I recently picked up a new laptop, intending to use it as a multi-purpose/portable studio computer.
I have a Steinberg UR-RT2 which has worked perfectly for many years, but will not work on my new computer. I cant even listen to a song on spotify without pops, clicks, and distortion every few seconds.
I have had nothing issues since attempting to run cubase. The computer is having massive latency, and attempting to run Cubase pushes the CPU usage to 100% and nothing works.
Even without cubase open, the audio quality is horrible and there are constant dropouts, which are acknowledged in the driver settings window.
Running LatencyMon shows massive Latency at all times, plugged/unpugged, programs open/closed, etc.
I have scrolled through countless threads on many forums and have tried dozens of so-called “fixes” such as power modes, disabling BIOS settings, reinstalling drivers, etc. Nothing helped at all. Not even slightly.
There are so many threads out there… there has to be some fix right?? There is no way I spent $3000 on a laptop that cant run a simple USB device and a DAW? I am at my last straw and have major anxiety over this situation. I have converted my entire studio to change over to a laptop and now I have a useless computer.
Hi,
sorry to hear that you are facing these massive issues.
So far we know all about the price and the purpose of your laptop - what we don’t know: which model and OS are we talking about…
I see you’ve been posting on VI-Control as well.
A word of warning… when you cast about looking for solutions on the web and then trying them somewhat randomly, you usually end up with a dog’s breakfast.
If I may make a simple suggestion: if you know how to back out of all the changes you’ve made, then go ahead and do so. If not, I would recommend doing a clean install, (without all the Dell add-ons, if possible). Then, once you’ve got a clean machine, run Latencymon (with Windows just idling) for 15 minutes and post the results on here.
We might be able to get some clues as to what’s going on and make some suggestions.
Also be aware that, although the M18 is rated highly as a gaming platform, that doesn’t mean much from an audio perspective. There are some laptops out there which simply will not work for audio, no matter what you do.
But, first things first. Latencymon on a clean machine to set a baseline.
Thanks for your suggestion, and honestly I was already worried about the same thing, being overwhelmed with so many possible causes/fixes/suggestions… I have hundreds of tabs open currently reading about similar issues.
I have been testing a lot of these suggestion independently, and if I notice no improvement I usually change the setting back to default unless it is something very simple to change at any time. I dont want to make a thousand changes I dont understand and just forget about them.
After so many attempted solutions, there is not much left for me to try other than a clean install. That will be my last step before contacting DELL to initiate the return process. I am dreading that, so that will be my last resort.
Yep, understood.
As I said, once you’ve done the install, please go ahead and run Latencymon and post the results here (not just the graphic screen but also the text reports on the other tabs).
Who knows, it might be something fairly obvious.
You said USB audio. What interface is it?
Dell notebooks are famous for problems like yours.
Studio drivers for the Nvidia might help. I had similar problems until I switched to studio driver.
I also uninstalled many bloating programs until latency monitor results were ok.
The notebook is high specs and you will solve the problems soon.
Best of luck.
As suggested, unplug everything except monitors, speakers, keyboard and mouse, then do a clean install, don’t install any other software, play a few media file (MP3, MP4, whatever). If the pops and crackles persist, bite the bullet and send it back.
I think Dell, and the like, put hidden partitions somewhere so that you can put it back to the state it was in when you bought it.
If you can get your money back (shouldn’t be a problem if you bought it at Amazon - I bought a laptop about 10 years ago that had a dodgy hard drive, no quibbles from Amazon about sending it back) go to an audio computer specialist.
The device is a UR-RT2 that has worked perfectly for years.
I have tried so many things at this point, I am now forced to believe there is something seriously wrong with the way this computer handles audio.
This is not a simple fix unfortunately.
At this point I have no confidence left this machine can be salvaged. I will either keep it as a non-audio computer, or attempt to return it. I am beyond disappointed in my purchase. The purchase was direct from Dell.
