Spire Synthesizer

[chk071]

The CPU doesn't run at 100% all the time when high performance power plan is selected

It does.

Energiesparplan_Hoechstleistung.png

Just check your task manager Performance -> CPU tab when activating it.

That's the whole point of activating that plan -> so that the CPU doesn't throttle.

Running your CPU at 100% even when your computer is idling, or your browsing the net, or even gaming or something, is complete waste, and will wear your CPU faster.

My CPU usage is 1% right now on same plan having 3 tabs of Firefox opened, all cores are equally distributed sharing that 1%, that's what Task Manager monitoring shows. Are you implying that at all time 100% of CPU is used even in idle?

No. The CPU's run at their maximum clock rate. That doesn't mean that they're 100% busy.

What I meant is that you should set both minimum and maximum to 100% in the high performance plan, otherwise, the plan is utterly useless, because there isn't any difference to the balanced plan then, in terms of CPU throttling.

Throttling is what's bad for real time audio.

[FapFilter]

Yes CPU clock speed, not how much your CPU is taxed.
If you have a 4GHz CPU, performance plan enables it to throttle down to let's say 2 or even 1GHz when there is no demand / your CPU is idling because you are just using Word or Excel anyway and full 4GHz clock speed would simply mean unnecessary current consumption, heat dissipation and fan noise if you don't even need the full power your CPU could provide.
This makes perfect sense for standard applications.
For audio work, those changes from “no demand @1GHz“ to “full demand @4GHz“ and everything inbetween is bad though. It should to be constant

[LeVzi]

So in what way does throttling effect a DAW ? Give me examples.

[FapFilter]

You can get crackles during CPU speed changes.

[chk071]

I think this article covers it pretty well: https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/cpu-throttling

I only ever switch to High performance when I start my DAW. For ANY other application, the Balanced plan will work fine.

To quickly switch the power plans, I added a shortcut to the task bar, so, I only click that, and go straight to "Control panel -> Hardware and sound -> Energy options (or something similar)".

[LeVzi]

You can get crackles during CPU speed changes.

I cannot say i've ever noticed that, but then I am wondering in what aspect you refer to. Audio recording ? Playback ? VST playback ?

I dont do a lot of audio recording, but when I have, again never had this issue, and my FX 8350 was at stock speed for a long time. 3.7 boost to 4.2 I think.

Can't say I noticed the same for playing vst instruments. But as I said maybe its specific to something.

[LeVzi]

I think this article covers it pretty well: https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/cpu-throttling

I only ever switch to High performance when I start my DAW. For ANY other application, the Balanced plan will work fine.

To quickly switch the power plans, I added a shortcut to the task bar, so, I only click that, and go straight to "Control panel -> Hardware and sound -> Energy options (or something similar)".

As I said before, that was written in 2010. The CPU's around then were a lot older. (Phenom IIs older i Series intels) the boost technology wasn't as advanced as it is now surely.

So I wonder if its still relevant or not.

[chk071]

It definitely is still relevant.

Just do the test. Throttle your CPU, by setting Minimum performance state to 5%, and play some pads on a CPU expensive plugins. There shouldn't be much of a difference to the balanced power plan.

[LeVzi]

It definitely is still relevant.

Just do the test. Throttle your CPU, by setting Minimum performance state to 5%, and play some pads on a CPU expensive plugins. There shouldn't be much of a difference to the balanced power plan.

As I said, in all the time i've had standard settings on the CPU i've never had any issues as the CPU throttled up. I cannot recall one time that's been an issue. And my CPU isn't new, its an FX8350.

Now its over clocked it doesnt matter anyway. But prior to that, nope, never once had this issue.

I'd be interested to see how many people have this issue or maybe show a video of it in action.

[FapFilter]

I don't get too many issues either.
Just keep in mind that you are more likely to get crackles. And not just when your CPU is maxed, but also during transitions from low to high loads and the other way round.

And i don't think there is such a thing as “improved throttling technology“ regarding crackles.
I think it has more to with that audio work often is as low latency as possible (as long as you set it really low) and that crackles as a side effect are more or less inevitable during clockspeed changes, unless the audio drivers are improved, but still- this would require more buffering (meaning higher latency again) as far as i can think of atm.
And of course throttling is not designed for audio people in the first place, so there surely will be no development resources just for our little niche

[LeVzi]

I don't get too many issues either.
Just keep in mind that you are more likely to get crackles. And not just when your CPU is maxed, but also during transitions from low to high loads and the other way round.

And i don't think there is such a thing as “improved throttling technology“ regarding crackles.
I think it has more to with that audio work often is as low latency as possible (as long as you set it really low) and that crackles as a side effect are more or less inevitable during clockspeed changes, unless the audio drivers are improved, but still- this would require more buffering (meaning higher latency again) as far as i can think of atm.
And of course throttling is not designed for audio people in the first place, so there surely will be no development resources just for our little niche

Maybe thats why I never notice, as I use quite a high buffer anyway, as I'm not really recording anything live. Probably explains it tbh. If I needed ultra low latency I can see that being the reason you see or hear it.

Thanks, that actually makes sense now.

[Torchlight]

How about a "Save As" button or menu item? Since they changed the preset system, I've lost count of the number of patches I spent 20 minutes tweaking only to lose when I tried to save them, since it's not obvious how you are supposed to save an altered version of a preset under a different name. I've re-read the manual and still can't figure it out. I realised recently this seemingly simple problem had actually deterred me from using Spire much recently.

The only reliable way I have found to get a patch saved is to set the "Confirm Saving Changes" option within the GUI then, when I'm ready to save the patch, switch to a new one; I will then get a pop-up window with a "Save As" option.

[OzoneJunkie]

Spire regularly crashes Ableton Live for me, if I use the "Check for Update" option, and then remove Spire from a track, replace it with another VST, or create a new project. Other than using that feature, has always been stable for me.

[vega555]

Spire Synthesizer has been updated to v1.5.10 - build 5183 (2021.10.04)

* Added Macro controllers links via MIDI CC 14-17
* Fixes for glide notes in Poly 2 - Legato mode
* Fixes for DC offset overdrive in Shaper - Tube 1 mode
* Fixes for automation reset in Ableton
* Fixes for Windows 7 32-bit compatibility

[LeVzi]

Did anyone get any email or anything about this update ? If I didn't visit KVR I'd not know...