Mac CPU Issue?

[Stromkraft]

you are probably an ableton community person?

We as users are all members of the Ableton Community. Main reason I answer in CPU threads is that Live's resource use concerns me.

You don't have a dedicated graphics card? People say Push 2 graphics run on that now, if you have it.

I have my system specs above w a switching Mbp card doesn’t that count? But I run an external monitor w laptop closed.

I can't really say as I have the Push 1, but several Push 2 users have implied this is what's happening since some release. It's possible only certain cards are supported or something else is needed.

Wonder if there’s a way we can use a diagnostics instrument to trace what the cpu is doing when it’s going crazy

There are better tools on PC I think. I use Power Gadget (Also the terminal logger), MacCPUID and Activity Monitor to get some data. On PCs there's also more accessible BIOS settings and DPC Latency Checkers, but I don't know of a Mac solution for that.

[Stromkraft]

Stormkraft:
First of all, thanks for your reply. My Mac is definitely old, mid-2010. I just assumed that since it meets all minimal requirements announced by Ableton, it would work fine. These were the settings for the example I mentioned before:
- Buffer size: 64 samples
- Sample rate: 44100
You say that your old Mac works just fine. Do you think mine is hopeless? Could a RAM upgrade solve or mitigate the issue?

I think my 2011 quadcore MBP that for some reason runs constantly in Turbo at 3.00 GHz, according to Power Gadget, may be one of the slowest machines to achieve something useful out of Live if one uses demanding plug-in instruments. I especially use Waves Element and Madrona Labs Aalto that really put real time demands on my poor CPU and running Softube Heartbeat for drums (VA) adds to that.

As I think I mentioned I did manage to use a 2009 duocore MBP last year, but certainly not at 64 samples audio buffer with native audio. With my dedicated RME Babyface I can often cut latency in half at the same samples setting. With that 256 samples hold up quite well and I've even recorded Push performances at 1024 samples with no apparent delay to stop me. The native audio would hardly last higher than 512.

Unless you accept freezing, running in eco or low quality modes until mixdown and so on, any old Duocore is likely too slow. Using this with an SSD or more RAM really speeds up the GUI, but that doesn't help real time audio performance that relies on CPU.

I can also see any MBP as the heart with as MIDI and recording center using external hardware instruments. Beyond this I think you need to update.

Of course using the native instruments in Live may also be a way to circumvent this kind of issue. At mixdown you can replace sounds you're not totally happy with and at this stage freezing or committing to audio (flatten or recording) may allow for a nice experience.

if any of this is unclear, just ask I'll try to explain further. Now I'm on my way for a session in the studio.

[mikegao]

just got a reply back from IK Multimedia about one of their plugins I use .. turns out there is a "minor" CPU issue that their devs are working on .
but its like 20percent CPU on what usually should be a 1-3% plugin that goes crazy up to60%

so i guess stromkraft is right. many times when I have blamed Ableton, its been actually third party fault / VST unless it was the too big directories/Ableton index issue ...

i think its also possible for VSTs to somehow brick the ableton session and throw everything into high CPU land until u restart even after u delete the VST hmmm