SX3 with Reason Rewire Slave - patch preview problem

[jmp909]

i've been trying SX3 with Reason as a Rewire slave (for using the sounds without the sequencer). When i try a preview-in-place of a reason effect (using create device by browsing) it takes a lot longer to load than if I just do it through reason on its own. This is annoying as it means I can;t use reason how i wanted to.

Does everybody else get this problem?

Is it to do with Rewire? ASIO? Rewire hogging the processor for stability, hence slowing down file operations? any ideas?

(only thing is i've noticed drumkits for instance seem to load as normal)

thanks
j

Addendum: this only seems to be a problem when swapping devices, when autoloading a patch. And thus a particular problem when browing Combinator patches. If, however I have a RV7000 loaded and i try previewing different .rv7 patches in the browser it is all quite smooth with a very brief (and acceptable) stutter

I have a theory for this. Because cubase autodetects devices in the instrument list, by loading a combinator, it's redecting a bunch of devices as each loads so say 3 devices exist in the combinator it probably is detecting 1+2+3 devices=6 devices then having to keep making reassignments. This is only a guess though, but like i said it occurs when swapping devices as opposed to loading different (native) presets into a single device


Presumably this list gets constantly updated as
the combinator loads devices, seemingly causing
extra CPU load, halting playback.


[ search keywords: sx reason rewire slave auto load preview autoload autopreview combinator ]

[Architeuthis]

Devices --> Device Setup... --> VST Audiobay --> uncheck Release ASIO Driver in Background

[jmp909]

hi. i think you've missed the point here. it is unchecked.

the problem is that the Combinator contains a number of devices. each device in the combinator is added to cubase's Device List (see diagram in my other post). what seems to be happening is that as the list is updated (a new list entry is added for each device in the combinator) whilst the combinator is loading the computer is slowing down and dropping the audio.

to replicate this

* load a synth in reason
* then add a combinator effect after it.
* make a sequence in cubase to play the effected reason synth.
* then whilst it is playing hit "load" on the combinator panel of your effect and browse to a different combinator effect (with different devices in it) (make sure autoload/preview or whatever is selected).


PS I am using M-Audio Delta ASIO. I'm sure there's always been problems with ASIO vs the filesystem (eg when you use MME as a driver the filesystem doesnt cause conflicts with the audio buffering or something like that)
as the new combinator loads new devices, i believe you'll get some playback problems. I know some combinators can be slow to load but even the ones that normally load quickly in reason as standalone, cause a severe playback issue in cubase.

thanks
j


note this problem is also replicated if rather than combinators you load a patch from a different device into the current slot (ie if you're playing a subtractor patch and you replace it with a maelstrom patch by doing "browse patches").. like i said i can only presume it's tied in with the fact that cubase has to update its Rewire-d device list.

[Architeuthis]

I did what you said, created a sequence with a subtractor, then loading different combinator effects with reason browser. Nothing seems wrong other than a split second audio dropout.

I have EMU 1212m, AMD 4400+ Dual Core, 2GB ram

YES I AM USING CUBASE... do I have to explain every detail?

[jmp909]

i think i'd have to make a more specific test with named patches and see what results people got.

OK i've got Midi Sync disabled, Midi Focus enabled and Focus/Play disabled. Ahab Bass loaded in the subtractor and i've followed it with "4 Band PhaseEQ" from the Factory Sound Bank->Combinator Patches->Effect Device Patches->Modulation folder. Cubase is playing a sequence to the subtractor device on midi track 1. nothing else is playing

If i then do "browse patches" and select "Amplitude Modulator" (autoplay... rather than actually hitting OK to load it) it takes *6 seconds* to load and for my audio to stop freaking out and start playing normally.

if i just run a standalone copy of reason with the AHAB sequenced with a matrix and do the same operation (load Amplitude Modulator in place of 4Band PhaseEQ) the audio only drops for *less than a second* (barely noticeable)


in the end could be my Hard drive or processor speed (altho it is 3.02gig HT)

what driver do you use? ASIO? I'm looking to possibly upgrade my soundcard anyway (Audiophile 2496)

[sonicfire]

i guess there was another thread somewhere (tracktion + rewire?) that indeed proved that rewire makes the system about half as slow as when running without it

[Architeuthis]

It might be luck of the draw of your setup. I run rewire without any problems I can complain about.

[jmp909]

i have no other issues with rewire other than this patch load/preview problem

i've been doing some experiments...my non-technical theory is that it's definitely something to do with the connections/device list. whether it is a memory issue or a hard disk issue or a CPU issue i dont know.

one thing i did notice is that my audio stutters are synchronised with the scrollbar movements on the reason window as the new devices of the combinator load (the devices ar e hidden within the combinator but the scroll bar still adjusts to fit none-the-less). ie each time the scrollbar moves to accommodate a new device the audio drops.

this leads to me to think that it could actually be partly an issue with my graphics driver.
also i just disabled hardware acceleration etc on my graphics card and switched to 32bit mode. now when i scroll reason i get very minor audio glitches anyway


however like i said, it doesnt really happen noticably when Reason is standalone


j.

[SonicBreeze]

jmp909, I also tried it the way you explained it. It is no problem here. combinator patches are previewed without any glitch or abnormal delay(same as standalone reason). It routed and sequenced in Cubase Midi Track.

How much is your RAM? what all you are running in background? your CPU is good enough it seems and soundcard Audiophile 2496 is not bad either.

[jmp909]

CPU: P4 3.00GHZ (HT) (ACPI Multiprocessor PC)
HD: ST3200021A (Seagate i think)
OS: XP SP1
Ram: 512mb
Monitor: DELL 1905FP on RADION 9800 XXL
Powercore DSP Card

i remember a while back, on a different PC, that low latency ASIO conflicted with file operations. Using Direct MME there would ne no stutter. It may be a similar issue. however i dont currently have other drivers than ASIO ones, and i want to keep these for low latency. I will have to play with my graphics settings,services,drivers etc see if any of that helps

[SonicBreeze]

well your RAM seems on borderline. Make it atleast 1GB for these kind of tasks on winXP.I hope your problem may be solved. other thing in your config seems ok to me.

by the time try increasing your minimum pagefile memory in windows virtual memory config to 1GB.

[Jarvis]

You're using WAREZ as anyone who has a problem on this site gets replied to with!

I am too - that's why I hate dongles - and there's no Amplitube 2 crack so they all diss dongles...

[jmp909]

speak for yourself.

anyway i checked task manager and the Cubase exe peaks from 0-5% CPU usage to about 48% when i try changing combinator patches, whereas reason cpu usage only changes by a couple of %

[SonicBreeze]

You're using WAREZ as anyone who has a problem on this site gets replied to with!

I am too - that's why I hate dongles - and there's no Amplitube 2 crack so they all diss dongles...

Hey, who has asked your expert opinion about warezd users on this site. If you use WAREZ and happy with it. Dont post here.

[diverdee]

Whats the pci latency on your graphics card?
Might be nothing at all to do with it, but you mentioned that

audio stutters are synchronised with the scrollbar movements on the reason window as the new devices of the combinator load (the devices ar e hidden within the combinator but the scroll bar still adjusts to fit none-the-less). ie each time the scrollbar moves to accommodate a new device the audio drops.

so it could be an issue.
If that's the case pci latency tool may help, it certainly can't hurt to check the latency of your video card.
512 meg on XP with both SX & a high number of reason devices (especially if there are samplers, as reason loads samples into ram) may also be a contributory factor, as there is a fair likelihood of your utilising the swap file a lot.