[PreSonus Studio One] Music | Design | Film | VFX Production Resource

[clangorous]

It’s hard not to sound grumpy when the topic is getting help for issues.

So on a positive note, I have a session full of synths and plugins that is taxing my pc. I get occasional breakups when the CPU meter goes into the red or close to it. So I was concerned that I couldn’t print a clean mix with those drop outs occurring. But when I listen to the printed track, it’s perfect. No drop outs or even any crackles. So to me, Studio One handles it amazingly well.

Disclaimer: It’s possible that I don’t understand the technical details so maybe all DAWs would handle it just as well.

So I print my mix, drop outs and all, with the routing: Tracks->Buses->Mixbus->Stereo Track->Main

To print it I just arm the stereo track and press record. This way I get exactly what I’m hearing during playback.

So it’s not an automated mixdown faster then real-time function of the software. In any case, I was pleased.

[jancivil]

You seem to be operating under the impression realtime, being slower, is going to mean problems in the performance during playback (owing to CPU essentially) are solved (vs offline rendering, which can happen more quickly). It doesn't work like that. In fact, it may occur that an actual realtime export fails according to certain additional demands (eg., processing the audio from external devices) on the CPU. When the project renders offline, the speed depends on the CPU strain.

[jancivil]

"I get occasional breakups when the CPU meter goes into the red or close to it. So I was concerned that I couldn’t print a clean mix with those drop outs occurring."

Offline rendering in a DAW should print everything without those breakups because "the speed of the render depends on the CPU strain".

[chk071]

Well... not meant as an offense, but...Might want to make up your mind on how people are supposed to help you. Phone support won't automagically solve your issues...

It’s easy...all of these support channels could be made more effective. But what they currently do is obfuscate the missing piece (see below).

Troubleshooting is difficult. It requires humans interacting to succeed. That’s because problem solving involves learning and learning involves asking questions. Interacting with additional layers of abstraction and delays only compounds the difficulty.

If that's your thinking, then remote desktop is THE way to go. Only takes a small amount of human interaction, and the guy giving support knows exactly what the situation on your PC is, without asking a hundred questions, which could not be answered precisely.

[VariKusBrainZ]

It’s hard not to sound grumpy when the topic is getting help for issues.

So on a positive note, I have a session full of synths and plugins that is taxing my pc. I get occasional breakups when the CPU meter goes into the red or close to it. So I was concerned that I couldn’t print a clean mix with those drop outs occurring. But when I listen to the printed track, it’s perfect. No drop outs or even any crackles. So to me, Studio One handles it amazingly well.

Disclaimer: It’s possible that I don’t understand the technical details so maybe all DAWs would handle it just as well.

So I print my mix, drop outs and all, with the routing: Tracks->Buses->Mixbus->Stereo Track->Main

To print it I just arm the stereo track and press record. This way I get exactly what I’m hearing during playback.

So it’s not an automated mixdown faster then real-time function of the software. In any case, I was pleased.

You probably have done so but:

Have you looked into dropout protection and low latency monitoring features?
I was getting dropouts only to discover low latency was activated by default after the feature was introduced.

Fyi
All Daws should 'print' a dropout free offline rendered file, in some cases it may sound a little different if any plugins utilise oversampling in render mode.

[bundoo]

If they offer a discount upgrade before Cubase 10 comes out I’d probably go for it. Doubt it will happen though.

[Spin Boyz]

I'm looking at getting C10. I'm starting to reuse some old rack mounted romplers and its been a pain to use in S1. Cubase 7 allows me to set them up as external devices and cycle through the patches similar to Cakewalk's instrument definitions.

[clangorous]

It’s hard not to sound grumpy when the topic is getting help for issues.

So on a positive note, I have a session full of synths and plugins that is taxing my pc. I get occasional breakups when the CPU meter goes into the red or close to it. So I was concerned that I couldn’t print a clean mix with those drop outs occurring. But when I listen to the printed track, it’s perfect. No drop outs or even any crackles. So to me, Studio One handles it amazingly well.

Disclaimer: It’s possible that I don’t understand the technical details so maybe all DAWs would handle it just as well.

So I print my mix, drop outs and all, with the routing: Tracks->Buses->Mixbus->Stereo Track->Main

To print it I just arm the stereo track and press record. This way I get exactly what I’m hearing during playback.

So it’s not an automated mixdown faster then real-time function of the software. In any case, I was pleased.

You probably have done so but:

Have you looked into dropout protection and low latency monitoring features?
I was getting dropouts only to discover low latency was activated by default after the feature was introduced.

Fyi
All Daws should 'print' a dropout free offline rendered file, in some cases it may sound a little different if any plugins utilise oversampling in render mode.

Yes I checked the dropout protection and it is currently set to minimum. As I move up toward maximum, the cpu usage gets worse and the sound falls apart. Not very intuitive but at least it’s not hard to figure out it needs to be on minimum. I’ll check further if there is a way to shut it off completely.

And I understand that an offline rendered file should not have dropouts, but this example is not offline, it’s online. As soon as I have finished printing the track, which is a straight record to a new track, I can listen to the new track and it sounds perfect.

So at least with Studio One, I don’t have to worry too much about being near full cpu utilization during mixdown.

[THE INTRANCER]

This article from Presonus explains dropout protection and low latency monitoring.

https://support.presonus.com/hc/en-us/a ... toring-FAQ

[clangorous]

This article from Presonus explains dropout protection and low latency monitoring.

https://support.presonus.com/hc/en-us/a ... toring-FAQ

That’s a helpful FAQ, thank you Intrancer. So in terms of my experi nice with cpu overload not killing my printed track, it sounds like S1 might be better than other daws at this.

The FAQ also explained why I see plugins listed twice in the performance monitor...it’s because of the low latency audio monitoring (LLM). It says I can turn LLM off and it will remove the duplicates, but it is greyed out. I’m not sure those duplicates actually harm my cpu performance, but I’m guessing they do.

[jancivil]

CPU overload killing your print is not actually a thing for offline export. It really isn't.

[clangorous]

CPU overload killing your print is not actually a thing for offline export. It really isn't.

It’s not an offline export. To print the track I route everything through a final bus (Mixbus) and it’s output is routed to a null target (I configure that by removing the output assignments in audio preferences). Then create an empty stereo track (Mixdown) and set its input to the Mixbus. The stereo track output is routed to Main.

Now everything goes through the Mixdown stereo track on the way to the Main. Arm the Mixdown track and press record and it will print an exact copy of why you are hearing (unlike using the offline rendering where the summing changes the sound).

To render the Mixdown as a file, export the Mixdown as a stem, using real time rendering.

[LawrenceF]

Just as an FYI, a "pre-master" bus is no longer necessary in v4 to do that. You can record directly from the Master Bus or any sub-output as long as the routing doesn't create a feedback loop.

[clangorous]

Just as an FYI, a "pre-master" bus is no longer necessary in v4 to do that. You can record directly from the Master Bus or any sub-output as long as the routing doesn't create a feedback loop.

Thanks LF, I did not know that! I’ll explore this for sure.

[kevvvvv]

I'm chuffed the latest 4.1.1 includes Atom-related updates.

I pre ordered Atom, and should get it later this month.

So I'm bloody delighted to see S1 onboarding my controller-to-be.