CPU maxed out - mystery solved

[Umbrella]

Songsmith,

You'll find as you use DP more and more that there are a couple of things one always makes sure to set in the preferences after an upgrade or clean install - for optimal performance..

One de facto setting that I have stuck to since tempo-based beat-detection was introduced in v 4.5, I believe, is "off" for automatic analysis and conversion. Fortunately, you'll only have to set it this way once (unless you need to trash your preferences, for whatever reason)...

You'll get the hang of these things as you go along.. Anyway, be glad you're not using Logic. I have a renewed love of DP after having to recently deal with that P.O.S.

[songsmith]

The bug - as I've explained - is that the CPU meter in DP does not report accurately, at least not on my machine. This is not a misinterpretation. This is either a bug for all users or a glitch in my system.

I have read most of the manual (which I am most grateful for and refer to constantly), but I missed the checkbox for turning on "show all processes" in the Background Processing window. In my experience, this checkbox only affects the Background Processing window display, not the CPU meter. My understanding is that the CPU meter is supposed to reasonably reflect the accurate CPU hit at any given time.

Umbrella -- since I have learned that there is a preference to turn off soundfile analysis, I've done so. Thanks to all for that suggestion. It's a good one.

[kgdrum]

The bug - as I've explained - is that the CPU meter in DP does not report accurately, at least not on my machine. This is not a misinterpretation. This is either a bug for all users or a glitch in my system.

I have read most of the manual (which I am most grateful for and refer to constantly), but I missed the checkbox for turning on "show all processes" in the Background Processing window. In my experience, this checkbox only affects the Background Processing window display, not the CPU meter. My understanding is that the CPU meter is supposed to reasonably reflect the accurate CPU hit at any given time.

Umbrella -- since I have learned that there is a preference to turn off soundfile analysis, I've done so. Thanks to all for that suggestion. It's a good one.

wrong preference settings and lack of knowledge regarding proper setup of any app does not mean there is a bug this is just pilot error,you will learn from your mistakes much faster if you accept you don't know everything about DP rather then pointing fingers at Motu and proclaiming this is a bug all users have missed except you.
Some very knowledgeable users here are trying to help you and you keep blaming Motu and don't seem to be able to admit that you need to learn more about proper setup of DP or your Mac,this is starting to feel pointless as well as frustrating to follow this thread
KG

[James Steele]

I don't know if turning off background analysis is in the thread about how to run a smooth DP setup. Perhaps at somepoint we can post a sticky as to the optimum settings. I agree that turning off background analysis has for years been pretty much the de-facto setting for me and most users I know. I simply don't feel comfortable having those processes going on in the background.

[kassonica]

I don't know if turning off background analysis is in the thread about how to run a smooth DP setup. Perhaps at somepoint we can post a sticky as to the optimum settings. I agree that turning off background analysis has for years been pretty much the de-facto setting for me and most users I know. I simply don't feel comfortable having those processes going on in the background.

Agreed, I always turn mine off, but I've always wondered why it's turned on by default.

[songsmith]

wrong preference settings and lack of knowledge regarding proper setup of any app does not mean there is a bug this is just pilot error,you will learn from your mistakes much faster if you accept you don't know everything about DP rather then pointing fingers at Motu and proclaiming this is a bug all users have missed except you.
Some very knowledgeable users here are trying to help you and you keep blaming Motu and don't seem to be able to admit that you need to learn more about proper setup of DP or your Mac,this is starting to feel pointless as well as frustrating to follow this thread
KG

kgdrum (or anyone) -- Please try this at home and tell me what you see. Force DP to analyze a bunch of files and look at your Activity Monitor control panel. When you see CPU steadily maxing out according to Apple, go back to DP and check DP's Audio Performance CPU meter. Do you see the same report?

James -- thanks for the idea of posting "Turn off background analysis." in the smooth DP setup thread. I am now a fan of this choice.

May I also suggest adding turning on "show all background processes" in the Background Preferences settings (unless someone wants to share a good reason to avoid this)? It seems counterintuitive to me that a Background Process window, which I only bring up occassional to see what's happening when I'm wondering why the computer feels sluggish or why the fan just kicked on, is set by default to hide information.

[HCMarkus]

I haven't used DP's CPU Meter for years but Apple's Activity Monitor is always visible on my desktop. Once we got multi-processor Macs, DP's meter was obsolete.

[songsmith]

I haven't used DP's CPU Meter for years but Apple's Activity Monitor is always visible on my desktop. Once we got multi-processor Macs, DP's meter was obsolete.

Hi MCKarkus -- My MacBook Pro is an Intel Core 2 Duo. Does you think that would explain the difference in readout?