All the tuning tips below should be implemented if you want to achieve high speed, low latency audio recording and playback without glitches with your audio interface.

General Optimisation

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 the time. This can have a detrimental effect on your computer's audio performance. To set your computer's power for high performance, do the following:

1. Go to Control Panel > Power Options.
2. Choose High Performance.
3. Click the Change plan settings button.
4. Make sure both power options are set to Never.

Ensure that Windows 8 is fully up-to-date

Microsoft often issues important updates for Windows that may fix issues relating to any audio problems you might be having. Problems arise here if a Windows system has auto-updates turned off, and so your system may be missing many updates. It is fine to leave auto-update off, however we would recommend ensuring that you check for Windows updates regularly.

Disable system sounds

System sounds can interrupt audio. Ensure that they are disabled by doing the following:

1. Go to Control Panel and select Sound.
2. Go to the Sounds tab.
3. Under Sounds Scheme, select No sounds.
4. Click Apply, then OK.

Set processor scheduling to “Background services”

This will improve the performance of your audio drivers on your computer. To do this follow these steps:

1. Go to Control Panel and select System.
2. Go to Advanced system settings and then the Advanced tab.
3. Click on Settings… under Performance to bring up the Performance Options window.
4. Go to the Advanced tab and set processor scheduling as Background Services.
5. Click Apply then OK.

Disable Windows Firewall, antivirus 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. This will also make sure that no network adapters are conflicting with any 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 8 can use resources that could otherwise help to improve audio performance. As a start, it is a good idea to disable some visual features by doing the following:

1. Go to Control Panel and select System.
2. Go to Advanced system settings and then the Advanced tab.
3. Click on Settings… under Performance to bring up the Performance Options window.
4. 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.
5. Once finished, press OK.

If you wish to optimise your Windows 8 graphics for the best performance, use the Adjust for best performance. Although improving computer performance, this will make your Windows 8 appear a lot less aesthetically pleasing.

Disable network cards

Sometimes, network card drivers can cause problems with audio. A good troubleshooting step is to try disabling your network adapters in Device Manager, and then test local audio (like an .mp3) and see if you continue to have issues. This is also a good optimisation step in general. Disabled adapters can easily be re-enabled at any point.

Disable Windows services

One way in which you can make more resources available to improve audio performance is to disable unnecessary Windows 8 services as these use valuable resources. The following site has a comprehensive guide to the services running on Windows 8 and helps locate the services that are safe to disable: Windows 8 Service Configurations by Black Viper.

Windows caters to many types of users and applications. Here are some ways to improve your Windows experience for music production.

You might view this article if you experience these problems:

• Pops, clicks, humming and distorted sounds when you record or playback audio.
• A delay between when you play your instrument/microphone/MIDI instrument and hearing the sound from your speakers/headphones. The technical term for this is LATENCY.
• Your Windows machine operates slowly or keeps crashing.

You may need to change your view in Control Panel from 'Categories' to either 'Small Icons' or 'Large Icons' in order to directly follow some of these steps.

Basic Tips

Free up space

Don’t let your computer’s boot drive get too full. Always make sure you leave >20% of your computer's main hard drive empty.

Use enough memory

If you are running large projects involving sample libraries and multiple plugins, we recommend at least 8 GB of RAM.

Use a suitable USB cable for your Hardware

Make sure you use a short USB cable, either the one that comes in the box or one that is shorter than two metres. Using longer USB cables with your interface can cause dropouts and glitches, or may not work entirely.

Ensure your interface has its own dedicated USB port

USB hubs are known to cause issues with audio devices. These issues can include noise, disconnections, and even the interface not being detected at all. Therefore, it is recommended that your interface is connected directly to its own USB port.

Close all other background applications

When you run your DAW (Digital Audio Workstation), make sure you close applications that are not in use, such as the following:

• Music streaming apps (Spotify etc.)
• Web browsers (Chrome, Edge etc.)
• Office applications (Word, Excel etc.) 

This will free up power for your DAW, preventing your system from running slowly when multiple programs are trying to use the machine. 

Main Tips

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 the time. This can have a detrimental effect on your computer's audio performance. To set your computer's power for high performance, do the following:

1. Go to Start > Control Panel > Power Options.
2. Choose High Performance.
3. Click the Change plan settings button.
4. Make sure both power options are set to Never.

Ensure that Windows 7 is fully up-to-date 

Microsoft often issues important updates for Windows that may fix issues relating to any audio problems you might be having. Problems arise here if a Windows system has auto-updates turned off, so your system may be missing many updates. It is fine to leave auto-update off, however, we would recommend ensuring that you check for Windows updates regularly.

Disable system sounds

System sounds can interrupt audio. Ensure that they are disabled by doing the following:

1. Go to Start > Control Panel > Sound.
2. Go to the Sounds tab.
3. Under Sounds Scheme, select No sounds.
4. Click Apply, then OK.

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, do the following:

1. Open Device Manager.
2. Expand the IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers category then double-click on each one of the IDE channels.
3. Under the Advanced settings tab, make sure the Enable DMA box is ticked in the 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.

Set processor scheduling to Background services

This will improve the performance of your audio drivers on your computer. To do this, follow these steps:

1. In the Control Panel select System.
2. Go to Advanced system settings and then the Performance tab.
3. Set processor scheduling as Background Services.
4. Click Apply then OK.

Disable Windows Firewall, antivirus 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 are disabled, it is advisable to temporarily disconnect from any internet connections when working with audio.

Disable USB Selective Suspend (for USB interfaces)

This prevents your hub driver from suspending an individual USB port. To do this, go to Start > Hardware and Sound > Power Options > Change advanced power settings > USB Selective Suspend and select Disabled.

Other Tips

If you wish to optimise your system further, you can follow the tips below for additional 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 a good idea to disable some visual features by doing the following:

1. Click Start and in the search box type SystemPropertiesPerformance and press ↵ Enter / ↵ Return.
2. On the Visual Effects tab, select Custom.
3. 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.
4. Once finished, press OK.

If you wish to optimise your Windows 7 graphics for the best performance, select 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.