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  3. Is this kind of performance normal?

  • Is this kind of performance normal?

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    Hi all!

    I'm a bit underwhelmed with the performance I am getting from my setup and VSL. Admitteldy I am running from a laptop, but it's a fairly new one and I feel I should be able to get further than I currently do.

    The setup:

    15" Macbook Pro 2.66GHz Intel Core i7
    8GB 1067MHz DDR3
    Duet 2 USB interface
    ProTools 9 running from the system drive, all samples residing on an external 640GB FW800 MyBook Studio.

    At the moment I have a session with 7 VI's loaded, and it's pretty much unworkable despite it still being very sparsely notated. See screen grab to get an idea:

    http://i53.tinypic.com/2ed329y.png

    Typically I can work fine for 10 minutes or so, then I start to get constant CPU overloading errors (buffer sizes and the like are already maxed out). Eventually the sound will start crackling and stutter really bad during playback. Fans seem to be running at full speed too.

    The VI's in the sessions are all from the Special Edition which I understand is less taxing than the full libraries in terms of RAM consumption, so that further strengthens my concerns.

    Any advice from you gurus out there? Is this meager performance to be expected from my setup, or if not, do you see any obvious bottlenecks that could be causing this?

    All and any input much appreciated.

    Thanks,
    Erik
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    D
    1. Have you done all the PT optimisations, such as dropping a core?
    2. Have you tried increasing the buffer, to see if that helps.

    Part of the problem is probably Pro Tools, which really doesn't handle VI very well. Most composers that I know who are using Pro Tools run all the sample players outside in a host such as Bidule or VE Pro. It might be worth you d/l the VE pro demo, to see what difference you get with performance using that.

    DG
  • E
    E

    1. Yes.

    2. Buffer is maxed out.

    I'll give the VE Pro demo a shot and see if it makes any difference. Many thanks for your input DG!

    /Erik
  • A
    A

    It might be worth checking the CPU core temperatures. I had this problem once, and it turned out the fan inlets were dusty and as the temperature rose, the OS slowed the CPU clock down to try and keep things cool. I also have the laptop on extra feet to lift the base up slightly to try and maximize airflow.