PT 2019.5 plug-in efficiency

[Ray Lyon]

Would PT 2019.5 better use system resources (plug-ins) more efficiently in Sierra (10.12.6) or High Sierra (10.13.6)?

[mrguitarguy]

I just did a fresh install moving from Sierra to High Sierra and I can’t believe how well 2019.5 is running. I was running full mix sessions without any problems at a 64 buffer. I had to keep checking to make sure it didn’t change because I couldn’t believe it. I opened a bunch on huge mix sessions from the past just to see what would happen and everything ran smooth. It was like I was on an old TDM system. I hope writing this doesn’t jinx anything. System specs are in my signature. I would definitely go with High Sierra.

[685]

I did an upgrade from High Sierra to Mojave on my macbookpro and didn't notice an improvement in cpu usage with my previous sessions. I do love the new features of 2019.5 though. Inserting new plugins or creating new tracks without pausing is nice. I also think that Mojave itself runs a little smoother. Also, my macpro is still on High Sierra and I didn't notice any improvement in cpu usage with 2019.5

[Ray Lyon]

Thanks for your responses... can anyone else contribute to this?



I don't want to upgrade OS if I don't have to. I've already noticed a huge difference as to how much more efficient 2019.5 is on Sierra than 2018.12. Not much difference in spread over CPU threads in the CPU meter but sessions that required 512 buffer (because of multiple VI's) now work super smooth at 256 and 256 at 128.


This is a significant upgrade for PT HDX in terms of native plug in efficiency on MacPro 5,1 2010 era cheese graters. Also, plug-in insertions on the fly, snap to clip insertion... a great upgrade for someone like myself... bravo Avid!

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by Ray Lyon

Thanks for your responses... can anyone else contribute to this?



I don't want to upgrade OS if I don't have to. I've already noticed a huge difference as to how much more efficient 2019.5 is on Sierra than 2018.12. Not much difference in spread over CPU threads in the CPU meter but sessions that required 512 buffer (because of multiple VI's) now work super smooth at 256 and 256 at 128.


This is a significant upgrade for PT HDX in terms of native plug in efficiency on MacPro 5,1 2010 era cheese graters. Also, plug-in insertions on the fly, snap to clip insertion... a great upgrade for someone like myself... bravo Avid!

Something to keep in mind and to ask about is how did people do their OSX upgrades? Did they do it the 'Apple Way' and install over the top of whatever OSX they had? Or did they do a clean install of not only OSX but also PT and all plugins? Often the latter clean install of the existing OSX along with reinstalling everything else will give performance boosts and clean out gremlins Installing over the top (aka 'in situ') of oSX can and will lead to all kinds of weirdness and performance issues.

[685]

When I ran Windows(since Protools 5.0 or 6.0) years ago I would reformat my OS drives and reinstall everything once a year. Why? It only took a free day, gave me peace of mind to keep things running smooth, and I didn't have many problems. Same thing when I replaced harddrives...total re-install vs cloning. When I switched over to Mac(Leopard I think) I would do the same thing until I read an article about it being overkill with Mac OS. So I looked up a few other sites and found the same opinions. Being me, I still didn't believe it until I tested for myself. During the next harddrive replacement(Mavericks) I decided to do the software upgrades on the old drive and a total re-install on the new drive. I saw no noticeable improvements in Mavericks or Protools when comparing the two drives. Session cpu usage and overall functionality was pretty much the same. Nothing was wrong with the old drive. I like to replace my drives after so much usage and store them as another backup sorta speak. I've seen brand new drives fail.



(Fast forward)

A few months after upgrading to High Sierra I ran into some random issues and troubleshooting didn't help. On a free day I reformatting/re-installing everything and still had no improvement. 2018.4 was better and now I'm trying 2019.5(Mojave on the MacbookPro and High Sierra on the MacPro). I keep an open mind and think each person's system is unique and may have different issues here and there. I try to keep working and not let the minor stuff bug me out. "Try" being the key word. lol


Fingers crossed..

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by Ray Lyon

Thanks for your responses... can anyone else contribute to this?



I don't want to upgrade OS if I don't have to. I've already noticed a huge difference as to how much more efficient 2019.5 is on Sierra than 2018.12. Not much difference in spread over CPU threads in the CPU meter but sessions that required 512 buffer (because of multiple VI's) now work super smooth at 256 and 256 at 128.


This is a significant upgrade for PT HDX in terms of native plug in efficiency on MacPro 5,1 2010 era cheese graters. Also, plug-in insertions on the fly, snap to clip insertion... a great upgrade for someone like myself... bravo Avid!

If you dont want to upgrade, don't.

If there was a huge issue here you would have heard abut it by now or seen other posts in DUC about it, folks here are not shy about mentioning issues.

I suspect people are making their OS decision based on lots of other reasons.

[Southsidemusic]

Originally Posted by Ray Lyon

Thanks ...

Not much difference in spread over CPU threads in the CPU meter but sessions that required 512 buffer (because of multiple VI's) now work super smooth at 256 and 256 at 128.

I would stop looking at the CPU meters and core distribution as those are not very accurate on PT and furthermore as long as you don’t have any issues why spend time worrying about the metering at all. I don’t think I looked at them twice in 10 years since it doesn’t accurately portray whats happening inside the code and hardware.

Regarding updating from Sierra or High Sierra I would stay put for now as there are a few peolle with new issues on the older Mac Pro machines like the 4.1 and 5.1 so if Sierra works good for your needs then I say stay there for now. We have one of our trashcans 6.1 12 core Mac Pro still on Sierra 10.12.6 and it runs flawlessly day and night here with HDX2 system.

[JFreak]

Originally Posted by Southsidemusic

I would stop looking at the CPU meters and core distribution as those are not very accurate on PT and furthermore as long as you don’t have any issues why spend time worrying about the metering at all. I don’t think I looked at them twice in 10 years since it doesn’t accurately portray whats happening inside the code and hardware.

Not accurate, true -- but I keep that window open to see how fast the meter is moving.. if it moves slow everything is alright but if it moves like Zlatan you should be worried

[Southsidemusic]

Originally Posted by JFreak

Not accurate, true -- but I keep that window open to see how fast the meter is moving.. if it moves slow everything is alright but if it moves like Zlatan you should be worried

LOL True True