Jack Stoner

When I do DAW work, whether recording, tracking, mixing or whatever that is all I have running. I have internet (NIC) disabled to prevent dropouts. I have a relatively high end desktop (i9 9900K CPU) but still limit multi-tasking.

I haven't done a clean install of Win 11, but I left Sonar Platinum and all my plug-ins installed when I converted to Cakewalk by Bandlab. I tried the old Sonar Platinum about a month ago (I have Win 11 Pro) and everything still works. I suspect it will install without problems. At worst, install Sonar in a Windows 7 compatibility mode if you run into a problem with the install.

At least in our opinions since no one, including myself, directly answered his question on that Lenovo.

I agree with the others on a desktop. But, if you must have a laptop consider a "gaming" laptop. They are usually more robust and have additional cooling, the bane of a laptop. When I added a laptop for mobile/on site recording I chose a Dell Inspiron 15 Gaming 5577 model for the cooling. I've had it powered on continuously for over 6 hours at times and no overheating or noisy fan problems.

If you don't have the latest version, get it since you now have Win10. There were some updates for Win 10 compatibility.

Download and run the free Resplendence Latency Mon. Will help in cleaning up system.

JIm, this is one of those "we'll never know what the H... he's doing or setup" unless we were there. FWIW, I went through an RFI mess in late 70's at a studio (Big K Records) in Kansas City Mo. The studio was 1 block from an AM radio station transmitter site. I was able to get the RFI out of the recording system but never able to completely eliminate it in the Headphone system. That was a real challenge.

Jim, the user reported he didn't have any noise/interference with old computer. Only with the new XPS 8950.

Update, user I was working with on the Dell forums that was getting a whine, plus EMI from new PC has reported he has "fixed" the problem with an " ISP Technologies Hum Extractor + Decimator G Noise Reduction System". Expensive unit but the user is happy. Here's the listing for this item on Sweetwater.

I defer to Jim on most computer things; However, I've found devices on the same AC power circuit or on different AC power circuits usually isn't the problem on ground loop hum cases I've been involved in (either when I was an amp tech in Nashville or later). I've had cases where an Ebtech "HumX" AC power ground isolator was the only safe fix.

I've had latency problems caused by NVIDIA video. It can be tamed but I haven't found a way. I only use AMD Video cards for this reason. Two DAW users on the Dell forums have reported latency problems with new XPS desktops that come with NVIDIA video cards. Both reported the latency problems were "fixed" by removing the NVIDIA cards and using the Intel CPU Video.

I doubt the legacy FW driver will make a difference. More likely as previously mentioned some component in the new PC. I've been working with a user on the Dell forum that is getting PC generated noise in his recording interface from a new XPS desktop, that was not in his old PC. So far the noise seems to be caused by power supply. FWIW on the legacy FW driver. I was using the legacy FW driver on Win 7 with a Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 recording interface. I had to do a clean install of Win 7 and forgot about installing the legacy FW driver and the Saffire Pro 40 was working OK with the default driver. I installed the legacy driver and it didn't make any difference so I went back to the default driver. I used the default driver when I upgraded to Win 8/8.1 and ultimately Win 10 (with an MOTU FW unit).

Win 11 appears to be a non issue for most with fully compatible (meet Microsoft's spec's) systems. Now "Windows 12" is on the distant horizon. When, what, hardware requirements? I'm not finding much but the owners of tenforums.com and elevenforum.com have created a "twelveforum" site so there must be enough substantial info for the forum to be created.

When I backup my PC I do a full disc image, all partitions not just the "C" (system) partition. I used to use Acronis True Image but it failed me twice trying to restore. I abandoned it for Macrium Reflect that after 8 years has never failed me. I also discontinued use of RAID since I do at least weekly, if not more often, disc image backups. My Cakewalk projects are on a separate disc drive, not on the System drive and are backed up after any changes/additions.

Sounds like the Realtek drivers you have do not have ASIO drivers (what Cakewalk deafults to, and looking for). Best to have a "real" recording interface as the PC sound is not very good for recording work. Latency is one problem. Another is no standard mic or instrument inputs and support. A USB recording interface unit, even an inexpensive model, will have better latency, have both a mic and/or instrument input, and a headphone jack.

Dell's use Waves MaxxAudio Pro for audio jack detection and some other audio functions. This app only works with the Dell sound driver, and the PC needs the Dell model specific sound driver. The internal PC audio tends to have more latency than a USB connected recording interface device. Try increasing buffer sizes with the internal sound. To add to my previous post noting my Dell laptop. If I use the NVIDIA video I get latency and dropouts. If I use the Intel CPU Video I do not.

There are two options, as I see it, to tame a Dell laptop. I have a Dell Inspiron 15 Gaming 5577 that I use for mobile (on site) recording. As shipped from Dell it had latency and dropouts. Everything I tried helped but it was still not 100% clean (I was getting a dropout about every 8 minutes when recording). The PC was shipped with an M.2 SSD and had space to add a laptop hard drive or a full size SATA SSD. I had a spare SSD so I installed that and created a dual boot system, One install was the original Dell image that I could use for "regular" PC work and the second install was my recording and only had Windows, needed drivers and recording software. I can run latency mon for hours and no issues. Barring the dual boot, the first thing to do is disable Dell Support Assist. We find on the Dell support forums that Support Assist can be one cause of latency. There are a lot of people using Dell's for DAW work, just takes some time to tame it. We also find disabling internet can have a positive effect on audio as Wi-Fi is an often cause of audio "popping/crackling/droputs".

The heat issues in most XPS 8940's are due to the small Dell OEM CPU cooler. Some have also added extra case fans, but space for added case fans is limited and no added fan connections on the motherboard so power has to be piggybacked from some other connection. Dell fan connections are not ATX standard, which can be an issue on add on fans and special adapters are needed. I went with a Corsair liquid cooler on my home built system. The "hot" 95 watt i9 9900K idles in upper 30's and I've never seen it go above low 50's under heavy load. I only have the smaller H80i cooler as I didn't have room for a larger radiator/fan model (which would have been better).

I forgot the exact date but in 2 or 3 years Microsoft will stop supporting Win 10 and all software vendors are now or will focus solely on Win 11. From posts on this forum, Win 11 is a non issue for DAW operations. Win 11 is basically "Win 10 2.0". I do support on the Dell forums and I would not recommend the XPS8940 or the newer XPS8950 for DAW work. Too many reported heat problems with the 8940 and unless you go with optional liquid cooling on the 8950 there can be heat problems on it too. Latency issues on both too unless you go with the model that uses the Intel CPU video and not an added video card (just went through this with a user that bought an 8950 for DAW work, he had to remove the NVIDIA video card and use Intel CPU video to eliminate Latency problems). 7th gen Intel CPU's are not (officially) supported for Win 11 so that only leaves the 8700 of the ones you posted (and its not a "new" CPU).

I have a Seagate external USB drive that I use for full disc images (using Macrium Reflect). But I have a second USB drive and alternate backups. If one were to fail, I still have the backup from other drive. Current Seagate drives are as reliable as any other brand. Anything has the possibility of failing, regardless of the brand. If things never failed there would be no need for warranties or service techs. Seagate did have a reliability problem 5+ years ago but that was fixed. I think Western Digital owns Seagate.

I have a 7th gen CPU Dell gaming laptop. I only use it for mobile recording but would probably work good for general recording DAW, It works fine for what I use it for but not officially Windows 11 compatible due to 7th gen CPU. Win 10 is fine for CbB so no need to replace it. I selected the gaming laptop as it has more cooling. Most "general" laptops have poor cooling and that can be an issue for a DAW machine that is on for long periods. Drawback to your price range, gaming models are pricey, but like most items you get what you pay for.

It is an upgrade, but may not be a direct replacement for an 8700K, depending on motherboard. The gamers like the i9 9900K with all the cores. The 9900 runs hotter and needs efficient cooling.

I don't think its Win 11, as Pro Channel works OK on my Win 11 (no difference from Win 10). I'd install and try the Octa-Capture to see if the test with Realtek was the issue before going any further..

What are you using for a sound device? The PC sound or a separate recording interface unit? On the Dell forums we are not seeing many sound problems but on the models Dell has certified as Win 11 compatible, reinstalling the sound driver fixes the problem.

All are old and limited in upgradeability (Intel chipset is one limit). Most factory built PC's have proprietary items that can limit choices for upgrading and swapping components. The memory in those models is all outdated and getting harder to find. Whatever you could do to any of those systems and you will still have an "old" PC. Best option is to bite the bullet and build a new desktop. Intel CPU's are now up to 12th generation. You probably don't need an i7 12th gen CPU. A 10th or 11th gen will do well for many years. The Intel CPU video is more than adequate for DAW and general PC work and a separate video card isn't needed. However if you do install a video card make it an AMD to minimize potential DPC latency problems.