Audio Latency in Windows 7 tips and question
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  1. #1
    Tech Wizard
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    Default Audio Latency in Windows 7 tips and question

    Haven't used Windows for a while, but am now.
    I was looking around on ways to improve audio latency in Traktor on Windows 7.
    I know there was a post on optimizing latency for Traktor ect, but that was a while ago.
    I found this post specific to Windows 7 and thought I'd share it with all yous. I like this post for being in depth, but also very easy to read and follow along.

    Side question: The audio latency setting in Traktor on Windows 7 is frozen for me. I can't increase or decrease the latency within Traktor, which I was able to do on my old Mac. Any suggestions?

    Optimising your PC for audio on Windows 7
    All of the tuning tips below should be implemented if you want to achieve high speed, low latency audio recording and playback without glitches with your FireWire audio interface.

    Please note: If you are using a Saffire (white), Saffire LE (black), Saffire Pro 26, Saffire Pro 10 or Liquid Mix you must downgrade your FireWire driver to the legacy driver. For more information on how to do this, see the article here.

    The video here guides you through the following steps.

    General optimisation:

    1. Set your computer's power for high performance
    If your computer is set to conserve energy, the CPU may not be running at full speed all of the time. This can have a detrimental effect on your computer's audio performance. To set your computer's power for high performance:
    - Go to: Start>Control Panel>Power Options
    - Choose "High Performance"
    - Click the "Change plan settings" button.
    - Make sure both power options are set to "Never"

    2. Disable system sounds
    System sounds can interrupt audio. Ensure that they are disabled by doing the following:
    - Go to control panel and select "Sound"
    - Go to the sounds tab
    - Under sounds scheme, select "No sounds"
    - Click "Apply" then, "OK"

    3. Enable DMA (Direct memory access) on each IDE channel
    This allows data to be transferred directly into the memory and can improve audio performance. To ensure that DMA is enabled:
    - Open device manager
    - Expand the IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers category then double click on each one of the IDE channels
    - Under the 'Advanced settings' tab, make sure the 'Enable DMA' box is ticked in device properties
    Please note: this only applies to some hardware and if this option is not available, you should not worry about completing this step.

    4. Set processor scheduling to "Background services"
    This will improve the performance of your audio drivers on your computer. To do this:
    - In control panel select "system"
    - Go to "Advanced system settings" and then the "Performance" tab
    - Set processor scheduling as "Background Services"
    - Click "Apply" then "OK"

    5. Disable Windows Firewall, anti-virus and spyware software
    These should all be disabled to ensure that no interferences occur during audio recording or playback and to ensure that maximum resources are available. To remain secure while your firewall and antivirus disabled, it is advisable to temporarily disconnect from any internet connections when working with audio.


    Advanced optimisation:

    If you wish to optimise your system further, or you are using a system that is particularly lacking in resources you can follow the tips below for advanced optimisation.

    Disable Visual effects
    The visual features in Windows 7 can use resources that could otherwise help to improve audio performance. As a start, it is good idea to disable some of the visual features by doing the following:
    - Press start and in the search box type: "SystemPropertiesPerformance" and press enter
    - On the visual effects tab select "custom"
    - Untick: "Animate windows when minimising and maximising" to help prevent glitches when minimising and maximising. You can also experiment with disabling other visual effects in the custom list to see how they improve audio performance.
    - Once finished, press "OK"

    If you wish to optimise your Windows 7 graphics for the best performance use the "Adjust for best performance". Although improving computer performance, this will make your Windows 7 appear a lot less aesthetically pleasing.

    Disable Windows services
    One way in which you can make more resources available to improve audio performance, is to disable unnecessary Windows 7 services as these use valuable resources. The following site has a comprehensive guide to the services running on Windows 7 and helps locate the services that are safe to disable:
    Windows 7 Service Configurations by Black Viper

    http://www.focusrite.com/answerbase/...le.php?id=1071

  2. #2
    Tech Guru lethal_pizzle's Avatar
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    Default

    Howsabout running Gameboosterm as well?
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  3. #3
    DJTT Moderator Dude Jester's Avatar
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    Tip 3 looks interesting , cheers. Personally i use gamebooster also, things like aero peek and some other stuff uses lots of resources in win 7 so basically with one click, gamebooster sorts all that crap out and in my case, frees up about 400mb of ram.
    Acer E5 i7 16GB 512SSD 2TBHD ~ WIN 10 ~ TSP 2.11 ~ AUDIO 6 ~ DUAL X1s ~ DN-X1600 ~ SPECTRA ~ TWISTER ~ ATH-PRO500 MK2 ~ ZED6FX ~ AT2020

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  4. #4
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by mmusic View Post
    Haven't used Windows for a while, but am now.
    I was looking around on ways to improve audio latency in Traktor on Windows 7.
    I know there was a post on optimizing latency for Traktor ect, but that was a while ago.
    I found this post specific to Windows 7 and thought I'd share it with all yous. I like this post for being in depth, but also very easy to read and follow along.

    Side question: The audio latency setting in Traktor on Windows 7 is frozen for me. I can't increase or decrease the latency within Traktor, which I was able to do on my old Mac. Any suggestions?

    Optimising your PC for audio on Windows 7
    All of the tuning tips below should be implemented if you want to achieve high speed, low latency audio recording and playback without glitches with your FireWire audio interface.

    Please note: If you are using a Saffire (white), Saffire LE (black), Saffire Pro 26, Saffire Pro 10 or Liquid Mix you must downgrade your FireWire driver to the legacy driver. For more information on how to do this, see the article here.

    The video here guides you through the following steps.

    General optimisation:

    1. Set your computer's power for high performance
    If your computer is set to conserve energy, the CPU may not be running at full speed all of the time. This can have a detrimental effect on your computer's audio performance. To set your computer's power for high performance:
    - Go to: Start>Control Panel>Power Options
    - Choose "High Performance"
    - Click the "Change plan settings" button.
    - Make sure both power options are set to "Never"

    2. Disable system sounds
    System sounds can interrupt audio. Ensure that they are disabled by doing the following:
    - Go to control panel and select "Sound"
    - Go to the sounds tab
    - Under sounds scheme, select "No sounds"
    - Click "Apply" then, "OK"

    3. Enable DMA (Direct memory access) on each IDE channel
    This allows data to be transferred directly into the memory and can improve audio performance. To ensure that DMA is enabled:
    - Open device manager
    - Expand the IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers category then double click on each one of the IDE channels
    - Under the 'Advanced settings' tab, make sure the 'Enable DMA' box is ticked in device properties
    Please note: this only applies to some hardware and if this option is not available, you should not worry about completing this step.

    4. Set processor scheduling to "Background services"
    This will improve the performance of your audio drivers on your computer. To do this:
    - In control panel select "system"
    - Go to "Advanced system settings" and then the "Performance" tab
    - Set processor scheduling as "Background Services"
    - Click "Apply" then "OK"

    5. Disable Windows Firewall, anti-virus and spyware software
    These should all be disabled to ensure that no interferences occur during audio recording or playback and to ensure that maximum resources are available. To remain secure while your firewall and antivirus disabled, it is advisable to temporarily disconnect from any internet connections when working with audio.


    Advanced optimisation:

    If you wish to optimise your system further, or you are using a system that is particularly lacking in resources you can follow the tips below for advanced optimisation.

    Disable Visual effects
    The visual features in Windows 7 can use resources that could otherwise help to improve audio performance. As a start, it is good idea to disable some of the visual features by doing the following:
    - Press start and in the search box type: "SystemPropertiesPerformance" and press enter
    - On the visual effects tab select "custom"
    - Untick: "Animate windows when minimising and maximising" to help prevent glitches when minimising and maximising. You can also experiment with disabling other visual effects in the custom list to see how they improve audio performance.
    - Once finished, press "OK"

    If you wish to optimise your Windows 7 graphics for the best performance use the "Adjust for best performance". Although improving computer performance, this will make your Windows 7 appear a lot less aesthetically pleasing.

    Disable Windows services
    One way in which you can make more resources available to improve audio performance, is to disable unnecessary Windows 7 services as these use valuable resources. The following site has a comprehensive guide to the services running on Windows 7 and helps locate the services that are safe to disable:
    Windows 7 Service Configurations by Black Viper

    http://www.focusrite.com/answerbase/...le.php?id=1071

    Hi man! Did you manage to solve the problem with traktor latency option being freezed? I have the same problem in my machine. =/
    I have Traktor Scratch PRO + Audio 8 + Windows 7.

    Thanks!

  5. #5
    Tech Guru paulmac's Avatar
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    my latency is stuck on i think 5.5ms, i couldnt adjust it but i found if i changed the sample rate to a higher number the latency got slower i guess to accomadate the higher sampl rate
    MacBook Pro 17" | 1 x Kontrol S4 | 2 x Technics 1210mk2 | Ortofon Elektro's | TSP | Facebook Soundcloud Mixcloud

  6. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by zenluiz View Post
    Hi man! Did you manage to solve the problem with traktor latency option being freezed? I have the same problem in my machine. =/
    I have Traktor Scratch PRO + Audio 8 + Windows 7.

    Thanks!
    Ditto on the frozen latency settings. I have the same problem, have you found a fix???

  7. #7
    Tech Guru Ross's Avatar
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    To change the latency, you need to press (I think) settings under where you set your soundcard, and increase the USB buffer time which will increase/decrease latency by adjusting it for you.

    I had the same problem when I was using Windows.
    Pioneer DJM 700 / Traktor Kontrol X1 / 2 x Technics SL1200MK5 / Traktor Scratch Pro 2.6.7 / Ortofon Concorde Nightclub MK1
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  8. #8
    DJTT Scribe Mod smiTTTen's Avatar
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    It's not a problem, they changed the interface and should have taken away the slider. The latency is calculated based on sample rate, buffer size etc in the audio settings dialog accessed from that screen. Even if you set everything to the lowest value it doesnt get much below the 5ms range.
    Beats By Dre is like audio flu for your balls.

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