Falcon and some other virtual instruments MAX out CPU

[danieleither]

I use a number of virtual instruments and most work perfectly (all the bundled Air instruments, Addictive Drums 2, Addictive Keys).

When I try to use the bundled UVI Falcon (and also some other new virtual instruments from Output), and in a fresh new session with 1 single channel running Falcon (no other channels or plugins in the session), the CPU spikes to 100% when trying to play. With most sounds, playing just 1 single note will cause this. The sound will begin to play before 'popping' and then the plugin freezes for a few seconds. Pro Tools CPU meter shows 100%. With some very simple patches (such as the acoustic piano), you can play 2 or 3 notes simultaneously but with the same problem. Overall it is completely unusable and unstable. The problem is identical when trying to use virtual instruments from Output.

As Falcon is bundled with PT, I have spent 2 hours on the phone with Avid today who have remotely accessed my computer to try and fix the problem. They deleted and freshly re-installed Falcon. I've also tried updating the Mac OS version and PT to the latest version. We've tried all the hardware buffer settings within PT, reducing polyphony within Falcon (even down to 1) and also tried different session settings (such as sample rate, bit depth etc) and all give the same issue. I use other native virtual instruments with no problem whatsoever (such as Addictive Drums, Addictive Keys, Air Xpand2 etc) and the CPU meter barely moves when these are playing. I have sessions with 20+ (other) virtual instruments running simultaneously with no problems.

Avid have suggested it is an 'architecture issue' within the Falcon plugin, referring me to UVI for support however I'm not convinced it's specific to the plugin as I also get the problem with the 'Output' range of virtual instruments (identical issue).

System is a 12-core Mac Pro, dual x 3.46Ghz CPU, 64gb RAM with 1 x PT HDX card.

PT, plugins and virtual instruments are installed on the route (SSD) hard drive. Video card is GTX 780 3GB.

[massivekerry]

Is this a cheesgrater Mac Pro? I have noticed that certain newer VIs don’t work as well on the older processors. NI’s new Massive X actually requires an AVX-compatible processor (which shuts out the graters). Sometimes I wonder if some others don’t require it, it are optimized for it.

https://support.native-instruments.c...ible-Processor

[danieleither]

I'm not sure what you mean by a cheesegrater! It's a Mac Pro 5.1, the model before they turned them into cylinders if that helps?

[fourthtunz]

I just got falcon on my 2014 MacBook pro I7 2.7 running sierra and 2019.6
I'm having a similar occurrence but I'm not sure its as bad on my setup.
I have the falcon sound files on the built in SD card separate from the boot drive
and that was fine for the AIR synths but I will try installing it on the boot drive tonight and report back.
I hope to be getting a mac mini next week..will be interesting to see the differences with that..be interesting to find out if its processors or disk access issues. peace

[fourthtunz]

Originally Posted by massivekerry

Is this a cheesgrater Mac Pro? I have noticed that certain newer VIs don’t work as well on the older processors. NI’s new Massive X actually requires an AVX-compatible processor (which shuts out the graters). Sometimes I wonder if some others don’t require it, it are optimized for it.

https://support.native-instruments.c...ible-Processor

Damn! I came very close to buying one of these old macs this week but will be getting a mini..thanks for posting this!