LIVE 5.02 Causing CPU spikes!

CopyRightJustice · Post by **CopyRightJustice** » Fri Dec 16, 2005 10:55 am

Hi I get audio dropouts but with a different cause,only mentioning it here just in case it's related.
here's the situation

I'm setting my latency in prefs with the cpu pumped to 80% with latency at 64 samples test tone running, leave mouse still no glitches, now move mouse to the drop down menu's at top left mouseclick one and wave the pointer over file,edit,insert....etc to cause the dropdown's to appear,now I get glitches at the same time as the dropdown appearing.

I have a p42.8, 1gigram, gigabyte geforce 6600 gt,seagate barracuda 7200 300 gb,Creamware pulsar2.

I know that trying to get a latency of 64 samples on this system is pushing it.I've allways thought that it was to do with a resource struggle between my pulsar(soundcard) and the 6600gt(graphics) but have tested the pulsar on its own without glitches.So this brings me to live perhaps these glitches that are seemingly caused by launching a clip are graphics related in that the audio headroom is being sqeezed by the graphics and its not the actual audio causing the cpu spike(knowone has mentioned graphics yet).

Just a stab in the dark?

justin · Post by **justin** » Fri Dec 16, 2005 12:27 pm

Not sure if its a graphics thing, but i am having the same audio drop out problem here... i seem to remember it started after i installed the first live 5 betas. previously, i was running live 4.14 which seems to have somehow inherited the same problem.

system config:
Ableton Live 5.02
PB G4 867Mhz . 640RAM . OSX 10.3.9 (+ all updates)
coreaudio driver

similar behaviour on another laptop running Live 5.02
PB G4 1Ghz . 512RAM . OSX 10.4.3 (+ all updates)

how it happens:
at the moment, i am mainly using the arrange window to compose so cant comment on launching clips. However the problem i am experiencing is very similar = CPU spike and short audio drop out, silence of aprox 100-500ms. i have one set i am currently working on which has 3 enabled audio tracks (there are 3 stereo 44.1/16bit audio files staggered in the timeline, no plugins) + 2 midi muted tracks (i used one for outboard gear, and one with a disabled operator synth) .

when i first launch the software, i get only a slight hick up at 1 or 2 random points along the track. if i let live play into a loop, it repeats that loop fine. if i stop and restart the song, the "random hick up syndrome" becomes more pronounced... it seems like it never drops out at the same point but i have observed that it tends to happen when tracks are starting to play, or about to start playing. altho it sometimes also happens half way thru... this glitch seems to become more pronounced the longer ableton live stays open, it seem to happen a bit more often and the drop outs seem to get a bit longer...

When the glitch occurs the Live CPU bar jumps to around 100-200%, then returns to 5%. There is no HD overload indicator flashing in Live5.
I also noticed that the activity monitor app shows different CPU usage level, between 20-40%. However, when the audio glitches it does not report the CPU spike. On the other hand, it does report the disk usage output - big red spike.

weird, but it seems impossible to reproduce the glitch exactly!
the fact remains that it occurs on every live set i have, and its really very annoying...
i've taken to bouncing down trax just so i can listen to them properly in QT or itunes!

i tried increasing the buffer size to the max, turning off fades / warping / plugins.
but no solution yet...

: [

justin

supster · Post by **supster** » Fri Dec 16, 2005 1:38 pm

justin wrote:
how it happens:
at the moment, i am mainly using the arrange window to compose so cant comment on launching clips. However the problem i am experiencing is very similar = CPU spike and short audio drop out, silence of aprox 100-500ms. i have one set i am currently working on which has 3 enabled audio tracks (there are 3 stereo 44.1/16bit audio files staggered in the timeline, no plugins) + 2 midi muted tracks (i used one for outboard gear, and one with a disabled operator synth) .

when i first launch the software, i get only a slight hick up at 1 or 2 random points along the track. if i let live play into a loop, it repeats that loop fine. if i stop and restart the song, the "random hick up syndrome" becomes more pronounced... it seems like it never drops out at the same point but i have observed that it tends to happen when tracks are starting to play, or about to start playing. altho it sometimes also happens half way thru... this glitch seems to become more pronounced the longer ableton live stays open, it seem to happen a bit more often and the drop outs seem to get a bit longer...

When the glitch occurs the Live CPU bar jumps to around 100-200%, then returns to 5%. There is no HD overload indicator flashing in Live5.
I also noticed that the activity monitor app shows different CPU usage level, between 20-40%. However, when the audio glitches it does not report the CPU spike. On the other hand, it does report the disk usage output - big red spike.

weird, but it seems impossible to reproduce the glitch exactly!
the fact remains that it occurs on every live set i have, and its really very annoying...
i've taken to bouncing down trax just so i can listen to them properly in QT or itunes!

i tried increasing the buffer size to the max, turning off fades / warping / plugins.
but no solution yet...

: [

justin

this is almost exactly the way it happens for me, but im on a PC / 1 Gig RAM/ WinXP2 / m-audio PCI w/ m-audio ASIO drivers

one thing i get which i didnt read you mention is a *skk--kittering ppshhhsthht* that happens when the Arrangement loop comes back around to the beginning on some loops.

this is on projects with mixed audio / MIDI .. resources meter anywhere from 10% and up. fundamental problem with this program

i spend most of my energy fighting to get the arrange grid slowness / stickiness issue addressed .... so this problem ive learned to more or less live with as "thats just the way it is, be patient maybe theyll eventually fix it." ... cause im in the studio and you dont hear that stuff after it renders

but i would never use this software to play in a club the way it is, no way ...
..

Post by **Alex** » Fri Dec 16, 2005 4:46 pm

Hi folks,

it would be helpful if any of you (who did not yet) could give the current Live 5.0.3 beta a try. It would be important to know if you have these problems too in the Live 5.0.3 beta.

thanks & regards,
/Alex

martin808 · Post by **martin808** » Fri Dec 16, 2005 4:54 pm

hi,

I had these problems before but they seemed to dissappear when the the full 5.02 was released.
I'm now using the latest beta and the cpu spikes are back.

Post by **Alex** » Fri Dec 16, 2005 5:03 pm

Hi martin808,

can you please describe this a bit more detailed?
So you use the latest beta with the same preferences setup like Live 5.0.2 and the same Live set ... what do you do then to get these CPU spikes?

regards,
/Alex

martin808 · Post by **martin808** » Fri Dec 16, 2005 5:12 pm

hi, its not the same set.

I'd actually forgotten all about the dropouts bacause the problem had went away. but last night i installed 5.03b6 and loaded up a small dj set i have. it has only 3 tracks, 60 scenes and about 8 effects (all ableton)

when i hit a clip for the first time or if i hit a clip i haven't played for a while i get a dropout although the cpu meter no longer jumps up like it did in 5.02.

i've not tried any old sets on 5.03b6 but i will do this later.

Post by **Alex** » Fri Dec 16, 2005 5:18 pm

Hi martin808,

do you use a Mac or a PC and how much RAM do you have installed?
After you have load this certain Live set, could you check how much physical and virtual memory Live needs at this point? (just le me know if you do not know where to look for this information)

regards,
/Alex

justin · Post by **justin** » Fri Dec 16, 2005 5:37 pm

hi alex,

yep, i got the same thing with 5.03b6...

altho i did notice live seemed to consume less CPU overall. the spikes are still there... crazy stuff the CPU goes to 100+ % (maximum score for me is 980%, which am quite pleased with!) then all the way back down to 5%.

use the dark side of the force, the program will.

justin

Post by **Alex** » Fri Dec 16, 2005 6:19 pm

Hi justin,

same question I wrote above:
do you use a Mac or a PC and how much RAM do you have installed?
After you have load this certain Live set, could you check how much physical and virtual memory Live needs at this point? (just le me know if you do not know where to look for this information)

regards,
/Alex

dpel · Post by **dpel** » Fri Dec 16, 2005 6:31 pm

i just discovered a new "work around" to this problem:
(in arranger mode)
once you open the song (set) for the first time, click on the grey bar
where the speaker icon appears. drag the speaker icon through the whole
song. you'll hear chaos i'm sure. but that seems to prime the song, load into ram
(whatever) no glitches, or spikes after playing the song through normally.

Post by **Alex** » Fri Dec 16, 2005 6:51 pm

Hi dpel,

could you let me know how much physical and virtual RAM Live needs when you open such a set in Live 5.0.3b6?

regards,
/Alex

martin808 · Post by **martin808** » Fri Dec 16, 2005 7:05 pm

hi alex,

i cant reproduce this glitch. It seems to be working fine now.

I'm on PC 3.2ghzp4laptop. 512m ram

how do i check the memory. I cant open task manager for some reason?? ctrl-alt-del isn't working either. very strange. is there another way to check

dpel · Post by **dpel** » Fri Dec 16, 2005 7:24 pm

Alex wrote:Hi dpel,

could you let me know how much physical and virtual RAM Live needs when you open such a set in Live 5.0.3b6?

regards,
/Alex

will do...

justin · Post by **justin** » Fri Dec 16, 2005 7:28 pm

Alex wrote:Hi justin,

same question I wrote above:
do you use a Mac or a PC and how much RAM do you have installed?
After you have load this certain Live set, could you check how much physical and virtual memory Live needs at this point? (just le me know if you do not know where to look for this information)

regards,
/Alex

i havent had time to double check everything, but the behaviour seems to be very similar.

system config:
Ableton Live 5.02 / 5.03b6
PB G4 867Mhz . 640RAM . OSX 10.3.9 (+ all updates)
coreaudio driver

also similar behaviour on another laptop running Live 5.02
PB G4 1Ghz . 512RAM . OSX 10.4.3 (+ all updates)
coreaudio driver