if you are running on battery, instead of plugged into the charger, it may throttle due to bios settings or windows power management.

 

you might be able to do it with a user policy, but a powershell script might be easier. google, it , someone has probably already done it...

 

You should become an admin. Do you already have admin rights? What CPU and DAW do you have? Windows 10? What graphics card?

Tweaking the computer
Modern systems with a fully updated Windows should not need any of the default settings to be modified. However, if certain drivers are not fully optimized and you experience audio drop-outs, it is worth having a closer look. Note that the following settings are often not accessible, especially on laptop systems.

• Disable Hyper-Threading (Intel)/Simultaneous Multi-Threading (AMD) in the UEFI BIOS if your CPU supports it and if your BIOS allows you to modify this setting.
• Disable advanced power-saving and dynamic performance options for your CPU if applicable. This usually needs to be done in the UEFI BIOS of your computer and includes ‘Enhanced Intel SpeedStep (EIST)’, ‘AMD Cool 'n' Quiet’, ‘Intel Turbo Boost’, and ‘AMD Turbo CORE’.
• Disable C-States in the UEFI BIOS if this is accessible. C-States allow your CPU to sleep when idle, which may interfere with real-time applications such as audio. This option is often called ‘Disable CPU Idle State for Power Saving’.

Third-party applications
Try avoiding them as much as possible. Install only, what is really needed to work with a DAW.
No additional virus scanner (use the Windows Defender instead), no tweaking utilities, no printer software, streaming clients or management tools (e.g. Asus AI Suite) etc. should be installed let alone running in background constantly.
It is advisable to deactivate these programs and slim out your auto-start. Again, see 'clean boot' for details.

Graphic card settings
Obviously, driver settings depend on the manufacturer, the graphics card model and the driver version. But as a rule, options that boost graphics/gaming performance can be suspected to interfere with real-time audio processing.
If you have to use the additional software coming with the GPU, try whether switching off high/ultra-performance modes, overclocking, high-resolution textures/polygon/shader options etc. solves the issue. Restarts might be required and probably some trial and error efforts.

Some graphic cards like the NVIDIA Quadro series offers different profiles to work with.
In rare cases, the default profile for the card caused performance issues. NVIDIA suggests trying the ‘Workstation App – dynamic streaming’ instead. The option can be found in the Nvidia 3D configuration options under <3D settings management>
Also, if a ‘multithreaded rendering’ option is available, turn that off as well! More on this here.

Using LatencyMon to Identify Audio Issues
https://support.native-instruments....1729-Windows-Tuning-Tips-for-Audio-Processing

Further Recommendations
Processor Scheduling
https://support.native-instruments....1729-Windows-Tuning-Tips-for-Audio-Processing

 

As mentioned several times before:
No 'real' asio driver, no low latency on pc. Asio4all is a wrapper that tries to convert incoming asio to wasapi or directx as fast as possible (faster than other general drivers). Asio4all is not a real asio driver that is 'talking in asio' to the hardware.
Get a cheap (real) asio interface. There is a Steinberg ixo for 50 bucks on sale in europe right now, I have 32samples latency with that one and its quite decent too.

Edit // Presonus Audiobox go seems to haver very low latency for a budget interface :
https://community.jacktrip.org/t/presonus-audiobox-go/306

 

Last edited: Apr 24, 2025 at 10:52 PM

oh man that i3 3210m is the culprit. thats a cpu from the past. can you upgrade? i mean, a brand new laptop ?

 

I can't because I may not be able to run MacOSX on the same laptop then. I need this laptop because it's one of the few that is capable of running MacOS too.

Anyway, now adjusting the things I mentioned I can record with my needed plugins at 64 samples. The size of the project might matter but I can always render the song and record over the exported WAV. That way it works without clicks and lagging. This is already a big advancement, because without the adjustments I cannot even start a playback at 64 samples. I could even to go down to 32 samples and it could still record over a WAV with my plugins. I will try to create a dedicated Windows installation for Reaper, I think that way it might be even faster. We'll see. But at least now I can use my plugins in Windows too, to record through the Alesis iO4.

But there is something else that might matter: as I know if the sample rate is higher, the load on the CPU is also less. The Alesis iO4 specs in the manual say 24bit/48kHz max, but in Asio4all and even in Logic the max to choose is 44.1. So how can I force it to record with 48? In Logic you can just choose it, it is displayed in italic though, so not a recommended setting, but in Asio4all, when you open its settings panel you can see Input/Output 16 bit 44.1kHz. Where can you select 48 in Asio4All??? Or instead, I should tick "Request sample rate 48kHz" in Reaper?

By the way I have just checked the performance monitor, and even when the Power Management is on Balanced only, the recording in Reaper in a project doesn't make the CPU usage jump over 30%. So I wonder of this is a performance issue at all. What seems to make the dropouts and clicks disappear is when I disable the integrated sound chip, the WiFi and the virus scanner, and I select to give more power to background processes.

 

Last edited: Apr 25, 2025 at 3:22 AM

Then considering upgrading to a newer Windows. It could noticeably improve buffer size.

(https://pcaudiolabs.com/windows-10-for-pro-audio/)

 

AUDIENT - iD4
Minimum OS Version: macOS 10.13.x (High Sierra) and Later
Windows: Windows 10 and Later

Audient 44.1 / 256 samples or Audient 44.1 / 128 samples
Export mix --> FLAC file --> 24-bit / sample rate 48.0 kHz

Always use the drivers for your USB audio interface; they are always better quality than ASIO4ALL.

ALESIS iO4 Audio Interface
- Four-channel recording interface for Mac or PC, recordings up to 24-bit and 48 kHz possible

iO4 - 4-Channel, 24-Bit Recording Interface (DISCONTINUED)
- ASIO4All - Optional audio device drivers for Windows

ASIO4ALL has its own software where you can adjust the values. (see picture)
https://asio4all.org/getting-started/

Just stick with 128 Samples - or upgrade to Windows 10!

 

Last edited: Apr 25, 2025 at 9:59 AM