CPU usage in Live 10

[Sarrova-Q]

You also need to watch the CPU usage in the OS itself. The native meters only show what Live uses of what is available in the system. It's not a CPU meter. What background processes are running and could be using CPU? What are the processor settings regarding throttling? Just because Live 9 was fine with specific settings doesn't mean Live 10 will be.

In my experience of the beta — haven't installed the release yet — everything I do used less CPU (macOS 10.12 on a duocore). I'll try the release on a quadcore soon.

I understand, but I'm really experienced in these kind of things. It's not some process inside Mac OS, it's definitely Live 10 doing something strange. Same set on the same system in Live 9 gave no single problem, stable as hell. In live 10 it's often when I start playing some synths or drums (even native ones) that the CPU jumps without any reason. Sometimes it stays stable when playing these things, other time the cpu jumps up more than 50 %. Not funny.

[[jur]]

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[Stromkraft]

I understand, but I'm really experienced in these kind of things. It's not some process inside Mac OS, it's definitely Live 10 doing something strange. Same set on the same system in Live 9 gave no single problem, stable as hell. In live 10 it's often when I start playing some synths or drums (even native ones) that the CPU jumps without any reason. Sometimes it stays stable when playing these things, other time the cpu jumps up more than 50 %. Not funny.

OK, but you're still not referring to the OS CPU meter which makes your reasoning somewhat confusing. Maybe if you made CPU graphs for a short session with the same project in both major versions there could be some insights. I'm not purporting what you're saying is false. I'm just having trouble following your reasoning.

I can certainly imagine that in different scenarios either Live 9 or 10 would shine or display different problems. After all, they're different versions and the true state between these would likely vary.

[llebnodnar]

I am a long time user and not a new audio engineer... there is something up with ableton's new cpu.. I'm getting insane spikes from 20-80% even in a new project.

Buffer settings changed nothing in terms of cpu usage lol

[ominopasticcione]

I'm having painfully evident problems with Live 10 too.
CPU usage is far too unstable and I get audio dropouts/glitches playing Sets that Live 9 can handle without issues.
As it is, it is totally unusable as a DAW to me.
There IS something that needs a fix. I really hope this is getting sorted out in the near future. Let's be trustful.

[Stromkraft]

It would be extremely helpful if you people that have issues share problem sets, involved plug-ins as well as your hardware setup and in addition report your specific problems with the relevant info directly to Ableton. Performance issues are IMHO vital to solve as soon as possible.

[TheWholeDamnZoo]

It would be extremely helpful if you people that have issues share problem sets, involved plug-ins as well as your hardware setup and in addition report your specific problems with the relevant info directly to Ableton. Performance issues are IMHO vital to solve as soon as possible.

I've had this problem even with the demo set that comes with Live that uses only native plugins. i7-8700k, 16 gb DDR4-3000 ram, everything is on SSD....

[DukeOfPrunes]

It would be extremely helpful if you people that have issues share problem sets, involved plug-ins as well as your hardware setup and in addition report your specific problems with the relevant info directly to Ableton. Performance issues are IMHO vital to solve as soon as possible.

I've had this problem even with the demo set that comes with Live that uses only native plugins. i7-8700k, 16 gb DDR4-3000 ram, everything is on SSD....

Very troubling.

[Stromkraft]

It would be extremely helpful if you people that have issues share problem sets, involved plug-ins as well as your hardware setup and in addition report your specific problems with the relevant info directly to Ableton. Performance issues are IMHO vital to solve as soon as possible.

I've had this problem even with the demo set that comes with Live that uses only native plugins. i7-8700k, 16 gb DDR4-3000 ram, everything is on SSD....

OK. Thanks. What about audio interface and buffer settings? Is it the same in 9 as in 10?

[Stromkraft]

I've had this problem even with the demo set that comes with Live that uses only native plugins. i7-8700k, 16 gb DDR4-3000 ram, everything is on SSD....

I made some quick tests and got this:

• Live 10.0.1 Standard demo song used between 30 and 40% of the audio engine, topping out at 50 just at the end.
• Live 9.7.6 demo song looping in Live 9 Standard used around 20%, topping out at 25.
• The same 9 demo song looping in Live 10 Standard used around 20%, topping out at 25. The core spread looking like this:
  

In all tests Live used between 80 and 90% CPU (out of 400 I think). Other apps were loaded, but nothing taxing really.

Hardware: a Macbook Pro (2011) with a 2.2 gHz quadcore i7-2720QM, 16gb/1tb SSD. Native audio, so not even using my RME. Audio buffer at 512 samples in all tests.

No crackling whatsoever in any test.

[WilliamWilliam]

I don't mean to be rude to those who are doing tests etc to check CPU usage. It's gone further than that--we who are having problems are not dreaming--the spike in CPU usage is real and the need to increase our buffer rate is real to reduce (btw not eliminate, just reduce) crackling and popping.

Also sometimes simply lengthening a clip in arrangement view or a note in a loop causes dropouts. It is perfectly reasonable that some people will have no issues but that does not discount the issues that many of us are having currently that are all documented above. Thank you for your attention.

[Nokatus]

Agreed, experienced users can differentiate between normal CPU/realtime operating issues and abnormal CPU load. I reported somewhere above that my installation of Live 10 is working fine, but I've actually seen a CPU anomaly like this once after that. A set with a handful of Zebras and nothing else, routine stuff that has worked completely pain free in previous versions, CPU use perfectly low. Editing some automation, then suddenly CPU shooting up between 80-90% and Live starting to exhibit high CPU glitches. No idea what caused it, but it's absolutely sure this wasn't normal operation load. The high load remained, and I restarted Live, reloaded the set: load was back down, and I haven't seen it since.

I believe this is indicative of what some unlucky users are seeing on a more regular basis. If this was something that happened to me constantly in Live 10, it would be pretty frustrating trying to repeatedly explain "no, really, I'm not imagining this or just unable to manage my system resources, this really is abnormal"

[Stromkraft]

I don't mean to be rude to those who are doing tests etc to check CPU usage. It's gone further than that--we who are having problems are not dreaming…

No-one have suggested that. However, if anyone suggests systemic error this person also could present audio interface used, buffer sizes, CPU model, CPU settings (especially throttling), set routing or anything unusual. Without this how are Ableton, or anyone else wanting to assist, be able to find the actual causes?

I had plenty of performance issues during the 9.0 period, so I know how frustrating it can be. But from the old-timers here I learned a lot about how to look for what I can do as a user to get the best performance possible with a specific release. I'm grateful for that as that made it possible to make music while Ableton devised 9.1 and later the game changer 9.2.

It is perfectly reasonable that some people will have no issues but that does not discount the issues that many of us are having currently that are all documented above.

Again, no-one is discounting anything. All I ask is that the documentation of issues are made as complete as possible under the circumstances and shared in full, so we together can identify patterns and what not. To me it's tremendously encouraging that my problem sets works fine on another machine. I don't understand at all why such info would be threatening to anyone. Again, not one person AFAICT suggests "I don't have a problem, so you can't be having a problem". I certainly don't. I just make my own tests and share the results best as I can.

[Nokatus]

Yes, if someone can isolate a case where this repeatedly happens on their system, please share as much info as you can.

[DukeOfPrunes]

I was able to reduce my high CPU usage issue by disabling my Norton Antivirus, in case this is relevant to others.