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  • Help with Optimisation VE7 Slave

    Hi

    I know there are loads of users able to push large amounts of template data from slaves using VEP however I would appreciate some help as I am struggling to get anything useful running without audio clicks.

    Master is a Mac 3.2ghz 6 core with 64G Ram - Slave is a Mac 2.9ghz quad core zeon with 48Ghz Ram. The connection between them is a dedicated PCIe card - 10Gigabit Direct link. I have a separated Router link for internet etc. The 10Gbit cards are purely for running VEP.

    I was advised to turn off multprocessor settings in Kontakt. This made things worse. I only have a few instances running and im getting clicks etc. I would really appreciate it if someone can share the secret of how this is achievable.....Not enough on this in the manual....


  • Hi, 

    48 GHz RAM :-)

    What are your buffer settings, which soundcard are you using?

    Does the performance get better if you connect the 2 computers directly (or is that already the case)?

    Best,
    Paul


    Paul Kopf Product Manager VSL
  • Hi Paul

    Thank you for spotting my error :) Im sure my computer decided to put that not me

    Are you referring to VEpro? or buffer sizes on the host sequencer? Im using Avid HD Native card in thr host with a Focusrite Red Pre 16. 

    Each machine has a 10Gbit ethernet card solely for VEp connected directly. I have sent loads of screenshots to support of activity monitors - network throuput/monitoring of those ports etc -

    David


  • Hi,

    Sorry for the delay. I was referring to the buffer settings in both your soundcard (latency) AND the network buffer settings you can add in the VE PRO plug-in. 

    Did you try a direct connectio between those computers yet (to eliminate any troubles that could be caused by a router)?

    Best, 
    Paul


    Paul Kopf Product Manager VSL
  • Hi Paul

    Buffer in Logic was 64 - currently trying at 128. Its less playable due to latency at 128 though

    Network Buffers in VE Pro on slave and host is 2 buffers. Im using only one instance in each VEpro . On slave the threads are set to 7 of the 8 available in VE prefs. 

    The 10gbit connection is a direct one - no router


  • Hi, 

    Thanks. Do you get the same behaviour when you play the Synchron Player with Epic Orchestra 2.0? 

    Also, is it the same with all your Kontakt instruments?

    Best, 
    Paul


    Paul Kopf Product Manager VSL
  • Its not just kontakt , but predominantly....

    Ive been looking at Steven Steels video on youtube re Kontakt optimisation and experimenting with the sample buffer. My slave performs better using more Ram so I set it all the way to the right. On bigger sessions that may not work but im nowhere near a big session with this as it is.

    I have to admit I havent downloaded epic orch 2.0 as yet. I will do though. 

    Im a little concerned Im not getting true 10gigabit through these new cards I have just purchased. Ive sent a variety of test screenshots through to you guys. I have downloaded an app which monitors the level of data through the particular connection live.  Appreciate any reccomendations. Im desperate to nail the workflow with VEP


  • Hi, 

    Just trying to find out if this is Kontakt-related, and I know that our Synchron Player software works flawlessly. 

    You won't need 10 GBit, maybe those cards are also the reason for the troubles. Any chance you want to try with a standard 1 GBit connection?

    Best,
    Paul


    Paul Kopf Product Manager VSL
  • Makes sense.....Ill download it this morning - run some tests and report back...thanks

    I bought these cards last week as I was having these issues with my dedicated 1gbit connection - It was worse with 1 gbit. 


  • Hi DEY, 

    That's weird. If 1 GBit was worse, something else could be wrong in your setup. Works for literally thousands of users here. 

    Did you check that all 3rd party security / optimization programs are switched off?

    Best,
    Paul


    Paul Kopf Product Manager VSL
  • I dont have firewalls on in security prefs. which optimisation progs are you referring to?


  • Hi, 

    There are many additional programs  out there, from "Little Snitch" to Anti-Virus programs. 

    Anything that could block communication...

    Best, 
    Paul


    Paul Kopf Product Manager VSL
  • Hi

    There arent any of those in my system. Downloaded sycron library today will check back when I try ot tomorrow.


  • If you set the buffers to maximum in Logic and then use Logic's own tools (enabled from the Transport Bar) for software monitoring and low latency playback when playing live/recording does that give you click free playback ?


  • Hi Louis

    Are you taking playback buffers on logics audio settings or VEP?


  • Hi

    Ive been away trying to optimise my system with Network specialists re my 10GB Network,  checking many things and also making sure im not losing any packets, Im now getting between 3-7 gb/s speed from my slave machine. I am running about 10 channels of Midi From the Slave in one instance which shows at worst 50 per cent in the instance activity monitor. Im using 7 threads per instance System Activity monitor on the slave is showing VEP sending about 2GB of data and receiving 427Mb and most from the Host. It shows its using 4.77GB of system Memory using 37 threads. 

    Im running a much smaller VEP session on the local host too. 1 instance 5 Midi Channels Its sending 15Mb and receiving 19mb on network . Its using 1.74GB of System Memory using 32 threads . In VEP local Im using 10 threads per instance. Instance activity doesnt get above 11 per cent on local host. 

     Logic is using 584 mb of system memory 49 threads. Its sending 475MB down the networks and receiving 1.15gb. I have set Logics buffer to 128 which is not really any good for composing as theres almost a beat delay on input. Playback buffers set to large - low latency toggled on and off makes littele difference. The Slave connection panel in Logic shows 2 buffers and 5.3ms round trip latency. The localhost VEP shows 85.3ms - why that should be so much bigger than the slave which is working far harder i have no idea. CPU in Logic showing 1 processor reasonably busy only 

    Mostly this is Kontakt and a few other VIs. I did try synchron and it did perform ok but the size is so much smaller with Epic Orch 2 that im not sure its a good test. 

    Its still clicking but much less than it was which I put down to a combination of adjusting Kontakt settings to use more ram, and the 128 buffer . As soon as I add anything now clicking is more frequent and i will need to put back to 64 for composition which is going to make matters worse. All libraies and system in both machines are SSDs. Paul, support have not really been as helpful as I would hope -  so I would be grateful if we can get to the bottom of this performance issue......

    Image


  • bump?


  • Bump ? Or bummer

     

    I am fine-tuning a similar set-up.
    Using Macpros, one master and two slaves.

    I did a first config with a 'high speed' Router, and I am trying now without a router.

    Has anyone set up one master and 2 slaves without a router, with a direct "LAN network".

    Would this have any clear advantages?

     

    Any tips appreciated. 


  • last edited
    last edited

    Hello there. I'm using one Master (Mac Pro, 22.12.0.326) and one Slave VEP7 server (iMacPro). I've had those issues with 10G networks and cards. How I resolved my connection problems: Spoiler: I had more problems trying to bypass the router. If you have something like a simple Netgear GS105 (unmanaged gigabit switch) lying around, use that and connect your computers that way.

    Set the network to (Auto, first for discovery): iPv4: DHCP. Speed: 1000baseT, Full Duplex. MTU: standard (1500). IPv6: Auto or Link Local Only. AVB mode: Yes. Try to use plain old ethernet with gigabit ethernet cables. Throttle any 5G or 10G ethernet gear down to 1 gigabit speeds.

    I removed Little Snitch and I don't run any "Mac Optimizer" apps because they cause problems with Pro Tools and VSL. Turn off your VPN. (Mullvad VPN allows Local Network Sharing, so that one works fine for my setup, even with Pro Tools). If you have more than one ethernet port, dedicate the Intel Gigabit port (En0) to your VSL connections. 

    In Pro Tools or Logic I use a DAW buffer of 128, a VSL instance buffer of 1, and I get great results and a playable system. Good luck and let me know how it goes.

     

    FWIW, I connect to the slave VSL machine via Screen Sharing. This works from Mojave through Ventura.

    @SegalMusic said:

    Bump ? Or bummer

     

    I am fine-tuning a similar set-up.
    Using Macpros, one master and two slaves.

    I did a first config with a 'high speed' Router, and I am trying now without a router.

    Has anyone set up one master and 2 slaves without a router, with a direct "LAN network".

    Would this have any clear advantages?

     

    Any tips appreciated. 


  • Hi there murphy761,

    thank you for your reply.

    Indeed it made no sense to try and avoid using a router / switch
    so I set it up using a TP-Link 8 port Gigabit desktop switch.
    Connecting all macpros using their Ethernet port 2

    I followed your tips starting with Auto at first, then moving on to Manually (it seems important to have a manually set-up IP for each machine so that master and slaves can connect and reconnect without being afraid of each other..)

    I had until now never touched settings such as Advanced / Hardware / speed, duplex, link local only...
    so I did and set them up as you mentioned. 
    I fumbled around for a few days like a madman, and have in the end, achieved great improvements:

    No more pops and clicks. A buffer size of 192 in Cubase. 
    All my VEP Pro plug-ins are set to two buffers. 
    If an instrument is complaining, I set it to 4 buffers, and that usually does it. 

    It's a one master, two slaves situation, with Macpros. 
    So now I'm off to buy an iLok or two (sigh)


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