(s)
belong, then disable the affected device(s) in Windows Device Manager if
possible. If you are unsure if the device can be disabled, then you
should try to search the web for the driver's name and/or for the
description of the device (as shown in column 2) in order to find out if
this device can safely be disabled.
We have compiled a list of
drivers often reported to the Native Instruments support as causing high
"Highest Execution" values in Latency Mon. This list and some hints
about the related components are attached to this article as PDF
document below.
5. Deactivate Devices in the Windows Device ManagerMost
often, the cause of audio dropouts are drivers or background services
that are not related directly to audio processing. They task the CPU
regularly and take away needed resources required to process audio
without interruptions. LatencyMon should have given you an idea which
drivers or components on your computer may contribute to your audio
performance problems – if necessary, you should have searched the
internet to find out which of the file names LatencyMon listed as
problematic belong to which devices or drivers on your computer. With
the list of names of potential problematic devices or drivers in front
of you, start the Windows Device Manager.
Important:
Here is a list of devices that you should NEVER deactivate since these
are essential components required by Windows: System timer, Keyboard,
System CMOS/real time clock, Microsoft ACPI-Compliant System, Numeric
data processor, Primary IDE Channel, Secondary IDE Channel, Graphics
Controller, Ultra ATA Storage Controllers. In general, you should not
deactivate anything which is listed in the branch "System Devices".
- Right click the "Computer" icon on your desktop. Then select Properties > Device Manager
- In
the Device Manager, locate the device(s) LatencyMon reported as
problematic. If this is a device that is not essential for the basic
operation of your computer (see note above), right click on the
component and choose "deactivate" (NOT "uninstall"!). Once you disabled
the problematic devices (according to LatencyMon), test if this resolved
the audio dropouts issue.
- Additional devices that can
often be disabled to further preserve system resources (or to test if
saving additional resources helps to resolve the problem), even if
LatencyMon may not have listed them as problematic, are the following:
- Network adapter
- WLAN card
- Bluetooth port
- Infrared Port
- ACPI compliant battery
- Trackpad (only disable, if a mouse is also connected)
- Video camera
- DVD drive
- Any
third party component that is not an essential part of the system (be
careful and only deactivate components you recognize and that are not
required for Windows to function)
- Built-in sound card (only if
you are using an external sound card such as TRAKTOR AUDIO 6/10 or
another USB sound interface from a third-party manufacturer)
6. Disconnect USB and Firewire DevicesFor
the purpose of identifying which device or driver may introduce the
audio problem you are experiencing, disconnect or remove all USB or
FireWire devices attached to your computer, except for your audio
interface. Then test if the problems still persist. If not, connect one
device at a time and test again. If the problem re-appears after
re-connecting a specific device, look for an updated driver or updated
firmware for that device or contact its manufacturer. Another possible
reason for audio dropouts is if a bus-powered USB audio device does not
get enough power from the USB port. A common cause is if other devices
connected to the same internal USB root hub are consuming too much of
the shared available power. After ensuring the problem goes away when
disconnecting all additional devices, connect one device at a time to
the various USB ports on your computer and test if any of the ports
works better.
7. BIOS UpdateBIOS stands for “Basic Input Output System” which is a mini-Operating System that runs on a chip on your mainboard. The BIOS controls how the mainboard’s individual components work together (on a hardware management level, before Windows gets added to the mix). BIOS updates typically improve the performance of your mainboard’s components – mostly by fixing bugs. Just like with brand new software, updates for the BIOS are often released after new computers are sold, and resolve bugs or improve performance – sometimes dramatically.
If you have an off-the-shelf brand name computer (e.g. Dell, HP/Compaq, etc.) visit the manufacturer’s homepage and download and install the latest available BIOS update for your exact computer model. Instructions for this are usually posted on the website, or come with the downloaded update. If you have a self-built computer, visit the mainboard manufacturer’s website to find the latest BIOS update. Running the latest BIOS version is very important if you need to get the best performance from your computer!
8. Chipset / Component Driver Update“Chipset” refers to a group of important processor chips (aside from the computer’s main processor) on your computer’s mainboard, that are handling essential functions, such as harddrive and USB operation, etc. Some common chipset manufacturers are Intel, AMD, Nvidia, SiS or VIA. Windows usually has a set of generic chipset drivers built-in, however, these are often designed as a “one-size-fits-all” solution for the purpose of being compatible with as many different models as possible. The “custom-tailored” drivers provided by the chipset’s manufacturer often get much better performance than Windows’ built-in generic drivers.
If you have an off-the-shelf brand name computer (e.g. Dell, HP/Compaq, etc.) visit the manufacturer’s homepage and download and install the latest available chipset drivers for your exact computer model. Installation instructions are usually posted on the computer manufacturer’s website, or come with the downloaded updates. If you have a self-built computer, visit the mainboard manufacturer’s website to find the latest chipset drivers.
The same applies to all other hardware components installed in your computer: Download and install all available driver updates for components such as network adapters, built-in audio interfaces, FireWire controllers, graphics drivers and any other devices or peripherals installed in, or attached to your computer. For brand name computers, these drivers can usually also be found on the computer manufacturer’s website. For self-built computers, you will need to visit the websites of the manufacturer of each hardware component and download and install their latest available drivers.
9. Energy OptionsModern computer systems, and especially mobile devices, are engineered for the purpose of saving as much energy as possible. However, this is often at the cost of the computer’s overall performance, making it more likely to experience audio dropouts. The following should be tried to eradicate energy-saving related performance problems.
- Start > Control Panel > System and Security > Power Options.
- Set the Power Scheme to "High Performance" (if this setting is not available, click on “Show additional plans” first). Then click on "Change plan settings". On the next page set both "Turn off the display" and "Put the computer to sleep" to "Never".
Then click "Change advanced power settings." In the window that opens make sure you have the following settings:
- Hard disc > Turn off hard disk after > Setting (Minutes) = Never
- Sleep > Sleep after > Setting (Minutes) = Never
- USB settings > USB selective suspend setting > Setting = Disabled
- Display > Turn off display after > Setting (Minutes) = Never
- Processor power management > Minimum processor state > Setting = 100%
- Processor power management > Maximum processor state > Setting = 100%
10. Graphic Card ToolsSome
graphic card tools like Ati Power Play and Nvidia Powermizer interfere
with real-time audio, since they prioritize the graphic card performance
over other processes in the system. Try to disable or uninstall these
tools.
With some Nvidia laptop graphic chips, simply deactivating
the graphic drivers in the Windows device manager can occasionally help
to fix audio dropout problems. When you deactivate the graphic driver
in the device manager, a standard Windows video driver is used after the
next system reboot. This should help to identify if the graphic driver
is a possible cause of the problem.
11. Manufacturer's Energy Saving ToolsMany laptop manufacturers install a proprietary application that takes over the control of the energy settings of the CPU and other computer components. As a result the energy settings made in the Windows energy options do not become effective. Deactivate any such application and test if the settings described in the previous section (Energy options) then solve the performance issues you experience.
12. Disable Power Saving Option of the USB PortsIn the device manager (Start > Control Panel > System and Security > System > Device Manager), in the “Universal Serial Bus controllers” section, right click each "USB Root Hub", choose "Properties > Power Management" and untick the "allow the computer to turn off this device to save power" option.
13. Microsoft Hotfix for USB SpikesThere is a known issue regarding the functionality of external high-speed USB audio interfaces under Windows 7 or Windows Vista Systems. You can find further info and a hotfix from Microsoft here:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/981214In case you experience audible artifacts like crackles and dropouts occurring with the interval of 15 seconds while using a USB audio interface, these should be eliminated after applying this hotfix.
Note: This hotfix will not remove the "visible" spikes that you see in your Windows Task Manager, since these are caused by the way of measuring the CPU load and do not really reflect the real CPU consumption in the moments those spikes appear.14. AeroAero is the graphical user interface used by Windows 7 by default. Aero is usually accelerated by the graphic hardware if you use a video card compatible with DirectX 9 or higher. However, it can cause audio dropouts with older video cards, especially when moving the mouse or when any refresh of the graphical user interface is necessary. If you experience audio dropouts due to Aero, you can disable it as follows:
- Right-click on the desktop and choose “Personalize”.
- Scroll down and select a color scheme from the “Basic and High Contrast Themes” section, such as “Windows Classic.”
Note: Video Card model versions earlier than ATI 3800 and Nvidia 8600 series might cause performance issues with some visual features of Windows 7.15. Processor
SchedulingThe "Processor Scheduling" setting lets you choose if your computer should process "Programs" with higher priority, or "Background Services" with higher priority. In this context, "Programs" refers to applications you can see running on your screen. "Background Services" refers to software that you don't directly interface with, but that is running in the background and is taking care of essential "invisible" tasks. The most important example of a background service in the context of this guide, is the driver for your audio interface.
Most of the time, the reason for dropouts and audio artifacts is because the audio interface driver (or the driver's buffer) can't process all data in time. Increasing the processing priority for background services (and with it, the priority of the audio driver) often contributes to better over-all audio performance.
To configure your computer to process background services with higher priority, do the following:
- Right click the "Computer" icon on your desktop. Then select "Properties" > "Advanced System Settings".
- On the "Advanced" tab under "Performance" click the "Settings..." button.
- Again, on the "Advanced" tab under "Performance Options" select "Background
services".
Please note that some applications may work better if the Processor
Scheduling parameter remains set to "Programs." If your audio
performance worsens after following the steps above, revert the setting
back to "Programs." You may also refer to the documentation of the
manufacturer of the software for more information on what setting should
be used.
