I had pops and crackles when creating mixdowns after reworking an old project which contained a Korg M1 Digital soft synth. I still haven't sorted it out after hours of trying. That synth needs re-licencing after upgrading to Win 8. I'm thinking that there may be some kind of timer running on it and causing the problem

Working in new projects with imported audio is fine. But I haven't tested a mixdown yet.

My buffer is 256. Q660 Win 8 32 bit, 2 Meg

Worse here, as well (had been at 128).

Webby


Well here I am answering my own question
 
Check out this links
 
 http://www.focusrite.com/answerbase/en/article.php?id=1071
 
Bob

No Bob! You are mislead and misguided. 
Many tweaks are absolutely wrong tweaks for Windows 7 and Windows 8. Black Viper tweaks are a joke!

 
 
 
 
 
4. Set processor scheduling to "Background services"
This will improve the performance of your audio drivers on your computer. To do this:
- In control panel select "system"
- Go to "Advanced system settings" and then the "Performance" tab
- Set processor scheduling as "Background Services"
- Click "Apply" then "OK"
 
5. Disable Windows Firewall, anti-virus and spyware software
These should all be disabled to ensure that no interferences occur during audio recording or playback and to ensure that maximum resources are available. To remain secure while your firewall and antivirus disabled, it is advisable to temporarily disconnect from any internet connections when working with audio.


Advanced optimisation:

If you wish to optimise your system further, or you are using a system that is particularly lacking in resources you can follow the tips below for advanced optimisation.

Disable Visual effects
The visual features in Windows 7 can use resources that could otherwise help to improve audio performance. As a start, it is good idea to disable some of the visual features by doing the following:
- Press start and in the search box type: "SystemPropertiesPerformance" and press enter
- On the visual effects tab select "custom"
- Untick: "Animate windows when minimising and maximising" to help prevent glitches when minimising and maximising. You can also experiment with disabling other visual effects in the custom list to see how they improve audio performance.
- Once finished, press "OK"

If you wish to optimise your Windows 7 graphics for the best performance use the "Adjust for best performance". Although improving computer performance, this will make your Windows 7 appear a lot less aesthetically pleasing.

Disable Windows services
One way in which you can make more resources available to improve audio performance, is to disable unnecessary Windows 7 services as these use valuable resources. The following site has a comprehensive guide to the services running on Windows 7 and helps locate the services that are safe to disable:
Windows 7 Service Configurations by Black Viper

If you are still experiencing audio performance problems after optimising your computer for audio, please contact the support team by using the "contact us" link at the top right-hand corner of this