High pc cpu usage for VST's compared to Mac

[MeanGreen7]

Thanks for the suggestion.

Switching to 48K does not solve the problem. CPU usage is lower than it is at 96K, but still too high for practical use. I am in contact with the developers to see if there is a fix.

[Passing Bye]

Maybe explore hackintosh route possibility, know handful of people that got good thing going on with their hacks.

[EvilDragon]

So there's High Performance power plan, and there's Ultimate Performance, which is supposed to be used for workstations and so on, but audio workflows also benefit from it:

https://www.howtogeek.com/368781/how-to ... indows-10/

However I wonder if issue here might be SpeedStep and C states (all of that should be disabled in UEFI). Also gotta disable core parking. All that power saving stuff should go poof.

I have no problems using a bunch of ZebraHZ instances on an old i7-6700K (I did do an all-core overclock on it to 4.5 GHz tho). You should be able to have quite a few more of them.

[rod_zero]

It is the audio interface drivers, if it is not the power settings.

Unlike Macs Windows computer audio driver are not designed for real time audio, that's why ASIO drivers exists but the majority of manufacturers drivers are very mediocre.

IME Steinberg UR line and RME have the best drivers for windows, I have tried Focusrite, audient, motu and their drivers perform and are usable but you can't lower the sample buffer as low as with RME and Steinberg.

[nyx]

sure sounds like the audio card...are you connecting directly to the motherboard or through an add on card? I would check your interface setting and motherboard settings. I have a very similar spec pc as you but use a presonus 2626 thunderbolt and have extremly low latency and no problems at all

[MeanGreen7]

Hello everyone and thanks for you suggestions. I know this is a pretty specific issue and its difficult to diagnose from a forum, so I appreciate the help.

I have all power saving features turned off, and am running the ultimate performance power plan as of today. Switching from high to ultimate didn't help this particular problem.

I use a Lynx Aurora(N), and after contacting support they said there was no reason it would be the drivers. Also their software shows that my reported latency is actually very good. While a different brand interface could have better latency for windows, I have no plan on switching as I love the Aurora. I am connected via Thunderbolt 3, and my lowest practical latency is 128. This is perfectly fine, although my Mac was able to hit 64 which my pc is not for whatever reason.

The strange thing is, my pc in general feels snappier than my Mac, especially when it comes to loading VIs such as Kontakt, Vienna etc. The problem is mainly with the few cpu intensive plugins I own and use regularly. It's like my single core cpu performance feels worse but my multicore feels better. Could this just be down to the change in cpu chip?

There is a project I tried to load in Cubase that runs flawlessly on my Mac, but won't run well on pc due to me using Pitchbend in Chromaphone. As soon as the Pitchbend automation kicks in the machine stutters and drops out.

[BertKoor]

Ah, the pitch bend issue of Chomaphone... A thread was started here last week:
viewtopic.php?p=8224771

it is what it is
[...]
Using pitch enveloppes and LFO is the way to go here imo but even this can drop out a patch sometimes

Then the thread was updated yesterday with this remark:

Now would you look at that, they fixed it. Pleasantly surprised.

So try what updating it brings you...

[fmr]

I use a Lynx Aurora(N), and after contacting support they said there was no reason it would be the drivers. Also their software shows that my reported latency is actually very good. While a different brand interface could have better latency for windows, I have no plan on switching as I love the Aurora. I am connected via Thunderbolt 3, and my lowest practical latency is 128. This is perfectly fine, although my Mac was able to hit 64 which my pc is not for whatever reason.

I am using an RME UFX+, which I can connect via Thunderbolt or USB, and I have noticed that, although it doesn't offer so many I/Os (which I wasn't using, anyway) it performs significantly better under USB than under Thunderbolt.

If the Aurora is hybrid, try changing from Thunderbolt to USB. Maybe that improves your experience.

Also, when playing back, very low latencies don't bring any advantage, IMO. 256 is perfectly acceptable, and will give you a better performance.

[dellboy]

Is it something to do with the Lynx Aurora word clock settings ?

Is it set to master ?

Its a very expensive audio interface, but it could still be the problem, so why not borrow a different interface and see how that works with your system ?

[legendCNCD]

Yep and there arent that much difference between 1 year old CPU's... I would not be surprised if Lynx drivers were crap for Win though.

[EvilDragon]

I am using an RME UFX+, which I can connect via Thunderbolt or USB, and I have noticed that, although it doesn't offer so many I/Os (which I wasn't using, anyway) it performs significantly better under USB than under Thunderbolt.

Weird. My UFX+ definitely works better under TB than USB3 (lower round-trip latency). But also for some bizarre reason, starting up Kontakt standalone is like 10x longer under USB3 than TB (there's a weird loop happening somewhere when setting up outputs, I suspect).

[MeanGreen7]

Ah, the pitch bend issue of Chomaphone... A thread was started here last week:
viewtopic.php?p=8224771

it is what it is
[...]
Using pitch enveloppes and LFO is the way to go here imo but even this can drop out a patch sometimes

Then the thread was updated yesterday with this remark:

Now would you look at that, they fixed it. Pleasantly surprised.

So try what updating it brings you...

I saw that thread, but I believe that only applies to Chromaphone 3. I am still using 2 specifically because i heard the cpu usage is much worse in 3. I can check though and see if 2 got an update. I'm still waiting for the developers to get back to me to try and figure it out.

Does anyone here have Chromaphone 2 and could do a quick cpu check to see what they are reading on certain presets?

[MeanGreen7]

I use a Lynx Aurora(N), and after contacting support they said there was no reason it would be the drivers. Also their software shows that my reported latency is actually very good. While a different brand interface could have better latency for windows, I have no plan on switching as I love the Aurora. I am connected via Thunderbolt 3, and my lowest practical latency is 128. This is perfectly fine, although my Mac was able to hit 64 which my pc is not for whatever reason.

I am using an RME UFX+, which I can connect via Thunderbolt or USB, and I have noticed that, although it doesn't offer so many I/Os (which I wasn't using, anyway) it performs significantly better under USB than under Thunderbolt.

If the Aurora is hybrid, try changing from Thunderbolt to USB. Maybe that improves your experience.

Also, when playing back, very low latencies don't bring any advantage, IMO. 256 is perfectly acceptable, and will give you a better performance.

The Aurora uses a card system, so you choose whatever interface system you want, but you don't get multiple.

I see what you are saying about playback buffer size, I will check and see if increasing the buffer size allows the project to run smoothly.

Is it something to do with the Lynx Aurora word clock settings ?

Is it set to master ?

Its a very expensive audio interface, but it could still be the problem, so why not borrow a different interface and see how that works with your system ?

My Aurora is set to master, and seems to be fine. I unfortunately don't have a way of borrowing another interface, besides purchasing one then returning it. I tried to disconnect the Aurora and use inbuilt windows asio but performance was worse so that wasn't much help. It could very well be the Lynx drivers, but I don't know why it would be worse in such a specific area.

[Saffran]

...My Aurora is set to master, and seems to be fine. I unfortunately don't have a way of borrowing another interface, besides purchasing one then returning it. I tried to disconnect the Aurora and use inbuilt windows asio but performance was worse so that wasn't much help. It could very well be the Lynx drivers, but I don't know why it would be worse in such a specific area.

I sincerely hope that you mean wasapi.
Haven't heard of a Microsoft asiodriver. Not in recommendations of inbuilt audio drivers at least.

[MeanGreen7]

...My Aurora is set to master, and seems to be fine. I unfortunately don't have a way of borrowing another interface, besides purchasing one then returning it. I tried to disconnect the Aurora and use inbuilt windows asio but performance was worse so that wasn't much help. It could very well be the Lynx drivers, but I don't know why it would be worse in such a specific area.

I sincerely hope that you mean wasapi.
Haven't heard of a Microsoft asiodriver. Not in recommendations of inbuilt audio drivers at least.

It's called Generic Low Latency Asio Driver. It was worse though. I thought turning off MMCSS helped for a bit, but it's back to acting up again.

I am going through a number of tweaks now to try and find a fix. I'm checking through scheduled tasks to see if there are things working in the background.