KVR Audio

kode_poet · Post by **kode_poet** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 1:08 pm

So, I finish my arrangement, and export the individual Mixer channels to Wave files to mix them at a later time. Last night I tried to import the files (about 13 5min.tracks)into FL studio (in the playlist) as Audio tracks, only to find that FL performance is sluggish and crappy. The CPU meter is not even at 5 percent when I hit play, but it still stutters. I tried loading them in memory, as I have 2GB of it and the total of the files is only about 900MB, and still, same results. Just to test if it was my system, I loaded SX and imported the tracks and they all played fine, with no CPU load and an average of a 10% HD load. My question is, is this a problem with FL dealing with Audio? Has anyone tried to use FL Audio capabilities for mixing only? I would love for FL to be able to do this. If it can, then I'd sell my copy of SX, which I have no more use for, since FL does everything I need for now.

kovacs · Post by **kovacs** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 1:33 pm

Are you streaming them from disk or loading them into memory?

Do you have the latest FL5 patch (dont know if that would have any bearing on this, though)...

Stupid American Pig · Post by **Stupid American Pig** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 1:48 pm

I have many tracks that utilize ~ 10-15 audio tracks, and do not notice the slugishness- I *can* tell that it may not be as good as my other host sonar at disk streaming, but it certainly performs more than adequately here. Are these tracks the full length of the song? are there any bits where you can cut out the silence? does that help? did you store the audio files on your system partition? is this the only partition you have? do you have any other software that you can perform the same test with?

kode_poet · Post by **kode_poet** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 2:09 pm

I tried both, streaming and loading into memory. The tracks are full length, just as they rendered. I cant cut pieces of them beacuse then I'd have to time align them again. I do have the latest patch. The files arent stored in my system partition. In fact they are in another harddrive which is 7200RPM. which should be fast enought to play them. Again, I'm gonna have to check something, I just thought of it. It might be that the harddisk is heavily fragmented. I'll check that and see what happens.

kovacs · Post by **kovacs** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 2:12 pm

Yes, defragging would be my next suggestion. You'd think that FL should manage this...

Which CPU by the way?

kode_poet · Post by **kode_poet** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 2:18 pm

Got a P4 3.2GHz, 2GB RAM, and 2 80GB 7200RPM HDs.

and just to brag

2 beautiful 19" LCDs.

kovacs · Post by **kovacs** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 2:27 pm

kode_poet wrote:Got a P4 3.2GHz, 2GB RAM, and 2 80GB 7200RPM HDs.

and just to brag 2 beautiful 19" LCDs.

Ouch.

I only have one Apple 20" widescreen.

Stupid American Pig · Post by **Stupid American Pig** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 2:43 pm

kovacs wrote:
kode_poet wrote:Got a P4 3.2GHz, 2GB RAM, and 2 80GB 7200RPM HDs.

and just to brag 2 beautiful 19" LCDs.
Ouch. I only have one Apple 20" widescreen.

That apple display is the only apple hardware I would buy in a heartbeat. Such a sexy beast that screen...

Stupid American Pig · Post by **Stupid American Pig** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 2:45 pm

kode_poet wrote:I tried both, streaming and loading into memory. The tracks are full length, just as they rendered. I cant cut pieces of them beacuse then I'd have to time align them again. I do have the latest patch. The files arent stored in my system partition. In fact they are in another harddrive which is 7200RPM. which should be fast enought to play them. Again, I'm gonna have to check something, I just thought of it. It might be that the harddisk is heavily fragmented. I'll check that and see what happens.

Keep in mind there is a Slice tool in the playlist that you can use to remove the silent bits. just click on the slicer tool and draw a line where you wanna cut. then remove the silence. It would help- there is no sense in playing silent audio...

kovacs · Post by **kovacs** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 3:05 pm

S_A_P wrote:That apple display is the only apple hardware I would buy in a heartbeat. Such a sexy beast that screen...

It is sadly not my own...belongs to my job. I think it cost around $2,000 or something (in Norway).

It doesn't make audio clips any better but it sure helps with screen estate problems!

kode_poet · Post by **kode_poet** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 3:58 pm

S_A_P wrote:
kode_poet wrote:I tried both, streaming and loading into memory. The tracks are full length, just as they rendered. I cant cut pieces of them beacuse then I'd have to time align them again. I do have the latest patch. The files arent stored in my system partition. In fact they are in another harddrive which is 7200RPM. which should be fast enought to play them. Again, I'm gonna have to check something, I just thought of it. It might be that the harddisk is heavily fragmented. I'll check that and see what happens.
Keep in mind there is a Slice tool in the playlist that you can use to remove the silent bits. just click on the slicer tool and draw a line where you wanna cut. then remove the silence. It would help- there is no sense in playing silent audio...

For me to know where to cut, I'd have to load them into memory, because thats the only way FL will display the wave form. If the wave file is streamed directly from the HD it just shows an empty track, making it impossible to know where to cut.

Hink · Post by **Hink** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 8:05 pm

kode_poet wrote:
S_A_P wrote:
kode_poet wrote:I tried both, streaming and loading into memory. The tracks are full length, just as they rendered. I cant cut pieces of them beacuse then I'd have to time align them again. I do have the latest patch. The files arent stored in my system partition. In fact they are in another harddrive which is 7200RPM. which should be fast enought to play them. Again, I'm gonna have to check something, I just thought of it. It might be that the harddisk is heavily fragmented. I'll check that and see what happens.
Keep in mind there is a Slice tool in the playlist that you can use to remove the silent bits. just click on the slicer tool and draw a line where you wanna cut. then remove the silence. It would help- there is no sense in playing silent audio...

For me to know where to cut, I'd have to load them into memory, because thats the only way FL will display the wave form. If the wave file is streamed directly from the HD it just shows an empty track, making it impossible to know where to cut.

Let me ask you a question (maybe two) silence's tend to be sections of songs for me. If this is the same way for you then you should know (I hope you do) the measure of the silence, no?. But even if you don't after you have edited a wave reclick keep on disk...editing is a pain but part of the job. Like trim work when you build a house. The other thing is if you're just playing back files (not recording new ones) why can't you increase your buffer length? I would think that would make quite a difference. Also try using smart disable for all effects you have and if you can ( I know it's a company computer) go to Optimize XP (I assume it's xp) These steps should help...

huh turned into more then two questions..oh well

pheeleep · Post by **pheeleep** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 8:17 pm

Have you tried increasing the latency for your soundcard? I think that should fix the problem.

Stupid American Pig · Post by **Stupid American Pig** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 8:28 pm

They are correct- the more things you stuff into the buffer the longer it takes to put it there.

>v^<^^ · Post by **>v^<^^** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 10:06 pm

kode_poet wrote:So, I finish my arrangement, and export the individual Mixer channels to Wave files to mix them at a later time. Last night I tried to import the files (about 13 5min.tracks)into FL studio (in the playlist) as Audio tracks, only to find that FL performance is sluggish and crappy. The CPU meter is not even at 5 percent when I hit play, but it still stutters. I tried loading them in memory, as I have 2GB of it and the total of the files is only about 900MB, and still, same results. Just to test if it was my system, I loaded SX and imported the tracks and they all played fine, with no CPU load and an average of a 10% HD load. My question is, is this a problem with FL dealing with Audio? Has anyone tried to use FL Audio capabilities for mixing only? I would love for FL to be able to do this. If it can, then I'd sell my copy of SX, which I have no more use for, since FL does everything I need for now.

I've had that same problem. I don't usually render everything before mixing, but I assume you're doing that to free up some CPU for some mastering plugins or something.

I've had problems with streaming long audio files even when I only have one long file in my project. I have an Athlon 64 3500+, 2GB of RAM, 7200rpm 8MB buffer HDD, so streaming a single stereo audio file that's about 2 minutes long shouldn't be an issue. I've noticed that if I wait for a little bit (maybe 15 seconds) after loading the project, the song will eventually play fine if I give it time to load up I guess. I'm not sure what's taking so long to load. When I load the file into RAM, the file plays back fine however.

Also like you describe, I have not had this type of problem with Cubase or Tracktion, so I'm not sure what the deal is.

FL Studio and Audio Tracks.