For producers, engineers, and musicians who are in the know, using Windows for the recording setup is the biggest kept secret in business for two main reasons: cost and impact. However, enormous power also carries a great deal of responsibility.
Individuals frequently purchase Windows computers that meet the system requirements of their DAW, only to discover that their performance is mediocre when they get home. The issue is that Windows has some default settings that do not support the kind of processing power required for professional audio production, and it is designed for a wide range of applications by default.
Here are some best strategies that you should certainly attempt if you’re getting unpleasant mistakes or hearing clicks, pops, or dropouts while recording and playback, regardless of the program you’re using.
Configure the Power of Your Computer for Optimal Performance
The most crucial piece of advice in this article is this one. The default power settings on many Windows PCs are designed to save energy, but they actually degrade the performance of your computer. Even the most basic music or audio endeavors may encounter issues as a result of this. To guarantee power configurations that support optimal performance:
- Click the Start Menu, type “Control Panel,” and when the Control Panel appears, select it.
- Verify that “Small/Large Icons” is selected in place of “Categories” as the view.
- Select Power Options.
- Select “High Performance,” and then press Modify the plan’s configuration
- Assign Set the computer’s sleep mode to Never
- Click. Modify the advanced power settings.
- Open the USB settings, click USB selective suspend, and select Disabled.
- Expand Processor power management, then Minimum processor state, then set it to 100%.
- Select “Apply,” “OK,” and “Save”.
If you think that this and the coming methods are giving you a hard time, try a free PC cleaner software to remove. This will remove unnecessary files and improve system performance. Guaranting more seamless recording sessions.
Processor Scheduling Optimization
Your computer will operate your DAW more effectively with this adjustment.
- Choose System from the Control Panel.
- Navigate to the Advanced tab under the Advanced system settings.
- Performance Options is displayed when you click on Preferences under the Performance category.
- Select Background Services under Processor Scheduling under the Advanced tab.
- After selecting Apply, select OK.
Optimization of Hard Disk
Although this isn’t necessary for SSDs, if you keep your audio files on a spinning disk hard drive, this optimization will increase load times and overall disk efficiency when playing or recording audio.
- Launch the File Explorer by selecting the Start menu.
- In the left column, select “This PC.” Then, right-click and select the hard drive that you want to use to store your audio.
- Choose Properties
- Verify that the option to compress this drive to conserve disk space is not selected.
- Confirm that the choice to permit contents indexing for files on this device, in addition to file properties, is not selected.
- After selecting Apply, select OK.
- Do this again for any drive you plan to utilize for audio.
Turn off USB Power Management
If you’re utilizing a USB audio interface, you should turn off USB power management to clear some bandwidth on the USB channel. This can assist with problems related to driver installation and device recognition.
- Go to Control Panel and select Device Manager.
- To access the first USB Root Hub heading, double-click Universal Serial Bus Controllers.
- Uncheck the option labeled “Permit the computer to turn off this device to save power” after selecting the Power Management menu, then click OK.
- For every other USB Root Hub device, repeat the procedure.
Turn off background apps on Windows
Even when you’re not using them, Windows has a lot of background apps that run by default. Turn off these background programs to increase processing speed.
Choose Settings from the Start menu, then Privacy, and finally Background Apps.
Turn off any programs you aren’t using or don’t want to have running in the background while you’re not using them.
Run as Administrator
This can fix issues that may arise while using specific hardware drivers or when running your DAW.
- You can start your DAW by right-clicking on the shortcut icon.
- Select Properties
- Select the tab for compatibility.
- Select “Run this program as an administrator” by checking the box.
- Select Apply, then OK.
Network Adapter Driver Update
Older network adapter drivers might be wasteful, slowing down system performance. To guarantee that you are giving your DAW the maximum amount of processing power, make sure you are using the most recent drivers.
- Select Device Manager from the Start menu, then hit Enter.
- In the Network Adapters section, click the triangle.
- Select Update Driver with a right-click, then look for updated driver software automatically. You will have to manually update the driver if it cannot be found.
- To view properties, double-click the network adapter heading.
- You may view the model and manufacturer on the General tab. You can discover the date and driver version on the Driver tab.
- Locate the most recent driver on the manufacturer’s website, then manually install it.
Conclusion
Here are seven suggestions for making your Windows 10 machine more suitable for producing music and audio. I hope you can get back into it and start creating music now that your system is functioning properly. Please share your ideas and questions in the comments area below.