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I entered this post earlier on the General Macintosh Forum with no replies. Perhaps this forum is more appropriate.

I'm using Digital Performer 9 (DP) with Virtual Instruments (VIs). I prefer not to freeze or bounce if possible. I started to run into crashes when I loaded too many VIs in a project. I recently started using Vienna Ensemble Pro (VEP) to help spread out the VIs to different computers. That has definitely helped.

However, that still leaves unanswered the question of how many Vis one can safely load onto any one computer - whether it be with DP and/or a VEP server without crashing? Not only is crashing unpleasant, it can corrupt a file and make it unusable. People have referred me to the Mac Activity Monitor (AM). But it has never been clear to me exactly how to use it. I've never been able to locate online guidelines on how to use the AM - especially when using VIs.

What AM readings are critical to monitor to prevent crashes? Is % CPU the critical reading? If so, what values from the monitor are within normal ranges or out of normal ranges for using DP or VEP to avoid crashes? For example, the % CPU readings can vary a lot within a brief sequence depending on the VIs being used. At times, on my Master/DP machine with a VEP server also running, DP and VEP % CPU readings can jump up to about 50.0 each at the same time - and that's with just a few VIs running. Is that too high?

Please advise what I should do help maximize the use of my computers using this or other monitors to avoid crashes.

Thanks!

Activity Monitor just tells you what is happening. It doesn't do anything to prevent crashes or tell you one if about to happen.

It is recommended on this forum from time to time because the processing and playback load meters in DP never appears to correspond to the actual load DP is placing on the computer. It is typical to have these meters in the red while Activity Monitor shows low CPU use.

I would max out the RAM on that second iMac. Replacing the HHD with an SSD is an easy DIY and will let it run cooler. That will help.

I use the Activity Monitor to monitor the relative RAM and CPU use if I'm running multiple applications. My rule of thumb is if you see memory swaps, then you are maxing out your RAM. Web browsers, especially Chrome in my case, are incredible memory hogs.

I also use AM to help familiarize myself with what processes are running, and when. Each process is easily Googled, and I check it now and then to see if any unknown or nefarious processes are running.