Any suggestions anyone. Will replacing my onboard video help lower the cpu usage when recording?
A summary anyway about this issue "who's got the bitbucket".
All these apps use about the same cpu usage to do the same things
In Sonar 3
No CPU is used supporting the incoming stream on a asio channel unless a track is armed. RME has the bitbucket is dumping the stream there
When a track is armed the bitbucket is passed for that audio stream from RME to Sonar. This takes 18% of the CPU on my system. If the other track of the stream, ASIO is in stereo streams, is selected the cpu usage stays the same
For every stereo pair selected there is an additional 18% CPU used. In other words if you record 1, 2, 3, 4 there is a usage for recording of about 36%. If you record 1, 3, 5, 7 there is a usage of 72% the same as if you record all 8 tracks.
As the tracks are unarmed the usage drops proportionally to 0%. Each of the four bitbuckets are passed back to RME when the tracks are unarmed.
Starting over at the top of this section and everything works the same.
In Vegas 4:
Behaves the same as Sonar in both MME and ASIO except BUG
Vegas uses the correct cpu usage, but after unarming the tracks
the CPU only drops to zero when the last track is unarmed. If only one track is armed the next time all four bitbuckets are grabbed for 72% CPU usage until the next time Vegas is restarted.
Reaper 1.49:
Grabs all four bitbuckets and will not let go as long as their enabled in the input range setting BUG!
I understand that this is probably an issue where the input streams are working as designed. This is a design flaw.
From this thread
http://www.cockos.com/forum/showthre...e+audio+engine
from pipeline audio:
"Also pretty interesting to note, and TOTALLY counter to what I find in most apps is that REAPER for me doesnt change CPU use between tracks armed AND monitoring and tracks disarmed/no monitoring"
This is not a feature it is a BUG. If a new user fires up reaper configures his soundcard and finds the CPU usage is double or triple what he is used to and he can't accomplish what he is used to doing he's not going to buy it in most cases.
In summary from my findings here I should be using Sonar. I won't cause I hate the *&^%$@#@#$ UI.
I will be using reaper because I can work around this bug fairly easily. By only enabling inputs I want to use in the input range and making sure to patch any preamps I am using into ASIO pairs.
Besides Reaper is a better app than Vegas anyway.
A friend installed reaper and was mixing some old 8 track sessions on his cheap laptop. He was maxing out all the time on a celeron 2.0. He messed with the driver, installed ASIO 4 All, and disabled the input and the same session runs at 16% CPU
I realize you guys are probably trying to make punching more stable hanging onto the driver like this but at least put a mix mode button or a disable punch ins setting so there is not so much work keeping the CPU usage to a minimum