Ableton Forum

Hi !

I just tried Live 2.0.3 on a new PowerBook G4 17" 1 ghz 512 ddr ram
and compared it with a stationary P4 1,4 amd 1,4 ghz 256 sd ram
and got VERY scared:

After playing 8 tracks simultaniosly, each containing different 14 seconds
samples in 1 slot each in session view and adds this effect scheme:
Track 1 - Three Live Effects
Track 2 - Three Live Effects
Track 3 - Three Live Effects
Track 4 - Four Live Effects
Track 5 - Five Live Effects
Track 6 - Five Live Effects
Track 7 - Two Live Effects
Track 8 - Two Live Effects

The CPU Load meter on the PowerBook G4 1 ghz shows 78%
and can´t playback this short piece of music properly.
The CPU Load meter on the stationary amd 1,4 ghz shows only 22%

I feel fooled here, how come the PowerBook be so slow?????

Please give me a feedback asap as I´m considering bringing the slowbook back to the store.

Well, that is quite a lot of effects. )

The disks in PowerBooks are very slow (not sure why Apple hasn't done something about this yet).

Also, I read somewhere that OSX core audio is not as efficient as is should be. You may (and most probably will) get faster performance / response times with OS9 and ASIO drivers.

I've got a PowerBook 667, so imagine how slow it is for me! Just a few tracks and everything grinds to a halt.

I may follow my own advice and give OS9 a go...

Yea it´s alot of effects, just for a stress test purpose.

The new Powerbook G4 17" doesn´t support OS9:(


>I may follow my own advice and give OS9 a go...[/quote]

I have a Toshiba P4 2.53 w/512ram 533 front side bus and just finished a track in Live 2. I had no problems running 29 tracks audio with 37 Live 2 effects. My CPU load was 55%.

I almost baught the new 17" G4 now I am glad I didn't.

Hey,

Interesting treat.

So Mr. Henke (Ableton teamer anyway) himself is using Mac as i rememeber...

Maybe he can say something positive about macs...

Do other apps (Logic, Deck, Max) experience the same problem???

Who can tell the real truth now??

Wish to read some clever opinions...

zz wrote: Do other apps (Logic, Deck, Max) experience the same problem???
Who can tell the real truth now??
Wish to read some clever opinions...

There really is no big secret, - all dual-platform apps run fast on PC hardware and slower on Apple hardware.

Apple's desktops are actually still good, but Powerbooks, although lovely to look at and use, can't compete with pc laptops, but more importantly can't give even give adequate performance with anything less than an 800Mhz G4 for many tasks (other than web browsing and office apps).

Thankfully, this will almost certainly be rectified by the introduction of the new IBM Power970 processor, so I wouldn't dream of buying a Powerbook for what appears to be 3-6 months before introduction.

I hate being in this annoying situation, but feel it's worth hanging on a bit longer!

The Power970 ain't gonna be in any laptops any time this year even if the desktop version manages to.

Anonymous wrote:The Power970 ain't gonna be in any laptops any time this year even if the desktop version manages to.

Hmm, I know it sounds unlikely, but Apple did declare 2003 "year of the laptop".

I can't believe that this 'bold' statement is based purely on the 17" Powerbook announced in the first month of the year.

Me thinks there must be a biggie coming up, as the 17" Mac performance is miserable compared to high-end (but still cheaper than Mac) pc notebooks.

I think that in terms of sales, more people would buy a new "much faster" Powerbook than a "much faster" PowerMac desktop. PC users are facinated by Powerbooks, far more than they are with Apple desktops. It would make most sense to produce the Powerbook 970 first...

Nah. The bet is on then... I'll take evens that IBM will scale them for the profitable business\server market first, then desktop for workstations\home THEN lappies last and I'd be willing to bet my left testicle on the latter as well.

Anonymous wrote:Nah. The bet is on then... I'll take evens that IBM will scale them for the profitable business\server market first, then desktop for workstations\home THEN lappies last and I'd be willing to bet my left testicle on the latter as well.

Okeydokey 'monoball'

Watch this space. >Crosses legs<

Well, since i have been asked: i love apples industrial design skills, i like their never ending research in user interfaces even if i dislike lots of the OSX graphics. But i refused to buy a 17" pb because i am not willing to pay so much money for such a slow processor. And regardless of all Altivec optimisation it is a matter of fact that a 2.x Ghz PC runs faster then a 1 HGz powerbook. This is true for all audio applications.
I really hope for Apple and for us Mac users that the the new IBM 970 Chip will make the CPU gap between PC and MAC a bit smaler...


cheers, robert

zz wrote:Hey,

Interesting treat.

So Mr. Henke (Ableton teamer anyway) himself is using Mac as i rememeber...

Maybe he can say something positive about macs...

Do other apps (Logic, Deck, Max) experience the same problem???

Who can tell the real truth now??

Wish to read some clever opinions...

And regardless of all Altivec optimisation it is a matter of fact that a 2.x Ghz PC runs faster then a 1 HGz powerbook.

-True but an Altivec optimized Application like Logic can EASILY handle 8 stereo tracks with a fair amount of plugins.

On my Dual 1Gig using Live I got serious issues with 5 (count that), 5 MONO tracks with 3-4 Ableton plugins per track. This is with a 72000 RPM drive with 8Mb buffer.

While PCs easily outclass G4 processors in raw speed, there is something to be said for Altivec optimization.

::cough::

all i got to say is:
as a former "Live on the Mac" user
i love opening my files on my 2.6 gig PC and seeing 20+ tracks
with lots 'o fx/plugins/ and seeing the cpu meter never go above 20%
(oh yes, the reverb set to first class, all five of them)

mac laptop, yeah maybe to pick up chicks at starbucks,
but when you got a 12 hour deadline for a commercial
overseas... Live on the PC if you please. < a little rhyme there>

dp

Compaq Presario, 2200XP+, 1GB RAM hooked to a Layla24 8 I/O using the cardbus. All that cost less than a 1Ghz Apple machine a friend bought at the same time and it's running sweet as a nut at 3ms.

Shitloads of tracks and fx. No complaints...