Native Instruments - Knowledge Base
Knowledge Base
Audio PC buying guide
Hinweis: Eine deutschsprachige Fassung dieses Artikels finden Sie als PDF unterhalb des englischen Textes.
This article provides some technical information that should be considered before buying or building a PC you want to use for audio processing:
1. Research
In order to find out which computer or computer components are suitable for audio processing, it can be helpful to look for devices that already work well for other users. Useful information can easily be found by doing a web search, i. e. for 'Mainboard DAW recommendation' or 'Notebook DAW recommendation'.
Performance test results for various notebook models can be found on the website below:
http://www.notebookcheck.com
2. Technical specifications
Here are some basic rules for the requirements an audio computer should fulfill:
3. Testing
If possible, test the computer before you buy it. Otherwise, make sure that you have the right to return it if it does not deliver a good audio performance.
For testing the audio performance of a computer, we recommend the software DPC Latency Checker:
http://www.thesycon.de/eng/latency_check.shtml
DPC Latency Checker helps you monitor your computer's capability to stream real-time audio. Yellow and red spikes in the DPC Latency Checker analysis indicate that one or more devices are causing high CPU loads on the computer, which will affect the audio processing performance.
Also test the computer with the software and hardware you want to use - you should only purchase a computer if you are satisfied with the results of this test.
A lot of useful information on how to optimize your computer for audio processing can be found in the Windows Tuning Tips linked in the Related Articles section at the bottom of this page.
This article provides some technical information that should be considered before buying or building a PC you want to use for audio processing:
1. Research
In order to find out which computer or computer components are suitable for audio processing, it can be helpful to look for devices that already work well for other users. Useful information can easily be found by doing a web search, i. e. for 'Mainboard DAW recommendation' or 'Notebook DAW recommendation'.
Performance test results for various notebook models can be found on the website below:
http://www.notebookcheck.com
2. Technical specifications
Here are some basic rules for the requirements an audio computer should fulfill:
- The CPU speed, RAM and CPU cache should be as high as possible. The minimum system requirements for each NATIVE INSTRUMENTS product can be found in the Specifications area on the respective product web page.
- Do not buy a computer using 'shared memory' for it's graphics card - the graphics card should have at least 256 MB of dedicated GFX RAM.
3. Testing
If possible, test the computer before you buy it. Otherwise, make sure that you have the right to return it if it does not deliver a good audio performance.
For testing the audio performance of a computer, we recommend the software DPC Latency Checker:
http://www.thesycon.de/eng/latency_check.shtml
DPC Latency Checker helps you monitor your computer's capability to stream real-time audio. Yellow and red spikes in the DPC Latency Checker analysis indicate that one or more devices are causing high CPU loads on the computer, which will affect the audio processing performance.
Also test the computer with the software and hardware you want to use - you should only purchase a computer if you are satisfied with the results of this test.
A lot of useful information on how to optimize your computer for audio processing can be found in the Windows Tuning Tips linked in the Related Articles section at the bottom of this page.
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