Axiom on a Laptop?

[roundsound11]

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Hi folks. I'm loving Axiom on my desktop but can't get it to run glitch free on my new laptop. https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c05997528 (https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c05997528)
CPU is AMD A6-9225 Dual-Core (2.6 GHz base frequency, up to 3 GHz burst frequency, 1 MB cache). Hard drive is 1 TB 5400 rpm SATA. It has 8 gigs of ddr4 ram.

The laptop came with win 10 and the glitches were terrible, so I wiped the drive and installed win 7 64x and the glitches are much better, but not quite good enough. Especially noticeable on Late Replies tails. I updated all the drivers and firmware.

Is there a minimum feasible machine for Axiom?
Thanks!!!

[Blue Cat Audio]

This laptop may be a bit light on CPU to enjoy the power of Axiom on it in real time (Late Replies may especially be a bit heavy on CPU when using the most fancy presets). Intel Core CPUs would probably be more appropriate. Also, performance may depend quite a bit on your audio interface and its drivers. Are you using an audio interface with a dedicated ASIO driver (not the generic ASIO4All driver)?

[roundsound11]

Thanks BCA. This interface is an M-Audio M-Track. I use Samplitude and it prefers AMD graphics hardware so Intel is out.
I'll build a computer to run Axiom live in a rack mount server case. It's a lot lighter than a real amp and much more powerful. I've built several of these.
Win 7 will be the OS.
Questions:
1. What is the minimum requirement of CPU and RAM to run the presets?
2. How much (if any) difference would an SSD be?
3. Will x32 require less horsepower than x64? If so, how much?
4. Any other advice for building a portable desktop for real time Axiom?

It'd be nice if the info was presented in a chart for BC customers with categories for x32, x64, win 7, win 10, RAM size, etc. Maybe a new preset group for economy. Possibly an economy mode for those with limited resources.

[Blue Cat Audio]

It is difficult to detail the exact specifications required to load all the factory presets because it depends on too many things out of our control: the drivers of the sound card, the latency you are trying to achieve etc. The presets that have less effects would usually perform better on most machines, so you should be on the safe side when using the presets in the categories without effects (for example "Guitar - Clean" vs "Guitar - Clean + FX).

In general you will want to use a CPU that is capable of good performance in single thread mode (most of the audio processing occurs in a single thread) - recent Intel Core i5 or i7 (or i9) are usually pretty good at this.

A SSD won't make any difference in this regard. It may just speed up the loading time of the application. It may help only if you are using third party plug-ins that stream files from the hard drive (such as sampler, audio file player etc.)

32-bit is usually not faster or slower than 64-bit. So it is usually a better idea to just use the app in 64-bit mode to be able to load more plug-ins .

On Windows, desktop computers are usually better for low latency audio processing because they have less drivers that cause DPC issues (often caused by battery saving optimizations on laptops). You can use the Latency Mon application to check these out. It can sometimes help finding out the drivers that should be deactivated to avoid audio dropouts.

[Tappistry]

Another thing to look at beyond just driver updates for your laptop is to make sure your motherboard's USB drivers (on intel boards, this installer is referred to an INF or ME package). Also, make sure your BIOS is up to date. Your OEM should have them posted in their support section (Dell, HP, whatever).

As a general rule, you'll want to turn off your WIFI antenna because they're notorious for causing latency spikes on laptops.

There's a great free e-book by the developer of the Cantabile Host software for Windows that's worth a read if you're set on gigging with a Windows laptop.
https://download.cantabilesoftware.com/GlitchFree.pdf

[Blue Cat Audio]

Yes, the WiFi driver is indeed very often a source of drop outs. It's too bad that some Windows laptops are so tricky to setup because of faulty drivers and battery saving options while most cheap Desktops are workhorses for real time DSP!

[Tappistry]

Yes, the WiFi driver is indeed very often a source of drop outs. It's too bad that some Windows laptops are so tricky to setup because of faulty drivers and battery saving options while most cheap Desktops are workhorses for real time DSP!

On Intel platforms, CPU C-states work well to conserve battery life by letting the processor idle frequently in between tasks, but they wreak havoc on real-time processing ability with Windows. It probably depends on the laptop manufacturer, but I don't think they can be turned off. Or if you can, your battery life will tank hard and you'll have to be plugged into power almost full-time.

I'm not sure exactly what OSX and their chosen motherboards do instead, but there's clearly better synergy with OSX power saving measures. (Realistically, most Mac laptops tend to be overrated on their processing power because those aesthetically pleasing super-thin chassis will end up thermal throttling well before max advertised speeds are ever achieved.)

I have a fairly powerful desktop (i7-8700k with a mild overclock), and I still had issues with glitching at lower buffer sizes until I disabled the C-states in my UEFI/BIOS settings. In my experience, they're a big problem.

[Blue Cat Audio]

Disabling these in the BIOS may be a problem though... It will drain the battery and may overheat. So you may want to check power plan issues first.

[Blue Cat Audio]

By the way, we have decided to share our experience on the topic. We have just published a full guide to optimize your Windows laptop for low latency real time audio, check it out!

[Tappistry]

Very nice guide!

[Blue Cat Audio]

Thanks!