Jim Roseberry

Using a higher end video card won't increase your DAW (audio) performance. FWIW, We've found the latest Nvidia RTX-2xxx series video cards to suffer from high DPC Latency. If you're trying to run heavy loads at a 64-sample ASIO buffer size or smaller, avoid RTX video cards (for the time being). The GTX-1xxx and newest GTX-16xx series are fine. The AMD Vega-64 and Radeon VII video cards have lower DPC Latency than the GTX video cards. I've not seen Vega-64/Radeon VII with a 0dB fan mode.

If the internal optical drive is defective, you can connect an external USB optical drive.

Just skimmed thru this thread... As long as the optical drive is properly functional, you should be able to boot from it. The OS itself won't have any effect on this. If the first boot device (in the BIOS) is listed as "Windows Boot Manager", change the list to have the optical drive listed first. Some motherboards also have a "boot-override" where you press F12 (or other hot-key) and select the desired boot drive. With Win10, I'm of the mind that you've got to be running the Pro version. The Group Policy Editor makes it quick/easy to disable OneDrive, Cortana, etc. You can also completely disable all Automatic Updates. Windows Updates are mostly fine... but occasionally a problem occurs. With Automatic Updates fully disabled, you choose if/when to apply updates. When you go to apply Updates, you can be sure you've got an up-to-date backup image file prior to starting the process. A savvy computer user can get themselves out of many types of problems. Most times, it's a matter of finding and working thru the solution. Once in a while, you get a situation that you just can't seem to solve (or that burns a lot of time). These types of situations are a reminder to all of us... to stay diligent with proper backups. Craig, (I know) you know your way around a PC. 😉 If I can be of any assistance, shoot me a PM or give me a call.

If you're running an Intel socket 1151 CPU, use the onboard video instead of the Matrox G200. We used a LOT of Matrox cards... but that was ~20 years ago. The onboard Intel GPU will be significantly faster.

FWIW, That DPC Latency (although in the Green) isn't particularly low. You won't be able to work at smaller ASIO buffer sizes with DPC Latency near 300uSec. I'd test the laptop with a different audio interface. You may be encountering an issue with performance-throttling (common with laptops). CPU load for just recording is relatively low (as Noel mentioned)... so the system may be reducing clock-speed of the CPU (to conserve power and keep temps lower). Tracks Live may be a more substantial CPU load... thus not triggering performance-throttling. Many laptops (especially off-the-shelf models) don't expose BIOS parameters necessary to prevent performance-throttling. In this case, there are 3rd-party utilities that you can try (Throttle Stop)... but they may not fully solve the issue. The issue with laptops (especially off-the-shelf) is that they're designed for a MUCH different purpose than being a high-performance workstation. The typical user (Facebook, Email, light photo editing, etc) won't notice a 4ms hiccup in data flow (high DPC Latency)... whereas for DAW purpose that means an audio dropout. The typical user is much more concerned with long batter-life vs. maximum performance. Any type of power-management or performance throttling (necessary for long battery-life and to keep temps down in a tight enclosure) runs contrary to what you're trying to configure in a DAW. That laptop will never be able to effectively work at smaller ASIO buffer sizes... but should function alright at higher ASIO buffer sizes. I'd borrow/rent an audio interface that's known to be rock-solid (RME would be a great choice)... and check performance.

I have nothing at all against AMD. At any point in time, I'll use what I feel is the best overall CPU available. With Ryzen, Thunderbolt-3 is not available. That's a show-stopper for myself and many of our clients. Ryzen's "Infinity Archtecture" benefits from running faster RAM (DDR4/3200)... but it's hard to find a motherboard that'll run DDR4/3200 absolutely rock-solid. Ironically, Intel architecture doesn't benefit significantly from running faster RAM... but most motherboards will run DDR4/3200 without issue. From a performance standpoint, Ryzen is amazing at tasks that are heavily multi-threaded (video rendering). With lower clock-speed, Ryzen is not so amazing at are tasks that aren't heavily multi-threaded. In a DAW application, not all tasks can be heavily multi-threaded. Playing thru an AmpSim plugin and monitoring in realtime using a 32-sample ASIO buffer size at 96k is not something that lends itself to being heavily multi-threaded. Thus, when it comes to a DAW, CPU clock-speed is the most critical factor. As far as cores, you want as many as you can get (or afford). What you don't want to do is sacrifice significant clock-speed for more cores. This is why Xeon CPUs are often a significant performance hit (when used for DAW purposes). Another thing to be aware of is that CPU core performance doesn't scale 1:1 IOW, doubling the number of CPU cores doesn't double performance. I don't see Intel being particularly "pricey". 😉 With the release of the i9-9900k, you've got high-end "workstation" level performance in a mid-tier (cost) CPU. You have to go high-end socket 2066 i9 to significantly best the 9900k. The 9900k has 8 cores (16 processing threads) that can be locked at 5GHz. You've got the best of both worlds (super high clock-speed and 8 cores/16 processing threads). With AMD, we've notice small "incompatibility" type issues. ie: On one of the Cakewalk demo sessions (which we often used to compare performance), Boost 11 was used on a kick drum track. When running a Ryzen CPU, Boost 11 was producing an unwanted "click/snap" that almost sounded like digital clipping. Running the same exact project with an Intel CPU, Boost 11 (same exact settings) yielded no click/snap. I don't put the fault for this on AMD (many applications/plugins aren't fully optimized for Ryzen CPUs)... but you're likely to encounter similar issues. As a point of reference, I paid ~$100 more for my PII-266 (266MHz single core CPU) than I did for my 9900k (8 cores at 5GHz). Healthy competition from Ryzen is good for all involved. Right now, I prefer Intel (for the reasons above). If/when AMD fully leap-frogs Intel, we'll be happy to use their CPUs. We built many Athlon and Athlon II based machines when AMD was beating Intel (badly) in floating-point performance. Regarding Apple manufacturing their own CPUs: AMD has been at it for decades... and still can't best Intel's top 9980xe CPU. Apple would likely reap higher profit margin by using their own CPU... but I have serious doubts that it would be on par with the best AMD/Intel CPUs. Apple has all but abandoned their power-users... so it wouldn't be out of character for them to continue this direction (fully knowing their machines would offer lower performance). The iMac Pro is a sleek/slick looking machine. But when that represents the pinnacle of your top-performance range, you're not aiming high.

I agree, Larry. IMO, Including SoundForge 12 (even at $199) would be more enticing.

Just got the upgrade several days ago... On paper, the Pro X4 upgrade isn't that exciting (no revolutionary new features). That said, the new browser and MIDI editing features are nice improvements/additions. Samplitude Pro X4 (especially the Suite version) is an extremely power DAW application. Even if it's not your primary application, it's great for cleaning up audio, mastering, CD layout, and has DDP export (Suite version).

I have the exact same desk. 😉 BTW, Some nice gear in that desk!

Just tried playing virtual-instruments in MB32C. Even with an ASIO buffer size of 32-sample (at 96k), you can really feel the lag. This doesn't happen with any other major DAW application. I like a lot about Mixbus, but that's a show-stopper for me.

Finally got the situation ironed out (sort of). I received new codes from Full Compass. The rub... it's Samplitude Pro X4 (not Pro X4 Suite). The original description and pics on the Full Compass website were of Samplitude Pro X4 Suite. The website has now been changed. I need the features in Pro X4 Suite (DDP, etc). I should have just bought the upgrade straight off the Magix website.

For those who don't know, Michael Carnes is the man/mind behind Lexicon's classic hardware reverbs.

Full Compass (still) has no clue as to what's going on. They haven't changed the Website (still says Pro X4 and SoundForge Pro 12). They're saying it's going to take several days to figure out. Magix rep is out of town until April 15th. Should have just bought the Pro X Suite upgrade from Magix.

Thanks Wren! I'll contact them today.

Registered the Pro X3 Suite SN on the Magix website. There's no means of accessing Pro X4. Tried the upgrade procedure on the Magix website... price still comes up $199. Have to wait until tomorrow (Monday) to reach a human at Full Compass.

I bought this... thinking it was too good to be true. It is too good to be true. Although the Full Compass website lists/shows Samplitude ProX 4 and SoundForge Pro 12, you actually get Pro X3 and SoundForge Pro 11.

Unbalanced I/O with phone plugs. If you're looking for quality recording, that's a bad start. Also note, with A/D inside the box, about the best noise-floor I've seen is ~-100dB. Most of the better audio interfaces with external converters have noise-floor of -110dB to -118dB (usually more expensive interfaces have lower noise-floor).

Quick speed reference: Conventional HD sustains ~200MB/Sec SATA SSD sustains ~550MB/Sec M.2 Ultra (NVMe) sustains ~3500MB/Sec Where you're going to see the most bang-for-the-buck is with disk-streaming Sample Libraries. They're going to load faster... and you'll be able to pull 17+ times the disk-streaming polyphony vs. conventional HD (6+ times the polyphony of SATA SSD). For most users: We recommend using a SATA SSD for your boot drive (still plenty fast). Use M.2 Ultra SSD (more expensive) "strategically" for that library/libraries that loads slow or where you need massive polyphony. On many motherboards that have two M.2 slots; if you run the second M.2 slot using 4 PCIe lanes (maximum performance), the last two SATA ports will be disabled. You can work around this issue by putting the second M.2 Ultra SSD on a PCIe host card. Note that it has to be installed in a PCIe slot with at least 4 PCIe lanes. If you've got a complex build (multiple M.2 Ultra SSDs, multiple PCIe cards like UAD-2, dedicated video card, etc)... available PCIe lanes can become an issue. Typically, if you're going socket 2066, it's because it's a more complex build. 😉 If you go socket 2066, go all the way and get an i9 CPU with 44 PCIe lanes.

No ads here either... (Win10 desktop)

I spec'd and built every PC Sweetwater sold for the first ~3 years. Note that I was always freelance (not an employee). 😉 We're still on good terms. I (like many of you) buy a lot of gear from Sweetwater. If you go to GearFest 2019, you'll probably see me there looking at guitars.

Hi Bob, When you call... you'll get to talk directly to me. 😉

There's precious little time for me to actually work on music. That time has to be productive. The owner of Above Records used to call me once a week (Rolling Stones, Neville Brothers). Each conversation used to end with, "So... do you have any music I should hear?" Used to almost physically hurt to tell George Daley "no"... because I was just too busy working on the technical side. Life is nothing if not ironic. 😉 At 18 years old, I would never have dreamt I'd know/talk to the guy who signed the Rolling Stones.

Noel would have a real explanation... 😉 I'm guessing it has something to do with the fact that not every process in a DAW can be multi-threaded. Video rendering is much different in that regard.

Yep. Class-Compliant means crap latency performance on PC. You'll want an audio interface with a proper ASIO driver.

It'll get used to produce synth samples for use live on stage.