Tunning your System

[admin]

Ok Jesse, I'll do that when i get home from work. Sorry about that.

Good to know about the CPU meter in Cubase. I'll have to take a look at that tonight as well.

Turns out in Cubase 4 they've renamed it to 'ASIO load' meter which is what it really is.

[admin]

Mac G5 PPC

Jesse,

When activating as a send, the send amount actually does matter the more you send the more CPU it uses up, I assume as an Insert it would be the same as a Max. send value.

Also my CPU usage for the whole system seemed to rise consistently with Cubase's CPU usage, mirroring it.

Rambunkcious

I just tried this on my system. When I use a send I initially get no cpu usage and as soon as I turn it up one notch the cpu goes to about 15% (which is max for one instance on my machine). At that point the send value makes no difference.

There is no logical reason it would change depending on level, its either on or its not. Go back and check it again using just one instance.

I have noticed in cases now that my asio load and cpu usage in the XP task manager do mirror each other more closely now.

[admin]

Alright fellas,

Re-tested.
11 tracks with audio loop, some pad sound, 8 measures in length.
Audio Priority set to Very High
Preload amount set to 2 Seconds
Lower Latency ticked
Multi-Processing ticked
Adjust for Record Latency ticked
Record Placement offest set to Zero
10 tracks ran at 95%
11th started bouncing between 95-100% and snap, crackle, pop and i didn't even add milk yet.....

As for the CPU meter and WTM matching up, they didn't. I'm looking at the WTM right now as i type this and Cubase is looped in the background; it's running about 24% solid, and the CPU meter is reading 95% solid. I've got minimum processes running, always do. So Jesse it looks like on PC's it is an ASIO buffer meter and possible on Apple's its truly an CPU meter.

Rami,
Yeah i control the latency thru the firebox as it acts as my soundcard. i don't have an on-board soundcard. Is there somewhere to adjust it in Cubase as well?

Bill,

A couple of questions, what is your latency setting, 1024? Should show 23ms for both in and out inthe devices if its set to that.

Also are you saying you only got 11 RoomWorks?

And when you say 24% and 95%, which is which? I assume it was SX3 that's showing 95% right?

I don't think the Mac meter is coded any different. Theoretically the asio load and cpu could be 1:1, it depends on how the system is tuned. There were cases where I saw almost a perfect 1:1 ratio on mine.

And in the current release of Cubase 4 they have literally renamed it ASIO Load. The issue I think is if there is a bottleneck somewhere then your max CPU won't be usable before the ASIO drivers max out.

[Bitfiend]

Jesse,
Yes, i set the latency on the 410 was set to 1024 same as both you and Rami ran.
Yes the 11th addition of RoomWorks started the stuttering.
WTM was reading 24% and CPU meter was reading 95%.

[admin]

Ok it seems like you have big bottleneck problem here as only a 1/4 of your cpu is being utilized.

Do you have another DAW you could try?

[Bitfiend]

I also run Ableton 6, i'll test that tonight and see what happens.

[Rambunkcious]

Bit,

Hi, Just wanted to check one more time.

You said your Firewire 410 is set at 1024 latency

Inside cubase from the device menu at the top, choose device setup, choose vst audiobay from the left hand column, it should let you internally choose what soundcard you want and what latency settings cubase should process at. Your Firewire 410 should already be chosen, select the latency to be 1024.

Let us know if that helps

Rambunkcious

[admin]

Bill:

Obviously you won't have Roomworks in Ableton so try to find the highest cpu load effect you can (VST) so you can use the same in SX.

Btw I did some tests with "Boxing"

asio=90% wtb=80-85%

with all the ecomps turned off:

asio=56% wtb=48%

So my asio and wtb are fairly close.



Rami:

When you set the latency in SX its just taking you to the control panel for that device, so there should be no difference than what he set outside of SX.

The best way he can check is to make sure it says 23ms for in and out latency within the Cubase device panel.

[Rambunkcious]

Ya I was confused there for a second, just wanted to make sure we covered that, before trying something else.

That is strange tho, that only 24% is being used, wonder whats going on, I am also interested to see how much of a strain Live 6 will put on the CPU, keep us posted Bit.

Rambunkcious

[admin]

I am curious as well, especially since I'm going to be purchasing a new system soon. When I had my dual P3 ages ago I actually sold it and went back to a single, was too much hassle.

For a while here I was getting only 50% cpu usage when the SX Asio Meter was at 95% or so. But I think it had something to do with the multiprocessor/hyperthreading settings I had set.

Bill: Is the 410 firewire?