http://www.audioforums.com/resources/windows-xp-optimization.html

http://www.musicxp.net/hardware_tips.php

http://www.musicxp.net/hardware_tips.php

http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm

There is one thing that PC's do better than macs. Gaming. And that has nothing to do with audio. PC's also have customization, that's why they are cheaper, but I'd rather do business with one company than with a parts manufacturer (like nVidia), an operating system (Windows) and a middleman (like Dell).

I'll put in the obvious, which is probably included in the links Link posted. Ha.

1. No internet
2. No antivirus
3. Disable onboard soundcard (except for Codemonkey!)

Unfortunately for me, Link's stuff is all about XP. I use Vista (grrr), and have done enough to make a nice system w/ 3GB RAM not choke up once I start running multiple MBCs. I'm starting to think about going the way of UAD.

I turned off Windows Defender, and just basically eliminated anything I could that wasn't necessary. Unfortunately I have to get online occasionally to update my Presonus Firestudio drivers.

Finally, Guitarfreak makes a great point - the multiple clients/points of access that PCs require. I'm struggling getting an nVidia graphics card to run two monitors. :sigh:

Sheesh. This is the world of audio!

You plug Shure mics into Mackie mixers with E-MU audio interfaces and software made by Steinberg, then out via E-MU's interface and into speakers made by KRK inside a room filled with stuff from Auralex, and you're moaning about having to deal with more than one company with your PC build?

Sorry yes it was all about xp, I haven't tried Vista yet.....

oh and about macs vs PC. I run both.... to me there is no real difference. The hardware is the same. The gui is different but thats only minor stuff, like Mac has no backspace key....

Mac might be harder to ##%$#up but at the same its harder to get into the system tweaks.

I really don't think one is better than another.

Sorry now back on topic:
My golden rules:
!) No DAW sees the net.
2)Turn off all networking and com ports that are not used.
3) Use DMA
4)The storage drive is different than the Program drive.
5) If you have dual processors or quad...etc, use them. Allocate the load of each processor.
6)Back up all client projects after each session on different drive, or flash stick.
7)Whatever bus brings the audio into the computer, be it the PCI bus or the serial port (firewire, USB) make sure the interrupt priorities deal with it first.

I have a Dell laptop running XP and a Dell desktop dual core running Vista.
After much frustration, I bought a Mac Mini to run ProTools. Am still frustrated.

LOL- Yes I know that feeling well. My old pC the firewire port was problematic...long story short...

we need to think about the history involved here. What we demand our tiny computer to do today would have taken 1000 warehouse bays in the 60's. There is so much power there and so much complexity, that its obvious we can not hope to really understand it all.

When things go wrong just remember in the 50-60's a room full of engineers and techs would have been there to fix it. SO the bottom line is it is ok to ask those questions.....

Link555 wrote:
I really don't think one is better than another.

:shock: :shock: :-? :shock:

Since the subject is specifically about Windows it is pretty asinine to continually spew the pc vs mac crap.

Those that like pc's-fine. Those that like mac's-fine. Get over it.

Not everyone likes or need the same thing and this is starting to sound like a two chord power(less) ballad.

I've successfully used mac's to produce quality recordings and I've successfully used pc's to produce quality recordings. A computer is a tool even if the person pushing the buttons has to have a label.

I think it's pretty funny how a person starts a windows thread and four or five of the ten posts gotta to be the Mac vs PC bull.

I know Windows worked a lot better in my DAW after I followed (quite awhile ago) the ideas in Link555's link (that looks strange typed out.)

http://www.audioforums.com/resources/windows-xp-optimization.html

But the idea of load allocation in dual and quad processors is new to me. How is this done? Could you provide some tips or another link?

Also I am not certain that my firewire (serial port) has the priorty. Where do I check or tweak that?

A processor performs a specific task. One handles midi instruments, one handles playback of a track, one handles the track plugins. If you have a lot of plugs on a specific track it would help to use FX sends to take a little weight off that particular processor.

I'm just paraphrasing a page I read recently, which I'm currently trying to find. Just thought I'd put my 2c in.

I did understand the concept, just not the practicalities.

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/sep06/articles/pcmusician_0906.htm

Guitarfreak wrote: One handles midi instruments, one handles playback of a track, one handles the track plugins. If you have a lot of plugs on a specific track it would help to use FX sends to take a little weight off that particular processor.

I'm just paraphrasing a page I read recently, which I'm currently trying to find. Just thought I'd put my 2c in.

Dude. read a book! That isn't a paraphrase, it's a fabrication.

jg49 wrote: I think it's pretty funny how a person starts a windows thread and four or five of the ten posts gotta to be the Mac vs PC bull.

well said. I should have included this in my open post.

NOTE:
Nothing against Mac, I own Macs and love em. However, this is SPECIFICALLY FOR WINDOWS.
Any Mac gunk in here, posted to side rail this topic, etc will be removed.

(y)

JC49 to asign a cpu to a task.

1) CTRL-ALT-Delete to bring up the task manager.
2) Right click on the runing task you want to asign.
3) Select Set Affinity
4) Select the CPU you want to handle the task.

Link555 wrote: 1) CTRL-ALT-Delete to bring up the task manager.

Correct although pressing Ctrl+Shift+Escape achieves the same effect - but works on PCs configured to load with the classic logon (where C+A+D leads you to a menu instead) e.g. network machines/Vista.

Edit: sorry, brain fart. I listed the wrong key combo, it's now fixed above.

thank you

I've been running one of my PCs dual boot with 32 bit XP and 64 bit Vista. I know that many people are down on Vista, but Vista 64 is excellent if your app's drivers are compatible. I run Cubase 4 with a Yamaha n12 and it's been stable. My CPU (QX9650) is not competitive with the i7's but it's been adequate for my projects. I'm hopeful that 64bit Windows 7 will be a step forward but am not yet convinced.

I am beta testing Win7. It is superior to Vista. It is not quite as customizable as XP but then again its new and I may have just not sussed it all out yet.

For the record, I have not had the massive issues some have had with Vista either.

My Win7 machine is plain fast. I am utilizing the 32 bit version with a Dell D820, 4 gigs of 667 DDR2, a 64 gig SSD and a secondary SATA 3 drive in the bay. The gpu is an NVidia nothing card with basic features. I do still have an external USB SATA drive I use for bigger projects.

So far it has been compatible with Audition 3, Tracktion 2, PT M-powered 7, and FF800, FW410 dongle, Onyx 1640. I have one small driver issue that shows up in DPC but it hasn't really created any issues with recording.

An added bonus when Win7 comes out is what M$ is calling XP mode. This looks to be a much better solution to compatibility issues than Vista's compatibility mode.

"An added bonus when Win7 comes out is what M$ is calling XP mode."

It runs the app in a "virtual machine" (stripped down I imagine) and is only available on the Professional and Ultimate editions.
Oh, and enterprise.
[[url=http://[/URL]="http://www.crunchge…"]See here[/]="http://www.crunchge…"]See here[/]

- Enable the "run" command in your start menu
- Run the "run" command
- Type "MSCONFIG"
- Go to the startup tab
- Disable all the crap that starts when your computer boots up

sargentpilcher, post: 297939 wrote: - Enable the "run" command in your start menu
- Run the "run" command
- Type "MSCONFIG"
- Go to the startup tab
- Disable all the crap that starts when your computer boots up

Wow, that is a highly technical explanation of precisely what needs to be done, I would suggest that if you are not very familar with computers that you be very careful when disabling programs.

I've been trying to get my Vista 32bit system pared down, and have run into the very issue jg mentions - not being absolutely sure which processes are safe to disable.
Some I know, some I don't. The few things I've been able to cut down have helped, but the system usage still seems to be pretty choked.

Any suggestions for further research so I can make this baby work until I can afford a new machine?

Try the tweaks [[url=http://[/URL]="http://www.blackvip…"]here[/]="http://www.blackvip…"]here[/]. Also, know that Vista is a pig so even streamlined the system will reserve far more ram than XP. That doesn't mean it shouldn't run smoothly just that its a pig.

Thanks Jack, just made the tweaks, so we'll see how it goes.
I was surprised at how many services I had already disabled, and at how many services I tweaked to be disabled that were already running, just on start-up.
Next up, my lady's Vista laptop!

Are there a list of tweaks for Win 7 and DAWs?

Same web site has tweaks for all Windows operating systems back to 2000.

As a follow-up:

I had a mix session after the tweaks, one w/ a ska/reggae band.
For the most part, I went w/ the "tweaked" column, but also went "bare-bones" when I knew what it was.

First song, no hitches.
Second song... well, it's 4 drums +room + djembe, 2 bass tracks, three vox, stereo guitar and key, bone, and sax... then there's the soca part at the end, w/ additional instruments (like turango, 2nd guitar, aux percussion, etc).
Things were still pretty choked up for this song (we're talking almost 30 tracks total counting sends).
Until I bounced the bass (bass + "stick" guitar) and keyboards.
Then, nice and smooth.

On a side note, when things ran smooth, they got bad when I solo'd tracks.
I've noticed this phenomenon before, and was wondering if anyone had any insight about it?

All in all, a great resource Jack - thanks again!

Thanks for the info. I was just in the process of an update.

Has anyone tried DUX? It seems like a "build for speed" XP SP3. I haven't had the chance trying it, but I will if I have to reinstall someday.

If you have a nicely tuned DAW already and feel you are in need of an internet connection you can install [[url=http://[/URL]="http://www.vmware.c…"]VM Player[/]="http://www.vmware.c…"]VM Player[/] and run a simple webbrowser from within that virtual machine. It can download drivers nicely to the required folder. I suggest you still limit yourself to sites from vendors of your equipment. The thing you have to consider is turning of the VM player when you go recording again, because it will chew up some RAM otherwise.

I use a dual boot machine: one to Rock, one to Surf, but I find I sometimes would have liked to search something on the net while in Rock Mode. Of course there is always the second (MacBook) or third (my Wife's HP) or fourth (our old Acer) computer and a thumbdrive.

VMWare as an option?

Hi guys,

I'm new to this forum, but not new to music production. Been doing it for several years now. Just curious if anyone has had any luck doing music production from within VMWare that is running any instance of Windows OS? I have yet to try it, though some say it works well, seeing as you can disable a whole slew of unnecessary services, forgo the AntiVirus, and have a bare bones system for one important task.

soundmythlight

Here are the suggested Windows 7 tweaks from Sweetwater. It's actually just a link to Digidesign's recommended tweaks. The tech at Sweetwater said they just link here because it's really good. I use Cubase, so for the most part I just ignored the stuff on there that was specifically for PT users. Although there were a couple of those specifics I could apply to my hardware. I noticed a definite improvement afterwords, and was able to take my sample buffer from 128 down to 64 during mixing. (Not that I use a 64 sample buffer when mixing, it was just a test).
[[url=http://[/URL]="http://avid.custkb…"]Knowledge Base[/]="http://avid.custkb…"]Knowledge Base[/]

cfaalm, post: 298544 wrote: Has anyone tried DUX?

I have it running on my studio desktop, and also as an audio-only dual-boot on my laptop, which otherwise still runs vista. Its great!

I suggest optimizing the following suggestions below to maximize the use of your Windows computer for music production:

1.) When doing recording and mixing, close all other running programs to save RAM and CPU power for your music production work. Make sure only the DAW (Digital Audio Workstation or recording software) is running.

2.) If you have an antivirus that runs in real time, I noticed in my experience that it conflicts with audio production work particularly when doing mixing and bouncing to the hard disk. In this case, you can set the anti-virus to game mode or even turn off the real time antivirus mode.

3.) You need to double check that DMA is enabled for your windows computer. Go to Start--> Control Panel--> Right on "System" --> Hardware --> Device manager --> IDE ATAPI Controllers --> Right click on Primary IDE Channel --> Properties --> Advanced settings --> Make sure that the current transfer mode is set to DMA. DMA is often the reason of audio recording sound glitches, it is because when its off, all computer bits will pass from Hard disk --> CPU --> I/O instead of going directly from Hard disk to I/O which makes things faster and efficient.

4.) Use PCI based quality sound cards. If this is not used, your CPU and motherboard will be burden a lot which can affect the quality of sound.

5.) Make sure that you are optimized Windows for performance. In the control panel, right click on System , then go to Advanced --> Settings --> Under performance click "Settings" --> Make sure that "Adjust for best performance" is checked".

6.) Defragment your hard disk. If you have fragmented files particularly audio, your hard disk will slow down to located and combine fragmented files which will affect computer audio performance.

7.) If possible use video cards, this is because video processing will be handled by this card which can be useful if you are running intensive graphics based audio recording software. If this is not available, they will all rely on your CPU which already have much work to do and can slowdown audio processing.

8.) Maximize your RAM, if your motherboard allows 4GB RAM then use it, RAM gets cheaper nowadays and they are very useful for computer audio recording work as it will increase computer efficiency.

9.) Maximize CPU speed, if your motherboard allows the use of latest processors, then get it as fast processor can substantially help to increase the efficiency of your computers processing music production tasks.

10.) In my experience, I observed Intel based processors performed a way lot better than AMD based processors.

11.) Use external based hardware mixer before connecting everything to your windows based soundcard. Without this, your PC have no protection against electrical surge or unwanted signal entering into your Windows PC.

12.) Remove all spywares and viruses in your computer. This will substantially slow down your system.

13.) Update your Windows to use the latest patches /updates.

14.) If possible use 2 very large capacity hard disks. One hard disk devoted ONLY to your Windows system files and the secondary disk (slave) for your audio wav files. Do not save wav files together with your system files as these type of files are large and heavy and can possibility slow down your hard disk in terms of accessing speeds.

For me, all those 14 items are very vital to make windows run better for music production.

Honestly, ive had this problem too, what i thought to be helpful was to manage my running programs, the ones that automatically start up with your computer and just run in the background and alot of these programs don't need to be running all the time, it slows down your cpu. Also defraging your hard drives. i actually just recenty downloaded a software called " tuneup utilities " and what it does is it optimizes your pc or laptop for better performance and lets you choose weather you want to optimize for better program performance, visual performance ect. And boy does it speed your pc up!! it also defrags and runs complete maintenance on your pc and cleans the registry and deletes problems in the registry along with broken shortcuts and all that, complete optimization and it does work. I actually downloaded it from a torrent site and the uploader supplied the serial key so its not bootleg and your able to get the updates. Hope this helped!!

_________________________

If it came from a torrent site then it is bootleg no matter if a keygen was also loaded. Heads up on most every registry cleaner out there, #1 they don't work particularly well for 32 bit and don't work at all for 64bit operating systems. Managing running programs is always good. Managing startup services is as important if not more so.

TheJackAttack, post: 359635 wrote: If it came from a torrent site then it is bootleg no matter if a keygen was also loaded. Heads up on most every registry cleaner out there, #1 they don't work particularly well for 32 bit and don't work at all for 64bit operating systems. Managing running programs is always good. Managing startup services is as important if not more so.

Wow, i dont know where you got your information but im running a hp 64bit with vista and it worked wonders. Im not just giving advice im sharing my actual experience, it DOES work exceptionally well on 64bit operating systems.

And anyone who is internet savvy or torrent literate knows what i mean by not bootleg, meaning it isnt cracked or need a patch. When you buy a bootleg dvd its not on the original disc or have the original cover, well the program i found is original so to speak.

____________________________________

I'm guessing you don't have much computer experience. All reputable sites will flat out tell you registry boosters don't work on 64 bit portion of the folders. They will also tell you there is only marginal improvement on 32 bit systems. Managing your startup programs and services will be the actual source of improvement. I don't care what brand of computer.

If you did NOT purchase a program from it's creator or distributor and in fact down loaded it from a torrent you are pirating. You wouldn't need a torrent otherwise. It would be shareware or freeware available freely from reputable sites. In fact here is the actual product you pirated.
[[url=http://[/URL]="http://www.tune-up…"]TuneUp Utilities[/]="http://www.tune-up…"]TuneUp Utilities[/]

You are welcome to think otherwise but you would be wrong. We here at RO do not promote or condone piracy.