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Post by svart on Jan 22, 2024 8:11:23 GMT -6
I've had a lot of recent plugs that cause some crackling and obvious latency issues but don't report high DPC latency at all. One of them was patched and works well now, but I think the moral is that not every system/test seems to report DPC reliably.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jan 22, 2024 8:16:35 GMT -6
It's been a long time since I ran the DPC latency test. Mainly because it's not a factor for me due to my workflow (which I don't think is necessarily unique) and I've optimized my system. I have an Apollo 16 (old, firewire) and I use Pro Tools. When I am tracking (or others are) I use the UA console to "monitor" and for what goes to headphones, etc. The tracks in PT get armed but are muted. When I playback in TP, then I unmute the tracks. Even if I have plugins running on other tracks in the session, there is not any noticeable latency because all monitoring (while recording) is through the UA console (and I have recorded enough very picky singers that notice any latency). I tried a bunch of interfaces several years ago (Lynx Aurora, Orion 32, Apollo) and gave up on trying to "track" with low (32 or 64 samples) buffer size. It just wasn't practical for me since if I wanted to hear the session with any plugins active, that meant stopping PT, changing the buffer size, and then restarting PT again (huge time waste and vibe killer in the middle of a session). Are people still trying to track with such a low buffer, or through plugins? I never found guitar sims that useful for tracking, even at low buffer sizes (because there was always latency - unless using a DSP/UAD-2 plugin in Console). Maybe I'm just missing the scenario it's required (meaning I don't work that way - but maybe someone else does)? Yes tracking with low buffer works fine on some older Thinkpads (10 years old at least), Apple silicon Macs and on my windows daw desktop built by purrfect audio. It works fine for friends of mine who followed daw build guided exactly. Use zero latency or low latency older plugins or track at double sample rates to halve the latency at increased cpu use. Most UAD2 plugins coded by UAD upsample to 176.4 or 192 kHz with proper linear phase anti alias filtering. I use a lot of psp and Sonnox Oxford plugins in tracking. |
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Post by linas on Jan 22, 2024 9:18:11 GMT -6
I have a 3 yo DELL Precision 15 i7-8850H. It's lighter than the macdonalds and current precisions, also sturdy and beautiful. Does the job.
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ericn
Temp
Balance Engineer
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Post by ericn on Jan 22, 2024 9:51:38 GMT -6
Laptops are not made for us, we are just not a big enough market for manufacturers to design and build a commodity product for.
After working with guys at HP/ Compaq in Houston and having family involved with design and development at Dell and Lenovo., I have realized laptops are the Toyota Camera of computers, sure there are highend Gaming and Toughbooks but those are designed for specific niche markets with lots of profit ( I have been told 60 percent of Toughbooks are sold to government agencies).
Ironically the totally un customizable current apples are as close as we come because Apple sells us Audio and Video software.
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Post by skav on Jan 26, 2024 15:09:15 GMT -6
For anyone interested; I might have found one that works for me; A Acer Swift 14" SF14-71T with i5 13500h, 16gb RAM. No issues so far, tested for an hour, even unplugged with battery saver mode and browser in the background. Have only tested recording, no heaving mixing, but that's not the purpose for me on a laptop. Will report more later 
Comparison between it and the Macbook Pro 2022 here
I also tested a Lenovo Thinkpad 1 14ALC7 with Ryzen 7 5700U, 16gb RAM. Unfortunately clicks & pops instantly from the first recording attempt. I am using a Neve 88M USB3 interface. |
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Post by chessparov on Jan 26, 2024 15:18:51 GMT -6
And the cheapest-ahem-most affordable reliable laptop winner is... (Noise Envelope please) Chris |
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Post by christopher on Jan 26, 2024 15:39:11 GMT -6
great info! I’m sure clicks and pops could be solved, but it sure is nice when plug and go. Almost every PC I’ve used was a pia to setup and get to my happy zone. After that, they’ve all worked great. Example- FireWire I had to get external adapters with TI chips inside, because built in was a crap one. Cheaping out is the norm. Quiet and eye fatigue are the things I look for. After that long buffers during mix, bypass plugs for tracking, etc, should fix all of them these days
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Post by Hudsonic on Jan 27, 2024 7:17:21 GMT -6
Have had super service from the pre-configured Sweetwater pc computers. Not laptop though. Sweatwater removes the bogus bloatware and optimizes the system for you.
Computers start at about $1700. Battle tank quality.
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Post by nebulaseeker on Jan 27, 2024 14:34:41 GMT -6
Honestly, besides Mac, I've had some luck with high-end Dell XPS and ASUS ROG laptops. Look for ones with good processors, plenty of RAM, and an SSD.
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Post by tkaitkai on Jan 27, 2024 15:12:43 GMT -6
Don’t have any specific recommendations, but just to ease some of the concerns, I think any modern laptop should be able to handle music production with ease.
I started out on some cheap ass HP laptop with like 4GB RAM in 2009 and it handled Reaper, Kontakt, Waves plugs, Superior/EZ and others like a champ.
I also got my start as a video producer with the same machine. Which is actually more insane to me now that I think about it.
As long as you’re not trying to record 24 channels simultaneously while monitoring through Acustica plugs with zero latency, you should be fine.
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