Live 9 Performance Test

Discuss music production with Ableton Live.
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skatr2
Posts: 450
Joined: Sat Mar 27, 2010 11:38 pm

Live 9 Performance Test

Post by skatr2 » Tue Mar 26, 2013 3:02 pm

Stealing Terekith's thread and thought I would get this rolling:

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.

Image

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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.

Image

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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)?
8) Hard Disk Drive Speed (if you know)?
9) Number of playback tracks?
10) 64 or 32bit live?

skatr2
Posts: 450
Joined: Sat Mar 27, 2010 11:38 pm

Re: Live 9 Performance Test

Post by skatr2 » Tue Mar 26, 2013 3:05 pm

1) Ableton Live CPU Meter % 26-30
2) Laptop/Desktop? Make/Model? MS Surface Pro
3) Operating System? Windows 8
4) Ableton Live version? 9.0.2
5) CPU Make, Model, and Speed? 1.7ghz I5
6) Amount of Ram? 4gig
7) Soundcard (and driver version if you know it)? On board
8) Hard Disk Drive Speed (if you know)? SSD
9) Number of playback tracks? 8
10) 64 or 32bit live? 32

darcas
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Dec 06, 2006 4:10 am

Re: Live 9 Performance Test

Post by darcas » Fri Apr 19, 2013 6:17 am

1) Ableton Live CPU Meter % (if it bounces around, please list the peak)
16-17%
2) Laptop/Desktop? Make/Model?
Custom-built Laptop (prostar)
3) Operating System?
Win7 Ultimate x64
4) Ableton Live version?
9.0.3
5) CPU Make, Model, and Speed?
Intel Core i7 3.7Ghz
6) Amount of Ram?
32GB
7) Soundcard (and driver version if you know it)?
M-Audio ProFire 610 v5.10.0.5082
8) Hard Disk Drive Speed (if you know)?
SSD
9) Number of playback tracks?
8 (all)
10) 64 or 32bit live?
Live 9.0.3 64-bit
Darren

Where there's good - that's where I'll be tonight
-- Captain Beefheart

murgatroid
Posts: 114
Joined: Wed Sep 01, 2010 3:24 am

Re: Live 9 Performance Test

Post by murgatroid » Fri Apr 26, 2013 1:52 am

1_ Ableton Live CPU Meter % ....................... 19%
2_ Laptop/Desktop? Make/Model? ............... Late 2012 Mac Mini
3_ Operating System? .................................. 10.8.3
4_ Ableton Live version? .............................. 9.0.2
5_ CPU Make, Model, and Speed? ................. i7 quad 2.6ghz
6_ Amount of Ram? ...................................... 16gb
7_ Soundcard ............................................... Native Instruments Audio 6 USB
8_ Hard Disk Drive Speed.............................. OWC Ministack 7200rpm FW400
9_ Number of playback tracks? ..................... 8
10_ 64 or 32bit live? ....................................... 64

Tarekith
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Re: Live 9 Performance Test

Post by Tarekith » Fri Apr 26, 2013 2:41 am

1- Ableton Live CPU Meter 18%
2- Laptop/Desktop? Make/Model? 15" Apple MacBook Pro Retina
3- Operating System? OSX 10.8.3
4- Ableton Live version? 9.02
5- CPU Make, Model, and Speed? 2.6gHz i7 Quad Core
6- Amount of Ram? 8GB
7- Soundcard (and driver version if you know it)? Lynx Hilo v1.0.5.2
8- Hard Disk Drive Speed (if you know)? 512GB SSD
9- Number of playback tracks? 8
10- 64 or 32bit live? 64bit

I was able to playback 78 tracks before audio started dropping out, CPU meter when it started crackling was 70%.
Tarekith
Ableton Forum Administrator
https://tarekith.com

Sibanger
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Re: Live 9 Performance Test

Post by Sibanger » Fri Apr 26, 2013 11:07 am

1) Ableton Live CPU Meter 10%
2) Desktop Make/Model? Custom PC
3) Operating System? Windows 7 Ultimate 64Bit
4) Ableton Live version? 9.0.3
5) CPU Make, Model, and Speed? Intel i7 930 @ 2.8GHz
6) Amount/Type of Ram? 6GB G.Skill (3x2GB),DDR3, pc-12800 (1600Mhz)
7) Soundcard (and driver version if you know it)? RME Multiface II_3.2.7.0
8 ) Hard Disk Drive Speed (if you know)?-System Drive- Corsair SSD 240GB-read 285MBsec/write 275MBsec,- 2nd Drive-W/Digital 1TB sataII_7200RPM
9) Number of playback tracks? 8
10) 32Bit

96 tracks plays fine, but started to drop out with 101 tracks showing high 80's to low 90's cpu.

:o System built in Sept 2010

:)

Still getting crashes, but not as many as 9.0.1 & 9.0.2

Pasha
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Re: Live 9 Performance Test

Post by Pasha » Fri Apr 26, 2013 11:55 am

1) Ableton Live CPU Meter 30%
2) Desktop Make/Model? Apple MBP 2012 13"
3) Operating System? Mac OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.2
4) Ableton Live version? 9.0.2
5) CPU Make, Model, and Speed? Intel i5 @ 2.5GHz (dual core)
6) Amount/Type of Ram? 4GB DDR3, pc-12800 (1600Mhz) stock RAM
7) Soundcard (and driver version if you know it)? Internal
8 ) Hard Disk Drive Speed (if you know)? 5400 RPM Stock Drive
9) Number of playback tracks? 8
10)Live 9 32Bit

Max number of tracks : 29 with 65% after that (30 and beyond) the initial bar jitters,
CPU goes 88% and then stabilizes down to 69%. Audio crackling starts at 70%
Mac Studio M1
Live 12 Suite,Zebra ,Valhalla Plugins, MIDI Guitar (2+3),Guitar, Bass, VG99, GP10, JV1010 and some controllers
______________________________________
Music : http://alonetone.com/pasha

Pasha
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Re: Live 9 Performance Test

Post by Pasha » Fri Apr 26, 2013 1:43 pm

1) Ableton Live CPU Meter 36%
2) Desktop Make/Model? Apple iMac 2008 20"
3) Operating System? Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.6.8
4) Ableton Live version? 9.0.2
5) CPU Make, Model, and Speed? Intel Core Duo 2 - Penryn @ 2.66GHz (dual core)
6) Amount/Type of Ram? 4GB DDR2,800 Mhz stock RAM
7) Soundcard (and driver version if you know it)? CoreAudio FCA-202 FW
8 ) Hard Disk Drive Speed (if you know)? 7200 RPM Stock Drive
9) Number of playback tracks? 8
10)Live 9 32Bit

Max number of tracks : 22 with 79% after that (23 and beyond) the initial bar jitters,
CPU goes 97% and then stabilizes down to 84%. Audio crackling starts at 80%
Interesting to see (look at my other post) how a Core Duo 2 CPU @ 2.66 GHz lags
behind a modern IviBridge i5 Dual Core @ 2.5 GHz (reported as Quad because of Hyper-threading in
Intel Mobile CPU).
Last edited by Pasha on Fri Apr 26, 2013 2:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Mac Studio M1
Live 12 Suite,Zebra ,Valhalla Plugins, MIDI Guitar (2+3),Guitar, Bass, VG99, GP10, JV1010 and some controllers
______________________________________
Music : http://alonetone.com/pasha

koranek
Posts: 467
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Location: You got to be somewhere

Re: Live 9 Performance Test

Post by koranek » Fri Apr 26, 2013 2:19 pm

1) Ableton Live CPU Meter 15%
2) Laptop/Desktop? Mac Pro desktop
3) Operating System? OS10.6.8
4) Ableton Live version? 9.0.3
5) CPU Make, Model, and Speed? 3.33 Gz Hexacore Xeon
6) Amount of Ram? 12 G
7) Soundcard Focusrite Firewire Saffire Pro DSP
8) Hard Disk Drive Speed (if you know)? 7200
9) Number of playback tracks? 8
10) 64 or 32bit live? 32 bit
https://soundcloud.com/johnkoranek

2020 27" iMac i9 10 core, 64G Ram, OS 10.15.7
Push 2
Novation SL MKIII
iConnectAudio 2+, iConnectMidi 4+
Live 11 Sweet

mikb
Posts: 373
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Re: Live 9 Performance Test

Post by mikb » Tue May 14, 2013 10:37 pm

1) Ableton Live CPU Meter %.......... 50%
2) Laptop/Desktop? Make/Model?.......... Apple Macbook Pro "Core2Duo Santa Rosa"
3) Operating System?..........Mac OS X 10.6.8
4) Ableton Live version?..........9.0.4
5) CPU Make, Model, and Speed?..........Intel, T7500, 2.2ghz
6) Amount of Ram?..........6gb
7) Soundcard..........Echo Indigo DJx, Echo Driver version 1.1.1
8 ) Hard Disk Drive Speed?..........5400 RPM (Samsung)
9) Number of playback tracks?..........8 tracks
10) 64 or 32bit live?..........32bit


UPDATE:

I could do at best 16 tracks at 76% CPU without audible cracks. After that I got cracks with 18 tracks and after I undid the duplication of the last 2 I still had a few cracks with 16 tracks.

In the real world I expect to able to use 16-32 tracks as I work economically and often freeze tracks I'm not working on.
Last edited by mikb on Tue May 14, 2013 10:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Basic gear info: Macbook Pro with macOS 10.12, Ableton Live Suite version 9 (64bit) with Ozone, Push and APC20 as controllers.

SuburbanThug
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Re: Live 9 Performance Test

Post by SuburbanThug » Tue May 14, 2013 10:52 pm

1) Ableton Live CPU Meter 25%
2) Laptop/Desktop? 2012 MacBook Pro
3) Operating System? OSX10.8.3
4) Ableton Live version? 9.0.4
5) CPU Make, Model, and Speed? 2.9 GHz Intel Core i7
6) Amount of Ram? 8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
7) Core Audio
8) Hard Disk Drive Speed (if you know)? 5400
9) Number of playback tracks? 8
10) 64 or 32bit live? 32 bit

BobTheDog
Posts: 126
Joined: Tue Oct 25, 2005 12:04 pm

Re: Live 9 Performance Test

Post by BobTheDog » Tue May 21, 2013 10:02 pm

Wouldn't it be a good idea to list the CPU usage for live from the OSX Activity Monitor as well.

The live one seems pretty random to me, today I had 50% shown in Live while in Activity Monitor I basically had 10% of total CPU. Makes no sense to me!

3dot...
Posts: 9996
Joined: Tue Feb 20, 2007 11:10 pm

Re: Live 9 Performance Test

Post by 3dot... » Wed May 22, 2013 12:04 am

Sibanger wrote:1) Ableton Live CPU Meter 10%
2) Desktop Make/Model? Custom PC
3) Operating System? Windows 7 Ultimate 64Bit
4) Ableton Live version? 9.0.3
5) CPU Make, Model, and Speed? Intel i7 930 @ 2.8GHz
6) Amount/Type of Ram? 6GB G.Skill (3x2GB),DDR3, pc-12800 (1600Mhz)
7) Soundcard (and driver version if you know it)? RME Multiface II_3.2.7.0
8 ) Hard Disk Drive Speed (if you know)?-System Drive- Corsair SSD 240GB-read 285MBsec/write 275MBsec,- 2nd Drive-W/Digital 1TB sataII_7200RPM
9) Number of playback tracks? 8
10) 32Bit

96 tracks plays fine, but started to drop out with 101 tracks showing high 80's to low 90's cpu.

:o System built in Sept 2010

:)

Still getting crashes, but not as many as 9.0.1 & 9.0.2
and .... the person without a mac wins!
who would've thunk it ? :mrgreen:
Image

dudleyghost
Posts: 6
Joined: Wed Sep 17, 2008 2:05 am

Re: Live 9 Performance Test

Post by dudleyghost » Wed May 22, 2013 12:57 am

1) Ableton Live CPU Meter % 35-44%
2) MacBook Pro 13-inch, Late 2011
3) OSX 10.8.3
4) Live 9.0.4 Standard
5) Processor 2.4 GHz Intel Core i5
6) Ram: 4 GB 1333 MHz DDR3
7) Built in audio card or MobilePre USB
8) 5400
9) 8
10) 32bit

BobTheDog
Posts: 126
Joined: Tue Oct 25, 2005 12:04 pm

Re: Live 9 Performance Test

Post by BobTheDog » Wed May 22, 2013 5:55 am

3dot... wrote:
Sibanger wrote:1) Ableton Live CPU Meter 10%
2) Desktop Make/Model? Custom PC
3) Operating System? Windows 7 Ultimate 64Bit
4) Ableton Live version? 9.0.3
5) CPU Make, Model, and Speed? Intel i7 930 @ 2.8GHz
6) Amount/Type of Ram? 6GB G.Skill (3x2GB),DDR3, pc-12800 (1600Mhz)
7) Soundcard (and driver version if you know it)? RME Multiface II_3.2.7.0
8 ) Hard Disk Drive Speed (if you know)?-System Drive- Corsair SSD 240GB-read 285MBsec/write 275MBsec,- 2nd Drive-W/Digital 1TB sataII_7200RPM
9) Number of playback tracks? 8
10) 32Bit

96 tracks plays fine, but started to drop out with 101 tracks showing high 80's to low 90's cpu.

:o System built in Sept 2010

:)

Still getting crashes, but not as many as 9.0.1 & 9.0.2
and .... the person without a mac wins!
who would've thunk it ? :mrgreen:
Well on the whole a lot of the figures seem strange here, also as I said before I wouldn't trust the Live CPU meter, maybe it is different between Windows and OSX?

My Macpro on the standard test has a 27% reading in Live with 7% showing in the real world.

It can play a modified test with 121 tracks and reads 95% in live and 52% in the real world, it starts breaking up after that.

A better test is to see how many tracks you can run before breakup. My 27% looks bad compared to the MacBook pro listed above (18%) but I bet it cant run 121 tracks without breakup?

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