The Ultimate Guide to Optimizing Your Windows Computer for Live Music Performance
Feb 27, 2025 | Gig Performer
From our partners at Gig Performer, musician Marty Wade shares a video walkthrough (above) of Gig Performer's Ultimate Guide to Optimize your Windows PC for the Stage, written by GP's own Nemanja Pudar. There is also a downloadable PDF version.
From the introduction of the Guide:
This guide is intended to help musicians optimize their Windows PCs to process audio as fast as possible.
To get the most from your Windows operating system for digital audio processing, many Windows settings and features need to be configured properly. By following this guide, you will learn to avoid issues like crackles, dropouts, audio glitches, high latency and more.
You will explore many Windows settings to understand deeply what is happening in the background, and how to adjust those settings to fit perfectly your needs as a live or session performing musician.
As an IT engineer, I have spent over twelve years configuring and optimizing Windows, Windows Server and Linux operating systems for very specific scenarios. As a guitar player for twenty years using software-based setups, I have tweaked many Windows PCs to address their audio-specific issues and to make them run reliably.
Gig Performer 5 is an audio plugin host (AU, VST3, and VST) for live performance and session musicians. Gig Performer empowers musicians to manage and perform with their virtual instruments creating an exceptionally lightweight, and simultaneously powerful live performance experience. Whether you are a keyboardist, guitarist, bassist, drummer or even Front Of House engineer, Gig Performer will give you unmatched power, ease of performance, and flexibility when you perform live. Click here to try Gig Performer free for 14 days.
GPFree, included with Synth Stack 5, is a lite version of Gig Performer 5. The GPFree version allows for up to eight plugins per rackspace, up to 10 rackspaces, and up to five variations per rackspace. In addition, owners of Synth Stack 5 receive a 10% discount off the regular price of the full version of Gig Performer 5.
Check out more from Marty Wade on his YouTube channel.
Visit Gig Performer: