Ableton Live 8 Performance Test
This test was created to let users compare the performance of Ableton Live version 8 on different computer set ups. Prior to Live version 8, this was done via the test located here:
http://www.ableton.com/forum/viewtopic. ... highlight=
and here:
http://forum.ableton.com/viewtopic.php? ... rmance+7+6
However, Live 6 was then optimized to take advantage of the fact that many computers were coming out with dual or quad processors, and the test project above was not truly set up to take advantage of this. Thus the test would not yield consistent results, nor was it always taking advantage of the the enhancements made to support newer Operating Systems or Intel versions of Mac's. This test does take those factors into account however, based upon the following guideline from Ableton:
- Processor load is split between even and odd-numbered tracks and sends. I.E. Track 1 is run on CPU processor 1, Track 2 is run on CPU processor 2, Send 1 is calculated by processor 1, Send 2 is calculated by processor 2, etc.
In addition, the potential CPU load was increased in this project to take advantage of the faster CPU's available today. Many thanks to Globalgoon on the Ableton forums for helping me work out some of the details of this test.
Instructions for the test:
1. Download the test project here:
http://nickstutorials.com/LivePerformanceTest.zip
2. Set your audio buffer to 512 samples in the Audio Preferences window in Live. The easiest way to do this is to select this field with your mouse and press the Delete Key. (The default is 512 samples).
3. Set Audio Input Device to "No Device", Sample Rate to "44100", and Driver Error Compensation to "0.00ms" in Live's Audio Preferences window. Also, make sure that only one pair of Outputs is active if your soundcard has multiple outs.
4. Begin playback at Locator 1 - "8 Tracks". Allow 16 measures of playback for your Live CPU meter to stabilize. Write down the reading you get after the meter has stabilized.
5. If you computer is not fast enough to play back the full 8 tracks in this test, stop playback, wait a second, and then start playback from Locator 2 - "6 Tracks". Continue trying less and less tracks until you are able to playback for at least 16 measures without drop outs or interruptions to the audio. Make sure to note how many tracks you were playing back if you need to do this step.
6. Post the results of your test on the Ableton Forum in this thread:
http://www.ableton.com/forum/viewtopic. ... 945#593945
Please use the following format, fill in as much information as you can to make the test as worthwhile as possible for others:
1) Ableton Live CPU Meter % (if it bounces around, please list the peak)
2) Laptop/Desktop? Make/Model?
3) Operating System?
4) Ableton Live version?
5) CPU Make, Model, and Speed?
6) Amount of Ram?
7) Soundcard (and driver version if you know it)?
Hard Disk Drive Speed (if you know)?9) Number of playback tracks?
10) 64 or 32bit live?
System built in Sept 2010 
