robert_e_bone
Kewl.
 
Bob Bone
 

Bob, 
oopps sorry I meant that for the Mac ….I should swap out and see what happens 
 
Kenny

Anderton
Although Cakewalk hates it when I say this, if all else fails, Sonar runs very well under Boot Camp   Cakewalk doesn't support this because they don't have the resources to help people troubleshoot problems with Mac desktops running DAW software but Sonar even works under Parallels.

Hello Craig ,
Yes , I'm actually looking forward to the day when I can try that approach out . Your suggestion may turn out to be the most effective thing I could possibly do . to pull that off , all I have to do is pick up a larger 7200 HD and a copy of W 7 … 
I sure could of saved myself a whole lot of money and frustration if I went there first ...isn't hindsight something else 
 
since Cakewalk is non suported on Boot Camp  I'm gonna tread very lightly with this question … 
is the environment totally Win such as having to use ASIO and do I loose any of the Core Audio versitility ... 
 
Kenny

Sidroe
I'm running X3 on a Toshiba laptop, Windows 8, with 16 gigs of RAM, with a ton of plugs and vst instruments. It also has a secondary drive. I have to mention that both drives are 5400s.  When I record and mix everythings in the box. This is my mobile recording rig. When performing live I use an old Focusrite Saffire USB just for outs to the house. Of course, just playing projects I can juice up the buffer pretty high so no problems there. If I am recording live in a group situation, sometimes as many as 24 tracks live at once,( I do quite a bit of gospel choir recording), I use 2 Roland Studio-Capture 1610s synced together for 32 ins and 20 outs. I can usually with smaller projects get around the 128 sample area. The larger projects usually hover around the 256 mark. If I use the Saffire for recording, the buffer usually starts around 128 and gets bumped up to 256.  If it's turning into a sizeable production, 512 is the norm. Needless to say, the Studio-Captures are usually the ticket for recording.
I have an older Asus quad desktop that had been my main workstation for a few years. The desktop has virtually replaced it. I did some of the suggested tweaks for better audio performance in Windows 7 on the Asus. The first day or two the computer acted kind of strange. As if it was getting used to the new setup. After the first day, it was blazing away like a Ferrari! It still is not the computer the Toshiba is but tweaking it DID help. I have seen so many posts that say it's not necessary to tweak a computer anymore after the advent of Windows 7 and 8. I can attest to the fact that, IN MY CASE, it absolutely made a difference.
 Again, I have been very lucky with my computer choices. I have always bought off the shelf computers and cleaned out all the bloatware and such. By the time I got done cleaning and tweaking, I have ended up with some very reliable rigs. It can be done.
Now the troubles I have faced has always been due to a plugin that just is not happy working with X3. I don't use anything with a dongle! I guess I have Big Brother Syndrome. I test all the plugs until I find the culprit. When the plug is found I eliminate it completely. Usually I have something else I can use and if not I will find a newer or better plug, give it a trial run and if all is good I get it.
I feel your pain. I am not here looking down my nose saying you should have bought that 18 core Intel with 5,256 gigs of RAM. When I first started out in computer recording I started with out with a custom built machine that was supposed to be Abbey Road in a box! It was soon replaced by an off the shelf HP full of bloatware and minimum memory. Don't get me wrong!! There a lot of great builders out there and some right here on this forum. Maybe you could try contacting them. Jim Roseberry comes to mind.                                                                              I have recorded on systems that you could launch a rocket to Mars on and I have recorded on rigs that were no better than a word processor. If you spend the time to tweak a little and find and stick with the plugins you know work well for you, you can work comfortably and reliably.
I know this got long winded here but I thought maybe sharing my experiences could help. I wish you luck and I wish I had THE answer for you. Unfortunately, the bottom line is to find out the settings for your rig that run best for you. I can attest to the fact that no two machines run the same. Even if it is the same make and model! 

Hi Sidroe , 
you and I sure both have a lot in common ,
if we ever decided to join forces and write a paperback together it would be the size of a Big City phone book 
I honestly do say that with Love  I did find your post to be an interesting read .
You certainly can serve as a strong power of example of what can be done with a lap top when it is set up right .
Having the right hardware to go with it seems to carry a lot of weight .
I'm very impressed that you are in a position to record and have such versatile options while working in the type of musical environments you have mentioned …I can only picture it in my mind and your post actually brought me back in time ...
as a guitar player I did a little stint in the gospel genre and it turned out to be one of the most rewarding musical things I ever did as a sideman …
i worked a little over a year playing my guitar for Andrae Crouch over at his church on Vaughn street ..
this was in the early 2000's . it sure was a mind blowing experience and I got to play with every body
 
I'm not having any problems with SONAR or any of my plugins .
I think I might need to clean out some of the bloatware that I still left on there …
maybe you could suggest to me a good place to start...
my current needs are pretty simple …
I record at home alone …usually one track a time with the only musician a can afford ..lol
thanks for your post 
 
Kenny
 
Kenny
 

kennywtelejazz

Anderton
Although Cakewalk hates it when I say this, if all else fails, Sonar runs very well under Boot Camp   Cakewalk doesn't support this because they don't have the resources to help people troubleshoot problems with Mac desktops running DAW software but Sonar even works under Parallels.

Hello Craig ,
Yes , I'm actually looking forward to the day when I can try that approach out . Your suggestion may turn out to be the most effective thing I could possibly do . to pull that off , all I have to do is pick up a larger 7200 HD and a copy of W 7 … 
I sure could of saved myself a whole lot of money and frustration if I went there first ...isn't hindsight something else 
 
since Cakewalk is non suported on Boot Camp  I'm gonna tread very lightly with this question … 
is the environment totally Win such as having to use ASIO and do I loose any of the Core Audio versitility ... 
 
Kenny

Bootcamp is a way to run Windows on Mac hardware. When you use it to run Windows, there is no way to tell it is a Mac at all on the software side. You need a copy of Windows because that is what you'll be running, so yes there is ASIO and yes you lose all of the Core Audio versatility because it's not there - you're in Windows. I think Craig was merely suggesting that Mac laptops generally have decent hardware and a non-****ed BIOS/EFI for music production, so if you run bootcamp/Windows/Sonar on one, your results might be better. Honestly, while it will probably get you better results than you're having now, I still think Mac hardware is too expensive and it seems really weird to pay extra for an Apple and then NOT use the one thing that MAKES it Apple - OSX.

robert_e_bone
Kewl.
 
Bob Bone
 

OK Bob , I did find a few things that I changed ...
under advanced power options I found the hard disk option , so it is now set to never on battery and plugged in .
apparently I had to set this in all the available  power plans …then I created my own custom power plan and set it to that 
I found out that this things preferences  was set to give priority to back round services  which I changed ...
on a hunch I decided to throw caution to the wind and open up a X3 project , while I was in there I pulled up my preferences in both X3 and the Focusrite panel …set them to 128 ..took a deep breath hit apply and crossed my fingers….
apparently many of the suggested changes have added up …
X3 played the project of 10 audio tracks w no plugs w out so much as a hiccup ….
now I know thats not a lot of tracks , but I figure thats what I had in that project and at an ASIO setting of 128 I was able to record my guitar in real time at a more usable latency ...
next I took a guitar amp sim that I had to set to 512  before the changes and played with that in stand alone mode for about a half hour ….seems fine didn't notice any problems ...
so far things have added up to a big improvement 
 
Kewl is back on the menu
 
Kenny 
 
 

Sanderxpander

kennywtelejazz

Anderton
Although Cakewalk hates it when I say this, if all else fails, Sonar runs very well under Boot Camp   Cakewalk doesn't support this because they don't have the resources to help people troubleshoot problems with Mac desktops running DAW software but Sonar even works under Parallels.

Hello Craig ,
Yes , I'm actually looking forward to the day when I can try that approach out . Your suggestion may turn out to be the most effective thing I could possibly do . to pull that off , all I have to do is pick up a larger 7200 HD and a copy of W 7 … 
I sure could of saved myself a whole lot of money and frustration if I went there first ...isn't hindsight something else 
 
since Cakewalk is non suported on Boot Camp  I'm gonna tread very lightly with this question … 
is the environment totally Win such as having to use ASIO and do I loose any of the Core Audio versitility ... 
 
Kenny

Bootcamp is a way to run Windows on Mac hardware. When you use it to run Windows, there is no way to tell it is a Mac at all on the software side. You need a copy of Windows because that is what you'll be running, so yes there is ASIO and yes you lose all of the Core Audio versatility because it's not there - you're in Windows. I think Craig was merely suggesting that Mac laptops generally have decent hardware and a non-****ed BIOS/EFI for music production, so if you run bootcamp/Windows/Sonar on one, your results might be better. Honestly, while it will probably get you better results than you're having now, I still think Mac hardware is too expensive and it seems really weird to pay extra for an Apple and then NOT use the one thing that MAKES it Apple - OSX.

Sure Sanderxpander ,
 
I understand fully what you are saying . I figured that may of been the case 
 
 
Kenny
 

One of the links here was recommending turning off UAC. Not a good idea and won't improve performance.
 
In regards to background services being a priority there are schools of thought here, I tend to side with Noel's opinion here:
http://forum.cakewalk.com/FindPost/1239881
 
If you've been updating the mix control versions (I assume you have the latest version and there's nothing later than the beta you installed) a full reset can often do wonders esp after installing betas. That is uninstall mix control, reboot, install latest mix control, and do a complete hardware reset on the interface itself.
 
Getting latest chip set and drivers from intel auto update website is recommended as well (assuming it is Intel, otherwise research AMD's site, not sure about macs!).
 
Ta...

Anderton
+2 on NOT using a hub (even a powered one) with an audio interface. Use the hub for everything else. FWIW I've had no problems (so far) with USB 2 devices connected to a USB 3 port. In fact one interface which was flaky with USB 2 said never to use it with USB 3. But I tried it anyway and it actually worked perfectly with USB 3 where it hadn't with USB 2.
 
One more thing - you should not have to restart your computer if the USB interface goes away. Unplug it, wait a few seconds, and plug back in. Sonar will say the device is disconnected and ask if you want to reconnect it.
 
Robert is totally right about laptops not defaulting to music. In fact they default to the worst possible environment for music. This article has some useful tips. This one is similar but a little shorter. 
 
It's really too bad that you have to jump through all these hoops with Windows and external hardware just to be able to run a program on it. The one consolation I can provide is that once you get things working, they tend to stay working. It's a beautiful thing when you don't have to think about this crap and just make music. and you will get there eventually...
 

Hello Craig , you wrote some very excellent articles there   after reading  them, I can see there are a couple of more things that I can do …lots of very good ideas  that you have backed up through your own personal experience 
i don't really need the camera and a few other points you mentioned concerning shutting off unneeded resource hogs via the device manager ..a lot of good food for thought 
thank you 
 
Kenny

cvc

I take time to listen to my system with music from online radio stations. I grew up in Dayton, Ohio and I always listened to WTUE so I go to their site and listen from time to time. I also listen to CDs.