New "Mac Studio" from Apple

[Phil O'Keefe]

Originally Posted by 685

The "Final Mix Session" is the one that uses a lot of plugins.

Thanks. That's the same one I tried previously that wouldn't play back at all for me.

I tried it again, and this time I was able to play through the entire session. My Total CPU meter in Pro Tools generally sat at around 86%, but it occasionally peaked into the red (100%), but the session continued to play back just fine. I tried it several times with the same results each time. This was with a 32 sample buffer setting.

The only difference is that this time, I was running the latest version of macOS (12.4 vs 12.3.1) and the latest version of Pro Tools Ultimate (2022.5), with the aux bus bug fix. I suspect that the aux bus fix is what made the difference.

[Eric Lambert]

Originally Posted by Phil O'Keefe

This was with a 32 sample buffer setting.

Any reason why you're not bumping that up to a higher buffer, or is that strictly to see what the machine can handle?

As mentioned before, I'd be curious to see another report of the Sol Levante test with a more typical value of 512 or so.

[Steven1145]

Usage is lower on the 12 core Mac Pro, running at 512 in Hybrid engine, around 16% with peaks at 25%.

[Eric Lambert]

Originally Posted by Steven1145

Usage is lower on the 12 core Mac Pro, running at 512 in Hybrid engine, around 16% with peaks at 25%.

Were you using the hybrid engine with the Mac Studio as well, or strictly CPU processing?

[gives]

Originally Posted by Hillbilly Pav

Well, since I can run 8 to 10 unfrozen Acustica plugs on my old 5,1 cheesegrater without choking, ProTools' lack of native AS support is a big part of the problem. Acustica certainly shares some of the blame, as they have stated several times that their plugs don't run under Rosetta 2.

And I agree Acustica plugs are very processor intensive— they also sound much closer to real hardware than any of my hundreds of algo ones. I find them worth the trouble of freezing tracks as I move through a session to get that sound.

All reports indicate Reaper is very fast and responsive with Acustica plugs, which is why I'm seriously learning everything I can about it. If it had proper playlists, I'd probably already be doing some projects with it.

For those who have been doing this long enough, you will remember the big performance boost when the original Rosetta was replaced with native Intel code on Macs. I'm sure there will be at least as big an improvement when we get a native AS PT version.

Geez.. I hope they remedy that at Acustica.. I paid a lot for those plugins. I have been working on a Mac Pro Trash can so no big deal at this point.

[gives]

Originally Posted by Robruce

Not sure how much of an improvement there will be with an AppleSi-native PT. Any expectation or hope of Acustica performance improving might not be met.

Here, with Acustica Viridian2, touch any knob and it stops PT (vanilla) cold with an error message. This was the case under Intel/Mojave with PT 2019, then an M1 Mini w/Big Sur, and now Monterey running PT 2022.5 and earlier. The UI is practically malware....been that way forever, at least here and also with 'Ivory' and some of the freebies too.
Not sure they've hired the best coders.

Great sonics, downright majestic faceplates ok sure, but the UI on several plugs is consistently unstable while claiming huge amounts of CPU resources.
Not sure they've hired the best coders.

Perhaps a native PT variant will improve Acustica things, but I'm not expecting it because.......
I'm not sure they've hired the best coders.

ps - here's a grid for Acustica's lineup, versions, nativity etc.

https://app.box.com/v/AAAcquaEffectF...e/719877889538

Thnx. G

[gives]

Originally Posted by Eric Lambert

FWIW, I would log in to my account with a web browser and download the latest versions via My Account (or whatever they call it). The Izotope app didn't handle it for me.

If that doesn't work, perhaps those two plugs are just not yet ready for Monterey.

I have an issue with That silly Final Mix plugin and also RX7 which would not let me launch ProTools. .I had to go thru 300+ plugins to test all of them. Those were my two I found. After that everything worked fine thru Monterey 12.4

G

[Steven1145]

Originally Posted by Eric Lambert

Were you using the hybrid engine with the Mac Studio as well, or strictly CPU processing?

I decided that I didn't need the 2 hdx cards anymore for that room, so it's strictly CPU on an RME hdsp MADI driver.

[Eric Lambert]

Originally Posted by Steven1145

I decided that I didn't need the 2 hdx cards anymore for that room, so it's strictly CPU on an RME hdsp MADI driver.

So then the Hybrid test is incorporating HDX cards for processing, which certainly explains the lower CPU usage.

[Eric Lambert]

Originally Posted by gives

I have an issue with That silly Final Mix plugin and also RX7 which would not let me launch ProTools. .I had to go thru 300+ plugins to test all of them. Those were my two I found. After that everything worked fine thru Monterey 12.4

G

Is it a matter of updating those two plugins? Or are you running the latest versions and they're just not ready for primetime?