What I should be able to do with Bitwig on my computer

[Matspan]

Sometimes it does not help to find out what a system can not do. I'd advice to just move on. Be aware there is always a ceiling of what a system can handle. Use plugins & patches that are less demanding.

Stop benchmarking, start having fun and make music.

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If you don't have actual benchmark for people to run, then nobody can determine how much 1 track takes up resources, let alone 30 of them.

I just tried with 6 instances of Equator2, which seemed to be OK then I tried with 12 and for the first 20 seconds it was fine and then the whole computer slowly ground to a halt. I have attached some screenshots. This is with no FX at all.
It seems to work for a short while and then it tanks.
I have tried with Bitwig 4 and 3.3.10. I hope this serves as a benchmark. I don't think the problem is the same with Bitwig synths. I tend to use a fair few modulators and sequencers and such, which i think consume more resources but with this experiment, I was just duplicating the same instrument.

I understand what you are saying and I still make music and I really don't need to run my system at maximum all the time, but sometimes we have three of us playing a couple of controllers each with maybe three or four tracks each and very often it works like a dream and other times it drags to a halt. I just want consistency and to know if there is a problem, where the problem lies. One of the reasons I bought a not inexpensive computer was to avoid any possible problems and just make music.

[kovacs]

I think the situation here is that your computer is fine, it's the plugins and perhaps Bitwig's handling of them. 500%+ CPU usage is insane. I have seen similar issues as yours with Line 6 Helix Native in Logic Pro X, but only around 150% or so.

CleanMyMac X is not your problem, I have used it for years and it's a good tool to keep your harddrives uncluttered and reduce the risk of malware. Onyx is a great, free system tool, but it's a different tool.

[Matspan]

Ok, so I tried Vital but I couldn't find that preset (I have the plus edition), so I tried with the first preset "A happy ending of the world". I could run 11 instances without a problem and I could stretched that to 14. With 15 and 16 instances it begin to overload.

I tried with Polymer (Berlin Duo) and I could reach 14 instances. Now, I've played a chord of three notes and with Bitwig 4 beta 2 (native Apple Silicon), but Vital was under Rosetta while Polymer is of course native.

I find it very reasonable and good result. I haven't tested Bitwig under Windows/PC yet, but I might just update this thread with brief result.

I tried with Polymer and got up to 10, I couldn't find the preset you use with Vital and I have Vital pro , but that's another question. Now 6 seems to be the limit. I am searching for Malware just in case and I will try with a cooling fan base thing that I have as well. Many thanks for engaging in this, it does make things a bit clearer.

[EnGee]

IMO, there is nothing wrong with Bitwig or your setup. It is just not up to what you expect. I found this benchmark and if you compare with the results of yours and mine, it might be just right:
https://browser.geekbench.com/macs/macb ... hz-6-cores

[cron]

The RGB thing has helped a lot but still, the computer slows down but less at least. I think it might be down to overheating especially as we're coming into summer now in Spain. I've got a cooling fan base and I'll see how that pans out.

Your particular Macbook model (15 inch, 2018, i9) is somewhat notorious for throttling performance due to overheating. Definitely worth keeping an eye on CPU/GPU clocks with whatever monitoring software is available for Mac. Hopefully your fan base will help matters, but if not and you're still seeing throttling, it's worth taking the issue up with Apple.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/the-2018- ... erheating/

[jancivil]

never said, nor implied Clean My Mac is the culprit. taken out of all context, that is.
If you know exactly what you want and what it does... if one doesn't one can do harm in a single stroke.
OnyX is not substantially different in focus and it's quite comprehensive, if you want to clean your mac. If you're like me and NOT a power user, someone that fully grasps the deeper functions, don't clean your mac (either way) is the upshot of that tip. Mac OS keeps house rather well left alone. Cache cleaning is a last resort, and you're not there.
I don't know you don't know as much as or more than I, but you having never heard of OnyX, thought I'd chime in with some basics. Yeah, it's free. irrelevant.

junk files, logs you aren't going to need to try and repro bugs for a support channel or you're beta testing something, internet excess, sure. caches, you need to study a minute. I'm not interested to the extent of engaging in a big debate on a cleaning program, but google Clean My Mac and see if the advocacy or not speaks to you.

[jancivil]

I used that particular model, spec'd as that one is, for around two years.
it got hot, and these things have always throttled. That said, I didn't even use an external audio interface, and I wasn't maxing out the system unless I was using the RAM (similar to what I remarked on having noticed, high-20s on a 32GB machine) up. I do have stupidly hongry Absynth patches I make, long envelopes, half a minute and suchlike and the kind of features the system has to do a lot of math behind, and these I was still rendering before I could get much of an orchestra up.

So, is this all you can expect? Equator 2 in a maxed-out af patch brings this system to its knees, when those Absynth things mostly have not. With both running, I'm upping latency and finally rendering Equator 2. But that hardware I did very ambitious projects on. BUT I use VE Pro for nearly all plugins. And I have a super-low latency 'soundcard' now.

It may be that your expectation of this stuff in Bitwig is unrealistic for this hardware, which would kind of be a shame.
it looks underperforming, but my assumptions are just that, assumptions and inferences.

[kovacs]

I'm not interested to the extent of engaging in a big debate on a cleaning program

You just spent a lot of words on it though. But agreed, it's off topic.

[jancivil]

I meant I'm not coming back to argue it further.

[jancivil]

When I bought that machine in Sept '18 my expectations were pretty high, because I'd paid around 5k USD and it was almost the highest spec build.
I use orchestra in an electroacoustical sort of fashion. Meaning things like VSL Synchron Stage line with FX and using a lot of mics in that mixer, it calculates surround to stereo in whatever of a number of configurations depending on the instrument, and has a way of calculating time stretch per those configurations (more restrictively because you can only do so much). and BFD3 big money cymbals with long tails requiring full polyphony. Maximum in polyphony settings in everything.

So those projects are just very hungry bears, and my expectation was pretty much met. I expected the Absynth patches were going to be rendered, and they drive ya crazy anyway, because 30 seconds yo, and this was just true. When I bought this machine and that 650 dollar interface, I STILL expected my Absynth monstrosities would use up all the oxygen in the room as it always has, but it does not, I can have it and everything else up in realtime and pretty much get by on live note entry. Except with that Equator patch. I was getting up to 512 in the buffer wasn't cutting it, it was the first to go, render and be done, come back it later if needed.
Tell me what patch you're using and I'll directly compare how bad it is here.

[Matspan]

Tell me what patch you're using and I'll directly compare how bad it is here.

I have been using the Berlin Duo patch in Polymer, which EnGee was using to try and get a comparison.
The fan base doesn't seem to help very much. I am still running Catalina because I was worried about compatibility issues, would big Sur be any better?
I am starting to think I spent a lot of money on a lemon because it does get really hot?

[Matspan]

I also just got 13 instances of vital going in Ableton live 11 - 14 overloaded the CPU

[jancivil]

well, reportedly Cubase takes advantage of Big Sur and is 'faster', bitwig I wouldn't know about

my two high end MBPs could get hot but I didn't notice performance hits from it. I did buy a 'lemon' once, used. it looked brand new, a 2010 machine in 2017 I shoulda been suspicious. they made a batch where the video card connection was botched, so constant kernel panics if you tried to use anything very 'graphics' oriented, FCP would not work.

I was asking which Equator patch, Polymer I don't know.

[jancivil]

by "overloaded the CPU" are you just looking at Activity Monitor and describing high percentages there or is it breaking up to where you can't use it after a point.

I don't look at CPU, and here's why. I'm going to be seeing things like "524%", which is not any issue at all in itself. it indicates multicore distribution. So none of what you're depicting in CPU means anything to me in itself.

[EnGee]

I can compare only with Bitwig, Reaper and Logic in OS 11.4 but if you want I can compare in Windows with Live 10 and Studio One v5 (Reaper and FLS as well). I also found a preset that you have in Vital (Actuator), if you want me to use Vital.

I hate to say it, but I would feel really bad if I had purchased that Macbook Pro with so much money! I would get rid of it as possible as I can and purchase with its money a new MacBook Pro or Air with Apple Silicon (or any Mac with Apple Silicon chip).

Or maybe if you want to keep it then try to use Reaper as it is definitely the most efficient DAW. Another solution is to use Serum instead of Vital. I have noticed that Serum is using less cpu in my computers. You can try it for one month with Splice (for $10) and see if you like it. I'm currently with $10 monthly plan and I really like it (I did some presets in the past, but I stopped the monthly plan, now I'm continuing it).