Ableton Forum

Have you tried using the Macbook audio outs?

Any better?

muscleandhate wrote:

kselbee wrote:I have first generation MacBook (DualCore) with 1 gig of RAM and I'm still fairly new to Live, but I'm finding that if I have more that about 3 or 4 audio tracks I start to get stuttering and dropouts and such. Is it just a matter of tweeking my audio settings (I'm using a firewire FA-66) and if so is there a good link on the subject? Should I upgrade to 2 gig of RAM (is it worth the $$$)? Thanks....

More RAM is good, I recently upgraded to 1.25GB and really notice the difference, especially with programs like Battery. As for the audio dropouts, what is the CPU usage at when these occur?

Sometimes CPU isn't that bed when I get dropouts... but other times (especially with the EZ Drummer VST) I've seen CPU utilization as high as 5000%!!!!!!! How's that possible?

You need to be more specific.

something sounds really wonky here. i have the same macbook model you have, 2gb of memory, Live 6.0.5, and the stock 60gb harddrive.

i have some Live projects that have 15-20+ tracks with no dropouts or issues. i can tell you having the extra memory will obvious give you a boost but there's something wrong if you getting dropouts with 4-5 tracks.

i'm with muscleandhate, you need to post more specifically what is happening...a specific example. if possible post the Live file...try rapidshare or mediafire, maybe.

good luck

What do you have your latency set to? Does increasing that help?

If you use the MacBook's built-in audio output does the problem go away?

Let us know, it will help to narrow the problem.

hello,

same problem here. Using Edirol FA-101 with MBP 2.0 ghz 1,5 GB RAM. I'm having random audio dropouts. Only thing I can do is reboot or restart ableton. My sets use about 8 audio and 4 midi (vsti) channels. Audio drops out even with couple of tracks.
Audio drops out even with cpu usage at 40-50%

Latency set at 512 samples.


Need help!

stomme, kselbee,

Sorry to harp on on this question, but is there any difference in performance if you use the Mac internal audio and not the firewire interface?

Please let us know, it will help us help you!

Cheers

Pitch Black wrote:stomme, kselbee,

Sorry to harp on on this question, but is there any difference in performance if you use the Mac internal audio and not the firewire interface?

Please let us know, it will help us help you!

Cheers

looks here like still does it with core audio

tempus3r wrote:Outside of the other suggestions on the thread..

Hard drive speed matters a lot.

If you got the default drive on that mac it is 5200rpm and thats not fast enough to run many tracks of audio at once.

a 5200 rpm is still capable of around 12 audio tracks with a healthy amount of plugs, sounds more like some sample settings or something...

forge wrote:

Pitch Black wrote:stomme, kselbee,

Sorry to harp on on this question, but is there any difference in performance if you use the Mac internal audio and not the firewire interface?

Please let us know, it will help us help you!

Cheers

looks here like still does it with core audio

Do you mean the internal outs. All drivers on the modern day Mac are coreaudio. I've got the 1st gen MacBook with 1.25 gig RAM and a FW 410. Other than driver issues with the 410 I've not had any trouble. So my guess is it's an issue with the drivers on the FA-66 for the OP. Forge, do you have any windows only vst's running in that set? Doesn't sound like something you'd miss, but we all overlook the obvious sometimes.

I just set up a macbook last week for a friend. What system optimizations have you done?

If none, start with downloading Onyx for 10.4.

http://www.titanium.free.fr/pgs/english.html

Use Onyx to disable widgets. A check of system processes shows that they are not running in the background after using Onyx. That's not the case with some other utilities.

Next, go to Onyx's automation tab, click everything and run it.
Restart when it's finished.

With limited ram, make sure to quit all other programs before starting Live.

Change display colors to thousands while using Live.

Keep up to date system drivers.

does changing to thousands colors does really bring any feelable difference?

and i have notced that with no single time starting the widgets they do not at all run in background

blaugruen7 wrote:does changing to thousands colors does really bring any feelable difference?

Yes. Screen redraws are quicker. I've always noticed a measurable imrprovement on mac laptops with screen colors reduced. This is particularly so with the macbook because of it's "pirate video". I suppose I should also mention that deactivating the dock effects and system sounds help too.

blaugruen7 wrote:and i have notced that with no single time starting the widgets they do not at all run in background

I think that's true. It's easy enough to check with the activity monitor. I prefer to disable them. They don't add any substantial benefit for me and pose a performance threat if activated.

Opinions vary on which performance optimization tricks work best. I've been using mac laptops since 1998 and know that the above do add up to increased performance and stability.

I don't know about you guys but this is better than a watching 'Lost' on tv, I can't wait for this guy to answer pitch blacks question the suspense is killing me!!!!!!!

@ udp

Performance seems fine to me using the internal audio. It's just everytime I use the Edirol it works fine for about 2 - 3 hours then audio drops out. only thing I can do to solve the prob is restart.

grtz