Audio Glitchout with Massive

Amanita · Post by **Amanita** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 8:34 pm

Hi

I am using Macbook Pro 2.2Ghz OSX 10.4.10 and latest Live 6 version. Audio Interface is Focusrite Saffire LE.

I just setup my audio I/O like the tutorial says, and have made a little test tune which works fine-getting about 11% CPU load, no disk load. I add an instance of NI Massive and hit some notes and its glitch and pop time. The CPU load is only 30% however - no disk struggling symptoms. I tried Massive as stand alone and all is well - using the patch "Fluffy in Heaven" in Ultra quality with 6 notes gives 45% Load. I tried this on my static PC system and get 35% so its all comparable. I seem to remember something about rolling back the Mac Firewire drivers - anyhelp on this please?

Mush

cids · Post by **cids** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 9:20 am

You can try this:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=305924

But I don't know if this is related to your issue.... try increasing the latency in Live to see if the problem goes away...

Cheers!

Amanita · Post by **Amanita** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 10:54 am

Thanks

I can get it all working by bringing up the latency and reducing the sound quality in Massive, but still dont understand. I tried mixing some MP3 files at the higher latency rate and got lots of distortion - no disk load at all. I then lowered the latency down to 500 samples and the MP3 playback worked nicely.

I am officially confused.

Mush

Amanita · Post by **Amanita** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 12:41 pm

OK in the words of the ravers classic - TOTAL CONFUSION!!

I start a new project and theres no problem. Buffer set at 380ish and now i can play the same Massive patch at Ultra quality, 8 note chord and no glitches also only 35% CPU (which is still shit - but hey its Massive after all). Being an engineer, i find that problems that fix themselves are slightly more worrying than ones that are consistent and you fix through possitive action.

Its all too much for a poor boy who just bought a Mac and has been using P5 and SONAR

Mush

leedsquietman · Post by **leedsquietman** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 12:24 am

Massive is massively intensive on CPU in best quality. Also it only processes audio on one core, so sometimes having a second track running Massive helps with CPU load.

The simple answers are : reduce your latency (256-512 samples is usually adequate for recording, 1024 is fine for final mixdown with plugins), play all your Massive patches in ECO mode but when you are mixing down using higher latency (ie 1024 or 2048 samples) or rendering to disk step them up to best quality.

Massive is a great softsynth but some patches are very CPU intensive, especially those with weird routing and complex modulations set up.

The other thing you can do which helps A LOT is to freeze your tracks, so record in eco mode, step it up to best quality to see if it still sounds good and then Freeze the Track. This renders a temporary audio file based on the mixdown at best quality. You can always unfreeze if you need to make adjustments.