KVR Audio

butter · Post by **butter** » Mon May 02, 2005 6:24 pm

xsub wrote:yes i agree..

I'm not totally sure why its doing it, i got utils in the background downloading - but i've closed them before to check if its them and in all cases it wernt.

The problem i get is, it stalls. like - i'd be playing back a midi with a vst synth assigned and some vst effects over the top and suddenly it will freeze, and i'll hear (for a glimpse) the original vst without any effects.

and also constatly (right now) my cpu perfomance monitor in cubse sx2 is around 40%.. and im not doing anything.

i've got an amd athlon 3200+ using xp sp1, 1gb 3200 ram, 2 hardrives ( both 7200 rpm with 8mb cache )with KX asio drivers fo my audigy 1. i did have it at 5ms but as i was reciving problems (hoping it would cure it ) i put it to 10ms, but it still does the same.

i'm not sure if you've heard of it but the athlon 64bit, it has this dynamic FSB.. which means when the cpu is in use it then puts the fsb up dynamically -- so it becomes much faster (right now because cubase sx2 is using a lot of the cpu power, its running at 1.81ghz )

anyway, i don't tihnk it has anything to do with that - i think there's a problem with a vst or something i've installed which works together inconjunction with cubase sx2, because it hasn't always been like this.

i think i'll just have to sort it out on my own, but will (reinstalling) cubase sx2 delete my projects etc?

I"m having similar issues with my AMD 64 and Cubase. I'm running an M-Audio Firewire 400 though. My system didn't have this problem till i installed that card.

drinelli · Post by **drinelli** » Mon May 02, 2005 6:51 pm

It must be a amd problem I think, and having a 2530 mhz pentium 4, Absynth 3 uses wery little Cpu at my workstation.

drinelli · Post by **drinelli** » Mon May 02, 2005 6:53 pm

And I have Cubase Sx 3 too

UltraJv · Post by **UltraJv** » Mon May 02, 2005 6:53 pm

Its well known that Firewire or USB use more CPU than PCI does.

TeeLangSun · Post by **TeeLangSun** » Mon May 02, 2005 7:35 pm

Richard Hoffman of Synapse has posted up some specs and screenshots showing the amount of system resources that a number of sequencers grabbed up, just to get themselves open but not sequencing or loading any plugins. Just open. I don't remember any numbers, but Orion and FL displayed very small resource requirements. Sonar was somewhat more and Cubase SX was off the chart. It's one of those things that you just know even without seeing the chart displaying it. Especially when using a slower machine. Sonar, FL, Orion etc will run normally, but Cubase is sluggish and feels like it weighes 6 tons. I also have an Athlon64 3200, 1Gig Ram, 7200 RPM drives and I'm using Cubase SL 2 with the Steinberg MI4 audio interface which ships with Cubase SL 2. The card isn't the problem though because Cubase is the same with several other cards and interfaces I've owned. A much larger project is possible in FL than in Cubase without bouncing anything or freezing.

bduffy · Post by **bduffy** » Mon May 02, 2005 8:05 pm

Yeah, I'm really starting to get concerned with Cubase. I absolutely love using it (been using Steinberg for 5 yrs now), but the initial CPU load just gets bigger and bigger! With modern processors, I should be able to do more without these huge CPU spikes and stutters. Maybe it's time to switch, but the thought of using anything else makes me wanna puke.

Steinberg should really look at optimizing the engine instead of the flashy graphics. I wish I'd stayed with SX 1 sometimes.

UltraJv · Post by **UltraJv** » Mon May 02, 2005 8:10 pm

I use Nuendo (which is basically the same as Cubase SX) on a P4 3.2 with an Maudio 24/96 PCI card at 5ms and my latest track uses 20 vsti like Z3ta+, Vanguard etc and it handles it fine at around 80% CPU load. If your system cant handle that then something is wrong. My audio box is a dedicated DAW with no virus software, utils or internet.

bduffy · Post by **bduffy** » Mon May 02, 2005 8:25 pm

UltraJv wrote:I use Nuendo (which is basically the same as Cubase SX) on a P4 3.2 with an Maudio 24/96 PCI card and my latest track uses 20 vsti like Z3ta+, Vanguard etc and it handles it fine at around 80% CPU load. If your system cant handle that then something is wrong.

20! Well done. Is that v3?

I use at work both Nuendo 3.0 and Cubase SX2.2, and I have SX 2 at home as well. I tend to use a lot of insert effects in combination with VSTi, so I don't really tend to get to that many synths. The Nuendo machine runs the smoothest, with an RME 96/52 card (the ADAT setup is crap, however). Where I'm having real problems is on the SX machines; they both run Echo Audio cards, and I get similarly poor performance from both (dropouts, stuttersm insane CPU spikes at low loads). The SX machine at work could probably use an overhaul, but at home, that machine is very new, fresh and optimized. I also swear that both machines started acting up after upgrading to Kontakt 1.5.3...but uninstalling that does nothing.

Anyway, I think it's the Echo cards - anyone else experience high CPU loads with a MIA or Darla?

UltraJv · Post by **UltraJv** » Mon May 02, 2005 8:27 pm

Im running Nuendo version 2.2. Version 3.x has some weird issues so Ill wait til they sort those out before going ahead.

Trojan Badger · Post by **Trojan Badger** » Mon May 02, 2005 8:43 pm

I used to have huge resource problems with an old M-audio usb keyboard driver in SX...fixed with new drivers...

bduffy · Post by **bduffy** » Mon May 02, 2005 8:53 pm

Yeah, I actually had a more stable ASIO environment running an SB Audacity 1. As soon as I tried to swap over to the MIA..."pop!" "Whooooooomp!" "Dut-dut-dut....". Then it happened on a new, fast machine, fresh install...makes me think it's the card.

Perhaps I should be going the E-Mu route...I could use a new sampler after all the fiascos with Kontakt...

bmanic · Post by **bmanic** » Mon May 02, 2005 9:11 pm

Hmm.. any of you thought that maybe the new USB dongle copyprotection might be the reason for higher CPU usage compared to FL, orion and Sonar (none of them have a dongle). This could be the reason, no? If it is, it's a real shame but companies need to be able to protect their systems.

Cheers!
bManic

bduffy · Post by **bduffy** » Mon May 02, 2005 9:19 pm

I don't think it's the Dongle...SX 1 had a really nice, light footprint. It seems to escalate with each version (btw, I hate dongle protection).

parky · Post by **parky** » Mon May 02, 2005 10:21 pm

TeeLangSun wrote:Richard Hoffman of Synapse has posted up some specs and screenshots showing the amount of system resources that a number of sequencers grabbed up, just to get themselves open but not sequencing or loading any plugins. Just open. I don't remember any numbers, but Orion and FL displayed very small resource requirements. Sonar was somewhat more and Cubase SX was off the chart. It's one of those things that you just know even without seeing the chart displaying it.

Strange, Cubase SX 2.2 on my old Athlon XP 1.6 w. 1 GB ram idles at 5% cpu load. I would hardly call that off the chart!

Cubase 3 may be another story, I haven't used it yet.

TOTAL · Post by **TOTAL** » Mon May 02, 2005 10:58 pm

I have 2500+ w 512ram. so far been using sx 1.06 and been extremely happy with it, both functions and stability/performance.

I have questions regarding sx2 and 3. are the latest updates of sx2 and 3 stable?
what about plugin compatibility?

would they eat much more resources than sx1? (not planning to buy a faster comp)

what about the new features in practice? do they make much easier the process of composing?

CPU usage with Cubase SX