Logic Pro X and VEPro 6 pops, cracks and drops

[calimbo76]

Hello,

Any help on this would be much appreciated.

After creating my first template I am experiencing problems with recording and playback. Crackling, drops and pops happen every few seconds. I’ve tried every buffer size on logic and still the same. This is my setup:

Master - Mac mini 2011 16GB ram, running Logic Pro X and a few Slate Digital Pluggins

Connected via Ethernet cable to:

Slave – PC i7 87000K 6 cores 64GB ram, running VEP6, Kontakt 5, Play 6, Omisphere. All libraries in 3 SSDs

Template on PC- 17 instances of VEP6 with 16 tracks per instance with one Kontakt 5 or Play or Ombisphere instance per track.

On Mac mini – One multi timbral track with 16 auxes connected to one VEP6 instance. Each Logic Pro Aux is routed to each VEP6 track with one instance of Kontakt 5/Play/Ombisphere.

Had to stop at 256 tracks because of the Aux count limit on Logic.

This means I have 256 instances of Kontakt 5, Play, Omnisphere combined (mostly Kontakt though)

Although I have optimized Kontakt for performance, my guess is that there is still too many instances of it, but then again I don’t know.  VEP6 settings are pretty much at default.

Is this the reason for my problem, too many instances? I would like to be able to mix in Logic. Is there a better way to do this?

I would appreciate some advice.

Thank you.

C.

[Cyril Blanc]

Crackling is either memory or disk issue

Try to figure out who is doing the crackling ! On Main or slaves, check on each Mac, in Activity Monitor / Memory if swap used his different than zéro

I dont know what is the equivalent on Windows !

 In Kontakt you can reduce the DFD, but you need SSD

Check the memory used on each K5 instance to see if you dont have instruments using more than 500 MB

256 tracks ! this is crazy !

Your solution is to have less tracks !

 

Use : 

- articulation switching of Logic 10.4 !

- Group percussion to one instrument using the same "Inst"  

- if you have two instance of an instrument, e.i. violin 1 & 2 put them on the same VE, this will use less CPU

I have one main computer with one VE with 106 instruments, most are VI and I have MIR 

[calimbo76]

Thank you for the input, I appreciate it.

I tried a different approach using multis. Ended up with 18 instances of VEP with 1 Kontakt multi per instance, which made a difference, no more pops and drops, but I still hear a bit of crackling.. and all samples are purged, just loading as I go. Logic buffer at 1024.. 

I wanted a template that could speed up my workflow, but my mac mini alone couldn't handle it, so I added a powerfull PC and VEP to handle the load.. Baffled that is not working properly since the combo of both computers should be enough to process a 250 instrument template. 

Yes, I can use less instruments and load as I go, like I used to with just one computer, but that sort of defeats the purpose of VEP and new PC purchase.

Anyway, I'll do what I must, but I would love to know if the problem lies on my mac mini processing power? is 18 VEP plugins too much for a dual core?

Thank you,

C.

[Cyril Blanc]

@calimbo76 said:

 

Anyway, I'll do what I must, but I would love to know if the problem lies on my mac mini processing power? is 18 VEP plugins too much for a dual core?

Thank you,

C.

i did say : 

Try to figure out who is doing the crackling !

On Main or slaves, check on each Mac, in Activity Monitor / Memory if "swap used" his different than zéro

[calimbo76]

Now I just tried 2 instances of VEP with some instruments loaded and it is still crackling.

I checked  "swap used" on main and its at zero. CPU lives between 40 and 70 percent, with a few spikes. Slave is not breaking a sweat on CPU nor RAM. 

Main computer has no issues running without VEP, I just cant overload it as it is a 2 core mac mini. 

Is this a VEP problem? 

Thanks,

C.

[Cyril Blanc]

@calimbo76 said:

I checked  "swap used" on main and its at zero

And on the slave ?

How many audio channel are returning to the main Mac ?

You can try this :

Connect directly your slave Mac to the main Mac  and disable WIFI on both

[calimbo76]

Slave is a PC.

8% Used Physical memory

6% CPU Usage

Master Mac mini is not CPU and RAM load are low as well.

I have 2 stereo channels returning to Mac.

WIFI has been disabled. They are both connected via ethernet cable, straight.

What am I missing here? 

C.

[Cyril Blanc]

@calimbo76 said:

Slave is a PC.

8% Used Physical memory

6% CPU Usage

Master Mac mini is not CPU and RAM load are low as well.

I have 2 stereo channels returning to Mac.

WIFI has been disabled. They are both connected via ethernet cable, straight.

What am I missing here? 

C.

when you have check for "swap used" did you make your song play until you get the cracks and pops ?

Do you run other software toogether with Logic