Choose between AMD and Intel for your audio recording needs. Both offer strong options depending on your requirements.
Choose between AMD and Intel for your audio recording needs. Both offer strong options depending on your requirements.
Hey everyone, I've been looking into options but haven't found much. I'm planning to save up and figure out what mid-range CPU can handle near-zero latency for recording. I want to record 14-16 inputs at once and have my old i53570k working well back then. Now it's having trouble with low latency. I'm considering the AMD 3600X, but I'm not sure which path gives the best results for clean audio. Maybe I'm overcomplicating it—just want to hear what others think!
Varies by application. Ableton Live favors higher frequency performance over more processing power, which is why Intel was selected for that system. Consider the software you're running and its preferences. Ableton openly mentions this in their documentation, so research may be needed from other users. Also, take into account your sound card; the recommended one is available here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EO6...IZ33TR5AUQ
Most modern DAWs can handle multiple cores, though performance may vary based on the audio engine. Running the same DAW with CPUs from different manufacturers often shows comparable benefits, though exact results differ. Higher frequencies are important because cores are allocated per track, enabling more effects or VSTs per session. Unfortunately, Intel still leads AMD in latency and overall DAW performance due to Ryzen’s memory delays, which can hinder even the third-gen Ryzen despite its single-core and multi-core speed. Regarding input-to-speaker delays, platform differences seem less critical since latency is measured in nanoseconds—only real-time audio responsiveness matters. This affects how much you can push your cores with VSTs before stuttering occurs, which depends on your workflow. For recording audio without real-time VSTs, the choice of platform likely shouldn’t matter much, though I haven’t verified this.
Software can't eliminate latency completely, but the i5 3570k should work well for real-time audio. If you struggle with just one track, the issue might lie elsewhere rather than the processor.