Effective DAW Optimization

So yeah, lots of articles have been written about how to optimize Windows and your computer for audio production tasks.  So, here’s another one but with a little different focus – awareness of the abilities already inherent in modern PC’s running Windows 7 and a glimpse at some new technologies that will impact audio work on computers.

If your DAW is based around a Windows XP setup then in all likelihood you should consider making some tweaks and optimizations to it in order to achieve the best performance.  There’s lots of great info on the web about the topic and it’s worth doing because there are tangible results.  However, with the advent of Windows 7, a lot of that isn’t as appropriate anymore.  Windows 7 has significantly improved audio handling and the direction that Microsoft was moving towards with Vista (an absolutely necessary bridge) has been realized in Windows 7.  That said, to really optimize your PC-DAW, I’d recommend designing a system around Windows 7.  Not only will there be other benefits to you in the operating system in general, you’ll find it to be a much more stable and high-performing basis on which you can build your studio on.  If you’re going to move to Windows 7 (or if you’re considering a new DAW setup) then you should be aware of some of these newer technologies that can have impact in the near future. 

USB 3.0: This is the successor to USB 2.0.  New devices began to appear in January 2010 and look very promising for audio work.  With bandwidth rates looking to be stable at 3.2Gbits per second (vs. USB 2.0’s 480mbits per second) we’re talking nearly 10x the speed.  Watch for USB 3.0-equipped motherboards and controllers and expect a new generation of audio-centric devices to follow.

Intel i7, i3 and multi-core CPUs:  Intel’s i7 Core 980x processor has 6 cores but presents the operating system with 12 processors.  This is what Intel has been doing with the Core Duo line but these new chips are taking it further than ever.  12 CPUs?  That’s amazing horsepower.  Multi-core processing is hugely beneficial to audio work and intense processing but before you jump out and get a new CPU (and motherboard that supports it) make sure you consider this:  In order to fully take advantage of all those CPUs, audio programs must be written to support or be aware of multi-core environments.  In other words, you’ll gain performance overall but apps that are specifically designed to utilize multi-processor environments will show the most gain.

Hard Drives (and other drive improvements):  Solid State drives (which use a form of flash memory instead of a spinning platter) are becoming more common but are still expensive per gigabyte compared to standard drives.  Keep an eye on SS drives though as it’s likely that their storage capacity will increase while pricing moves downward.  Other performance options for hard drives though include 15000rpm and 10000rpm drives.  These are drives that spin at higher rotational rates which increases their read/write performance.  If you consider a high-rpm drive, make sure to read about the noise levels as some may be significantly louder than a similar drive rotating at 7200rpm. 

In general, now is as good a time as any to re-work your DAW and the results can be fantastic if you do a little research and planning.  Try to keep an eye on the future while ensuring you address your current needs!