CPU Spiking when arming even ONE track

[trigoe]

Brand new everything. Fast ext hard drive.

I'm a drummer, need zero latency, which is why I upgraded with the hype of the power and low buffer possibilities etc...

When I arm even one track, my CPU spikes over 100 percent when set at 64 samples

Of course the CPU goes down to where it's useable at 256. But, I feel like something else is wrong and the ultra low latency potential isn't being exploited.

I've turned all plug in's off (which sucks) but the problem and cpu spike at low buffer setting is still happening.

Any help is appreciated.

[propower]

I do 96kHz/64 buffer exclusively with the same basic machine as you but I have HD Native Thunderbolt and an AVID interface.

First - you have to try a complete clean install of Maverick and PT11 and whatever drivers the Aurora needs. Nothing else - it is fine to even do this on an external UUSB3 drive to keep it simple (though I prefer TB drives). Not even the AIR package to start (though this has never been problem for me).

Now with nothing but stock AVID plugs and your interface - does it work? If it does than it is most likely one (or more) of your PI's is the culprit - add them in one at a time to find out which. Painful - slow but completely necessary. For any Drum VI work - Toontrack SD2 and EZ1 were super efficient and light on CPU (haven't tested EZ2 yet). Other PI's that are light CPU and effecient for this work are - Softube, all AVID, most WAVES, Exponential Audio - though reverbs are the biggest load.

If it still doesn't work - download xcode and disable hyperthreading.

If it still doesn't work - I feel for you. Though I ask all the time almost no manufacturers are willing to publish latency or performance specs for low buffer work. they will tell you to use the onboard mixers and dsp (Aurora has this as well). I "wasted" 6 months trying to get a highly respected - very expensive interface to do this work. In the end they admitted that yeah - low buffers don't work very well.

Best of luck and please post back your findings!

[propower]

See my post in your other thread - (can these be merged?) - deacticvation is not enough... (IMO)

PS: Who says 96kHz/64buffer is no problem? - I believe you will find not many people out there even try to use it . In fact in 2 years of posting about low buffer work - I find close to zero like minded souls...

[propower]

three threads same topic - Moderators - please merge... See my comments/suggestions in your other thread.

[mrtomcat]

I seem to recall reading that you can't (shouldn't...)use 64 buffer at 96...I'd up that. since 96 gives you dramatically lower latency anyway you shouldn't have an issue...worth a try

[propower]

I use 96/64 all day - every day - last 9 months...

[albee1952]

Does your new iMac have a Fusion drive? I've read about lots of trouble with those

[JFreak]

Originally Posted by propower

See my post in your other thread - (can these be merged?) - deacticvation is not enough... (IMO)

De-activating a plugin is just as good as no plugin at all, as far as the mixer is concerned. Only difference being that de-activated plugin retains its settings when re-activated.

[demodigi]

Hi trigoe,

I had my buffer at 64 samples... it's a 96K session. Is that the reason. The COU meter goes down a bunch at 128 samples and then significantly more at 256.

1/ 64 samples @96k is the equivalent of 32 samples @48k (because CPU has twice more samples per second to deal with).

If you have a lot of playback tracks (even if you only record one and don't have plug-ins), Pro Tools still needs some buffer headroom to process audio.

There is nothing to do with 64bits -> (mainly) provide more RAM headroom (for sample based VIs, convolution reverbs, big sessions, etc...) and also a better usage of the CPU for 64bits maths (plug-ins).

I have a macmini Core i7 2012 and 32 samples @48K (I don't work @96k) can make CPU usage to "dance" a lot more than with 64 samples (@48k) either with high track count (It is far more stable @64 samples and above) or when using VIs.

2/ I don't use Maverick yet but I read that some "improvements" of Maverick could cause some drawbacks for realtime engines :
a/ App Nap (allocate less CPU usage for hidden application and background tasks -> to make less power consumption)
b/ RAM compression (no comment)

Maybe App Nap makes something wrong with your interface drivers/software (which is a background task when using Pro Tools).

Try to deactivate a/ and eventually b/ (you have enough RAM so you don't actually need RAM compression)
(-> make a google research because I don't know how to handle all of this).

3/ Another thing to try is to deactivate CPU turbo boost, to see if it changes "CPU usage" behavior :
turbo-boost switcher for OS X

And a link to monitor CPU frequency in realtime (only for Core i 2nd gen and above) :
Intel power gadget
(use this app only to check turbo boost is actually ON or OFF)

Personally, I don't deactivate turbo charge because when using PT, my CPU is nearly always @3,1GHz (with a 2,3GHz CPU). When I quit PT, it can drop down to 1,35Ghz.

[trigoe]

Thanks everyone...

Here's what's happened.

Obviously, deactivating plug ins is not the same thing as removing, because when I removed all plug in's, it seems like the cpu has gone down to 5 percent... this is from over 100 percent.

So, obviously, there is a plug in there that does not play well with PT 11.

I"m not a mixer so i don't have that many at all. Just the included stuff with PT and waves renaissance and SSL and API stuff.

Anyway, I have a buffer of 64 and now when I arm a track, the cpu doesn't even move.

The hard stuff is coming up with all the channels I need to record simultaneously but I want to THANK YOU sincerely for the advice. I give you an update if anyone is curious.