Live 9 Performance Test

[aviavi]

1) Ableton Live CPU Meter? %25
is this normal? im seeing slower computers out-spec my 2 week old laptop

What happens with your audio device set to Internal? And is your buffer at 512?

[Stromkraft]

10.) number of tracks before crackling? 36

is this normal? im seeing slower computers out-spec my 2 week old laptop

Well, if you compare your model for Multicore 64bit GeekBench tests it's about 270% faster than my old Core2Duo, which does 26 tracks. On the other hand you still have only 2 cores in your Broadwell MacBook Pro. The MacBook Pro i7 2.8 15" does the same test about twice as fast as your machine, because it has 4 cores most likely.

I'd still say you should be able to do more than 50 tracks. I'm not familiar with your model, however.

[aviavi]

1) Ableton Live CPU Meter? 29% (internal) and 20% (NI Komplete Audio 6)
2) Laptop/Desktop? Make/Model? Macbook Air 11" (mid 2012)
3) Operating System? 10.10.2
4) Ableton Live version? 9.2 beta 8 (32 bit version)
5) CPU Make, Model, and Speed? i5 (Ivy Bridge) 1.7 GHz
6) Amount of Ram? 8 GB
7) Soundcard? Internal and NI Komplete Audio 6
Hard Disk Drive Speed (if you know)? SSD 128
9) Number of playback tracks? 8
10) Number of tracks before crackling? 30 internal, 44 with NI Komplete Audio 6

Impressive performance with the Komplete Audio 6, particularly for a 2012 mini-laptop. I should also add that in my experience, Live Beta is much less processor intensive than Live 9.1.

[aviavi]

More results with a 2015 Macbook Pro Retina 13.3"

1) Ableton Live CPU Meter? 16% (internal) and 15% (NI Komplete Audio 6)
2) Laptop/Desktop? Make/Model? Macbook Pro 13.3" (2015)
3) Operating System? 10.10.2
4) Ableton Live version? 9.2 beta 9 (32 bit version)
5) CPU Make, Model, and Speed? i5 (Broadwell dual core) 2.9 GHz
6) Amount of Ram? 8 GB
7) Soundcard? Internal and NI Komplete Audio 6
Hard Disk Drive Speed (if you know)? SSD 512
9) Number of playback tracks? 8
10) Number of tracks before crackling? 64 internal, 65 with NI Komplete Audio 6

[granted]

1) Ableton Live CPU Meter: 10%
2) Desktop (Homemade) Gigabyte G1. Sniper Z97
3) Operating System? Windows 8.1 Pro
4) Ableton Live version? 9.1.7
5) CPU Make, Model, and Speed? i7 4770K 3.9 Ghz
6) Amount of Ram? 16GB Corsair Vengeance 1066 MHz
7) Soundcard? RME Multiface II 4.06
Hard Disk Drive Speed? Samsung 840 EVO SSD
9) Number of playback tracks? 8
10) 32bit Live
11) Crackly test: 125 Tracks with AL CPU Meter at 84%

[graphixsounds]

1) Ableton Live CPU Meter? %25
is this normal? im seeing slower computers out-spec my 2 week old laptop

What happens with your audio device set to Internal? And is your buffer at 512?

with 8 tracks playing it still hits at 25% but mostly hovers at 24%

[graphixsounds]

1) Ableton Live CPU Meter? %25
is this normal? im seeing slower computers out-spec my 2 week old laptop

What happens with your audio device set to Internal? And is your buffer at 512?

still cracking at 36- WTF? your computer is slower with half as much ram and i5 vs i7

[graphixsounds]

anyone?

thx

[GusHage]

1) Ableton Live CPU Meter? %25
2) Laptop/Desktop? Make/Model?Macbook pro retina 13" (april 2015)
3) Operating System?10.10.3
4) Ableton Live version? 9.1.8 (64 bit)
5) CPU Make, Model, and Speed? RMBP 13" 3.1 ghz dual core i7
6) Amount of Ram? 16gb
7) Soundcard (and driver version if you know it)? Apogee Duet 2
Hard Disk Drive Speed (if you know)? SSD 512 (samsung)
9) Number of playback tracks? 8
10.) number of tracks before crackling? 36

is this normal? im seeing slower computers out-spec my 2 week old laptop

Any news on your machine's performance?
I am looking into buying almost exactly your model, but if I can't run more than 36 tracks ever, I'm in doubt..

[graphixsounds]

we need more data and users reporting CPU- i've been complaining to apple and i just received my laptop back with a new logic board and hard drive- i dont know if it changes the CPU yet i will do more tests and post again. im really bummed if this is the case. i want to say that my late 2012 macbook pro with an i5 processor was running better.


if more people could run this test with new laptops please do!

[UniversalFlyer]

Yes, you are right. All the cores were used. But we are not sure if there was highest cpu performance during the test. Maybe there is Unix check from the Terminal or application for current frequency rate? I can guess that turbo was not used. It seems it was at 2.8 Ghz and not at 4 Ghz. For example cooler was completely silent if I played this track for ~10 minutes as loop.

I do not know how to check CPU freq on OSX. Perhaps activity monitor can provide this info ?

Most likely, this is poor test, because I have Intel Core i7-4980HQ @ 2.80GHz https://www.cpubenchmark.net/laptop.html currently the best mobile CPU. The cooler was silent during the test loop. Also, I compared big projects with macbook pro 2011 4x2.0ghz so macbook pro 2014 4x2.8 is much faster. I don't see any CPU issues at all in my new projects. Note that I use a lot of effects on each track and groups (for example macbook pro 2011 4x2.0ghz is too slow).

[nonanon]

1) Ableton Live CPU Meter 11%
2) Desktop PC Enu put it together for $25
3) Operating System Win7 Home x64
4) Ableton Live version? 9.2
5) CPU Make, Model, and Speed? Intel i5-2500@ 3.30GHz
6) Amount of Ram? 8gb
7) Soundcard RME Babyface
8 Hard Disk Drive Speed SSD
9) Number of playback tracks 8
10) 32bit live

[theextravaganttraveller]

1- Ableton Live CPU Meter 13%
2- Laptop/Desktop? Make/Model? 15" Apple MacBook Pro Retina (mid-2014)
3- Operating System? OSX 10.10
4- Ableton Live version? 9.2.1
5- CPU Make, Model, and Speed? 2.5gHz i7 Quad Core (Crystalwell)
6- Amount of Ram? 16GB
7- Soundcard (and driver version if you know it)? Built-in Audio
8- Hard Disk Drive Speed (if you know)? 1TB SSD
9- Number of playback tracks? 8
10- 64 or 32bit live? 64bit

I was able to playback 120 tracks before audio started dropping out. When I stop and start with this number of tracks, the first second or so is very crackly, but it stabilizes with no dropouts after that. CPU is around 71-72%.

Should note this test was performed on a fresh machine, with no other apps installed and hardly anything on the hard-drive.

[koranek]

1) Ableton Live CPU Meter 12%
2) Laptop/Desktop? Mac Pro desktop
3) Operating System? OS10.8.5
4) Ableton Live version? 9.2.1
5) CPU Make, Model, and Speed? 3.33 Gz Hexacore Xeon
6) Amount of Ram? 12 G
7) Soundcard Focusrite Firewire Saffire Pro DSP
Hard Disk Drive Speed (if you know)? 7200
9) Number of playback tracks? 8
10) 64 or 32bit live? 64 bit

Interesting, going to the newest version of Live, OS 10.8.5, and Live 64 bit gained me 3% better performance. I've never had performance improve over time.

[theextravaganttraveller]

1) Ableton Live CPU Meter 18%
2) Laptop/Desktop? mid-2010 iMac 27"
3) Operating System? OSX 10.6.8
4) Ableton Live version? 9.1.6
5) CPU Make, Model, and Speed? 2.5 quad i5
6) Amount of Ram? 24Gb
7) Soundcard Built-in Audio
Hard Disk Drive Speed (if you know)? 1TB SSD
9) Number of playback tracks? 8
10) 64 or 32bit live? 64 bit
11) Max number of tracks before crackle 56