Audio interface and CPU Load

Discuss music production with Ableton Live.
WilmarBoer
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Re: Audio interface and CPU Load

Post by WilmarBoer » Tue May 18, 2021 7:14 pm

kitekrazy wrote:
Tue May 18, 2021 2:54 pm
WilmarBoer wrote:
Sat May 08, 2021 8:41 am
I'm just curious if there's a difference in CPU load and least possible latency between audio interfaces on the mac using audiocore.

I have a Behringer UMC1820. Happy with the possibilities and sonic results of the interface. But at 8 tracks and just freezing MIDI tracks still gives it a 25% CPU load with a latency of 256ms. Let alone a project with 16 or more tracks, VSTi's and quite a few FX. I'm on a Macbook 2019 - 16 inch, i9, 8-core, 2,3 ghz with 16gb RAM. So my macbook is supposed to be quite fast. I really like to go down to 64ms to give vocalists and myself as a guitar and keys player the best experience of playing a track in good timing using Ableton FX (in stead of using external FX through direct monitoring).

Before I put my money into a new audio interface. Any experiences on tackling this issue by swapping out the audio interface?
That's why. CPU isn't string enough.
String enough? I guess you mean strong enough. I have an Intel i9, 2.3 Ghz 8-core. It's one of the fastest Macbook's you could buy in 2019. That can't be the problem?
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Making music is my hobby
Corporate photography is my passion: https://www.beeldvoerders.nl/bedrijfsfotografie

kitekrazy
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Re: Audio interface and CPU Load

Post by kitekrazy » Wed May 19, 2021 4:38 pm

LOL maybe it's not string enough either and you are all about drums. I thought Macbooks had a faster CPU. Hopefully you are not the crowd that believes more cores are better and individual core performance is secondary. Some DAWs do have issues using all cores equally.

oratowsky
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Location: la

Re: Audio interface and CPU Load

Post by oratowsky » Wed May 19, 2021 8:28 pm

No, audio interfaces do not significantly affect the CPU load.

Plugin load, sample rate, and buffer size are the main factors that affect CPU load.

And usually the RTL introduced by an interface isn't the bottleneck to latency either, it's plugins that introduce their own latency.

Turn on Delay Compensation and hover over all your plugins, and you can see the latency they introduce. Delay Compensation should be OFF while tracking.

And by the way, 2-3ms is really very little. Consider that sound travels about 1 foot per ms. That's like moving your head around while you play an instrument.

25% CPU load on the Ableton meter at 64 sample buffer size for an 8 track session sounds perfectly reasonable to me. You say this seems high, but 64 sample buffer size is very small. Are you experiencing dropouts or crackling ?

Am I correct in assuming you have a 16" macbook pro? It might be overheating. Download Intel PowerGadget and see if the clockspeed is running slow.

WilmarBoer
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Joined: Mon Jan 13, 2020 11:10 pm
Location: Amersfoort, The Netherlands
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Re: Audio interface and CPU Load

Post by WilmarBoer » Fri Jul 23, 2021 10:53 am

Thanks for the reply's. Maybe I was just expecting to get a bit more performance out of my computer. I sold my Behringer 1820 interface and bought a Steinberg UR44C and now I'm tracking with zero latency using the DSP mixer of the Steinberg with compression and reverb to make a nice monitormix. Controlling the UR44C with my ipad wich is on a holder on my desk is very convenient while keeping track on my main monitor with ableton. Where I can use a higher latency setting now. So CPU is reduced and FAN speed and noise is reduced too. Happy tracking various musicians in my homestudio now.
----
Making music is my hobby
Corporate photography is my passion: https://www.beeldvoerders.nl/bedrijfsfotografie

miyaru
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Location: The Netherlands

Re: Audio interface and CPU Load

Post by miyaru » Fri Jul 23, 2021 7:05 pm

As stated before, I have a Focusrite Scarlet 18i20 3rd gen. I have an old Lexicon MPX-1 patched in digitally in the monitor path of the Scarlet. This way I can use all kinds of FX chains in my monitor path, without effecting the recorded audio. Another way to do it...... I also have zero latency while tracking. Old Lexicons and TC Electronic FX units can be found cheap, and if they have digital in and out, you can use this way.

So I don't have to use the 64 sample setting, I can use 512 for instance if I want too, to lower CPU load.

It all comes down to budget, personal taste and availability!
Greetings from Miyaru.
Prodaw i7-7700, 16Gb Ram, Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 3rd gen, ESI M4U eX, Reason 12, Live Suit 10, Push2, Presonus Eris E8 and Monitor Station V2, Lexicon MPX1,
Korg N1, Yamaha RM1x :mrgreen:

jonljacobi
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Re: Audio interface and CPU Load

Post by jonljacobi » Sat Jul 24, 2021 9:41 pm

The latest MOTU stuff is pretty amazing. But you can track without latency using just about any interface if you monitor from the interface.

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