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Major Latency Issues with Windows 11, Traktor Pro 4, and Kontrol S4 mk2

MatzeDJ

Q:Translation inserted by Moderator (translation by DeepL)

Hi,

Since Windows 10 is no longer supported, I bought a new laptop.

Laptop:
- HP ZBook Fury 15,6 G8 mobile Workstation
- Windows 11 Pro 25H2 64 Bit
- 11th Gen Intel Core i7-11850H @2,50 GHz
- Intel UHD Graphics
- NVIDIA RTX A3000 Laptop GPU
- Intel Smart Sound Technologie für USB Audio
- NVIDIA High Definition Audio
- Intel Smart Sound Technologie für digitale Mikrofone
- Intel Smart Sound Technologie für Bluetooth Audio
- Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201 160 MHz #2
- Intel Ethernet Connection (14) I219-LM
- Thunderbolt Controller 1
- Intel Wireless Bluetooth
- 32 GB DDR5

I work with a Traktor Kontrol S4 mk2 and Traktor Pro 4
(It still works perfectly on my old ZBOOK with Windows 10 Pro, though that’s with Traktor Pro 3—I haven’t tried version 4 on it yet)

Now I’m constantly experiencing latency spikes that shoot up, which sometimes completely distort the sound and make it terribly slow.
The problem is only resolved after a restart, which obviously isn’t ideal during a performance.
Latency Mon shows different results…

(storport.sys, wdf01000.sys, and

conclusion: your system appears to be having trouble handling real-time audio and other tasks. You are likely to experience buffer underruns appearing as dropouts, clicks, or pops. One or more DPC routines belonging to a driver running on your system appear to be executing for too long. At least one detected problem appears to be network-related. If you’re using a Wi-Fi adapter, try disabling it to get better results. One problem may be related to power management; disable CPU throttling settings in the Control Panel and BIOS setup. Check for BIOS updates. Highest reported DPC routine execution time: 5262.697917 (wdf01000.sys - kernel module driver framework runtime, Microsoft Corporation)

The BIOS is up to date, CPU throttling is disabled, etc… With the help of Google Gemini, I went through every possible option, installed and uninstalled various things, but the errors persisted… I’m now reinstalling Windows for the second time and will try running everything in Windows Safe Mode.

I’m really at my wits’ end…
Is there anyone else going through something similar, or anyone who has THE solution?

Thanks in advance

Community Code of Conduct - Please read before posting: Quote : Our community is currently only available in English. Please be advised that we retain the right to remove any posts in languages other than English.

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Traktor Pro 3

Windows 11

S4 MK2

Windows

Traktor Pro 4

Comments

Vocalpoint

Probably need a proper (pro/pro-sumer) ASIO based audio interface.

The $0.42 built-in audio chip in any HP laptop - is not designed to be used with Traktor.

AND - Windows 11 - out of the box - is an audio disaster (and latency killer).

You will need to do some extensive corrections to the default power plan and core management to properly tune it before it will behave.

To get the cores under control - you need to use my other favorite tool to work alongside LatencyMon - ParkControl (from Bitsum)

Isotoxin

Try to disable nVidia video adapter via device manager before you will use Traktor (via right click). These hybrid vga devices works not so good with power management and creates many issues.

MatzeDJ

Q:Translation inserted by Moderator (translation by DeepL)

Here's what I did:

Step 1: Enable Ultra Mode & Lock the Processor To ensure your CPU isn't artificially throttled under any circumstances in the Club:
Press the Windows key, type cmd, right-click on Command Prompt, and select “Run as administrator.” powercfg -duplicatescheme e9a42b02-d5df-448d-aa00-03f14749eb61 Use this code with caution. In the Windows search bar, type “Select a power plan” (or Control Panel -> Power Options) and open it. Select the new “Ultimate Performance” plan. Next to it, click “Change power plan settings” -> “Change advanced power settings.” Scroll down to “Processor power management” -> “Minimum power state” and set it to 100% when plugged in. Directly below that, set the “Maximum power state” when plugged in to 100% as well.

Step 2: Prioritize Background Services (The storport.sys Hard Drive Fix) This ensures that Windows system processes do not block the storport.sys hard drive driver and that your audio tracks in Traktor always have absolute priority over all other tasks.
Press the Windows key, type “Show advanced system settings,” and open the menu. In the Advanced tab, under Performance, click the Settings... button. Switch to the Advanced tab at the top. Change the “Processor scheduling” setting from “Programs” to “Background Services.” Click Apply and OK at the bottom.

Step 3: Permanently Disable Display & USB Power-Saving Mode—This prevents Windows from reducing the USB voltage to the S4 MK2 or the graphics card after a certain period of inactivity.
Go back to the small window with the advanced power settings (from Step 1). Find the “Display” section -> “Turn off after” -> Set “On AC” to “Never” (0 minutes). Go to Power Saving -> Sleep After -> Set to Never (0 minutes) when plugged in. Go to USB Settings -> Selective USB Power Saving Mode Settings -> Set to Disabled when plugged in. Click Apply and OK. Open Device Manager (right-click the Windows Start button). Expand Universal Serial Bus Controllers at the very bottom. Right-click on each entry labeled “USB Root Hub” -> Properties -> Power Management tab. Uncheck the box next to “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power” and click OK.

Step 4: Install Traktor Pro 4 & the Original ASIO Driver Since test mode is active, Windows will now fully accept the real ASIO driver and will no longer block it.
Install Traktor Pro 4 as usual via Native Access. Install the original Traktor Kontrol S4 MK2 ASIO driver from the Native Instruments website. Connect the power adapter to your ZBook and to the S4 MK2 (important!). Turn on Airplane Mode on your laptop (Wi-Fi and Bluetooth completely off). Connect the S4 via USB, launch Traktor Pro 4, and open Preferences (gear icon) -> Audio Setup. Select “Traktor Kontrol S4 MK2 (ASIO)” as the audio device. Be sure to set the buffer size to 512 samples. Go to Output Routing on the left and make sure the mixing mode is set to “Internal” and the channels are assigned correctly (Master = 1&2, Monitor = 3&4).

PK The DJ

@MatzeDJ

Community Code of Conduct - Please read before posting:
Quote : Our community is currently only available in English. Please
be advised that we retain the right to remove any posts in languages
other than English.

MatzeDJ

Sorry

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/266845#Comment_266845

Sorry

MatzeDJ

i have done :

Step 1: Unlock "Ultimate Performance" mode & lock processor speed. This ensures your CPU isn't artificially throttled while you're DJing:

Press the Windows key, type "cmd," right-click on "Command Prompt," and select "Run as administrator."
Enter: `powercfg -duplicatescheme e9a42b02-d5df-448d-aa00-03f14749eb61`
Type "Choose a power plan" into the Windows search bar (or go to Control Panel > Power Options) and open it.
Select the new "Ultimate Performance" plan.
Click "Change plan settings" next to it, then click "Change advanced power settings."
Scroll down to "Processor power management" > "Minimum processor state" and set it to 100% for "Plugged in."
Directly below that, set the "Maximum processor state" to 100% for "Plugged in" as well.

Step 2: Prioritize background services (The storport.sys hard drive fix). This ensures that Windows system processes do not block the `storport.sys` hard drive driver and that your audio tracks in Traktor always take absolute priority over all other tasks.

Press the Windows key, type "View advanced system settings," and open the menu.
On the "Advanced" tab, under the "Performance" section, click the "Settings..." button.
Switch to the "Advanced" tab at the top.
Change the "Processor scheduling" setting from "Programs" to "Background Services."
Click "Apply" and "OK" at the bottom.

Step 3: Permanently disable display and USB power-saving modes. This prevents Windows from throttling the USB voltage to the S4 MK2 or the graphics card after a period of inactivity.

Return to the "Advanced power settings" window (from Step 1).
Locate "Display" -> "Turn off display after" -> Set "Plugged in" to "Never" (0 minutes).
Locate "Sleep" -> "Sleep after" -> Set "Plugged in" to "Never".
Locate "USB settings" -> "USB selective suspend setting" -> Set "Plugged in" to "Disabled".
Click "Apply" and "OK".
Open Device Manager (right-click the Windows Start button).
Expand the "Universal Serial Bus controllers" section at the bottom of the list.
Right-click on each entry named "USB Root Hub" -> "Properties" -> "Power Management" tab.
Uncheck the box labeled "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power" and click "OK".

Step 4: Install Traktor Pro 4 and the original ASIO driver. Since Test Mode is active, Windows will now fully accept the genuine ASIO driver instead of blocking it.

Perform a fresh installation of Traktor Pro 4 via Native Access.
Install the original Traktor Kontrol S4 MK2 ASIO driver from the Native Instruments website.
Connect the power adapter to both your ZBook and the S4 MK2 (important!).
Enable Airplane mode on your laptop (turn off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth completely).
Connect the S4 via USB, launch Traktor Pro 4, and open "Preferences" (gear icon) -> "Audio Setup".
Select "Traktor Kontrol S4 MK2 (ASIO)" as the Audio Device.
Set the Buffer Size to exactly 512 samples. Go to Output Routing on the left and make sure that the Mixing Mode is set to Internal and the channels are assigned correctly (Master = 1&2, Monitor = 3&4).

MatzeDJ

I’m still having the same problem despite all the adjustments.

It runs fine for a while, but eventually, the sound becomes very slow and distorted.

Maximum latency: 13479.

I briefly switch the sample rate from 44,100 Hz to 48,000 Hz and then immediately back to 44,100 Hz; that gets it working again, but surely that’s not the intended solution.

The AI suggests the issue is due to an outdated Kontrol S4 MK2 driver and recommends switching to the ASIO4ALL driver.

I’ll give that a try now and report back on how it goes...

How about NI just creates a new driver? That would surely be the easiest approach, wouldn't it?

Vocalpoint

You will never get around the latency of this cheap HP built in audio chip by tweaking Windows or changing to an ASIO driver. And using ASIO4All is never a solution in any scenario.

You need to purchase a dedicated audio interface.

MatzeDJ

But the Traktor Kontrol S4 MK2 is an audio interface, isn't it—or am I mistaken?

Vocalpoint

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/266881#Comment_266881

My bad - yes. I stand corrected.

And you should only ever use the actual Native Instruments ASIO driver with this device..

Have you actually followed my other advice and taken care of the Core parking that Windows 11 is doing?

Without addressing this first - and getting a very clean LatencyMon report - like this:

You will be fighting an uphill battle.

MatzeDJ

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/266883#Comment_266883

I am currently working on it.

PoorFellow

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/266841#Comment_266841

my other favorite tool to work alongside LatencyMon - ParkControl (from Bitsum)

Thank you for the mention. I haven't had any use for Latency Monitor myself for 'years' so I had not checked the site in 'ages' , your mention brought me back. I definitely will try to remember these tools .

Ref. : LatencyMon and ParkControl

Edit link insert : Ref. : Power Settings Explorer as mentioned by VocalPoint below here..

Vocalpoint

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/266887#Comment_266887

Yep - these two tools don’t see a lot if use unless one is installing an OS clean - but I just finally moved to Windows 11 after 5 years of testing:)

And these two performed like champs. One minute the OS was in a crap state for audio and the next - the screencap you see above.

Cannot recommend them enough to users who actually think Windows 11 is actually tuned for audio when first set up.

One other tool in my kit is the excellent Power Settings Explorer - which exposes about 100 hidden settings specific to power, cpu , usb , interrupt cycling and a ton more.

200biphasic

I've been having similar issues running legacy software and hardware on newer computers, even though the hardware inside of them is leaps and bounds more advanced than 10-12 years ago. Traktor 2 is almost unusable on modern (after 2018 or so) CPUs from what I have experienced.

I feel that at this point an external audio interface would probably be the way to go if possible with the slop that is current Windows. I haven't and won't use Apple products, so I don't know if the issue is persistent on that environment.

I also ran into similar issues running Traktor on several versions of Linux running under Wine, which is to be expected and obviously unsupported.

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