Windows caters to many different 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.

Please Note: Not all options in the video above, or the steps below, will be available on all Windows systems. 

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. To see how much storage has been used:

1. Search in the menu for ‘Settings’
2. Select ‘System’ 
3. Select ‘Storage’ 

The bar will indicate how much storage has been used and is free. You can then remove files you no longer need or move them to external/cloud storage. 

Use enough memory

If you are running large projects involving sample libraries and multiple plugins. at least 8GB of RAM is recommended.

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 2 metres. Using longer USB cables with your interface can cause dropouts, 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

• 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

Optimise Focusrite software and buffer size

Ensure that you have the latest version of the Focusrite driver or control software installed. You can find the latest version for your device on our Downloads Page.

If you are experiencing glitchy audio with your Focusrite interface, we would recommend increasing the buffer size and then testing the interface again. To do this, right-click on the Focusrite Notifier and select your device's settings. Next, increase the buffer size to 1024. If the performance improves, you can try a lower setting.

If you are unsure what buffer size is and how it affects performance, please see this article: Sample Rate, Bit Depth & Buffer Size Explained

If you can’t see the Focusrite notifier in your taskbar:

1. Go to your taskbar (in the bottom right corner of your desktop). 
2. Click on the arrow facing up (^).
3. Locate the Focusrite notifier (presented as a small ‘F’).
4. Drag and drop the Focusrite Notifier into the main area of the taskbar.

Disable USB selective suspend 

This feature can cause problems with devices connected via USB. 

1. Search for ‘Edit power plan’ 
2. Click 'Change advanced power settings'
3. Click ‘USB settings’ 
4. Click ‘USB Selective suspend setting’
5. Click ‘disable’ 

If you have a laptop, two options will appear. ‘On battery’ and ‘Plugged in’. Select 'disable' for both. 

Set processor scheduling to "Background services"

To do this:

1. In Control Panel 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 startup programs 

Sometimes your PC will launch programs automatically upon startup, this can negatively impact your computer's performance. 

1. Search in the Start menu for ‘Task Manager' and open it
2. Select ‘Startup’
3. Select the ‘Start-up impact’ tab at the top
4. This will re-categorise the programs in order of high to low 
5. Identify the programs you don’t want on startup 
6. Right-click on them and select disable

NOTE: we strongly recommend disabling "Cortana" as this program can sometimes attempt to use the inputs on your audio interface at inopportune moments (e.g. when you're in the middle of a recording session).

Disable system sounds

Sometimes system sounds can interrupt your recordings. 

1. Search in the start menu for Control Panel 
2. Select ‘Hardware and Sound’
3. Select ‘Sound’ 
4. Select the ‘Sounds’ tab
5. Under the ‘Sound Scheme menu’ select ‘No Sounds’ 
6. Click on Apply and then OK

High-Performance CUSTOM Power Plan 

You can create an additional CUSTOM power plan for your audio applications. 

A power plan is a collection of hardware and system settings that manages how your machine uses and conserves power.

1. Open Control Panel and search for ‘Power Options'
2. In the menu on the left, select ‘Create a power plan’.
3. Select ‘High Performance’ 
4. Give your plan a name: For example, ‘Audio Workstation’. 
5. Select ‘Never’ for both ‘Turn off the display’ and ‘Put the computer to sleep’ 
6. Select ‘Create’ 

You will now be on the Power Options page where your NEW custom power plan will be selected. 

1. Select 'Change Plan Settings' for your NEW custom power plan
2. Open ‘Advanced power settings
3. Expand ‘USB settings’
4. Disable ‘USB Selective suspend’ 

If you have a laptop, two options will appear. ‘On battery’ and ‘Plugged in’. Select disable for both. 

1.  Expand ‘Processor power management'
2.  Set the minimum and maximum process state to 100

If you have a laptop, two options will appear. ‘On battery’ and ‘Plugged in’. Select disable for both.

Additional Optimisation

USB Power Management Settings

This optimises how your machine uses your USB ports 

1. Search in the start menu for ‘Device Manager’ 
2. Select ‘Universal Serial Bus Controllers’ and expand it
3. Right-click the first entry and select properties
4. Open ‘Power management’ 
5. Deselect the option: ‘Allow the computer to turn off the device to save power’
6. Apply steps 3 – 5 to each entry

If an entry doesn’t have ‘Power Management’ visible, don’t worry, just ignore this and move on to the next entry. 

Disable exclusive mode

• Open Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Sound.

• Choose Playback Devices.

• Select the audio device that you would like to adjust (i.e. - Scarlett, Saffire).

• Click Properties.

• Choose the Advanced tab.

• Uncheck the Allow applications to take exclusive control of this device box (both boxes will be disabled now).

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