Please Note: Not all options in the video above, or the steps below, will be available on all Windows systems. 

Basic Tips

Free up space

Don't let your computer's boot drive get too full. Always make sure you leave >20% of your computer's main hard drive empty. To see how much storage has been used:

1. Search in the menu for “Settings”
2. Select “System” 
3. Select “Storage” 

The bar will indicate how much storage has been used and is free. You can then remove files you no longer need or move them to external/cloud storage. 

Use enough memory

If you are running large projects involving sample libraries and multiple plugins. At least 8 GB of RAM is recommended.

Use a suitable USB cable for your Hardware

Make sure you use a short USB cable, either the one that comes in the box or one that is shorter than 2 metres. Using longer USB cables with your interface can cause dropouts, glitches, or may not work entirely.

Ensure your interface has its own dedicated USB port

USB hubs are known to cause issues with audio devices. These issues can include noise, disconnections, and even the interface not being detected at all. Therefore, it is recommended that your interface is connected directly to its own USB port.

Close all other background applications

When you run your DAW (Digital Audio Workstation), make sure you close applications that are not in use, such as 

• Music streaming apps (Spotify etc.)
• Web browsers (Chrome, Edge etc.)
• Office applications (Word, Excel etc.). 

This will free up power for your DAW, preventing your system from running slowly when multiple programs are trying to use the machine. 

Main Tips

Optimise Focusrite software and buffer size

Ensure that you have the latest version of the Focusrite driver or control software installed. You can find the latest version for your device on our Downloads Page.

If you are experiencing glitchy audio with your Focusrite interface, we would recommend increasing the buffer size and then testing the interface again. To do this, right-click on the Focusrite Notifier and select your device's settings. Next, increase the buffer size to 1024. If the performance improves, you can try a lower setting.

If you are unsure what buffer size is and how it affects performance, please see this article: Sample Rate, Bit-Depth & Buffer Size Explained

If you can't see the Focusrite notifier in your taskbar:

1. Go to your taskbar (in the bottom right corner of your desktop). 
2. Click on the arrow facing up (^).
3. Locate the Focusrite notifier (presented as a small “F”).
4. Drag and drop the Focusrite Notifier into the main area of the taskbar.

Disable USB selective suspend 

This feature can cause problems with devices connected via USB. 

1. Search for “Edit power plan” 
2. Click “Change advanced power settings”
3. Click “USB settings” 
4. Click “USB Selective suspend setting”
5. Click “disable” 

If you have a laptop, two options will appear. “On battery” and “Plugged in”. Select “disable” for both. 

Set processor scheduling to “Background services”

To do this:

1. In Control Panel, select “System”
2. Go to “Advanced system settings” and then the “Advanced” tab
3. Click on “Settings…” under Performance to bring up the “Performance Options” window.
4. Go to the “Advanced” tab and set processor scheduling as “Background Services”
5. Click “Apply” then “OK”

Disable startup programs 

Sometimes your PC will launch programs automatically upon startup, this can negatively impact your computer's performance. 

1. Search in the Start menu for “Task Manager” and open it
2. Select “Startup”
3. Select the “Start-up impact” tab at the top
4. This will re-categorise the programs in order of high to low 
5. Identify the programs you don't want on startup 
6. Right-click on them and select disable

NOTE: we strongly recommend disabling “Cortana” as this program can sometimes attempt to use the inputs on your audio interface at inopportune moments (e.g. when you're in the middle of a recording session).

Disable system sounds

Sometimes system sounds can interrupt your recordings. 

1. Search in the start menu for Control Panel 
2. Select “Hardware and Sound”
3. Select “Sound” 
4. Select the “Sounds” tab
5. Under the “Sound Scheme menu” select “No Sounds” 
6. Click on Apply and then OK

High-Performance CUSTOM Power Plan 

You can create an additional CUSTOM power plan for your audio applications. 

A power plan is a collection of hardware and system settings that manages how your machine uses and conserves power.

1. Open Control Panel and search for “Power Options”
2. In the menu on the left, select “Create a power plan”.
3. Select “High Performance” 
4. Give your plan a name: For example, “Audio Workstation”. 
5. Select “Never” for both “Turn off the display” and “Put the computer to sleep” 
6. Select “Create” 

You will now be on the Power Options page where your NEW custom power plan will be selected. 

1. Select 'Change Plan Settings' for your NEW custom power plan
2. Open “Advanced power settings”
3. Expand “USB settings”
4. Disable “USB Selective suspend” 

If you have a laptop, two options will appear. “On battery” and “Plugged in”. Select disable for both. 

1.  Expand “Processor power management”
2.  Set the minimum and maximum process state to 100

If you have a laptop, two options will appear. “On battery” and “Plugged in”. Select disable for both.

Additional Optimisation

USB Power Management Settings

This optimises how your machine uses your USB ports 

1. Search in the start menu for “Device Manager” 
2. Select “Universal Serial Bus Controllers” and expand it
3. Right-click the first entry and select properties
4. Open “Power management” 
5. Deselect the option: “Allow the computer to turn off the device to save power”
6. Apply steps 3 – 5 to each entry

If an entry doesn't have “Power Management” visible, don't worry, just ignore this and move on to the next entry. 

Disable exclusive mode

• Open Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Sound.
• Choose Playback Devices.
• Select the audio device that you would like to adjust (i.e. - Scarlett, Saffire).

• Click Properties.
• Choose the Advanced tab.
• Uncheck the Allow applications to take exclusive control of this device box (both boxes will be disabled now).

• Click 'Apply' then OK.
• Repeat the steps in the Recording tab.
• Reboot your computer for the changes to take effect.

Disable “C States” in the BIOS

“C States” are conditions under which a computer's processor can work in a slightly different way to save power. Different processors support different numbers of C States (some don't support C States at all).

We've found that having C States enabled can cause adverse performance on some systems. If you're having audio performance issues we recommend disabling C States.

To disable C States you will typically boot into the BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) of your computer– please contact the motherboard manufacturer if you're not comfortable doing this. Focusrite Technical Support cannot help you tweak BIOS settings as the BIOS layout and the available options are different for every machine.

You may need to change your view in Control Panel from 'Categories' to either 'Small Icons' or 'Large Icons' in order to directly follow some of these steps.

Basic Tips

Free up space

Don’t let your computer’s boot drive get too full. Always make sure you leave >20% of your computer's main hard drive empty.

Use enough memory

If you are running large projects involving sample libraries and multiple plugins. We recommend at least 8 GB of RAM.

Use a suitable USB cable for your Hardware

Make sure you use a short USB cable, either the one that comes in the box or one that is shorter than two metres. Using longer USB cables with your interface can cause dropouts, glitches, or may not work entirely.

Ensure your interface has its own dedicated USB port

USB hubs are known to cause issues with audio devices. These issues can include noise, disconnections, and even the interface not being detected at all. Therefore, it is recommended that your interface is connected directly to its own USB port.

Close all other background applications

When you run your DAW (Digital Audio Workstation), make sure you close applications that are not in use, such as

• Music streaming apps (Spotify etc.)
• Web browsers (Chrome, Edge etc.)
• Office applications (Word, Excel etc.). 

This will free up power for your DAW, preventing your system from running slowly when multiple programs are trying to use the machine. 

Main Tips

Set your computer's power for high performance

If your computer is set to conserve energy, the CPU may not be running at full speed all the time. This can have a detrimental effect on your computer's audio performance. To set your computer's power for high performance:

1. Go to: Start > Control Panel > Power Options.
2. Choose “High Performance”.
3. Click the “Change plan settings” button.
4. Make sure both power options are set to “Never”.

Ensure that Windows 7 is fully up-to-date 

Microsoft often issues important updates for Windows that may fix issues relating to any audio problems you might be having. Problems arise here if a Windows system has auto-updates turned off, so your system may be missing many updates. It is fine to leave auto-update off, however, we would recommend ensuring that you check for Windows updates regularly.

Disable system sounds

System sounds can interrupt audio. Ensure that they are disabled by doing the following:

• Go to the control panel and select “Sound”.
• Go to the sounds tab.
• Under sounds scheme, select “No sounds”.
• Click “Apply” then, “OK”.

Enable DMA (Direct memory access) on each IDE channel

This allows data to be transferred directly into the memory and can improve audio performance. To ensure that DMA is enabled:

• Open device manager.
• Expand the IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers category then double-click on each one of the IDE channels.
• Under the 'Advanced settings' tab, make sure the 'Enable DMA' box is ticked in the device properties.

Please note: this only applies to some hardware and if this option is not available, you should not worry about completing this step.

Set processor scheduling to “Background services”

This will improve the performance of your audio drivers on your computer. To do this:

• In the control panel select “system”.
• Go to “Advanced system settings” and then the “Performance” tab.
• Set processor scheduling as “Background Services”.
• Click “Apply” then “OK”.

Disable Windows Firewall, antivirus and spyware software

These should all be disabled to ensure that no interferences occur during audio recording or playback and to ensure that maximum resources are available. To remain secure while your firewall and antivirus are disabled, it is advisable to temporarily disconnect from any internet connections when working with audio.

Disable USB Selective Suspend (for USB interfaces)

This prevents your hub driver from suspending an individual USB port. To do this: Start - Hardware and Sound - Power Options - Change advanced power settings - USB Selective Suspend and select 'Disabled'.

Other Tips

If you wish to optimise your system further, you can follow the tips below for additional optimisation.

Disable Visual effects

The visual features in Windows 7 can use resources that could otherwise help to improve audio performance. As a start, it is a good idea to disable some visual features by doing the following:

• Press start and in the search box type: “SystemPropertiesPerformance” and press enter.
• On the visual effects tab, select “custom”.
• Untick: “Animate windows when minimising and maximising” to help prevent glitches when minimising and maximising. You can also experiment with disabling other visual effects in the custom list to see how they improve audio performance.
• Once finished, press “OK”.

If you wish to optimise your Windows 7 graphics for the best performance, use the “Adjust for best performance”. Although improving computer performance, this will make your Windows 7 appear a lot less aesthetically pleasing.

Disable Windows services

One way in which you can make more resources available to improve audio performance is to disable unnecessary Windows 7 services as these use valuable resources. The following site has a comprehensive guide to the services running on Windows 7 and helps locate the services that are safe to disable:

Windows 7 Service Configurations by Black Viper