Does muting a track free cpu?

[rpc9943]

Just wodnering, since I do a lot of mixing jobs, ive noticed that I'm unsure if muting out or soloing tracks can actually disable vst's from chomping up cpu; Does this work? If not, is there a workaround to disable certain tracks for moments?

RonC

[braj]

Try this: load a vsti, mute a track, look at the CPU meter. What do you see?

[Todd24]

Im not sure but, If you disable the VST it does.

[rpc9943]

exactly. why would they make it so vst's arent "disabled" when you mute a track?

[lkingston]

VST's aren't disabled so that you can mute and unmute while the tune is playing. If you want to free up CPU, click "disable" instead of mute. It's just as easy. That or just freeze or render the track.

[braj]

Ron, I'm really surprised you don't know that muting a track does in fact disable the VST. What do you think all those 'render and mute' threads and advice was all about anyway? I said to try muting a track and look at the CPU, you will see a definite drop in CPU usage.

[Frippertronix]

The CPU bar goes way down, so they must be disabled.

For a lazy SOB who hasn't read the manual, what is the difference between muting and freezing a track if VST's are in fact disabled by muting?

[chimmy]

A frozen track still plays. You just can't alter it.

[valley]

muting simply silences the track - freezing renders it so that you can hear the audio without the CPU cost.

[Frippertronix]

A frozen track still plays. You just can't alter it.

What good is that?

I thought track feezing was specifically to lessen CPU load on tracks not being used at the moment.

Is it less CPU intensive to play it "frozen"?

[chimmy]

Yes

[Frippertronix]

muting simply silences the track - freezing renders it so that you can hear the audio without the CPU cost.

I just read this. So it's really the same as rendering it down and then importing the rendered track in place of the raw track.

[valley]

Is it less CPU intensive to play it "frozen"?

Depends...

for a track that contains a weighty VSTi such as z3ta, and maybe a few effects, freezing will save a lot of CPU. For a track that is all audio clips, with no extra effects, freezing would make no difference.

[valley]

muting simply silences the track - freezing renders it so that you can hear the audio without the CPU cost.

I just read this. So it's really the same as rendering it down and then importing the rendered track in place of the raw track.

Yes, only you can revert back to the original for further editing at the click of a button.

[chimmy]

However with a frozen track you can unfreeze it if you want to make changes.