Can someone please help with settings?

[Adupr]

Just wondering what are the best settings for my computer as far as the "playback engine" is concerned. Host Processors? CPU Usage limit? Cache size? Plug-in buffer?

Computer is a Mac 3.33 6 core with 24gb ram

I really appreciate it.

[albee1952]

Most folks set the number of processors to 1 less than the total(which leaves that processor to handle system duties). By doing that, you SHOULD be able to set usage to 99%. Cache size, I guess(knowing nothing else about your system) I would set for 6GB as that should be plenty to load a session into(assuming we are talking about the HD feature that loads audio into RAM). "plugin buffer" makes no sense to me. Did you mean "PLAYBACK buffer"? That can change depending on your needs at any given moment. Basically, leave it low(like 64) for all tracking as it gives low latency(32 is lower, but stresses the cpu more and you may not need that little bit of lower latency). When it comes time to mix and you pile on tons of plugins, if the system stops and throws error messages, bump the buffer up(I usually just go right to 1024). This gives the cpu more time to process during mixing(when you don't need low latency)

[Adupr]

yeah there's a box that says "plug-in streaming buffer" that has different levels

[Adupr]

So, is it common for everybody to go one less on the cpu processors?

This might be a stupid question but can someone explain what the "disk playback cache size" is? Is there a difference from a lower setting to a higher setting like buffer size?

Thanks again

[jbrown7282]

Yes that is very common as far as CPU usage.....

The Disk Playback Cache determines how much of your session is Stored in your available Ram.... Really helpful for playback....I set my Disk Cache to about 4 GB... For me in Mixing that seems to be a great number.....

In my opinion and experience you should experiment with those setting to get the most stability for your rig depending on what your doing... Ie... Composing, Tracking(smaller buffer) or Editing and Mixing (Larger Buffer)....