CPU Usage Is Substantial When No Playback / Idle State

TravisH
TravisH
First Comment
in BBC Symphony Orchestra

Hello,

I have noticed each instance of this plugin uses 1-2 % cpu usage in Studio One, even with no midi events or playback execution. I am on the PRO version of BBC SO. I have 20 or so instruments. My CPU can handle this just fine broadly speaking, but when the track is idle and playback is disabled, it's still sucking cpu. When I add all the tracks together, its like 20-30% cpu doing nothing (from a user perspective at least, it's clearly doing something). Is this reverb calculation or something? Of course I can disable the tracks, but then I turn right around and end up enabling them again shortly thereafter.

Any way around this? Not at all a dealbreaker, love the software. But it would be nice if I could somehow tell BBCSO don't process anything until you get a MIDI event / send.

Comments

  • Baby_Model_Berg
    Baby_Model_Berg
    10 Comments First Answer 5 Likes

    Interesting. I'm running Logic Pro 10.7.4 here, and with a brand new project and a single "empty channel strip", the macOS Activity Monitor app shows CPU utilization for Logic Pro itself floating between 3.7% and 5.2%. If I switch to my BBC SO (Discovery) template with one track for each instrument (but no channel/track data) and give it a moment to "quiesce", it floats in about the same range - sometimes a bit higher (5.6%). If I then quit Logic Pro (to unload BBC SO), relaunch Logic Pro, and then load one of my older projects with ~27 channels/tracks and a LOT of MIDI data (but no reference to BBC SO), and monitor CPU activity for awhile (and not yet having hit "Play"), it seems to float between 39.8% and 48.7% CPU while otherwise "idle". This might lead me to believe that the "idle load" may be inherent to each DAW app, and while it may be affected by and/or related to any additional plug-ins being loaded, the plug-ins may not be the sole source. Perhaps check with another project that doesn't use BBC SO and see if there's any correlation in behavior?

    And yeah, I know what you mean about the CPU being able to handle the load; just played back the above ~27 track project, and while CPU usage for the app peaked around 91%, the overall system idle percentage never dropped below 90%. Gotta love modern hardware.😎

    macOS 13.2, Logic Pro 10.7.7, BBCSO Core

  • TravisH
    TravisH
    First Comment

    My goodness, it doesn't feel like since July I posted this but here we are.. Yes, you are right @Baby_Model_Berg, the issue is indeed Studio one, or idle plugins in general. They have a plugin nap feature, but it doesn't seem to do what it does on the tin for me (very likely scenario specific, plugin dependent, etc). I have Opus and it seems to be doing the same cpu sucking behavior (EastWest plugins). Although interestingly the idle compute seems to be correlated to the plugin content; one sample of drums from eastwest seems to use half as much as the choral stuff I have loaded in.

    In any case seems like I might need to talk to Presonus instead. Thanks for the reply!! I didn't piece that together, probably because I primarily use BBC SO (Still learning a lot and trying REALLY hard not buy ALL the plugins rather than invest in education. Only partially succeeding...)

  • TravisH
    TravisH
    First Comment

    If you happen to use Studio One, "release audio in background" checkbox does drop the cpu to 0 percent when another window is selected. Also, cpu usage of the non-playing tracks appears to be correlated to sample rate. So I think it has something to do with constantly sampling the channel, or maybe checking 92k times per second to see if the plugin has produced audio kind of thing. But at least I can release the cpu when I'm not using studio one. I like to leave it open since it probably takes 10-20 seconds to load up my template.

  • Donkey_Oaty
    Donkey_Oaty
    10 Comments First Answer 5 Likes
    https://community.spitfireaudio.com/discussion/comment/11926#Comment_11926

    I upgraded to Pro (Version 6). Some of the in built templates (you click on to create a new song) upload "Mix Effects, Console Shaper" to your Main (Output). See this in the 'Mix' tab. It's on the top of your output tab. Within the Console Shaper are three options 'Drive', 'Noise' and 'Crosstalk'. Crosstalk is pretty useful if you're trying to create an authentic room dynamic with something like an orchestra. What it does is feed a little of the sound of the instruments being played (adjustable with the knob in the UI) through every instrument.

    In feeding a little sound to the other channels, it's effectively keeping all the instruments loaded in the CPU. This can impact RAM and CPU core and thread use.

    A simple way to check if its active is to open the Mix view and watch the meters on the tracks - if you're getting tiny blips on tracks that aren't currently playing (and where all the reverb/delay from previous notes has played out) - the Console Shaper is active and working.

    The Console Shaper is a great tool, but, at MIDI level, it's a CPU killer. Switch it off. When you're mastering your mix of tracks (all bounced down to audio), you can switch it back on and use it as a tool to help with the final feel of your mix. I've attached a couple of (quick & rough) screenshots. 'Crosstalk 1' pic - shows a completely new fresh song with no tracks and the Console Shaper automatically included. 'Crosstalk' pic shows you where to access the Cosole shaper and its relevant knob switches. It's a great tool, but not great that, rather than being an option within Presonus' FX add ins it's automatically installed.

    cross talk.png
    crosstalk 1.png


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