Pro Tools 12.x performance with MBPr

[Thenewexhibit]

Hey, everyone,

Just curious if anyone has any experience specifically with a mid 2014 Macbook Pro Retina (2.8 GHz intel 'not sure if it's a haswell or any other etc.', 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD internal, model identifier 11,3, OSX 10.9.5 - current) and pro tools 12.

I notice my fans kick on a lot. It usually happens when bouncing a mix or any tracks; they rev up high, and calm down. But, this current mix I'm working on, maybe 70 tracks, 100 plugs, and the fan seems to be coming on all the time. I'm using the highest buffer setting I have too. I've heard of people using macbooks with 100+ tracks and 200+ plugins, and not a peep.

My interface is a focusrite saffire pro 40 being connected through a firewire to thunderbolt adapter. I'm also using a second monitor hooked up through HDMI.

I would love to hear people's experiences with similar circumstances.

Also, I remember for some reason ticking the automatic graphics switching on my computer thinking it was part of pro tools optimization, but now I can't find that detail on the avid optimization section. Does somebody know if it matters that I use the dedicated graphics for pro tools with my setup, or is automatic switching better for performance?

Thanks everyone for letting me throw up a bunch of random stuff at ya.

[john1192]

here are some parts ..

70 tracks and 100 plugins .. are there any VI's in there or is this all just Audio ??

automatic graphics switching ... i assume you mean between the 2 processors these MBP's have ... the Intel Iris Pro / NVIDIA GT750m ... this article is helpful ..

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202043

i have the 2.5ghz / 16gb ram / 500GB drive - so pretty close to your setup .. i have not tried to run a session with 70 tracks and 100 plugins on it ..

are there any Real Power HOG Plugins that you are using that might be hindering performance ??

are you using Disk Cache ???

FANS: the HDMI needs some power, TB to Firewire should not be to bad .. and ventilation around your MBP will help .. up on a stand is something i have seen people do .. or Clam Shell it , not sure if you can still do that .. but if you are using both monitors (internal and HDMI) than just disregard this part ...

also: are you running your Audio from the Internal Drive or External ??

cheers john

[Thenewexhibit]

Originally Posted by john1192

here are some parts ..

70 tracks and 100 plugins .. are there any VI's in there or is this all just Audio ??

automatic graphics switching ... i assume you mean between the 2 processors these MBP's have ... the Intel Iris Pro / NVIDIA GT750m ... this article is helpful ..

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202043

i have the 2.5ghz / 16gb ram / 500GB drive - so pretty close to your setup .. i have not tried to run a session with 70 tracks and 100 plugins on it ..

are there any Real Power HOG Plugins that you are using that might be hindering performance ??

are you using Disk Cache ???

FANS: the HDMI needs some power, TB to Firewire should not be to bad .. and ventilation around your MBP will help .. up on a stand is something i have seen people do .. or Clam Shell it , not sure if you can still do that .. but if you are using both monitors (internal and HDMI) than just disregard this part ...

also: are you running your Audio from the Internal Drive or External ??

cheers john

Thanks for the reply, John! I still don't really know if I should be using the automatic graphics switching or not. As far as CPU hog plugins, I'm not too sure... I think they're all pretty low. I have one instance of Slate Trigger 2. No VI's. Just metric halo channel strip, fet compressor, some instances of waves IR-L. My system usage of pro tools is showing no more than 40% during playback, floating between 30-40%. Fan just loses it and always turns on. I've had sessions where I was using VI's and never had this happen. I am using disk cache as well. Audio is also running from my internal SSD.

[TNM]

Originally Posted by Thenewexhibit

Thanks for the reply, John! I still don't really know if I should be using the automatic graphics switching or not. As far as CPU hog plugins, I'm not too sure... I think they're all pretty low. I have one instance of Slate Trigger 2. No VI's. Just metric halo channel strip, fet compressor, some instances of waves IR-L. My system usage of pro tools is showing no more than 40% during playback, floating between 30-40%. Fan just loses it and always turns on. I've had sessions where I was using VI's and never had this happen. I am using disk cache as well. Audio is also running from my internal SSD.

i have that *exact* machine.. 2014 build, 1tb ssd, 16 ram, nvidia 750/iris pro, 2.8ghz processor (it IS a haswell by the way..)
and the fans are (touch wood) dead quiet so far.
The fans don't ramp up till about 95 degrees.. it's the quietest notebook computer I ever used in my life.

Obviously at such a high degrees, it's essential for fans to ramp up to keep the processor safe.

Do you have any plugin gui's open at the time and if so, which ones?

I do 64-100 track projects too.

Did you try running the project through the onboard sound built into the macbook, and disable the focusrite, and see if that fixes it?

The key is process of elimination.

it is also important for us to know what your cpu temp is when it's ramping fans up. if it's low, then, well, there is a fault. You could try reset SMC by the way, and p ram (i'd rather you follow apples page on that to the letter so i can't be blamed for anything, so)

to find out the temp, try the free official intel tool for osx, intel power gadget.
https://software.intel.com/en-us/art...ower-gadget-20

:)

[john1192]

TNM mentioned SMC ... good thing to have ...

https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/23049/smcfancontrol

Originally Posted by Thenewexhibit

Thanks for the reply, John! I still don't really know if I should be using the automatic graphics switching or not. As far as CPU hog plugins, I'm not too sure... I think they're all pretty low. I have one instance of Slate Trigger 2. No VI's. Just metric halo channel strip, fet compressor, some instances of waves IR-L. My system usage of pro tools is showing no more than 40% during playback, floating between 30-40%. Fan just loses it and always turns on. I've had sessions where I was using VI's and never had this happen. I am using disk cache as well. Audio is also running from my internal SSD.

[dankin]

Mine is a little older, 2.2 I7 quad, 16gig ram. My fans run a lot if I've got a mix session playing back. Same with Photoshop and Lightroom.

[Thenewexhibit]

Originally Posted by TNM

i have that *exact* machine.. 2014 build, 1tb ssd, 16 ram, nvidia 750/iris pro, 2.8ghz processor (it IS a haswell by the way..)
and the fans are (touch wood) dead quiet so far.
The fans don't ramp up till about 95 degrees.. it's the quietest notebook computer I ever used in my life.

Obviously at such a high degrees, it's essential for fans to ramp up to keep the processor safe.

Do you have any plugin gui's open at the time and if so, which ones?

I do 64-100 track projects too.

Did you try running the project through the onboard sound built into the macbook, and disable the focusrite, and see if that fixes it?

The key is process of elimination.

it is also important for us to know what your cpu temp is when it's ramping fans up. if it's low, then, well, there is a fault. You could try reset SMC by the way, and p ram (i'd rather you follow apples page on that to the letter so i can't be blamed for anything, so)

to find out the temp, try the free official intel tool for osx, intel power gadget.
https://software.intel.com/en-us/art...ower-gadget-20

:)

First off, I'm stoked to hear that your macbook works great! It admittedly bums me out even though I have the same model hahah but, I really am stoked to hear yours is kicking butt. What interface are you using?

I downloaded the intel program, and my idol temperature is around 76 C. The temperature is around the mid 90's when the fan ramps up when playing the pro tools session. Is this normal? I also notice that voxengo SPAN makes the fan rev up. BUT, it can also just happen when I don't have that plugin window open. I notice it also when the metric halo channel strip window is open, and sometimes it happens when no plugin windows are open. Haven't narrowed that one down yet. Any thoughts on this?

Originally Posted by Thenewexhibit

Hey, everyone,

Just curious if anyone has any experience specifically with a mid 2014 Macbook Pro Retina (2.8 GHz intel 'not sure if it's a haswell or any other etc.', 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD internal, model identifier 11,3, OSX 10.9.5 - current) and pro tools 12.

I notice my fans kick on a lot. It usually happens when bouncing a mix or any tracks; they rev up high, and calm down. But, this current mix I'm working on, maybe 70 tracks, 100 plugs, and the fan seems to be coming on all the time. I'm using the highest buffer setting I have too. I've heard of people using macbooks with 100+ tracks and 200+ plugins, and not a peep.

My interface is a focusrite saffire pro 40 being connected through a firewire to thunderbolt adapter. I'm also using a second monitor hooked up through HDMI.

I would love to hear people's experiences with similar circumstances.

Also, I remember for some reason ticking the automatic graphics switching on my computer thinking it was part of pro tools optimization, but now I can't find that detail on the avid optimization section. Does somebody know if it matters that I use the dedicated graphics for pro tools with my setup, or is automatic switching better for performance?

Thanks everyone for letting me throw up a bunch of random stuff at ya.

a lot of the heat in those models is from the nvidia gpu. i've tested with gfxstatus (which lets you force to intel only) and the fans don't come on as fast, since the intel iris isn't generating as much heat.

but i don't use two monitors, just the screen on the macbook.

[Thenewexhibit]

Originally Posted by tundra

a lot of the heat in those models is from the nvidia gpu. i've tested with gfxstatus (which lets you force to intel only) and the fans don't come on as fast, since the intel iris isn't generating as much heat.

but i don't use two monitors, just the screen on the macbook.

What does that mean to force into intel only?

Another strange thing now is that my fan comes on after I start up my computer now. Tried a smc and a pram. This is crappy. Any ideas anyone?

Also tried running the session without my external monitor or the focusrite, and it still has high fan speeds and the session is putting the temp up to the mid 90's C.

[TNM]

Originally Posted by Thenewexhibit

First off, I'm stoked to hear that your macbook works great! It admittedly bums me out even though I have the same model hahah but, I really am stoked to hear yours is kicking butt. What interface are you using?

I downloaded the intel program, and my idol temperature is around 76 C. The temperature is around the mid 90's when the fan ramps up when playing the pro tools session. Is this normal? I also notice that voxengo SPAN makes the fan rev up. BUT, it can also just happen when I don't have that plugin window open. I notice it also when the metric halo channel strip window is open, and sometimes it happens when no plugin windows are open. Haven't narrowed that one down yet. Any thoughts on this?

no, my idle is max 40, usually 30 ish. something is wrong...hmmmm