DP11 CPU / Processor Overload Using AU Instruments

[Jiggy]

Well, been messin' with it, reading, messin' with it....on and on and, well: Quite bummed here! Totally not functional at all now. Doesn't matter what plugins i load and in what format and whether they match the selected "primary format" selected. All the same. DP chews the computer up immediately.

[Jiggy]

Ok....so I'm gonna start by clearing the Mac P RAM and NVRAM and trashing the Digital Performer Preferences and the MOTU Audio System Preferences and Let DP and the Mac get a fresh look at everything.

[Jiggy]

Trashed the DP Preferences and the MOTU Audio System Preferences files and did the key-combo Mac startup clearing the P RAM and NVRAM - HUGE positive result.

- Upon starting DP I chose VST2 for my primary plugin format.
- Created a MIDI track for drums and an instrument track using MODO Drums and laid down 1 minute of drumming. (Was running MODO standalone prior for drums)
- Created a MIDI track for bass and an instrument track using ST4 for bass. Laid 1 minute of bass over those drums. (Was running Mainstage standalone prior for bass)
- Created a MIDI track for a simple little Arp part and an instrument track using ST4 for that arp. Laid 1 minute of whole notes over drums and bass.
- Created a MIDI track for ePiano and an instrument track using Kontakt for this. I looped the 1 minute of drums, bass, and arp and just played over it for a good 10 minutes.

MAC OS Activity Monitor - CPU Usage - Digital Performer (during this looping jam) stays about 80-120%. "User" overall CPU usage stays at about 15-20%. "Kernal_task" is now not ballooning up. It's usage staying at an insignificant level. DP Real Time meter stays hovering at about 50-60%. No glitches, no peaks on anything, no problems.

Now I'm going to clear everything out again (P RAM, NVRAM, DP Preferences, and MOTU Audio System Preferences) and upon start, choose AU for primary format and test performance doing the same thing. And probably do it all once more choosing VST3 for primary fomat and test performance again. I'll post results.

[HCMarkus]

Thanks for the research, and congrats on the improvement!

[Jiggy]

Ok...short little recap and update:

Upgraded form DP8 to 11. After upgrade, DP started pegging on sys resource usage. Within a minute, DP Real Time meter would clip and in Mac OS Activity Monitor, DP would CPU usage would shoot up to over 200% and "user" would get up to 30-50% and the instrument would start breaking up at 35%.

Turned out it was from the usage of an instrument plugin.....ANY of them. Didn't matter. Play, Samplatank 4 Max, Kontakt, Modo Drums, IK B3x.

I offloaded all my instruments (AU format) and reset primary format to VST2 and loaded my instruments in as VST2. Bam! Everything started working.

The next day, I opened the same project I created after the change to VST2 and, wow: Way worse than initially even.

Now all the original problems came back AND, in the Activity Monitor of Mac OS, a new task was at the top of the list for what was using the CPU: The "Kernal_task" and it was shooting up IMMEDIATELY to from 200-750% on CPU usage.

I played around loading different instrument formats and no change. Didn't matter what I did where, same result. Even after updating OS from High Sierra to Catalina AND making sure all my plugins were running latest versions. So....

I deleted the MOTO Sound System Preferences file and the DP Preferences file in the Library/Preferences folder in Finder and then did a key-combo startup of the Mac (Catalina - Command+Option+P+R) holding those keys down until the system restarts twice and that cleared the PRAM and NVRAM.

Upon first start of DP, I chose VST2 for primary plugin format. NOW, DP and my Mac are performing way better than EVER.

Test......
Created 5 instrument tracks to correspond to 5 MIDI tracks.
1. IK Modo Drums - Physically Modeled
2. IK ST4 - Bass - Sample Based
3. IK ST4 - Arp - Sample Based
4. Kontakt - Scarbee Rhodes - Sample Based
5. IK Hammond B3x - Physically Modeled

Prior to all this, I wasn't able (in DP8 on High Sierra) to run my Modo Drums IN DP but instead used it standalone and simply passed the MIDI from my eKit to it thru DP. Also, I did the same for bass. To lessen the load on DP, I was using standalone Mainstage for bass.

NOW, after all this, I'm running all 5 instruments IN DP and man she is CRUISIN'! 2 minutes of straight drumming, bass laid on the whole thing, then an arp, then loop it and play over it with the Hammond and Scarbee. NO PROBLEMS AT ALL! WOW!

- DP Real Time meter stays at about 35% in Live Mode. PreGen stays at about 25% thereabouts when not in Live Mode.
- DP on the CPU Usage list in Mac OS Activity Monitor stays pretty mostly under 1 core (about 80-105%) Even using 2 physically modeled instruments.
- Kernal-Task in the Mac OS Activity Monitor now insignificant on usage
- OVERALL "User" CPU usage in MAC OS Activity Monitor now staying at about 15-18% peeking at 20-22% each time the loop comes back to the start.

I'm stoked! Right ON! So..... I'm going to do the same reset of everything (Trash preferences files and reset P and NV RAMs) and test again with VST3 and then with AU. Hopefully we end up where AU works the best. I'll see over the next few days and post the results and that should close this thread out nicely.

[cuttime]

Glad you got it sorted out. Don’t forget to use the Studio>Effects Performance window. Very helpful, and was new in DP 10 as I recall.

[Jiggy]

Yes, thank you. I keep that open and not surprisingly, the physically modeled instruments stay at the top of the list. And also FYI: You can open that window by just double clicking on the Real Time meter at the top. Quite convenient n quick.

[Tritonemusic]

You can open that window by just double clicking on the Real Time meter at the top.

Ooh, great tip! I noticed that it actually opens with a single click.

[Jiggy]

Ok...movin' along here. Cleared everything out again (PRAM and NVRAM and DP Preferences and MOTU Sound System Preferences) and this time on DP startup chose AU as primary.

Tested it using the same 2 minute project that I created in last update using VST2 as primary and here are the differences noted while playing/looping that 2 minutes of music. No audio tracks, just MIDI data on 5 tracks playing 5 instruments in 5 instrument tracks - 3 sample based instruments and 2 physically modeled.
- "System" CPU load in Mac OS Activity Monitor - Dropped to 2-3% with AU as opposed to 5-8% when using VST2 - Dropped and is more stable.
- "User" CPU load in Mac OS Activity Monitor - Dropped to 13% with AU and stays STABLE right there within about 1% and on loopback actually drops about 1% as opposed to, when using VST2 it would meander around from 15-19% and on loopback would jump to 20-22%. In other words, USER CPU load has dropped by about 20-30% and is much more stable than when using VST2.
- Software CPU load - DP still using mostly UNDER 1 core.
- DP Real Time meter has dropped a bit and stays at about 30% when in Live Mode and PreGen hovers at about 25% when not in LIVE mode. (No inserts being used on the instrument tracks other than the instruments themselves.

This seems to be concrete evidence for the argument of using AU over VST in DP. Nonetheless, I'm going to clear it all out again and test again with VST3 as primary. I'll post back what happens but, my money is on AU. My stuff is performing better than EVER and I'm lovin' it.

The end game, REALLY, is: When that spark hits ya, it's time to CREATE...... not fuss about with a bunch of technical this or that. I want to turn the power on, hit RECORD, and GO.