High CPU Usage when commencing recording

[seedylee]

I'm using a 2018 iMac i5 with 24GB of RAM and a FireWire 828mk3 with DP10. If my buffer size is set to 128 samples or less (at 48khz), and I start recording more than 4 tracks simultaneously, I often get really high momentary CPU usage right as I begin recording. It settles down after 3 or 4 seconds, but it's enough to trigger an overload warning message and often corrupt the beginning of the recording.

I'm not using any plugins or VSTs at all. Just a blank session.

Any thoughts on what might be going on? I'm really about ready to give up using computers for music production - they just don't seem up to the task. There's always something that doesn't quite work properly.

How is it I can easily record 16 simultaneous tracks on an old hardware recorder from 15 years ago with near zero latency, but reliable monitoring and recording still eludes is on modern computers? (That's a rhetorical question!).

Thanks!

[oshtakuta]

This is a DP problem and not a computer!

[MIDI Life Crisis]

It’s been like that forever. Simply disable the CPU warning in preferences. It doesn’t affect performance or audio recording or rendering. If it does, that a bigger issue. I get my cpu spike at launch.

[seedylee]

Thank you both!

I was actually getting dropouts in audio, so it wasn't just a warning. But looks like it may have been an issue with Apple Photos performing facial recognition in the background, even when the app wasn't running. I disabled System Integrity Protection, and then disabled photoanlysis.d, and it's a lot more stable now.

This is genuinely why I can't be bothered using computers for music. I wish someone would start bringing out high quality, dedicated hardware DAWs again. Mediocrity has become normalised.

Thanks again!

[cuttime]

...

[mikehalloran]

photoanlysis.d does mean things to systems with not enough RAM in the 2017 iMac. Recent Mac OS updates have helped tame it quite a bit but it still works in the background taking up resources.

Macs are numbered by the year they're released—which often makes a big difference in what is and is not possible. A 2017 iMac can handle up to 64GB RAM. It appears to me that if you swapped those two 4GB sticks for 16s, the resulting 48GB will do you a lot of good.

How is it I can easily record 16 simultaneous tracks on an old hardware recorder from 15 years ago with near zero latency, but reliable monitoring and recording still eludes is on modern computers? (That's a rhetorical question!).

Nothing rhetorical about it. Dedicated hardware recorders are specialty computers where this functionality is designed in. Latency exists—in fact great deals of it as the processors are old, cheap and slow but the compensation is dead simple to integrate.

Modern desktop pcs are not and never have been designed for this task. It's easy enough to build but no one would buy when stand-alone workstations do the job for a fraction of the cost. Interfaces are the middle ground.

You want near-zero latency for more than a few tracks? Learn to use CueMixFX—that's why it's there.

[bayswater]

photoanlysis.d does mean things to systems with not enough RAM in the 2017 iMac. Recent Mac OS updates have helped tame it quite a bit but it still works in the background taking up resources.

It may be under control with the current 10.14 release. Some background processes were giving me some problems earlier, but now, even though Photos processes keep running, they never seem to use more than a percent or two CPU.

But it would be nice to just be able to turn this stuff off. I don't even have a Photos library on my main DP Mac, but these processes run anyway, checking for shared photos, constantly checking to see if anything can be updated, asking whether anyone wants some toast ...

Maybe a "pro" version of OS X, where the user decides what it's doing rather than having it run off deciding what IT wants to do.

[seedylee]

Thanks all for the considered and thoughtful replies.

I've already upgraded the RAM in my iMac and it's currently running 24GB, which should be enough for most tasks, considering I don't use VSTs heavily.

In the end I disabled System Integrity Protection and then used launchctl to disable the photoanalysis.d daemon, as well as the iCloud photo sync daemon. Disconnecting it from the net wasn't sufficient to stop the photo analysis daemon from running.

I don't mind all these new features being made available, but an application such as photos should not be running facial recognition as a core, permanent operating system service. That's just asking for trouble.

I keep thinking that one day, when I have time, I would love to develop a dedicated DAW operating system, where the audio engine runs in kernel space with real-time operating system extensions, or even more simply running in real-mode using hardware timer interrupts. Modern computers are more than powerful enough to handle audio - it's the operating systems that lag behind. I have Korg Kronos that runs Linux on an Atom processor, and the latency on that is far superior, under 1ms when routing the digital input directly to the digital output.

As for using CueMix FX, good point, and DP's integration with CueMix is half the reason I bought it over Logic. It's a shame to hear that MOTU aren't supporting the same integration with their AVB interfaces. But sometimes it's necessary to monitor through effects, or use VSTs. CueMix doesn't help here unfortunately.

On a side note, it would be phenomenal if Digital Performer had the ability to natively control CueMix for hardware aux sends as well (if anyone out there is listening).

[seedylee]

Maybe a "pro" version of OS X, where the user decides what it's doing rather than having it run off deciding what IT wants to do.

They do - boot into recovery mode and type "csrutil disable". That will allow you to take back control of what runs on your machine

[mikehalloran]

I've already upgraded the RAM in my iMac and it's currently running 24GB, which should be enough for most tasks, considering I don't use VSTs heavily.

Per MOTU, it’s plugin use that tasks RAM. My experience bears this out.

As for “most tasks”, you had to disable processes that are known to affect free RAM. If you have further issues, rebooting before you run DP should help.

[bayswater]

Maybe a "pro" version of OS X, where the user decides what it's doing rather than having it run off deciding what IT wants to do.

They do - boot into recovery mode and type "csrutil disable". That will allow you to take back control of what runs on your machine

I want it to run less, not more.

[seedylee]

I've already upgraded the RAM in my iMac and it's currently running 24GB, which should be enough for most tasks, considering I don't use VSTs heavily.

Per MOTU, it’s plugin use that tasks RAM. My experience bears this out.

As for “most tasks”, you had to disable processes that are known to affect free RAM. If you have further issues, rebooting before you run DP should help.

Sure, I generally avoid non-native plugins because I find them to be a stability nightmare. So this isn't a challenge I usually have.

In my case, background processes were consuming 300% of my CPU (i.e. 100% of three cores), and I think that was definitely part of the issue. I'm not sure it was the only issue, but as others have said, DP potentially misrepresents the CPU load. I'm still getting some red spikes when beginning recording, but no longer any audible dropouts in the recording.

It's disappointing that a background process can consume so many resources. Whilst it might have a lower task priority, there's obviously a delay in the process scheduler de-prioritising it when commencing recording.

I will see how I go. I would love DAW / interface manufacturers to offer much better integrated DSP mixing though!

[seedylee]

Maybe a "pro" version of OS X, where the user decides what it's doing rather than having it run off deciding what IT wants to do.

They do - boot into recovery mode and type "csrutil disable". That will allow you to take back control of what runs on your machine

I want it to run less, not more.

Disabling SIP will allow you to use launch control to decide what processes you want to start at boot. It will allow you to run less stuff, like cloud synchronisation. Messing with system services may cause unexpected problems though, so proceed with caution!

[bayswater]

They do - boot into recovery mode and type "csrutil disable". That will allow you to take back control of what runs on your machine

I want it to run less, not more.

Disabling SIP will allow you to use launch control to decide what processes you want to start at boot. It will allow you to run less stuff, like cloud synchronisation. Messing with system services may cause unexpected problems though, so proceed with caution!

Yes, I know you can do this sort of stuff. I was really suggesting it would be good if Apple supported alternative configurations with known results -- something between a open ended risk laden configuration, and a busybody system that questions and nags you endlessly for mass use. Not something I have to spend hundreds of hours learning. I did that with PL-1, Fortran, COBOL, etc. Never again.

[seedylee]

Yes, I know you can do this sort of stuff. I was really suggesting it would be good if Apple supported alternative configurations with known results -- something between a open ended risk laden configuration, and a busybody system that questions and nags you endlessly for mass use. Not something I have to spend hundreds of hours learning. I did that with PL-1, Fortran, COBOL, etc. Never again.

That would be nice. I feel like OS X used to be a lot leaner, and was optimised for audio and video work. Their push to being a cloud services provider has meant some of this leanness has been lost.

I'm just tired of the constant upgrade merry-go-round. Either don't upgrade and risk security vulnerabilities, or upgrade and risk breaking compatibility and introducing new bugs! Sometimes I feel the internet has reduced the joy of computing for me