Windows 10: Configuring for (near) real time processing (and back)

Dear friends,
I have assembled a modern PC for my son who is a musician for his music production needs, but also as a general purpose PC (we don't have enough space and money to have a dedicated rig).

As you might now music production has a stringent "real time" requirement with the CPU needing to keep a steady flow of processed data into the audio interface buffers with a latency that cannot be greater than 10-20 milliseconds, the lower the better.

While trying to optimise his system I have discovered the obvious : there are drivers, devices, processes, services, settings and applications which would be better turned off when the PC is used for recording music (eg. antivirus, network, graphic effects etc.)

The same things need to be in a different state when the PC is used for general purpose stuff (surfing, office etc.)

Is there a way to automate the most of these things in a simple way so that ideally you'd have two "profiles" and could switch between the two easily ?

Thanks a lot.

:)

 

Network GPS for racing lap time and real time speed

I am looking for a Nokia phone whcih will work in Network GPs (not A-GPS) whcih I can use in Racing lap time recording along with the srealtime speed every where.



Is it possible to get in 5230 or X6 or any nokia phone with GPS connecting to three satellites.

I have seen that it will take 15 min to sync. I will be always on outdoor.



Please suggest me if I can use nokia phome to record my lap times in a race track

 

Network GPS for racing lap time and real time speed

Provided you have a good clear view of the sky, any "proper" GPS (NOT network GPS) will work to a degree. However, none will be accurate enough to give you really good lap time info. Accuracy (even with a good consumer dedicated GPS device) will only be
to 2-3m, and at high speed without a full view of the whole sky the chances are accuracy will be even less than that. So when the GPS records you crossing the start / finish line, it could be 10, 20, 30, 40m wrong.



The only way to get accurate timing data is to use a transponder.



Even runners will tell you that GPS's have a limited degree of accuracy, they'll often have you on the wrong side of the road etc. Whilst they are OK for timing you to the nearest second on a 3 mile run, they'd be useless for timing you to the nearest tenth
or hundredth of a second over a lap.



Hope this helps!



Matt

 

Welcome to TenForums, rjalex.

I'm by no means an expert but two possibilities come to mind:

1) If you have sufficient disk space, set up a dual boot system - one with the general purpose environment and the other with a stripped down OS environment, perhaps even Linux if it supports the software needed for music production, or

2) A batch file to reconfigure the operating system (as in msconfig) and reboot the system into the configuration needed.

I haven't done a lot of batch files for a few years but I'm guessing either a batch file or script executed from either a command prompt environment or within Windows PowerShell may work for item 2).

I'm not the expert to advise you on all of the specifics but saw no response to you for 4 days and thought at least my response might generate more response for you from other forum members that have more specific knowledge to share with you.

Other than that, you may get more specifics from another internet community that specializes in your situation of dual use with limited resources for music production.

 

Thanks a lot for trying to help.
I'm kind of stuck into a void since on the music production sites (kvr, gearslutz etc.) a lot of people are still holding to their 8.1 and even 7 because of the sensitive dependencies they have with their software and drivers so not a lot of experience with Win10 there.

Your dual boot idea might be a simpler option which I'll look into.

Thanks

 

By design, it's impossible for Windows 10 to get as close to that, as can Windows 7/8.
Even then, you might find a Linux distribution working better for the task, but sadly lacking in the audio software department.

Things will change once true dx12 hardware hits the market (couple years away).

Edit: there is a "popular" guide / scripts for audio setup under Windows 7/8/8.1 to check out:
Computer Audio Design Computer setup
Read the guide, try the shell killer or audio optimization scripts.
Won't make a great difference, since the problem is at the driver level, but will surely help, as I've got some friends using these for a pub setup.

 

Hi.

I been reading the responses and decided to add my bit that I learn from other people that do music(DAW) systems.


make sure power options in windows is set to high performance.(this will make sure the system has access to all the cores of the cpu and performance, along with other devices.)

disable advance power-savings setting in bios.
Enhanced Intel Speed Step (EIST) for intel and AMD cool'n'Quiet for Amd.



disable C-states

those options is make the cpu idle clocks stay at its highest speed and not drop to lower clock speed.
energy usage difference is minimal.

more info on
Article Detailshttps://www.steinberg.net/

here is example from my bios, if computer is OEM(dell,HP,ect) it might not have these options.

sorry crappy phone pic.





I have disabled on my is
CPU Enhance Halt
C3/C6 State Support
CPU EIST Function

if computer is AMD. then options could be different.


even though it says to disable turbo, you dont have too if your disable all the energery setting in the bios, because the cpu will run at that speed at all time.

again energy usage difference is minimal, because the cpu actually isnt processing until your actually doing something on the system.

 

Great advice. Thank you.