Mac Studio "happier" with smaller buffer?

[James Steele]

Just an interesting tidbit as I'm learning more about my M1 Max Mac Studio. Out of habit, I had just set the hardware buffer to 1024 and Work Priority to Medium since I haven't been tracking and that's where I used to keep my MacPro5,1. And I had lately been concerned that I was seeing the Audio Performance meter in DP looking like it was all that much less on the same projects on the Mac Studio than the MacPro5.1.

So just now I dropped the buffer down to 64 and during playback the meter registered significantly lower and was more stable... not bouncing around. When you stop and DP idles, oddly enough the meter (Real time) goes up and bounced around a bit. However, again, during playback it seems like the Mac Studio "likes" the smaller buffer. I just now bumped it up to 128, but it's behaving about the same as 64.

Anyway... just an interesting thing to me being new to the this new generation of Mac processors.

[mikehalloran]

Every setup seems to have an ideal buffer setting, IMO. DP on my iMP thrives on 32. My buddy’s M4 with Performer Lite on his 2014 Mini works fine with 512 — took awhile for me to find the right balance.

[HCMarkus]

I thought MOTU recommends "Work Priority - High"

That's how I have always set that parameter in DP

[primeevolutionary]

What sample rates are you using with those lower buffers? At 96kHz, I don’t seem to get stability under 2048. Maybe I haven’t experimented enough.

[EMRR]

What sample rates are you using with those lower buffers? At 96kHz, I don’t seem to get stability under 2048. Maybe I haven’t experimented enough.

Yeah....same here. I've never understood people working with low buffers, I've never seen a stable session at low buffers, like under 512. Just looked, I'm at 1024 but have spent time at 2048. It's been an enduring mystery to me. G5, MBP '14, iMac '12. iMac as main work machine, usually CPU and RAM are well under 25%. Doesn't matter if I have plugs on tracks or not. No VI's here.

Going back to the old 'does and don'ts' list, merging as much as possible to get rid of crossfades has always made the most obvious performance difference. I tend to duplicate an edited take and merge the copy, keeping the edits for awhile in case there are changes or errors, and that causes a hit eventually.

Getting an M1 Pro set up currently, that involves the nail-biting aspect of transitioning 8 to 11, no report yet.....

[primeevolutionary]

The M1 may be the difference why James is experiencing better performance at lower buffers. I am very interested in understanding it.

And, you're going to love the M1 and 11.11. Other than some plugin woes you'll go through.

[bayswater]

I thought MOTU recommends "Work Priority - High"

That's how I have always set that parameter in DP

Yes, they do. But they point out that some equipment needs a medium or low setting, but in that case, says you would probably have to increase the buffer. So who knows. I've also found a lower buffer, currently 256 give a more stable setup than 1024.

[mikehalloran]

Unless the client requests, I work at 48K 32bit Float and bounce to 24bit wav nowadays. I've already given my buffer settings, same as they were for DP 9.52 on my earlier 14 Core iMP over High Sierra.

The 2010 iMac that preceded that ran at 1024 on small projects or 2048 on the occasional project if over 50 tracks.

[HCMarkus]

I never use sample rates other than 44.1 or 48k, 24 bit, but usually started projects at a 128 buffer without issue on my 5,1 Mac Pro 12 Core 3.33gHz machine. Once the project grew to a certain size, I'd have to go to 256, often 512, to continue working, then 1028 for mix down.

With my Mac Studio Ultra, I have continued working at 44.1 or 48k, 24 bit, starting with buffer of 128 and usually just leaving it there without issue. Sure is nice for VI overdubs!

I've also taken my Kontakt pre-load down to the minimum to allow me to make the most use of my 64GB RAM. My VI Data Drive is a Thunderbolt-attached Envoy Express housing a Samsung 970 EVO Plus NVMe drive. No hiccups here.

[James Steele]

I thought MOTU recommends "Work Priority - High"

That's how I have always set that parameter in DP

It may have been a holdover from my MacPro5,1 days, but if I recall correctly, I actually had smoother performance and less meter bouncing set to Medium. Again, that's on my MacPro. The Mac Studio seems to behave about the same on Medium and High, but Low is definitely a no go for me.

BTW, my latest issue is my external TB NVMe drive enclosure spontaneously unmounting. It's not getting hot. It might be the cable. Unplugging and replugging fixes it. I just tried a different port. Not sure if this happened before or after I added second monitor using USB-C to HDMI adapter. If it happens again, I'll try a different cable. I may have to just experiment with which devices are connected to which port.

[James Steele]

What sample rates are you using with those lower buffers? At 96kHz, I don’t seem to get stability under 2048. Maybe I haven’t experimented enough.

I NEVER work at 96k... only 48k. I'm phasing out 44.1.

[James Steele]

The M1 may be the difference why James is experiencing better performance at lower buffers. I am very interested in understanding it.

And, you're going to love the M1 and 11.11. Other than some plugin woes you'll go through.

I don't know. Again, I don't know for sure if the meter is 100% translating into performance. I just know it averages lower and more stable at 128 or 256 than it does at 1024 which was my default most of the time when I was using my MacPro5,1 12-core. It's probably a number of factors. Firstly, the M1 Max chip of course. Might also be that my 828es is connected via TB? Maybe because I have 64GB or RAM that's playing a part. I have NO idea and it seems counterintuitive.

I'm a NOT an engineer, and I could be WAY OFF, but I also wonder if perhaps with the integrated RAM or something about the design of the Apple Silicon CPUs, it's a smoother process just refilling that smaller buffer more frequently, than a larger buffer less frequently, if that makes ANY sense? In other words... I have no idea, but I know what I'm seeing here.

The only downside appears to be that when DP is idle and I stop a sequence, the meter starts slowly creeping up and getting higher and bounces around and sometimes even redlines and then comes back down. But soon as I hit play, it drops back down and settles in smoothly at a lower level than when I was using a 1024 buffer.

[primeevolutionary]

I’ll play around with it.

[Phil O]

I've seen this on my Mac Mini as well. At 1024 or 2048 performance seems to go down. I generally work at 512 unless latency is an issue.

Your friendly neighborhood Phil

[greg328]

I’ve got horrible latency on my new Mac Studio ultra, even at small buffer settings.

Mostly heard through live mic input, and virtual instrument MIDI triggering.

I think I’ve gone through and removed all non-Apple Silicon ready plug-in so I’m not in Rosetta 2 mode.

Not sure what’s going on, but pretty disappointing so far.


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