Tuning a Windows PC for Dante Audio Performance

A standard Windows workstation runs background services, power management, and driver interrupts that can interfere with real-time audio. If you are using Dante Virtual Soundcard or Dante Via on a Windows machine and experiencing dropouts, high latency readings, or glitches, work through these settings before assuming a network or hardware fault.

Back up your data before making changes. Some adjustments affect system stability and should be reversed if problems appear.

Power Plan

Windows energy-saving modes throttle the CPU, which degrades audio performance. Set the power plan to High Performance and disable automatic sleep and hibernation:

1. Control Panel > Power Options
2. Click "Show additional plans"
3. Select High Performance
4. Click "Change plan settings" and set both options to Never

Also disable power management on the Ethernet interface:

Control Panel > Network and Internet > Network and Sharing Center > click the Dante interface > Properties > Configure > Power Management tab > uncheck "Allow the computer to turn off the device to save power"

Processor Scheduling

Changing processor scheduling to background services improves audio driver performance:

Control Panel > System > Advanced system settings > Advanced tab > Performance Settings > Advanced tab > set Processor scheduling to "Background Services"

Revert this if application responsiveness suffers.

Fast Startup

Windows Fast Startup is a hybrid shutdown/hibernate mode. It can interfere with Dante's PTP clocking on restart:

Control Panel > Power Options > "Choose what the power buttons do" > "Change settings that are currently unavailable" > uncheck "Turn on fast startup"

Network Interface: Flow Control and Interrupt Moderation

Flow Control and Interrupt Moderation on the Ethernet adapter can delay packet processing — visible as high latency measurements on the Dante Controller latency graph for Virtual Soundcard connections:

1. Control Panel > Network Connections
2. Right-click the Dante network adapter > Properties > Configure
3. Advanced tab
4. Set Flow Control to Disabled
5. Set Interrupt Moderation to a reduced value (or disable) for lower latency at the cost of slightly higher CPU usage

Network Throttling

Windows reserves processor resources for multimedia applications by throttling non-multimedia network traffic when audio software is running. This throttling can interfere with Dante audio traffic.

Dante Virtual Soundcard and Dante Via detect network throttling on install or launch and offer to manage the setting for you. Accept this. If you did not accept during install, reinstall or adjust the registry setting manually. A restart is required after changing this setting.

System Sounds

Disable system sounds — they can interrupt audio applications:

Control Panel > Sound > Sounds tab > set Sound Scheme to "No Sounds" > Apply

Visual Effects

Reduce Windows visual effects to free CPU resources:

Click Start, type "performance", open Performance Options > Visual Effects tab > select "Custom" > uncheck "Animate windows when minimising and maximising". For maximum performance, select "Adjust for best performance".

Background Apps

Disable unused background apps:

Settings > Privacy > Background Apps > switch off anything not in active use

Windows Update Delivery Optimisation

Disable peer-to-peer update sharing — it uses background bandwidth:

Settings > Update & Security > Advanced Options > Delivery Optimization > slide to Off

Antivirus and Firewall

During recording or critical playback sessions, disable antivirus and firewall if the machine is not connected to the internet. Third-party security software is a common cause of DPC latency spikes. If you cannot disable it, at minimum add exceptions for Dante software and its ports.

Dante software automatically configures the built-in Windows Firewall. If you use a third-party firewall, configure it manually to allow Dante traffic.

Startup Applications

Prevent unnecessary apps from launching at startup:

Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc) > Startup tab > right-click and Disable anything not required

File Indexing

Disk indexing uses CPU during recording. Disable it for drives used for audio:

Windows key+R > type control.exe srchadmin.dll > Modify > deselect the drive(s) used for audio

DPC Latency Testing

Misbehaving device drivers are a common cause of audio glitches. Any driver can block time-critical audio processing. Use LatencyMon (http://www.resplendence.com/latencymon) to identify drivers causing Deferred Procedure Call latency. Common offenders include USB host controllers, Wi-Fi drivers, and graphics drivers.

If LatencyMon identifies a problem driver, check for updates or consider disabling the associated device when running Dante sessions.

Multiple Network Interfaces

If the PC has multiple network adapters (Ethernet + Wi-Fi, or two Ethernet), disable all interfaces not being used for Dante. Multiple active interfaces confuse Dante's interface selection and can cause discovery and clock status issues in Dante Controller.

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This article was adapted from Audinate's original guidance: "How can I tune a Windows PC for best audio performance?" — https://support.getdante.com/hc/en-gb/articles/5508266805407-How-can-I-tune-a-Windows-PC-for-best-audio-performance Habitech-edited for UK trade installer context. Original © Audinate Pty Ltd.