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> Linux actually has better audio performance than [...] macOS That seems unlikely to me and doesn't match any experience I've ever had or known anyone to have

> Linux actually has better audio performance than [...] macOS That seems unlikely to me and doesn't match any experience I've ever had or known anyone to have. Can you explain what you mean by that?

barrkel 7y ago
Windows automatically boosts the prio of threads playing audio, basically treats them as realtime in its prio hierarchy. What I expect GP is talking about is minimum latency achievable, i.e. that with focused tuning, you can outperform Windows. Regular users of not so tuned apps probably experience this differently because Windows tries to do the tuning automatically and Linux doesn't. The Windows scheduler has other issues, like random prio boosting to escape from prio inversion.
- xenadu02 7y ago
  Right, I'm aware of the issues on Windows. I was asking about XNU-based platforms which are known for having very low latency and excellent realtime audio perf out of the box. (Granted, the out of box behavior and the achievable latency are two separate issues)
  - jcelerier 7y ago
    > Right, I'm aware of the issues on Windows. I was asking about XNU-based platforms which are known for having very low latency and excellent realtime audio perf out of the box. I have never seen a mac box achieving reliable lower latency than Linux or Windows on the same hardware. Macs are nice for the plug'n'play experience - even though more often than not you still want to install your soundcard's driver. But when it comes to doing actual work... https://www.dawbench.com/win7-v-osx-6.htm https://www.dawbench.com/win7-v-osx-6.htm
    - AdmiralBumbleB 7y ago
      I'm not sure that posting 9 year old benchmarks is particularly useful, particularly when those results have been heavily debated. If we're talking pure latency then UA, Focusrite, Apogee and Avid have lower RTL for the same buffer size in macOS. RME is identical on both platforms and I'm unsure about antelope. Regarding loads before under-runs that's a very tough thing to test, as it varies between products. GENERALLY: Comparing Digital Performer between platforms heavily favours macOS. Comparing Pro Tools favours macOS (currently). Comparing Reaper favours windows slightly. Cubase favours Windows... etc... There's also load type that factors in, as with macs you get a specific build with minimal leeway. Windows builds can be planned for a given build (highly serial, highly parallel, RAM hungry, Latency performant etc...). It's not too hard to build a test suite that favours macOS everywhere on the same machine, likewise for Windows. But to the original topic, latency, macOS is generally superior in this regard when looking at RTL specs for the same device.

> Linux actually has better audio performance than [...] macOS That seems unlikely to me and doesn't match any experience I've ever had or known anyone to have. Can you explain what you mean by that?

barrkel 7y ago

Windows automatically boosts the prio of threads playing audio, basically treats them as realtime in its prio hierarchy. What I expect GP is talking about is minimum latency achievable, i.e. that with focused tuning, you can outperform Windows. Regular users of not so tuned apps probably experience this differently because Windows tries to do the tuning automatically and Linux doesn't. The Windows scheduler has other issues, like random prio boosting to escape from prio inversion.

xenadu02 7y ago
Right, I'm aware of the issues on Windows. I was asking about XNU-based platforms which are known for having very low latency and excellent realtime audio perf out of the box. (Granted, the out of box behavior and the achievable latency are two separate issues)
- jcelerier 7y ago
  > Right, I'm aware of the issues on Windows. I was asking about XNU-based platforms which are known for having very low latency and excellent realtime audio perf out of the box. I have never seen a mac box achieving reliable lower latency than Linux or Windows on the same hardware. Macs are nice for the plug'n'play experience - even though more often than not you still want to install your soundcard's driver. But when it comes to doing actual work... https://www.dawbench.com/win7-v-osx-6.htm https://www.dawbench.com/win7-v-osx-6.htm
  - AdmiralBumbleB 7y ago
    I'm not sure that posting 9 year old benchmarks is particularly useful, particularly when those results have been heavily debated. If we're talking pure latency then UA, Focusrite, Apogee and Avid have lower RTL for the same buffer size in macOS. RME is identical on both platforms and I'm unsure about antelope. Regarding loads before under-runs that's a very tough thing to test, as it varies between products. GENERALLY: Comparing Digital Performer between platforms heavily favours macOS. Comparing Pro Tools favours macOS (currently). Comparing Reaper favours windows slightly. Cubase favours Windows... etc... There's also load type that factors in, as with macs you get a specific build with minimal leeway. Windows builds can be planned for a given build (highly serial, highly parallel, RAM hungry, Latency performant etc...). It's not too hard to build a test suite that favours macOS everywhere on the same machine, likewise for Windows. But to the original topic, latency, macOS is generally superior in this regard when looking at RTL specs for the same device.