Effects and saving really slow on large files

Hey guys,

I’ve been having this issue while editing large podcast files. So, the compression, amplification, EQ and normalization take over a couple of minutes to be done when I apply them on big files (~1 hour). On top of that, the worst thing is, when I save my project, it takes almost up to an hour to do so. That really destroys my workflow. My PC specs are pretty OK, I have an i5 and 8GB of RAM, as well as a pretty high end 8GB GPU. What is the issue? Will all of that be resolved if I get a better computer with like an i7 and 16GB of RAM or is it just Audacity that’s kinda slow? Thanks :slight_smile:

For me those effects on a one-hour project take 10-14 seconds - but I do have a modern hi-spec HP Envy laptop with a 256 SSD (8GB RAM i7-7500 CPU 2.7-2-9 HHz)

You can speed up project saving by saving an empty project right at the outset and making periodic saves.
If you don’t do that the temp files are used and then when you save Audacity has to copy from temp to your desired location.

WC

256 SSD

Solid State Drive is a big deal. One of the Systems guys at work and I had very similar machines. He had spinning metal and I had the SSD. I had to use his machine once and I though it was broken.

If you do this a lot, make sure you have a good amount of room and the drive is healthy and defragmented.

http://www.dummies.com/computers/pcs/how-to-defragment-a-hard-drive-on-a-windows-7-pc/

Disconnect the network or shut down the WiFi. If you use Google Drive or one of those services, it likes to “share” your machine.

Koz

Thanks guys! I should probably invest in an SSD real soon.