LIVE 8 PERFORMANCE TEST - Results Here

[Edderic]

1) Ableton Live CPU Meter: 14-15%
2) Laptop/Desktop? Make/Model?

Custom-built:
Intel Core i7-3930K Sandy Bridge-E 3.2GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 2011 130W Six-Core Desktop Processor BX80619i73930K
G.SKILL Ripjaws Z Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2133 (PC3 17000) Desktop Memory Model F3-17000CL11Q-16GBZL
ASRock X79 Extreme4 LGA 2011 Intel X79 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Corsair Force Series GT CSSD-F120GBGT-BK 2.5" 120GB SATA III Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
CORSAIR Enthusiast Series CMPSU-750TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply
CORSAIR H100 (CWCH100) Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler




3) Operating System? Windows 8 Developer Preview, Build 8102
4) Ableton Live version? 8.2.1
5) CPU Make, Model, and Speed? i7 3930k at stock 3.2 GHz.
6) Amount of Ram? 16 GB, 1600MHz stock (could be OC'd to 2133 MHz)
7) Soundcard (and driver version if you know it)? Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 (used with ASIO4all so I can manually set buffer to 512)
8/ Hard Disk Drive Speed (if you know)? Corsair Force Series GT CSSD-F120GBGT-BK at 555MB/s read, 525MB/s write
9) Number of playback tracks? 8

More testing:

8: 20%
16: 23%
24: 28%
32: 29%
40: 37%
48: 40%
56: 46%
64: 54%
72: 55%
80: 59%
88: 67%
96: 71%
104: 77%
112: 84% super tiny clicks.
120: 91% more pronounced clicks.

Went below 112 and got to maximum 108 TRACKS without clicks. (Clicked only in the beginning for like a few ms, but it's very negligible).

[blarue09]

1. Ableton Live CPU Meter: 26%
2. Laptop/Desktop? Make/Model?: Custom desktop
3. Operating System?: Windows XP SP3 32bit
4. Ableton Live version?: 8.2.2 Suite
5. CPU Make, Model, and Speed?: Intel Core2Quad Q9550 2.83GHz
6. Amount of Ram?: 4GB(4X1GB) DDR-2 667 MHz
7. Soundcard (and driver version if you know it)? : Line 6 Toneport UX-1 (driver version 4.2.4.9)
8. Hard Disk Drive Speed: 7200rpm
9. Number of playback tracks? : 8


additional tracks tested:

16 playback tracks: 41%
32 playback tracks: 69%
45 playback tracks: 100%

[DesertSound]

deleted

[M-bition]

I am thinking 8 tracks as a standard for CPU use is not relevant anymore. I see some far better/faster CPU's perform as good as my mobile I7-2760QM on 8 tracks.
But when the turbo really kicks in there are big differences being made. Mine maxes out at 78 tracks. Edderic maxes out at far above 100 tracks.

I guess we all should do the maximum tracks test also...

[mannheimguitar]

1.) Ableton Live CPU Meter: 34%
2.) Laptop/Desktop? Make/Model: 11" MacBook Air Mid 2011
3.) Operating System: Mac OS X Lion 10.7.2
4.) Ableton Live version: Suite 8.2.7
5.) CPU Make, Model, and Speed: 1,8 GHz Intel Core i7
6.) Amount of Ram: 4 GB
7.) Soundcard: Internal
8.) Hard Disk Drive Speed: 256 GB, SSD
9.) Number of playback tracks: 8

[jobsbywork]

1. Ableton Live CPU Meter 75%
2. Desktop: 2.3G Dual G5
3. Operating System? Mac OS X 10.4.11
4. Ableton Live version? 8.0.1
5. CPU Make, Model, and Speed?
6. Amount of Ram? 2,5 GB
7. Soundcard Maudio Delta 88
8. Hard Disk Drive Speed (if you know)? 7200 RPM
9. Number of playback tracks? 8

[ct43]

1. Ableton Live CPU Meter 45%
2. MacBook Air 13" late 2011: 1.7 i5
3. Operating System? Mac OS X 10.7.2
4. Ableton Live version? 8.2.7
5. CPU Make, Model, and Speed? Intel 1.7 i5
6. Amount of Ram? 4 GB
7. Soundcard? (on board)
8. Hard Disk Drive Speed: Samsung 128Gb SSD
9. Number of playback tracks? 8

Just bought this today... very interesting to see that this scores the same CPU % as my iMac Core 2 Duo 3.06 with 4GB RAM

also I ran a 'real world' test with one of my songs... and they came out at nearly the same.

iMAC bouncing between 23 and 27
Air bouncing between 25 and 29

[blarue09]

1. Ableton Live CPU Meter: 22%
2. Laptop/Desktop? Make/Model: Custom desktop
3. Operating System: Windows 7 home premium 64bit
4. Ableton Live version: 8.2.2 Suite
5. CPU Make, Model, and Speed: Intel Core2Quad Q9550 2.83GHz OC'd to 3.4GHz
6. Amount of Ram: 4GB(2X2GB) DDR-2 800MHz
7. Soundcard (and driver version if you know it)? : Line 6 Toneport UX-1 (driver version 4.2.5.1)
8. Hard Disk Drive Speed: Kingston HyperX 120GB SSD using SATA2
9. Number of playback tracks : 8


additional tracks tested:

16 playback tracks: 34%
32 playback tracks: 58%
45 playback tracks: 80% - most I could play without any distortion whatsoever
57 playback tracks: 100%

[h4nc0]

I am thinking 8 tracks as a standard for CPU use is not relevant anymore. I see some far better/faster CPU's perform as good as my mobile I7-2760QM on 8 tracks.
But when the turbo really kicks in there are big differences being made. Mine maxes out at 78 tracks. Edderic maxes out at far above 100 tracks.

I guess we all should do the maximum tracks test also...

I have to agree with this. With 8 tracks, 2011 MBP 2.3ghz and a i7 920 desktop PC @ 4ghz, the performance seem similar both at 18-20%. However, as track count increase, the MBP craps out at around 40 while the desktop PC is fine at more than 60.

[blarue09]

I am thinking 8 tracks as a standard for CPU use is not relevant anymore. I see some far better/faster CPU's perform as good as my mobile I7-2760QM on 8 tracks.
But when the turbo really kicks in there are big differences being made. Mine maxes out at 78 tracks. Edderic maxes out at far above 100 tracks.

I guess we all should do the maximum tracks test also...

I have to agree with this. With 8 tracks, 2011 MBP 2.3ghz and a i7 920 desktop PC @ 4ghz, the performance seem similar both at 18-20%. However, as track count increase, the MBP craps out at around 40 while the desktop PC is fine at more than 60.

Are more tracks all that is needed? what is the current standard for quality production and performance these days in terms of sample rate and buffer size? Is everyone still using 44100 and 512, as the current live 8 performance test is based? I tried setting 96000 and 128 samples and my core2quad maxed out at 16 tracks, as compared to 57 tracks @ 44100 and 512. just a thought.

[h4nc0]

I am thinking 8 tracks as a standard for CPU use is not relevant anymore. I see some far better/faster CPU's perform as good as my mobile I7-2760QM on 8 tracks.
But when the turbo really kicks in there are big differences being made. Mine maxes out at 78 tracks. Edderic maxes out at far above 100 tracks.

I guess we all should do the maximum tracks test also...

I have to agree with this. With 8 tracks, 2011 MBP 2.3ghz and a i7 920 desktop PC @ 4ghz, the performance seem similar both at 18-20%. However, as track count increase, the MBP craps out at around 40 while the desktop PC is fine at more than 60.

Are more tracks all that is needed? what is the current standard for quality production and performance these days in terms of sample rate and buffer size? Is everyone still using 44100 and 512, as the current live 8 performance test is based? I tried setting 96000 and 128 samples and my core2quad maxed out at 16 tracks, as compared to 57 tracks @ 44100 and 512. just a thought.

testing max tracks seemed to reflect real world usage better than just % of cpu usage with only 8 tracks.

[McQ714]

1. Ableton Live CPU Meter: 14%
2. Laptop: HP Elitebook Workstation 8760w
3. OS: Windows 7 Pro 64 with no tweaking done to the OS
4. Ableton Live version: 8.2.8
5. CPU Make, Model, and Speed: Intel i7-2860qm
6. Amount of RAM: 16 GB
7. Soundcard: NI Audio 2 DJ
8. Hard Disk Drive Speed: 7200 rpm
9. Number of playback tracks: all 8

[stoersignal]

1. Ableton Live CPU Meter: 17%
2. Laptop: Custom MacBook Pro
3. OS: osx 10.7.3
4. Ableton Live version: 8.2.8
5. CPU Make, Model, and Speed: i7 2.5Ghz
6. Amount of RAM: 8 GB
7. Soundcard: Internal
8. Hard Disk Drive Speed: 7200 rpm
9. Number of playback tracks: 8

with 72 tracks i got to 89% and the first crackling

[rhombus_77]

1) Ableton Live CPU Meter % 23%
2) Laptop/Desktop? Make/Model? Desktop, homebrew
3) Operating System? Windows 7, 64
4) Ableton Live version? 8.1.4
5) CPU Make, Model, and Speed? AMD Phenom II x4 965, 3.4gHz
6) Amount of Ram? 8gb
7) Soundcard (and driver version if you know it)? Native Instruments Kontrol S4
Hard Disk Drive Speed (if you know)? Intel SSD
9) Number of playback tracks? 8

[McQ714]

Updated for new interface

1. Ableton Live CPU Meter: 14%
2. Laptop: HP Elitebook Workstation 8760w
3. OS: Windows 7 Pro 64 with no tweaking done to the OS
4. Ableton Live version: 8.2.8
5. CPU Make, Model, and Speed: Intel i7-2860qm
6. Amount of RAM: 16 GB
7. Soundcard: RME Fireface UFX
8. Hard Disk Drive Speed: 7200 rpm
9. Number of playback tracks: all 8

32 tracks runs at about 45%
64 tracks runs at about 81% but anything higher had crackling
and 8 tracks at 48 samples runs at about 25%


just a note... had to connect the UFX to my laptop using a USB 3.0 express card because i have too many USB peripherals connected to laptop and docking station to use the onboard USB 3.0 ports without errors. still it's only connected using a USB 2.0 cable and obviously works great as you can see. i haven't tried it with firewire connection yet.