• Computers
  • Laptop and LatencyMon Results - Any Hope?
2017/03/03 11:31:38
olemon
I'm likely going to buy or build a new desktop for the home studio, but I'm curious about the laptop I've been using and the LatencyMon results.  Clicks and pops abound unless I've got buffers set high, at least 512 on my Quad Capture and 1024 on the UCX I'm using now.  Here are some screen captures.  The laptop has three USB ports.  One is dedicated to the external HDD, one to the UCX, and one to a wireless Logitech M570 Trackball.
 
For each test, wifi was disabled and AVG Free was disabled.  In the first test and screen captures, only the HDD and UCX were connected.  In the second test the M570 Trackball was connected too.  Hopefully these images are clear and large enough.  Thanks.
 




2017/03/03 15:15:05
robert_e_bone
I apologize for not looking in detail at your posted images - I am running out the door.
 
Lots of folks have issues with DPC Latency spikes on their laptops, because of WiFi causing intermittent massive DPC Latency spikes.
 
If you haven't done so already - I would suggest you try temporarily turning off or disabling your laptop's WiFi, just prior to launching Sonar, then launching Sonar, then after finishing your Sonar session turn WiFi back on or enable it again.
 
(or if just running Latency Mon for gauging streaming audio performance, disable or turn of WiFi and then run Latency Mon for a couple minutes, then when finished with Latency Mon, turn on or enable WiFi again).
 
Some laptops have a physical switch that can turn WiFi off, some have a Function Key to do it, and if neither, you can toggle WiFi on/off in Windows Device Manager, by right-clicking on the WiFi device and clicking on either Disable or Enable - just make sure you don't click on Uninstall).
 
I hope the above helps, 
 
Bob Bone
 
 
 
2017/03/03 15:42:40
bitflipper
None of those individual driver stats look out of the ordinary. Aside from the ACPI driver, I get similar results on my own machine. However, my overall latency is much lower. The difference, I think, may come down to mostly the CPUs (i7 vs. i3) and just the fact that you're running on a laptop.
 
ACPI latency is typically higher on a laptop than on a desktop because it has more duties to perform, such as monitoring the battery. Some say you can lower ACPI latency by disabling the battery management part, but that has not been my experience.
 
At any rate, desktop machines generally perform better than laptops in almost every respect. You'll be in much better shape after you make that switch.
 
 
2017/03/03 18:43:30
fireberd
Have you tried running the Latency Mon with just the basic PC, no recording interface connected.  I used to have a Lenovo Win 7 laptop (slow as hell) but it "passed" latency mon tests.
 
AVG is one of the AV's that was flagged by Sonar support several years ago that they recommended (at the time) to not use.  I've used the free Microsoft Security Essentials and Malwarebytes and did not have any latency issues when I had Win 7.  The Microsoft Security Essentials (called Windows Defender in Win 10) is less intrusive than many AV's and depending on which evaluation site you look at it can be rated up with some of the best.
 
IF it comes up with latency issues, with just the basic PC, recommend you post on the Win 7 forums    www.sevenforums.com  and let some of the Win 7 guru's there sort it out.
2017/03/03 23:49:17
olemon
Found this from Jim R. on another thread.  I suspect it is the case with this Gateway laptop I commandeered for the studio.  It's a big box special that was bought for the general purpose home office.
 
Jim Roseberry
Most off-the-shelf laptops *do not* expose many BIOS parameters that can help reduce DPC Latency.  
This is done to prevent novice users from fouling up their machine.
 
If your off-the-shelf laptop has high DPC Latency... and driver updates don't resolve it, you're pretty well SOL.
Tweaking Windows will have near zero effect on DPC Latency.
 
With a tight enclosure, performance throttling has to be done to keep temps in check.
As part of this, most laptops run a "mobile" version of the i3/5/7 CPU.
CPU throttling can cause high DPC Latency.

2017/03/04 00:12:53
olemon
bitflipper
You'll be in much better shape after you make that switch.



Thanks.  Music to my ears:)
2017/03/04 00:14:20
olemon
fireberd
IF it comes up with latency issues, with just the basic PC, recommend you post on the Win 7 forums    www.sevenforums.com  and let some of the Win 7 guru's there sort it out.



Good info.  I'll try it. Thanks.
2017/03/05 20:31:12
Jim Roseberry
FWIW, Neither Windows tweaks nor audio interface being connected are going to significantly affect DPC Latency.
If the BIOS of the motherboard doesn't expose certain parameters (CPU throttling, etc)... and the issue isn't merely down to a poor WiFi driver, there's little you can do to reduce DPC Latency.
 
This is why many laptops don't make good "workstations".
They're not designed for this type of purpose.
Someone surfing the Internet, using Facebook, running MS Word/Excel, or even using Photoshop would never notice a few ms hiccup in data-flow. 
If you're trying to work with multi-track audio (at ultra low latency settings), those few ms result in a glitch (or worse) a dropout.
 
If you build a Desktop, choose good components and you certainly won't have this problem.
 
2017/03/05 21:12:05
abacab
That appears to be a 2nd gen Core i3 in that laptop, which was released in 2011.  It's probably OK for a mobile office, but for audio, there is nothing like building a solid desktop.  You will be much happier with that!
http://pcpartpicker.com/list/
 
I also have an Acer laptop running a 4th gen Core i5 that passes that latency test, but I didn't buy it for audio.  Just got lucky 
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