Bug with Drum Racks in Chain – Crackling on First Note and Double Triggering

[SuperMichL]

Hi everyone,

I'm experiencing a persistent issue with drum racks when using them in chains. Here's my setup and the detailed description of the problem:


The Problem

I’m stacking 9 drum racks into different chains on the same track. Even if the devices in all other chains are deactivated, I encounter the following issues only when recording:
The first note crackles when recording starts.
Occasionally, some notes are triggered twice during playback of the recorded clip.

Observations

The problem occurs every time I record in Session only, but not during playback of an existing clip or in arrangement
The issue disappears if I reduce the number of chains to 4 or fewer.
I’m using only presets from Ableton library and only stock plugins
No automations or modulations are present in the set.
When I record the audio output of the track or resample, the distortion is not present in the audio file.
The issue persists even in a blank set, with no other tracks or devices loaded.
Warp mode is not activated on any clips.
The issue persists regardless of the sound card used (tested with multiple sound cards).
The problem disappears if I route a separate MIDI track to control the drum rack track. (midi from all ins, midi to multi drum rack - track in)



My Setup

Ableton Version: Live 12.1.5
Computer: MacBook Pro 2019 (Intel i9, 2.3GHz, 32GB RAM) - fully updated
Audio Buffer: Typically 64 samples (issue persists at 128 and 256, and sometimes disappears at 512 samples, but not very practical for performing)
Audio Driver: CoreAudio (fully updated)
Controller: Push 2 or no controller – no difference in behavior


Anyone experiencing the same problem here?

Thanks for your help,

Pierre

[chapelier fou]

Did you reach support ?
The fact that routing midi from another track doesn’t lead to the same issue makes me think of a CPU core allocation issue.

[SuperMichL]

Yes i did this afternoon, i'm waiting for an answer.
I will post it here when i got it.

Thanks for your answer

[SuperMichL]

Here is the answer from Ableton support :

"For starters, it seems that you run Live with a buffer size of 64 samples. While this is possible, it is easy to provoke dropouts with the smallest possible buffer size.

Further, it is known that starting a track with multiple instruments causes a CPU spike. Depending on the number of instruments, this can cause dropouts or crackles.

On macOS, the system forces the high-performance graphics adapter when a demanding application (Live; Plugins) is started. Many users complain about this behavior because it leads to fan noise.
Furthermore, the dedicated graphics card is also used whenever an external display is connected. This can cause high temperatures and eventually thermal throttling of the CPU.

To my knowledge, there is also no way to change this behavior at the operating system level. The problem here is a conceptual one with almost all Apple laptops that use Intel CPUs. Unfortunately, we can't help with that.

Other more general reasons for the performance loss could be too high room temperatures or dusty ventilation of the device. It might be advisable to invest in an external cooling solution here. "

[chapelier fou]

Thanks for the follow up.

[SuperMichL]

I followed the conversation with ableton support.
They analysed my set, here is their answer.

I found it interesting for people who try to make large set with a lot of instruments :

"Your set contains 527 Instruments (345 instances of Simpler).
Every time you start/stop playback, this sends commands to all instruments in the set. This is inevitable as we need to stop notes from sounding when pressing stop and also set some parameters when we press play.

I think it is understandable that with so many instruments this creates a noticeable CPU spike.

Removing the "Drums" and "Perc" tracks from your set made the CPU spike bearable on my M1 MacBook.

I'd recommend rethinking your approach and getting rid of nested Drum Racks.

While I totally understand the need for having full access to all instruments, I reckon the only way forward is to commit to single audio files instead of using hundreds of instruments.
I have been there many years ago. For a proper live show, in my experience, there is no need to have all these instruments in the set.
The only alternative would be to use a second computer only for generating the drums and mix them with the first computer with other instruments/fx externally."

For information, Drums and perc tracks both have up to 10 drum racks chained into it.

All my devices are chained and desactivated if the chain is not selected. About 40 active instruments at the same time maximum (including 32 simpler from drum racks) and a lot a effects, that are mostly deactivated when not in use. Only stock devices and effects
So even you desactivate devices, they still receive some commands that can make your CPU spike.

For my experience, it only appears when i record in session, if i play without recording, there is no issue.

Hope it can help some people struggling with cpu.