Underruns at 18% CPU Usage

[leaden pollen]

Specs:
MS Surface Pro 5
Windows 10
i7-7660U CPU @ 2.50GHz
16GB RAM 1867MHz

CPU usage shows 18%
RAM usage shows 5GB
Using Audio Driver FL Studio ASIO (any sample rate)

Problem: I get underruns from a single Serum patch instantly. It also sounds extremely distorted.

[leaden pollen]

the specs of the device suggest i should be able to run quite a bit just fine. unless im mistaken

[south pecan]

What is your audio interface hardware model?
Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 gen 1?

Use the official ASIO driver, not FL ASIO, not ASIO4ALL, not FlexASIO.

Show your audio settings, especially the sample rate and buffer size.

Show us what is displaying "18% CPU usage".
That number could be an average across all threads/cores, and thus you could have one thread/core absolutely hammered at 100% while the others are doing nothing, and the average of that would be much less than 100%.

LPDDR3 isn't helping. It's not a deal-breaker, but it's an indication that the overall system is optimized for battery life and passive cooling, not for performance whatsoever.

Serum and other synths that can produce large numbers of voices (just crank up the unison) can bring a much more powerful computer to its knees.

[leaden pollen]

Interface: this is without audio interface unfortunately. that is on my tower
Driver: Where can i find this? I only see ASIO4all and FL Studio ASIO
Samplerate: tried on all options and same issue
18% CPU: Win10 Task manager

[south pecan]

You'd need a proper audio interface to have an official ASIO driver for that interface.

[leaden pollen]

ah gotcha

[south pecan]

I don't know what those options are, nor what you are using normally. You need to tell us. 48kHz sample rate with a 512 sample buffer, or something else?

[leaden pollen]

441000, 48000, 96000 is what i tested on FL Studio ASIO

512smp 12ms

[south pecan]

Use 48kHz and stick with that. Trust me on this one.

What happens if you use, say, a 2048 buffer size?

[leaden pollen]

even 2048 still crackles

still on FL Studio ASIO

i can try ASIO4ALL

hm, now theres no sound output

[south pecan]

Try the Steinberg generic ASIO driver. Best of the bunch imho.

Also, lots of little dongle-sized headphone DAC/amps with ASIO drivers exist now.

https://a.co/d/dCrzMvX

https://a.co/d/fzm4rAZ

Great option if you only need an output and don't need any inputs.

[leaden pollen]

awesome ty, ill take a look

[south pecan]

I don't have the Go Link, but I have another iFi product, the xDSD Gryphon, which uses the same driver, and it's excellent. I also have that Tempotec, which has better audio and more power for $70 than the Gryphon has for $600.

Lots of good "Chi-Fi" options now.

Like FiiO and Topping

[leaden pollen]

Sry I haven’t been at my computer. Lol @ chi-fi xD

[leaden pollen]

Got this for $300 and it’s doing well enough for me. Time will tell

RIP surface

you are just a touch screen now

[south pecan]

What is it?

[leaden pollen]

Lenovo thinkpad

Used business laptop

I’m basically just going to make patches on it

4.7Ghz, 16GB at 2133

so not phenomenal

but cheap as hell for what it is lol

[stuck canyon]

What's the actual CPU here?

A dual core 7th gen mobile chip is definintely on the lower end of things in modern times.

[leaden pollen]

It’s 3 years old

I think 10th gen

[stuck canyon]

Task manager will show you the actual model of your CPU.

[leaden pollen]

Oh this is about a new laptop. The problem I posted was about my surface

[leaden pollen]

So problem closed? 😅

[stuck canyon]

Oh, I read this as you just upgraded to a $300 used machine. I was wondering what the jump in cpu was.

[leaden pollen]

ah yeah

I’ll check

i7 10710U

@south pecan I sinned despite your warning about the “U”

but I still think I got a good deal for the price. Im just too cheap to buy really nice things 😔

[south pecan]

I mean for $300, if it runs any DAW without being a total mess, that's pretty good.