Hello,

I would like to make a list of Windows Laptops that are suitable for Music Recording and Production.
It would be great if people with a Windows Laptop could test their setup with LatencyMon (Resplendence Software - LatencyMon: suitability checker for real-time audio and other tasks), so people like me that are in the market for a new laptop could know if a laptop is suitable for real time audio.

My personal goal is to be able to run sessions at 64samples.

Thanks.

DPC Latency is not audio latency. Yes you need a laptop with good DPC Latency numbers and it would be nice to have figures for various models but more importantly you'll need an audio interface with good low latency figures to achieve your goal.

Nobody said that DPC latency is Audio Latency but in order to achieve a good audio latency you need a good DPC Latency.

So if you goal is to achieve 64samples latency you can have the best interface but the bottleneck becomes your DPC Latency.
There is plenty of sources and lists of audio interfaces latency numbers unfortunately there is not a list of DPC Latency of Laptop.

Do you have a laptop you can test and do you want to contribute to this list?

Of course but your thread title is misleading.

Unfortunately no. I only use a custom Desktop for a DAW machine and a budget laptop for internet that's not suitable for DAW. For laptop for DAW I would be looking at custom built Clevo by a reputable builder. Off the shelf I would be looking at Lenovo or HP or Dell XPS in that order as those seem to get the most love here. But the off the shelf world changes rapidly so a user contributed database would be great, but it would have to be updated rapidly as models change over time and other brands may suddenly test well. Anyway I hope the database happens and and I'll contribute when and if I can. Good luck.

This are DPC Latency results from a Lenovo Y530.

Do you think is possible to have 64 sample buffer size (with an interface with good drivers) with this numbers?

Personally, I'm a Windows / PC guy since 1981 when I built my first PC on a piece of plywood but if I were looking laptop, I would go Mac.
I'm not saying Windows laptops can't handle DAW work, but it's a minefield out there and IMHO it's just not worth the time screwing around.

Just my 2 cents.

I'm looking at hackintoshing a T480s. An X1 Carbon would probably also work too. Notebookcheck.com posts latencymon results and Lenovo Thinkpads seem to consistently have good latency results. Of course it can all go to sh*t with one bad driver but after the fiasco that has been the 2018 MacBook Pros and Apple software quality control I think its probably more stable to get a hackintosh laptop provided you can get it stable as then at least you can restore it to last known good settings and not be f*cked when Apple pushes an update you can't roll back on your legit Mac. Plus you can upgrade the storage. Thinkpads are the only PC laptops built to Mac standards. Pathetic state of affairs really...

Sadly, I would agree. I had a 2012 MBP that I used for years until yesterday when I got new Clevo top of the range laptop with i9-9900k.

Which is what I did, you can of course nit pick as to who is a reputable builder, but the reality is that laptop hardware is the same, so they can't really do much.

I asked specifically about DPC latency in advance and was quoted 200-300μs the reality is that it's actually much worse.

NVidia is of course main culprit, but even if you disable it and you disable wifi, network adapters, built in audio, and perform the usual "optimizations" you still get ACPI.sys, Wdf01000.sys, storport.sys, stornvme.sys, etc producing spikes of 700μs.

It really depends on what you're doing, for just mixing you can get away with it, but for low latency real time live usage it's a disaster.

I only just got the Clevo yesterday so I will continue to tweak, and am in contact with support, but it's already obvious to me it won't work any better. I barely get better performance on a laptop with top 8 core desktop CPU than I had on 6 year old MBP with 4 core mobile CPU.

What you end up with is CPU almost idle yet audio crackling. It's very frustrating more so when you spend a lot of money on it.

And I'm using RME, so the interface is not the problem.

Anyway, the new Macs are sadly also riddled with problems, so I'm afraid currently there really is no laptop suitable for low latency real time usage.

The only viable path is to use a desktop or rack build and pick components carefully or get it from a reputable DAW builder, but make sure to ask for DPC latency and money back guarantee if it doesn't work as advertised.

That would be my advice.

Oh, and speaking of reputable DAW builders, I asked several and only one said that in their opinion there is currently no laptop suitable for low latency audio work and thus they don't sell any. I didn't like that answer, but it seems to be the truth.

2016 MSI GT72 Q6D

i7 6820HK overclocked 100% of the time (from 2.7) to 3.7GHz - with 32GB ram, 1TB Samsung 960 Pro NVMe and stock 1TB HGST 7200 HD. nVidia GeForce GTX 970M 3GB, 17" screen

I've had great success with the "workstation" grade laptops. I personally stick with older i7 HP Elitebooks, but I've heard good things about Dell Precision and Think books as well.

I have a Acer V 15 Nitro, which performed well till recently. I think it was after a Windows update that it lost power, had to bump up the buffer in my RME UCX from 128 to 256 to still run glitchfree.

Then I updated the network drivers and the graphiccard driver, I also checked for a new RME driver and there was even a firmware update for it.

after doing al that, et violá, all back to original speeds, glitch free and latecymon in full green!

The thing is, you need to check like every half year for these updates and don´t trust the windows update for
peripherals, always go to the manufacturer website and download from there.

Yes it´s a little bit more hassle than just fireing up a Macbook, but to be honest, getting the same or more power for half the price in the PC world I gladly do that 15 minutes update thing...

Lenovo V320-17IKB 17.3" (Intel graphics) after all the usual tweaks works fine with Dante virtual soundcard and Sequoia.

I recording classical stuff only so latency for me is not critical value.

Regards,
Norm

OK, after two more days of tweaking I can report that things are better now, and I get peaks of no more than 350μs (with NVidia driver disabled)

I did many tweaks but I think it was mainly the power management settings of various devices that helped, network adapter in particular.

This is Clevo P751TM.

I have a Dell Inspiron 15, 5577 model that Dell sells as a gaming laptop. I reimaged it with Windows 10 and needed drivers. Nothing else, using the Intel CPU graphics, and it does great for recording with Sonar or Studio One 4.1. Resplendence Latency Mon shows its very clean. Sonar reported latency with my MOTU 896Mk3 Hybrid (USB connected) is 2.7 ms recording, output 3.3ms and 6.1ms total round trip latency, which is the same as what I get on my DAW desktop that uses an i7 6700K.

I'm field testing a new Dell G7 gaming laptop. It has both NVIDIA and the Intel CPU graphics. Using the NVIDIA it shows high page faults and no good for audio recording. But with the NVIDIA disabled and using the Intel CPU graphics its great for recording and Latency Mon is "happy". Sonar and the MOTU show the same latency as the Inspiron 15, 5577

I'm runnng a Lenovo T440.
Swapped out the cpu for i7 4700M,
overspecked with 16GB ram,
ripped out the DVD drive and replaced with 1TB evo 860,
ripped out the 3g/4g sim module and replaced with 500GB mSATA drive for windows 10 1809,
put another 1TB evo in the normal HD bay.

thats 3 internal SSD

Run at 64 samples using Cantabile and Reaper

Use it for live gigs (Omnisphere, Kontakt pianos, VB3, NI synths, vocoder, amp sims - all good) and remote composition stuff. Also as an extra farm with VEPro in the studio. Very reliable, easy to open up and work on. All the chipsets are good, all usb ports work without problems. GB Network works well for Copperlan midi and VEPro.

Sound device: MOTU Traveller MKI the old firewire version. Using a SIIG PCIexpress54 card with TI chipset for firewire. When/if MOTU dies I will give it my Fireface 800 and upgrade my cue system interface.

I can vouch for the T and P series Lenovos as long as theyre not the S (small) versions cause they are hard to open up and they run hot. So be aware maxwelldub with the T480s, keep it cool
The Y series mentioned above I wouldnt be so sure about. The cheaper B series, forget it, different pc altogether.

Frankly Im surprised noone yet gives a vote of confidence for ADK or ScanPro for the lappies they make. I've never owned one but have read nothing but positive stories. Anyone who has one care to comment?

I see ADK audio dept has split off to Chris Ludwig of Fundamental AV. See this thread

Is ADK Pro Audio still in business?

Lenovo Thinkpad P50 and Lenovo Miix 520, both working flawlessly running Bitwg. Interfaces are RME.

Beast laptop but that desktop tho

i got a babyface, and i want a laptop that can do 64 buffers with 1 synth used at a a time.

DF

Sorry to revive this old topic - but I'm wondering how 350-700μs (equalling 0,35 - 0,7ms) end up making a big difference?

Seems quite minimal compared to the desired latency times of around 10ms and below.

HI,
A continual DPC latency of over 500μs will typically cause dropouts on a systems laptop or otherwise.
If the DPC occasionally spikes to a max of that 350-700μs it will most likely be fine.
Laptops will never have the ability to do under 10μs since there is a lot more unavoidable BIOS and OS power and thermal management needed on a laptop.
On desktops as long as your cooling solution is good you can disable all BIOs and OS power management which pretty much eliminates any disruptive DPC spikes.

On a laptop the usual source for large DPC spikes and idles is networking and Bluetooth and video BIOs and drivers. But all revolves around power and thermal management.

Chris

I've got an Asus G14 GA4011 Ryzen laptop and it runs perfectly well at 32 sample buffer with a UR22-C steinberg interface and Cubase 11 Ai.


M