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Old 12-17-2017, 04:29 AM   #1
SBK
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Default High RealTime CPU usage and audio dropouts-spikes

Hi guys,

I have SPL Crimson 1 sound interface and I am experiencing too much RT CPU usage, over 100% and the project isn't that heavy.
The normal CPU is like 5% and the RT is over 100%

I have tried to put maximum latency in Asio settings of the interface, like 4096 and all but I still have nasty playback with audio dropouts spikes and clicks etc

I think lately is worse, I only put few plugins, and the CPU usage summing of plugins
is very low as well but the RT usage is over 100%

What could I do here? I am not experiencing so much usage in FL Studio for example.

Any help much appreciated!
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Old 12-17-2017, 05:46 AM   #2
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FL doesn't use ASIO as far as I remember. Try downloading resplendence.com's latency checker & see what it says about your computer with Reaper running.

You might also want to try going back down to something like 512 or even 256 ASIO buffer and see what happens.
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Old 12-17-2017, 06:09 AM   #3
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Might there be something "non Reaper" going on in the background?
Are you on a laptop with wifi enabled?
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Old 12-17-2017, 06:33 AM   #4
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Quote:
What could I do here? I am not experiencing so much usage in FL Studio for example.
Ey-if your on windozey--goto task manager and see if more than 1 instant of reaper was initiated--i've seen this happening multiple times now...

Quote:
FL doesn't use ASIO as far as I remember.
Aye-fl does use asio if set--it even instals 2 different asio (native fl asio,or asio4all).These can both be used in reaper after installations.
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Old 12-17-2017, 06:57 AM   #5
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LatencyMon shows green values.

Its better at 1024 or 512, but with 2048 and 4096, instead of better playback it creates pops and clicks.

Lately Reaper seems to have high RT CPU usage than it used to be.
I used to put millions of plugins without problem, what could be the case here?

Sometimes I put U-He Diva and with 1 instance the RT Cpu is on 100%
I don't know what to do.

Maybe it is OK? And I just use heavy plugins?
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Old 12-17-2017, 07:05 AM   #6
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Noticed that google chrome has big impact on the pops and clicks on playback
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Old 12-17-2017, 07:11 AM   #7
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You haven't mentioned your computer specs but having an internet browser open can definitely affect CPU usage and, as I recall, that Diva plug is pretty CPU hungry.
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Old 12-17-2017, 08:27 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ivansc View Post
FL doesn't use ASIO as far as I remember. Try downloading resplendence.com's latency checker & see what it says about your computer with Reaper running.

You might also want to try going back down to something like 512 or even 256 ASIO buffer and see what happens.
Hi Ivan,
Yes they do, and indeed they recommend it. I remember reading this a few years ago when I was checking if my X-Fi internal card was good enough for DAW work and it turned out to be a recommended card:
https://www.image-line.com/support/f...s_asio4all.htm

SBK,
Try Native instruments general purpose guide to DAW/Audio optimization:
https://support.native-instruments.c...dio-Processing
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Old 12-17-2017, 09:02 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SBK View Post
LatencyMon shows green values.

Its better at 1024 or 512, but with 2048 and 4096, instead of better playback it creates pops and clicks.

Lately Reaper seems to have high RT CPU usage than it used to be.
I used to put millions of plugins without problem, what could be the case here?

Sometimes I put U-He Diva and with 1 instance the RT Cpu is on 100%
I don't know what to do.

Maybe it is OK? And I just use heavy plugins?
The driver for the connected audio interface can have a max value (often 1024 samples) where if you increase the block size more it creates more CPU work than it saves.

One thing you can try with the suspect plugin is disabling anticipative fx processing on just the track it's inserted on. (Right-click the track panel and select disable AfxP from track processing menu.) Disable per track for plugins that don't support it. Do not disable AfxP globally in preferences!

Quote:
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Noticed that google chrome has big impact on the pops and clicks on playback
Is your system output (for media player, internet browser, etc audio) set to the same sample rate as your Reaper project? If not you will have conflicts and a clicking and popping mess is pretty expected. This is why you usually get the quicker comment of "Don't have any other audio using apps like an internet browser running at the same time as your audio project."

Last edited by serr; 12-17-2017 at 09:15 AM.
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Old 12-17-2017, 09:03 AM   #10
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SBK: Obvious answer is don't use google chrome when you are recording!

And it might be interesting to see how your performance is with even lower buffer settings than 512.
I run a 32 or a 64 buffer all the time - even when mixing I seldom run more than 126.
And that is on a 4th generation i7 quad running Win10 64bit.

At least if you have all green lights (surprised you aren't even seeing any reds on page faults!) you dont have to worry about trouble shooting your actual computer.
As has already been noted, Diva IS a bit of a cpu hog so it would probably be a good idea to freeze and unfreeze when using that particular plugin.

P.S. Softsyth - never been interested in trying Fruity Loops out but several on here have praised it before. Might have to see if there is a demo version.
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Old 12-17-2017, 09:24 AM   #11
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The 'set it and forget it' block size of 1024 samples for mixing will ensure you always have max headroom. Also it might be a PITA to be switching between different recording offset values for different block sizes if you were having to up the value for some projects. (The offset you set based on block size, sample rate, and the interface base latency to make overdubbed audio align to the project.) An 'auto' setting may work well enough for this to be sight unseen in some scenarios, but when it doesn't... (What the? Why is my overdub all of a sudden out of time?!)

That's why I leave mine set to 1024 samples for studio work anyway. YMMV.
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Old 12-17-2017, 09:35 AM   #12
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Also it might be a PITA to be switching between different recording offset values for different block sizes if you were having to up the value for some projects.
I don't remember my loopback test showing a need for different record/playback offsets with the changing of buffer size. Sample rate changes however, yes.
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Old 12-17-2017, 10:45 AM   #13
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Thank you guys for your help!

After running the latency mon for 4 minutes (I didn't know this, I was running it for a few seconds only)

I got some red in hard pagefault
I attach it here along with the reports hoping anyone who knows can help me.

Thanks again guys!
Attached Images
File Type: jpg Hard pagefault.jpg (54.7 KB, 128 views)
Attached Files
File Type: txt latency report.txt (12.9 KB, 172 views)
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Old 12-17-2017, 11:12 AM   #14
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What would hav been interesting is the Processes tab.
And yes, close ALL the other programs when you are recording. Only Reaper must be running. Especially, Web browsers are known to use up whole CPUs.
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Old 12-17-2017, 12:26 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ivansc View Post

P.S. Softsyth - never been interested in trying Fruity Loops out but several on here have praised it before. Might have to see if there is a demo version.
Coincidence. I had looked for general purpose DAW advice from multiple sources, not specifically their software at all.

I had tried it briefly when I got into DAW music production. I didn't find it intuitive, unlike Reaper (for the most part).
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Old 12-17-2017, 12:30 PM   #16
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here are the processes. what does this means?
svchost having so many hard pagefaults
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Old 12-17-2017, 12:42 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ivansc View Post
Try downloading resplendence.com's latency checker & see what it says about your computer with Reaper running.
Mine keeps telling me to disable CPU throttling, which is already disabled. It also says to disable it in BIOS setup and Control Panel. You can disable CPU throttling in Control Panel?????
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Old 12-17-2017, 03:16 PM   #18
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Hard page faults in general are nothing much to worry about unless they impinge on whatever you are using in your audio chain.
In this case I would say you are fine with svchost errors.
Jeff Control panel allows you to alter your power profile since about win7 or maybe even earlier.
Dont confuse specific comments about cpu throttling as being the only place to look. I just nipped out into Win10 settings control panel and in the advanced power settings once you have set everything to run flat out and nver switch off, there are several options covering cpu drives etc. Max them all.
What it is suggesting is that you ALSO go into your bios and turn off any CPU throttling set there as well.

I am a bit rusty on this stuff' since you generally only have to do it once and my computers are both well over 7 years old!

But its worth holding down the appropriate key or key combination when you system starts and having a look at what is going on in the current bios setup. You won't need to do anything scary like re-flashing it, just change settings which are in any case re-settable on the next reboot if you do cock something up..

I will do so tomorrow AM and let you know what MY computer bios contains.
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Last edited by ivansc; 12-17-2017 at 03:22 PM.
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Old 12-17-2017, 05:11 PM   #19
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What are the system specs, and what's your definition of a project that "isn't that heavy".

Could it be that whatever you are running just uses more cpu power than you have? Unless it is the fault of a very problematic ASIO driver chewing all your CPU power, something in your project is using enough CPU to put your RT usage over 100%.
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Old 12-17-2017, 06:03 PM   #20
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Is there a lot of FX on the master bus?
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Old 12-18-2017, 03:01 AM   #21
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Getting fx off the master track can have a very big effect on the RT cpu useage.

Try putting a dummy track as Track 1 (call it Pre master) - make it a folder track, and make your last real track the end of the folder (or like a programmer, stick another dummy track at the end of all your live audio tracks, and make that the last track in the folder - a bit like bracketing your audio tracks).

Move all your master fx onto the new pre-master track (the parent folder).

By using a folder solution you don't have to worry too much about the routing as all children of course go to the parent - and the parent just sends to the real MASTER track.

Worth a go. I've seen even a simple 4.5% RT on my BIG beast of an audio box go down to 0.1% simply by doing this trick.

dB
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Old 12-18-2017, 09:05 AM   #22
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Hi SBK,
Maybe there is real time Sample Conversion going on? Did you check if there is a sample rate mismatch in your project?
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Old 12-19-2017, 06:17 AM   #23
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Quote:
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Hi SBK,
Maybe there is real time Sample Conversion going on? Did you check if there is a sample rate mismatch in your project?
Yeah, definitely check that.

Reapers resampling system is brilliant, but it can also prevent you from noticing that your sample rate is not optimal for the audio you are processing bceause it just works with whatever sample rate material you throw at it. Reaper will use CPU power to resample on the fly any source audio that is at a different sample rate to what your project is running at.
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