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Do unused plugins slow me down?
Posted: Sat Dec 24, 2022 6:14 am
by bishbo2000
This may be a dumb question but here goes....
Does having lots plugins affect the performance of my machine/project even if they aren't in use?
I have a lot of plugins I have accumulated that don't get used, wondering should I move them out of the plugin folders to a separate "archive" or doesn't it matter.
Re: Do unused plugins slow me down?
Posted: Sat Dec 24, 2022 6:52 am
by josefreak
bishbo2000 wrote: ↑Sat Dec 24, 2022 6:14 am
This may be a dumb question but here goes....
Does having lots plugins affect the performance of my machine/project even if they aren't in use?
I have a lot of plugins I have accumulated that don't get used, wondering should I move them out of the plugin folders to a separate "archive" or doesn't it matter.
The more plugins you use, the more cpu and memory is used. Disabling plugins doesn't reduce cpu usage. Even disabling tracks doesn't reduce cpu usage. That's basically the way Live is designed. The recommended way to reduce cpu load is to "freeze" (or resample) the tracks you're not working on. That's why the feature was made. It's fast, and you can easily unfreeze if you want to go back and edit the track. When you're a beginner, it seems like a strange workflow, but once you get used to it, it's actually much faster than disable/enable tracks, plugins, etc.
Notice that Ableton's documentation doesn't even mention disabling tracks or plugins:
https://help.ableton.com/hc/en-us/artic ... e-CPU-load
Re: Do unused plugins slow me down?
Posted: Sat Dec 24, 2022 6:55 am
by The Rabbits
bishbo2000 wrote: ↑Sat Dec 24, 2022 6:14 am
This may be a dumb question but here goes....
Does having lots plugins affect the performance of my machine/project even if they aren't in use?
I have a lot of plugins I have accumulated that don't get used, wondering should I move them out of the plugin folders to a separate "archive" or doesn't it matter.
If they aren't in your set, they have no effect on performance.
Re: Do unused plugins slow me down?
Posted: Sat Oct 26, 2024 6:28 am
by Kaless1n
josefreak wrote: ↑Sat Dec 24, 2022 6:52 am
bishbo2000 wrote: ↑Sat Dec 24, 2022 6:14 am
This may be a dumb question but here goes....
Does having lots plugins affect the performance of my machine/project even if they aren't in use?
I have a lot of plugins I have accumulated that don't get used, wondering should I move them out of the plugin folders to a separate "archive" or doesn't it matter.
The more plugins you use, the more cpu and memory is used. Disabling plugins doesn't reduce cpu usage. Even disabling tracks doesn't reduce cpu usage. That's basically the way Live is designed. The recommended way to reduce cpu load is to "freeze" (or resample) the tracks you're not working on. That's why the feature was made. It's fast, and you can easily unfreeze if you want to go back and edit the track. When you're a beginner, it seems like a strange workflow, but once you get used to it, it's actually much faster than disable/enable tracks, plugins, etc.
Notice that Ableton's documentation doesn't even mention disabling tracks or plugins:
https://help.ableton.com/hc/en-us/artic ... e-CPU-load
But how to freeze tracks while you play live using 30-40 instruments on separat tracks?