Once I disabled Turbo Mode, all these problems went away. If I kept my hands to myself, I could work for longer without encountering a problem, but a glitch was always just around the corner. I found that I could force this glitch when I reached out and touched the screen. With Turbo Mode enabled, the machine would be completely fine for quite some time, but then I would encounter the odd glitch when I wasn’t really doing anything. In every case more consistent results were achieved with Turbo Mode disabled. Virtual instruments were perfectly playable at a 128-sample buffer size, even with lots of notes and sustain pedal on. Alternatively, I could run a dozen or so instances of CPU–intensive instruments such as Arturia’s Pigments and Reason’s Europa, provided I eased off on the buffer size. In Cubase I could run eight voices on 64 instances of HALion with plenty of headroom. Using DAWBench 2017, the ZenBook was able to pull off a stable 150 plug-ins even when running at a wafer-thin 16 samples with the MOTU M4 audio interface. In either case I recommend running a ‘High Performance’ power profile when using music software, to minimise the potential for glitches in the audio stream. ![]() One gives you the hope of awesome power, the other guarantees the usefulness of moderate power. You can relax into the wandering nature of a speed-stepping and Turbo–boosting processor that expands and contracts depending on your plug-in and virtual instrument needs, or you can restrict the speed of the processor for the sake of stability and consistency by turning off Turbo Mode. There are two paths you can take with using a laptop for music production. I am very happy to report that my Focusrite Clarett 2Pre worked without any bother using a TB2‑TB3 adaptor. The USB‑C port is also a Thunderbolt 3 port, which has the potential for running some quite powerful audio interfaces. Such is the annoyingly inconsistent experience of testing laptops. On the other hand, I had a generative patch in VCV Rack running for a couple of hours without a single glitch. These didn’t appear to be related to CPU load, suggesting a system issue instead. Switching to MOTU’s M4 USB‑C audio interface, I could easily achieve good low latencies, but the occasional dropout would remain. ![]() Audio dropouts would occur from time to time, supporting LatencyMon’s findings. Using the onboard Realtek–based audio drivers, I had no problems getting playback from a range of DAWs and virtual instruments, with the usual 40ms of almost–but–not–quite–playable latency. This is the sort of thing that can usually be cured with a bit of system and power tweaking. The LatencyMon software stayed green and pleasingly low for a while, but over time would hit a peak and be declared unfit for real-time audio applications. Out of the box, the Windows 10 installation is unfussy, with only an annoying MyAsus app causing any interruptions. This is not a whip–it–out–on–the–train type of laptop this wants to sit on a perfectly curated, Instagrammable desk, surrounded by pot plants and a cafetière of artisan coffee. This computer is weighty in your hands and solid on the desk. You also get a digital pen and the most enormous power brick I’ve seen in a long time. Having the trackpad over to the right feels quite natural once you get used to it - assuming you are not a lefty. The keyboard is backlit and has a good feel. It also has 45W of TDP heat to get rid of and needs a decent cooling system, which accounts for its reassuringly chunky form. That’s a bit quick for a mobile platform. Current performance benchmarks put it ahead of all current i7 desktop processors and seventh-generation i9 processors. This is one good–looking machine.Īnd a quick glance at the ‘Specifications’ box will show you that it’s more than just a pretty face. The half-screen/half-keyboard arrangement with trackpad placed to the side seems odd at first - but then a screen and a half of 4k UHD OLED desktop beams at you in a gazillion colours, and an involuntary ‘wow’ passes your lips. ![]() You know this is going to be an impressive experience when you unfold the lid and feel the quality of the movement as a slight overhang rotates about the hinge to push the rear up into a comfortable typing angle. Is it the perfect portable music machine? The ZenBook Pro Duo UX581GV has more screens and power than you can shake a stick at.
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