Category: Tools

I’m Kayla. I build and fix PCs for work and for fun. I care about quiet fans, clean wiring, and truth in numbers. PSU software sounds boring, I know. But it can save your ears and even your power bill. You know what? It also tells you when your system gets weird before it crashes.

Here’s my take after real use in my home office. My cat, Miso, sits by the case when the fans run slow. She is a tough judge.

My Setup, So You Know I’m Not Guessing

• Corsair HX1000i (2022) with iCUE on Windows 11
• ASUS ROG Thor 1200P with Armoury Crate
• Thermaltake Toughpower DPS G 850W with DPS G/TT RGB Plus
• Cooler Master XG Plus Platinum 850 with MasterPlus+

Different builds. ATX and SFX. Air and AIO. Nvidia and AMD. I ran them for weeks, not hours.

Why Bother With PSU Software?

Let me explain. You can:

• See real power draw while you play or edit video
• Set a gentle fan curve so your PSU stays quiet
• Catch coil whine spikes and odd loads
• Track cost of power per game (yes, really)

Also, it’s fun. Little graphs, big peace of mind.
For an even deeper dive into efficiency curves and real-world load testing, head over to my curated resource page on CupidSystems.

If you want the complete log of my long-term tests—what changed with each firmware update and why I still rely on these utilities—check out the full version of this write-up on PSU Software I Actually Use.

Corsair iCUE + HX1000i: My Daily Driver

I use iCUE the most. It shows watts in and watts out, rail voltage, temp, and fan speed. I set a zero RPM curve until 45°C. In my Fractal case, it stays silent while I email, write, or edit photos.
If you want to see the official feature list straight from Corsair, their detailed iCUE software overview is a handy primer.

Real moment: I played Cyberpunk 2077 at 4K for an hour with an RTX 4090. iCUE logged a 630 W peak at the wall, and about 91% efficiency most of the time. When I exported the log, the spike lined up with a fast travel load. That told me my UPS size was fine.

What I love:

• Clean graphs and fast updates
• Easy fan curve with safe limits
• Logs export to CSV without fuss

What bugs me:

• It can feel heavy. One update made a service eat 7–10% CPU. I fixed it by turning off the SDK setting and doing a repair install.
• It doesn’t play nice with some RGB apps. Armoury Crate and iCUE together? Pick one, or expect weird lights.

Noise check: In a small room, the PSU fan stayed off in desktop work. Under Blender, it ramped to 850 RPM and sat around 33 dBA at one meter. That’s fine for me.

ASUS Armoury Crate + ROG Thor: Pretty Lights, Mixed Mood

The Thor looks cool. The OLED watt meter on the PSU matches the app within 5 W. Armoury Crate links lights across my board, RAM, and GPU. When it works, it’s smooth. My little SFX-L build (ROG Loki 850) also synced with it, which kept my tiny rig neat.
ASUS maintains a constantly updated page with downloads and FAQs for the utility—worth bookmarking if you run into quirks—under its official Armoury Crate information hub.

Real moment: I used it to set a mild fan curve for a summer heat wave. The Thor peaked at 58°C in a warm room (no AC, windows open). No coil whine. The OLED matched the game loads in Forza.

What I like:

• One place for Aura lighting and PSU data
• OLED readout actually helpful when the app is closed
• Good for ROG-heavy builds

What I don’t:

• It installs lots of services. Pop-ups, device kits, the whole kitchen sink.
• PSU pages are buried. Three clicks for simple stuff.
• Updates sometimes reset my lighting scene. Mildly annoying, then fixed after a reboot.

Thermaltake DPS G + Toughpower DPS G: Old Look, Sneaky Smart

This one feels old-school, but it does something the others don’t: power reports. Monthly use, CO2 math, and cost if you add your rate. It’s nerdy, yet handy.

Real moment: I used the report to spot a bad power strip. Strange idle watt spikes at night. Swapped the strip; spikes gone. My bill dipped a bit the next month. Not huge, but real.

Ups and downs:

• Cloud account needed for full reports
• UI looks dated, but it runs light
• One crash during log export; fine after reinstall
• Good for long-term tracking fans

Cooler Master MasterPlus+ + XG Plus: Pretty Screen, Slow Start

MasterPlus+ took a while to see my XG Plus. I had to move the USB header to a different port on my B650 board. After that, it worked. The PSU screen is cute and shows live watt draw.

Real moment: I set a quiet fan curve for my living room PC. FIFA stayed smooth, and the PSU fan held under 700 RPM. You can make the little screen show temp, too. My kid liked it more than I did.

Good:

• Simple fan curve
• Live screen actually readable

Not so good:

• Device detection feels slow
• Fewer data points than iCUE
• One time it forgot my curve after a Windows update; re-applied and saved fine

Small Tangent: USB Headers Matter

Weird but true. These PSU apps hate sketchy USB links. If your PSU keeps dropping:

• Use a short, shielded internal USB cable
• Try another header on the board
• Don’t run three RGB apps at once
  I keep a cheap internal USB hub from NZXT in my drawer. It saves me on compact builds.

Solid, no-nonsense links always win—whether you’re chasing stable sensor data or something spicier. If you’ve ever wondered how streamlined matchmaking services keep the friction low and the satisfaction high, swing by PlanCulFacile for a peek at their “make a connection fast” philosophy; it’s a fun reminder that robust connections pay off no matter what you’re plugging in. And if you're based around Suffolk and find yourself hunting for a last-minute USB header cable, a budget PSU to gut for parts, or even a buyer for the gear you've just upgraded away from, the local classifieds section over at Backpage Suffolk lets you connect with nearby enthusiasts quickly and skip the shipping costs altogether.

Quick Test Moments That Stood Out

• Baldur’s Gate 3, 1440p Ultra: Corsair iCUE showed steady 520–560 W from the wall. Fans stayed calm.
• HandBrake 4K encode: Armoury Crate showed the Thor at 46°C, no fan ramp until 8 minutes in.
• Idle, lights off: Thermaltake logged 72 W average for a week on my office PC. That helped me set sleep timers.
• Short SFX build: MasterPlus+ kept the PSU fan curve gentle; the GPU was louder anyway, so it balanced the tone.

Who Should Use What?

• Want the most data and clean control? iCUE with a Corsair HXi or AXi.
• All-in on ASUS parts and synced lights? Armoury Crate with a Thor or Loki.
• Care about power bills and long logs? Thermaltake DPS G.
• Like a PSU screen and simple curves? Cooler Master MasterPlus+.

If you hate background apps, you can skip all this. Your PC will still run fine. But if you chase quiet and you like numbers, it helps.

Little Gotchas and Fixes I Learned

• High CPU from iCUE? Turn off third-party SDK in settings, then repair.
• Armoury Crate won’t see the PSU? Update the device kit, then reboot once (not twice).
• Thermaltake export crash? Reinstall the app; it’s fast.
• MasterPlus+ missing device? Swap the USB header or use an internal hub.

And hey, keep only one RGB suite open. One ring to rule your lights, or they fight.

Final Take

PSU software isn’t magic, but it’s useful. It kept my rigs quiet, warned me about odd loads, and even trimmed a tiny bit off my power bill. iCUE is the one I trust day to day. Armoury Crate is fine if you live in the ASUS world. Thermaltake is the budget accountant. Cooler Master is the cute screen with enough control.

Do you need it? Not always. Do I keep it? Yes—because in a hot week, with Miso asleep by the case, silence feels like a small win.

I’m Kayla. I play keys, write songs, and haul a MIDI keyboard to coffee shops and small gigs. I’ve used a bunch of music apps with my Akai MPK Mini MK3, my Komplete Kontrol S49, and a simple M-Audio Keystation 49. Some apps made me grin. A few made me groan. Here’s what stuck.
If you’re eyeing the next-generation controller, take a peek at this in-depth review of the Akai MPK Mini IV to see what’s new.

Quick note first: if you hear lag, change your audio buffer to 128 samples (or 256 if your laptop cries). On Windows, use an ASIO driver. It matters more than people think. For an even deeper dive, check out this comprehensive guide on ASIO drivers and how they cut MIDI latency.
For a deeper dive into driver tweaks, MIDI routing, and keeping latency low, check out the concise guide from Cupid Systems.

Need an even broader rundown of the exact DAWs and plug-ins that survived my own road tests? I collected the whole list in The Best Software I Actually Use With My MIDI Keyboard.

Ableton Live: My Loop Brain

When I want fast ideas, I open Ableton Live. My Launchkey 61 snaps to it like it was built for it. I record tiny loops in Session View, stack drums, then twist a filter with a knob on my MPK. It feels like Lego, but for beats.

• What I made: a lo-fi groove with Rhodes, a vinyl crackle, and a lazy snare. Took 12 minutes. I timed it.
• The high: MIDI mapping is easy. I press MIDI Map, touch a knob, done.
• The low: the first week felt weird. Session View is new if you came from “normal” tracks.

Who it suits: beat folks, loop lovers, live sets with clips. I use it for Sunday jam nights.

Logic Pro: Songwriter Glue

Logic is where I finish things. I plug in my Komplete Kontrol S49, and the lights even match my scales. Drummer lays a drum track that sounds like a person. Alchemy gives me big pads when I need a chorus to lift.

• What I made: a pop ballad with a piano intro and a string swell. Smart Tempo fixed my messy free-time intro.
• The high: low-latency monitoring just works. I can play soft synths with no lag.
• The low: Mac only. Also, it’s deep. Menus hide menus.

Who it suits: singers, writers, people who like full songs with bridges and real endings.

FL Studio: Piano Roll King

FL’s Piano Roll is the smoothest. No debate from me. I used my MPK Mini and drew a trap hi-hat roll with one brush stroke. The step sequencer feels like a toy, but a smart one.

• What I made: a bright pop beat with FLEX and a plucky arp. Gross Beat did the stutter trick.
• The high: pattern workflow is fast. My brain rests.
• The low: I had a few CPU spikes with heavy synths. Saved often.

Those random spikes pushed me to fine-tune my laptop’s power-management utilities. I broke down the PSU tools that stayed, the ones that bugged me, and why I still keep a couple of them in this candid write-up.

Who it suits: melody chasers, EDM, hip-hop, folks who love a clean piano roll.

GarageBand: Sweet and Free

On my MacBook, I teach a niece with GarageBand and an M-Audio Keystation 49. She picked a classic electric piano, hit record, and we had a song in 10 minutes. That smile? Worth it.

• The high: it’s free and friendly. Drummer Lite is solid.
• The low: routing is basic. But you can open a project in Logic later.

Who it suits: new players, school projects, quick voice-and-piano demos.

Reaper: The Light Workhorse

Reaper surprised me. I ran it on an older Dell with a Nektar SE49. It still felt quick. It’s like a blank room that you set up your way. Deep, but kind.

• What I made: a live piano take with Pianoteq and a simple pad on a bus.
• The high: tiny install, low CPU, tons of routing.
• The low: you’ll tweak settings. The look is plain till you theme it.

Who it suits: budget users, older laptops, people who like control.

Studio One: Chord Track Helper

Studio One is steady. I wrote a gospel ballad with it using my Komplete Kontrol S49. The Chord Track let me switch the key of a pad without re-playing it. Felt like magic, but simple.

• The high: drag-and-drop everything. Pattern editor is clear.
• The low: fewer third-party templates. Key commands took time to learn.

Who it suits: writers who sketch fast and arrange with chords.

Bitwig Studio: Mod Fun and MPE

A friend loaned me a ROLI Seaboard for a weekend. I paired it with Bitwig. Wow. Slides, bends, pressure—all tracked per note. Then I added modulators like candy.

• What I made: a wobbly lead with pressure opening the filter and a slow LFO on pan.
• The high: modulation is built in. MPE is smooth.
• The low: it can feel “too open” if you only want a piano.

Who it suits: sound tinkerers, synth people, MPE keyboards.

MainStage: The Live Rig Box

For shows, I run MainStage with my S49 and a sustain pedal. I set patch changes on the pedal so I don’t lift my hands. One patch is a warm piano. The next stack adds a soft pad. Done.

• The high: huge sounds, easy splits, stable when tested.
• The low: I had one freeze two summers ago at a park set. My fault—I forgot power saving. Now I turn that off.

Who it suits: live players who need layers, splits, and set lists.

My Go-To Instruments and Tools

These sit in almost every session. They make a plain MIDI keyboard feel like a full room of gear.

• Arturia Analog Lab: thousands of classic keys. I mapped my MPK knobs to cutoff and reverb. Made an 80s pad for a sync cue.
• Native Instruments Komplete Kontrol: tags and browsing on the keyboard. The scale mode keeps me from bad notes on tired days.
• Pianoteq: super light piano that still feels real under the fingers. Great with half-pedal.
• Spectrasonics Keyscape: stunning pianos and keys. Heavy on CPU, but rich. I track, then freeze.
• XLN Addictive Keys: quick load, sweet character. The Studio Grand sits well in a mix.
• Toontrack EZkeys + Scaler 2: good for sketching chords. I use them like training wheels when a chorus won’t land.
• Xfer Serum: bright leads and clean bass. I map the filter to a knob and ride it like a swell.

You know what? Good sounds can fix a bad day.

Little Setup Tips That Saved Me

• Use a powered USB hub if your keyboard drops out.
• Set buffer to 128 when playing, 512 when mixing.
• Turn off Bluetooth and Wi-Fi on stage. Fewer hiccups.
• Save a default template per app with your keyboard mapped.

After a marathon session, I sometimes need a totally different kind of distraction to reset my ears and brain. If your version of a break involves quick, unpolished smartphone clips that feel 100 % real and unfiltered, the French site Snap Amateur curates a constantly updated stream of candid NSFW videos—perfect for a few minutes of light-hearted escapism before diving back into the mix.

When I’m touring the Pacific Northwest, a free night in northern Idaho often means hunting for an impromptu coffee-shop set or simply scoping out the local scene; in those moments I peek at Backpage Coeur d’Alene for fresh, community-posted listings that can point me toward open-mic spots, rehearsal rooms, or late-night hangouts without having to spam social media for tips.

So… What Should You Pick?

• For beats and loops: Ableton Live or FL Studio.
• For full songs and final mixes: Logic Pro or Studio One.
• For old laptops or tight budgets: Reaper.
• For wild sound design or MPE: Bitwig.
• For stage rigs: MainStage.
• For instant “this sounds good”: Analog Lab, Pianoteq, or Keyscape on any DAW.

Honestly, the “best” one is the one you open without dread. I keep Ableton and Logic side by side. Ableton catches sparks. Logic finishes the track. That mix works for me, my MPK Mini, and my S49.

If you’re stuck, start with GarageBand or Reaper, add Analog Lab,

I play clarinet. I teach a bit on the side, too. And I tried SmartMusic for a full semester—home, school, and one noisy band room with a buzzing light. Did it help? You know what? Mostly, yes. But it got on my nerves sometimes. If you want the straight-from-the-source specs, the developers at MakeMusic keep an official overview of what SmartMusic can (and can’t) do.
If you’d like an even deeper dive into the day-to-day results, I kept a detailed SmartMusic practice log that shows exactly how the app kept nudging me back to the stand.

Setup that made me smile (and groan a little)

I used SmartMusic on my school Chromebook and at home on my iPad. Setup was easy. I logged in, picked my instrument, and it ran a mic test. The count-in beep felt like a coach tapping a clipboard—let’s go. If you’re curious how educators outside my bubble rate the platform, Common Sense Education has a comprehensive review that weighs the pros and cons. For a deeper dive into the kind of cloud infrastructure that keeps music-education apps running smoothly, check out Cupid Systems. For anyone who pairs SmartMusic with live video lessons, you might appreciate this rundown of the top 5 cam sites for real-time teaching—it compares latency, audio quality, and ease of use so you can choose a platform that won’t trip up your timing.

But if my Wi-Fi hiccuped, the screen froze mid-take. Also, my Bluetooth earbuds had lag. The cursor would say “now” and my ears heard “almost now.” Not great. Wired headphones fixed it.
If you want to make sure your recorded takes stay clean and distortion-free, you might also peek at this rundown of the best clipping software for smooth takes.

A real night of practice

Here’s one night that sticks. I had two things due:

• A chunk of our fall concert piece, measures 42–58.
• A scale test: Concert B-flat, two octaves, eighth notes at 96.

I opened the piece first. SmartMusic showed the part with a blue cursor that moved across the notes. I turned on the accompaniment. It gave me a two-bar count-in. Felt like the band was there, but also not judging me for missing that stupid F-sharp.

I started at full tempo and it was a mess. So I used the slider, dropped it to 70%, and looped measures 49–52. That loop button is my favorite. I played it five times. Then I nudged the tempo back up. My cat yelled from the hallway. The mic heard it and marked a red note. I laughed, started again, and shut the door.

When I finished the take, the notes turned green and red. It gave me a score. I got 81% the first time. I was annoyed. It said I rushed quarter rests. Fair. I do that.

The scale test went better. I used the drone in the tuner, held a long B-flat, and tuned with my barrel pulled a tiny bit. Then I recorded three takes. I picked the cleanest one and sent it in. It felt like a little game. Try again. Get one more point. Do I love the score? No. But it made me fix stuff I usually ignore.
Players who also spend time on keys might appreciate the shortlist of the best software I actually use with my MIDI keyboard; several of those tools pair nicely with SmartMusic-style practice sessions.

The best bits

• Loop and slow down: I tamed hard runs by looping 2–4 measures. I added tempo in small steps. It stuck better in my fingers.
• Instant feedback: Green and red notes don’t lie. It catches early entrances and bad ties. Sometimes it felt strict, but it was fair most of the time.
• Big library: I found our method book and a few jazz charts. I even pulled up “Essential Elements” pages when I was babysitting a beginner and needed a quick exercise.
• Tuner and metronome: The drone tone kept me honest. The metronome clicks were loud enough. I liked the visual bounce, too.
• Teacher stuff that helps: My band director sent an assignment with a recording of how she wanted the style. I could listen right there. Her typed notes showed up after I submitted. Clear. No mystery.
• Sight-reading practice: I opened a fresh line, hit the count-in, and tried not to panic. It was simple, but it did the job.
• Fingering help: I tapped a note and got a little fingering hint. Saved me once on a high C that squeaked like a door.

The parts that fell flat

• Swing feel is fussy: On a jazz chart, it graded me weird on swung eighths. I played the feel, it heard math. Not the same thing.
• Dynamics don’t count much: It mostly cares about pitch and rhythm. My soft, sweet phrase? It didn’t cheer. It just said, “You were late on beat 3.”
• Mic drama: If your room is loud, the grading gets picky. Fans, pets, and even chair squeaks confused it. A cheap clip-on mic helped a lot.
• Rest detection: I held a fermata with feeling. It called it wrong. Rests got rushed or judged oddly if the room echoed.
• Printing limits: I tried to print a part for a student. On my plan, it didn’t let me. I had to open it on my iPad, which was fine, but paper would’ve been nice.
• Screen scroll: On longer pages, the cursor jumped to the next line and my eyes lost the spot. Not a deal-breaker, but I missed two entrances that way.
• No Wi-Fi, no play: When the internet went out during a storm, I couldn’t get to anything. I wish there was a “download this piece” button.

A tiny story from class

I used SmartMusic with a fifth grader who kept fighting middle E. We loaded a 4-bar exercise, slowed it to 60%, and looped it. After three loops, he said, “Can we try 70?” That question felt like gold. He got to 80% with only one red note. He grinned like he’d scored a goal. We saved that take and sent it to his mom. It wasn’t fancy, but it was real progress.

Musicians around the Hudson Valley are always swapping gear, chasing jam sessions, or hunting for last-minute pit gigs. If you’re near Newburgh and want a single page where those opportunities (and plenty of other local classifieds) pop up fast, the revived Backpage Newburgh can be a surprisingly handy stop—scrolling it can uncover everything from cheap clarinets to calls for horn players, turning your practice-room progress into real-world playing time.

Little tips I learned the hard way

• Use wired headphones for clean timing.
• Run the mic test every few days. It drifts.
• If the room is echoey, hang a hoodie behind your chair. It helps the mic.
• Tap tricky measures to place the loop—don’t start the whole piece over.
• If it grades you wrong on a tie, try a shorter breath and a clearer re-tongue.

Who it’s great for

• Students who need structure and a nudge.
• Band kids on Chromebook or iPad.
• Teachers who want clear, fast check-ins.
• Anyone who loves to track progress with scores and streaks.

Who might not love it

• Jazz players who live by feel more than the click.
• Percussionists with lots of rolls and buzzes—it can misread those.
• Folks with poor Wi-Fi or noisy rooms.
• Players who care more about tone color than green notes.

My bottom line

SmartMusic made me practice more. It turned “ugh, I’ll do it later” into “one more take.” It won’t teach soul. It won’t fix your reed. And it sometimes hears your cat as a C-sharp. But it gave me clear steps and steady feedback, and I did improve.

Would I keep it? Yes—for school seasons, for concert prep, and for students who need targets. I’ll still do long tones without it. I’ll still play along with real recordings for feel. But when I want clean notes, honest timing, and a plan that sticks, SmartMusic earns its spot on my stand.