Build specifically for DAW/Reaper/Audio

T

thedogsdinner

Member
Hi all, new here and am just tinkering with my first couple of builds in NT Lite. Just wondering if anyone else is using NT lite for audio production specifically? I did search "DAW audio" but didnt get much. If i missed something targeted please do point me in the right direction.

Im pretty sure Im on the right track, did a win 11 22h2 Lite(template) and seems great, although I missed a few things would prob like down the line ie bluetooth for a mouse (im building a mobile laptop rig for travel, and potentially want to keep as many usb slots available as poss) , snipping tool, calculator.

I also did a gaming template this morning which just about to have a play with. (Initially looks more like what I might be after)

Just wondering if anyone else is using this for audio production, and if anyone has have any tips, tricks or things should stay away from in terms of performance when building a iso specifically for audio.
Thanks all :)

Mod note - preset and list of software used in post no24.
Mod note - this also works for a home media player pc/audio editor/home enthusiast.
 
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I do music on mine as well as gaming. For Daw's the only advice i can honestly give, is if its 'older' programs, you may have to run as administrator each time. Others like bandlab and NI, their app will install the software without you having to worry.

For bluetooth, you should be ok as long as you click the bluetooth in the components tab ( the top left when it comes to components ) . Specifically with audio, i would say look through the full features available to you depending on whether licensed version or not, and click what will be appropriate for you.

At the end of the day tho, the preset you create for the iso is more importantly , applicable to your system and your needs.

think of what you plan on plugging in, what features you will and won't need. maybe write a list. then look through the components part of ntlite, and just disable when you find them. It is trial and error, don't get me wrong, because there is never a 1 size fits all preset.
 
what i do, is i start from the lite preset with a fresh iso, and just add and remove what i don't need. if thats a helpful starting place, then awesome, and good luck. i find, doing it that way, most of the stuff that isnt needed is already removed ;)
 
yeah i was looking at that this morning man, but when i went to add snipping tool i think it was, it needed some other stuff also that I couldnt find initially. Prob just need to spend more time in there playing around!! Have you noticed any performance differences between win 10 or 11, or different builds of either?
 
thedogsdinner said:
yeah i was looking at that this morning man, but when i went to add snipping tool i think it was, it needed some other stuff also that I couldnt find initially. Prob just need to spend more time in there playing around!! Have you noticed any performance differences between win 10 or 11, or different builds of either?
Click to expand...

to be honest, none really. but there are others here who could disagree........

It is a learning curve, so never be afraid to ask anyone here for advice
 
Thanks mate! I did see when I was looking through some threads last night (cant remember which one exactly) that the developer Nuhi seemed to think the same, something to the effect of even win 7 vs 11, when you strip it down, aint all that different in terms of performance. Thats good to know
 
DPC latency (link1) should be a focus for a DAW or gaming rig, since gaming is far more popular than DAW, you'll get a lot more information on the subject by looking into gaming performance threads/websites instead.

Your hardware and BIOS settings will matter the most in having good DPC, with Windows tweaking coming behind those. If everything is working right, then there really shouldn't be a huge difference between the performance of different Windows in terms of frame rates or resource usage, as these last 4 operating systems are all very similar in many ways. However, the thing that almost always gets overlooked is DPC latency because most people just don't even know it exists since it doesn't receive attention unless you're a hardcore gamer or audiophile that stumbles into it.

Both W7/W8 are end of life now, and newer hardware is going to have better support for newer operating systems, so for a new build it's best to go with W10 or W11. I'd recommend testing W10 and W11 both, since the license keys are interchangeable and it doesn't take very long to do, and see which one has better DPC for your specific hardware and drivers.

When it comes to NTLite, you can use it to tweak Windows to reduce DPC spikes and lower the average latency, by removing components and/or disabling unused features. See this guide (link2) for more information.
 
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thedogsdinner said:
Im pretty sure Im on the right track, did a win 11 22h2 Lite(template) and seems great, although I missed a few things would prob like down the line ie bluetooth for a mouse (im building a mobile laptop rig for travel, and potentially want to keep as many usb slots available as poss) , snipping tool, calculator.
Click to expand...
Just a note there is also the Compatibility option in the Components page toolbar. Enable "Bluetooth" protection there, it will lock all needed (not just one component), so you can continue using the Lite template.
After that as Taosd already mentioned, re-check whatever you need.

That said, nothing wrong going the other way around and starting from the Gaming template and unchecking a few extras along the line.

Let me know if you see any other component groupings as a candidate for a new Compatibility option, something that would be nice to protect from Templates.
 
Thankyou all-Hellbovine, I've been using latencymon to keep an eye on round trip latency, which I've always managed to get green lit. I thought it was purely for audio round trip latency though and had no idea it affected other performance aspects as well. Looks like some split testing across different iso's could be in order to see what I can get out of each. Also, any specific BIOS tweaks you recommend? I've gone through this below and found it useful.


Nuhi, thankyou, this is my starting point, I missed that compatibility piece and will begin there. Basically all im after is as lean as possible, with basic internet, snipping tool, calculator and be able to hit the windows button and bring up apps. And of course high performance audio. This is cool!!

Thanks guys:)
 
thedogsdinner what i am brewing would be right up your street if you were on w7 but you can easily adapt for w10, glitch free audio in reaper + usb lexicon alpha, asio, 5.8ms clean at 16bit 44.1 and 48khz. Hellbovine, that is without any fancy dpc tweaking.
thedogsdinner ive got a barebone services list for w10 ltsc round here somewhere, adapt to your needs.
 
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Clanger that sounds awesome. I'm getting the attached (Desktop rig) on a focusrite clarett 8-pre, win 10 (1st version, not the clarett+). The Laptop rig is slightly better with one of the new MOTU M6 interfaces (Highly recommend btw)

How big are the Reaper projects may I ask? all audio or with VSTi? Any reason your still going for win 7? not worried re security updates etc, or just not taking it online at all-Or you just find it a better performer? Sorry for all the questions just interested.


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Ill def be checking out that services list, think i found it, see how far can go without her falling over!!

Its cool I've found some others who are into this for audio. Ill endeavor to show any relevant findings here, from diff windows versions, and tweaks that seem to make significant difference, so those that are interested can kick the tires & hopefully get something out of it too :)
 
Reaper is a good audio editor and better than audacity at somethings(i use both). w7 because it aint w10. 5.6ms is the lowest the alpha control panel will go. think people have adapted my services list for other w10 versions, ask there and state the build series(ie 17763) for their recommendations.
 
Considering the ESI MAYA44 eX pci-e card instead of a usb audio interface, says it can do latency of 0.5ms.
 
sweet then man, thats good latency! makes sense you'd get those numbers with pci-e over usb interface. Im not really across the pci sound cared thing, ive always used the interfaces
 
Did a lil shootout across win 10, 11, and the lite and gaming templates. This was just for my own experimentation more than anything, so in no way am I saying this is the be all & end all. I'm sure different hardware would make a difference as well, of course. And you would need to replicate these findings multiple times to have anything super concrete, but, just if anyone in audioland was interested...

Rough summary: on this laptop
ark.intel.com

Intel® NUC M15 Laptop Kit - EVO LAPRC510 Product Specifications

Intel® NUC M15 Laptop Kit - EVO LAPRC510 quick reference guide including specifications, features, pricing, compatibility, design documentation, ordering codes, spec codes and more.
ark.intel.com ark.intel.com

Win 11-Gaming template gave me the best performance. Which surprised me. I was thinking surely win 10 Lite would be the victor. Another thing that I found interesting was when I hit the stress test and pushed it right to breaking point, BOTH win 10 versions gaming and lite just froze my rig, had to hard restart.
Win 11 certainly struggled, but came back and stabilized itself. Not meant to sound like win 11 is a hero n Win 10 is a bad guy or anything like that. As i said this was very surprising to me. (bare in mind too this laptop ships with win 11, so maybe its optimized to make use of it better somehow or something?OR, the newer versions of Reaper are more optimized for win 11, that's possible also.)

Adding the bluetooth mouse, added like 2 processes, but really didn't affect overall performance.

Clanger sorry man I didnt do win 7, was going to then was gonna be heap extra work, & Its EOL for me so wouldn't prob use it anyway
Anyway, there prob holes in this everywhere, but just thought I'd share my initial findings. Could easily follow this through, and waste a LOT of time, and not get much music done.

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