How to Optimize Windows 11 for Music production

This may be crucial if you are working as a music producer and had to deal with huge files or resource-consuming programs. If you work with Windows 11 and want to get the most out of it for music creation, here are some tips. Making these adjustments will definitely increase your output when making music.

How to Make the Most of Windows 11 for Music Creation

Here are a few tips which will help you produce music using Windows 11 or Windows 10.

Disable all audio playing in your system.

Activate the High-Output Power Package

Deactivate USB Selective Suspend from Working

Edit the Parameters of the USB Controller

Kill all background processes

Update Windows Offline

Ensure your audio and graphics drivers are updated.

Edit your Sleep Behaviour

Down below, I have elaborated on each one of these changes:

1. Disable all Audio Playing on your computer.

Composing or making music is a lengthy and complex process that requires much focus and concentration. Hence, no one wishes to be interrupted while composing or creating music. There are several inbuilt sound effects also running in Windows 11 while working with it, like the notification sounds and critical battery alerts.

So there can be some problems with the system sounds while producing music, so it's better to turn all of them off. Of course, after you finish your assignment, you can turn them on again. So, to turn the system silent, just do the following:

Open System Control menu.

Then go into the Control Panel and just type "sound" in the search field to open the menu Sound.

After that, when the window with the sound properties opened, just click on the tab which says Sounds.

Click on Apply after choosing No sounds from the drop-down list.

You can click on OK to close the Sound properties window.

2] Choose High-Performance Power Plan

You can now change settings to switch to High-Performance Power Plan. You can do this via Control Panel.

Open the System Control menu.

In the search bar of the Control Panel type in power and click on the result which says Power Options.

Now click on the Power Plan for High-Performance.

If you see only the 'Balanced Power Plan' in the Control Panel, then execute the following commands using the Command Prompt to get the other default power plans back. If your system is configured with Modern Standby Mode S0, this will not run the commands. You need to turn off Modern Standby Mode S0 for running these commands to restore power plans.

3. Turn Off USB Selective Suspend

The USB Selective Suspend feature in Windows 11 places the connected device into low power when not in use. For laptop users, this is good for preserving battery life. Then again, this does pose a problem when trying to produce music. Disabling this is, therefore, the better option.

4. Configure the USB Controller

Now, change some Power Management settings of the USB controller. By default, Windows turns off USB Host Controllers and USB Root Hubs to save power. This can be a source of problems.

Here is how to change that:

Open the Device Manager.

Under Universal Serial Bus controllers branch.

Double click any USB Host controller to open its properties.

Click on Power Management.

Click OK to save changes then uncheck the box that says 'Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power.'

Do the same thing for every one of the USB Root Hubs and USB Host Controllers.

5. Disable all background processes.

The next step is turning off all background processes. It is observed that a few outside applications are running in the background and consuming system resources. Sometimes these applications may conflict with each other. So, during music creation, it's better to turn them all off.

In Windows 11, in every application setting, there's an advanced option where you can turn off background applications simply by selecting Never from the drop-down box.

6. Turn Windows Updates off

By default, Windows 11 will look for updates. Sometimes there are conflicts with your music program if Windows Update is running in the background. Check this, okay? If Windows 11 has already downloaded an update, please let it finish installing. If you are pushing for time and would not want to wait around a week or more, you can do this.

In Windows 11 Settings, click Windows Updates from the left side of the window. Alongside the setting that says Pause Updates there should be a Pause button: Click that.

7. Look for updated video and audio drivers.

Always run the most current version of device drivers for the best results. You can search and install new drivers for your sound and graphic cards. Check the website of your computer's manufacturer to check. Please make sure you download and install the latest driver version if one is available.

8. Sleep Preferences Changes

Of course, nobody would want a black screen while playing their video. Hence, it is highly recommended that you turn off your Sleep mode. You can enable this later on. Follow the steps below:

Open Windows 11 Settings.

Head over to System > Power & battery.

Click the "Sleep" tab; then expand the screen.

In each drop-down menu, select "Never.".

That's all. With these changes, your Windows 11 PC will be better positioned to make music.