Ableton Forum

Ableton Live 6 & 7 Performance Test

This test was created to let users compare the performance of Ableton Live versions 6 and 7 on different computer set ups. Prior to Live version 6, this was done via the test located here:

http://www.ableton.com/forum/viewtopic. ... highlight=

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://www.djgroovy.com/images/ableton/ ... ceTest.zip

or here:

http://www.boognishrising.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.





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.





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?

Thanks, and I hope that you find this test useful for comparing different computers!

Tarekith

http://tarekith.com

1) Ableton Live CPU Meter: 56%
2) Laptop/Desktop? Make/Model: Laptop, Apple MacBook Pro
3) Operating System: OSX 10.5.1
4) Ableton Live version: Live 6.10
5) CPU Make, Model, and Speed: Core 2 Duo, 2.16gHz
6) Amount of Ram: 2GB
7) Soundcard: MOTU Ultralite, driver 1.4.4
8) Hard Disk Drive Speed: 5400 RPM
9) Number of playback tracks? 8 Tracks

1) Ableton Live CPU Meter: 56%
2) Laptop/Desktop? Make/Model: Laptop HP NX7400
3) Operating System: Windows XP Sp2
4) Ableton Live version: Live 7.01
5) CPU Make, Model, and Speed: Core 2 Duo, 2.00 Ghz
6) Amount of Ram: 2GB
7) Soundcard: EMU 1616 Cardbus
Hard Disk Drive Speed: 5400 RPM Hitachi internal
9) Number of playback tracks? 8 Tracks


The first playback was all over the place (65%-75%) then it settled down to a pretty steady 56%.

EDIT : I had power options set to "portable/laptop" rather than "always on". It's a steady 55 - 56% now

1)AbletonLive CPU Meter:66%to 70%
2)Laptop:macbook pro
3)OSX 10.4.10
4)Live7
5)Core duo 2Ghz
6)Ram:2GB
7)Sound card.Presonus FireBox
8)Hard disc:5400RPM
9)Number of playback tracks:8 Tracks


I will test it again.
Because i was analyzing some mp3's with the mixed in key program,i was runing Live
and mixed in key at the same time.I did the test again only live was runing and i get about 75% to 80%.
I will make the test tomorow again.

1) Ableton Live CPU Meter: 30%
2) Desktop, Apple Mac Pro
3) OSX 10.4.11
4) Live 7.0.1
5) Dual-Core Intel Xeon, 2 x 2.66gHz
6) Amount of Ram: 2GB
7) Soundcard: M-Audio Firewire Audiophile (same results with internal card)
8) Hard Disk Drive Speed: 7200 RPM
9) Number of playback tracks? 8 Tracks

1) Ableton Live CPU Meter 57% (if it bounces around, please list the peak)
2) Laptop/Desktop? Make/Model? Laptop Toshiba
3) Operating System? Vista
4) Ableton Live version? 7.0.1
5) CPU Make, Model, and Speed? Intel(R)Core 2 Duo 2ghz T7300
6) Amount of Ram? 2Gb
7) Soundcard (and driver version if you know it)? ESI U46 SE
Hard Disk Drive Speed (if you know)?
9) Number of playback tracks? 8

1) Ableton Live CPU Meter:67%
2) Laptop, Apple Powerbook G4
3) OSX 10.4.11
4) Live 7.0.1
5) PowerPC, 1.5GHz
6) Amount of Ram: 1.5GB
7) Soundcard: MOTU Ultralite
8) Hard Disk Drive Speed: 5400RPM
9) Number of playback tracks? 1 Track and remove 3/4 sends to get below 100% CPU

Pretty impressive, I'm sure you'll agree...

1) Ableton Live CPU Meter: 59%
2) Laptop/Desktop? Make/Model: Desktop (custom built)
3) Operating System: WinXP SP2
4) Ableton Live version: Live 6.10
5) CPU Make, Model, and Speed: Core 2 Duo (E6300) 1.86gHz
6) Amount of Ram: 1GB
7) Soundcard: M-Audio Delta 44
Hard Disk Drive Speed: 7200rpm sata 300
9) Number of playback tracks? 8 Tracks

Holy Moly - I feel soooo outdated

1) Ableton Live CPU Meter: 91%
2) Laptop, Acer Travelmate 2350
3) WinXP Pro Sp2
4) Live 7.0.1
5) Intel Celeron M 1,3 Ghz
6) Amount of Ram: 1,2 Gb
7) Soundcard: RME Multiface I
8 ) Hard Disk Drive Speed : 5400 RPM
9) Number of playback tracks? 1 Track

Where is my Core2Duo - i want mine - NOW!

Can someone do v6 and v7 on the same hardware so we can see the difference? That would be most informative.

1 ) Ableton Live CPU Meter % 59
2 ) Laptop/Desktop? Apple iMac
3 ) Operating System? Mac OS X 10.4.11
4 ) Ableton Live version? 7.0.1
5 ) CPU 2.16 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
6 ) Amount of Ram? 3 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM
7 ) Soundcard M-AUDIO FW 410
8 ) Hard Disk Drive Speed 7200 rpm
9 ) Number of playback 8 tracks

1 ) CPU Meter 67%
2 ) Macbook Pro
3 ) OSX 10.4.11
4 ) Ableton Live 6.0.10
5 ) Intel Core2Duo 2.16ghz
6 ) 2gb memory
7 ) Focusrite Saffire LE
8 ) 5400rpm HD
9 ) tracks: 8

Tarakith, we're pretty much on the same spec machines, so it seems my macbook is running below parr compared to yours - any idea why?

i also tried this with the Live 7b21 and get a 3% increase on Live 6's CPU usage, coming in at 70%

Leopard?

Tarekith wrote:1) Ableton Live CPU Meter: 56%
2) Laptop/Desktop? Make/Model: Laptop, Apple MacBook Pro
3) Operating System: OSX 10.5.1
4) Ableton Live version: Live 6.10
5) CPU Make, Model, and Speed: Core 2 Duo, 2.16gHz
6) Amount of Ram: 2GB
7) Soundcard: MOTU Ultralite, driver 1.4.4
Hard Disk Drive Speed: 5400 RPM
9) Number of playback tracks? 8 Tracks

Do you have Live 7 yet?

I'd be interested to see the comparison.

Tarekith wrote:Leopard?

woah! if so, thats quite a drop. will investigate...