Unexpected CPU overloads in VE Pro

[snattack]

Hi,

I've emailed this to Orchestral Tools as well, but i figured I better drop a line here. I'm having some trouble with Berlin Woodwinds (Kontakt library) on my slave PC running VE Pro. I have an instance with everything loaded in Flute, Oboe & Clarinet (except Eb & BassClr which are on another computer). That includes all runs (prerecorded, builder & transitions), articulation performers, ensembles. To sum it up: quite a large instance with about 18 Kontakt plugins.

Normally this instance uses around 30-40% CPU when playing back tutti, but for some reason the instance unexpectedly raises the CPU usage to 95-100% idle which causes unplayable cracks & pops. Disconnecting the instance removes the CPU usage, but reconnecting immediately raises it again. The only "solution" (found so far)  is to reboot the slave computer. I have another instance that runs Cinematic Strings on the same computer which doesn't behave this way).

I've tried increasing preload buffer im Kontakt and changing amount of threads in VE Pro, no change. The instance sends only one stereo output to the master DAW computer.

Specs: i7-2600k, SSDs only, Windows 7, all latest versions of related software

Any suggestions?

Best,

Andreas

[snattack]

Update: no need to reboot computer, but VE Pro needs to be restarted. When I stop the playback just when crackling and pops starts, then the CPU meter in the lower right corner shows 80% CPU idle for the problematic instance and 5% usage for the other instance idle.

For everytime I then start playback and then stop it, the idle CPU usage is slightly higher until it finally reaches around 100% in this single instance.

This is driving me crazy, any suggestions?

[snattack]

BUMP!

[jammusique]

I'm having the same problem. My PC slave (I7 3820, 64gb ram, W8) hosts 8 instances of VEP. Current settings are 2 buffers and 1 thread, with multithreading turned off in Kontakt. One of the instances can be at 90% while just idling. Changing that particular instance to 4 threads helps for a while, but then the problem recurrs.

This problem seems to be related to (caused by or made worse by) tempo map changes in C7. Any idea where the problem could be? 

[jammusique]

Hi Andreas (and others). It seems in my case it's a Cubase problem, and related directly to the tempo maps, because if I take out all the "ramps" and "jumps" in the tempo map, the cpu hit (on the slave, not on the Cubase cpu) on the instance drops from 95% to 20%. So it's seems in my case it's a C7 thing.

Anyone know of any fixes?

[DG]

1. Don't use ramps. Use jumps instead.
2. If you are using tempo synced patches, keep these to a minimum.

DG

[Dietz]

@jammusique said:

Hi Andreas (and others). It seems in my case it's a Cubase problem, and related directly to the tempo maps, because if I take out all the "ramps" and "jumps" in the tempo map, the cpu hit (on the slave, not on the Cubase cpu) on the instance drops from 95% to 20%. So it's seems in my case it's a C7 thing.

Anyone know of any fixes?

In case you don't use any plugin inside Vienna Ensemble Pro which needs MIDI clock for one reason or the other, you could simply disconnect VE Pro from any incoming tempo information (see below):

HTH,

[jammusique]

Hi, thanks for the answers. Yes this is happening on my Adagio instance that does have some tempo-synced articulations.

Many thanks !

[jammusique]

Dietz,

It seems in order to get the Audio/midi window as in the image, I have to open VEP as stand alone. I did so, and all of my midi connections were already unchecked.

When using VEP inside Cubase 7, seems I only have an "external midi" menu, and no sync options.

Could you please explain further? Thanks in advance...

[Dietz]

The simple explanation is that I was indeed referring to VE Pro stand-alone. :-)

[jammusique]

Ok thanks!