Audio glitches

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Micronini
Posts: 13
Joined: 08 Mar 2016
Location: Switzerland
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13 Mar 2017

I noticed that the fans on my MBP are always on.

So, I opened my MacBook Pro, there was a little amount of dust, especially by the fans. With a vacuum, I removed all the dust and cleaned the grids after the outputs of the fans (without vacuuming the screws placed by the lap-top ;-) .

So, far, I have no more glitches playing an heavy rack with Reason 9.2.2 !

I think that the inside heat made a temperature sensor slowing down the CPU.
Reason Suite : 11.2.1.d17
Controllers : Novation MKII (with Automap 4.9) + QuNeo (Keith McMillen)
MIDI : Moog Sub Phatty
Many, many :re:
OS X 10.13.6 on a MacBook Pro 15" 2017
Sound Card : Presonus StudioLive 16.0.2

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satyr32
Posts: 313
Joined: 29 Apr 2015
Location: Vaduz, Liechtentein
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13 Mar 2017

i can confirm, those how have two graphic cards in the macbook pro, it will always use the integrated one in reason, no matter your settings in the system preferences in OSX.
Marco Raaphorst alrady provided the solution: http://melodiefabriek.com/blog/audio-gl ... eason-fix/

Get the gfxCardStatus 2.3 app !!!!!!!!!! (Love you for this advise, Marco)

For comparision my results in Reason 9 with the Benchmark/Stresstest file that is floating around in this forum (see thread here: viewtopic.php?t=7263897):

Without gfxCardStatus (meaning the integrated card is used):
Song starts crackling at 22 seconds and stops at 29 seconds.

With gfxCardStatus (in my case AMD Radeon 460 Pro)
Song starts crackling at 28 seconds and stops at 34 seconds.

I also tested how many synths and fx the both graphic cards can handle. And the result is that if the dedicated one is active it can handle about 15% more devices (depending on the RE) than the integrated one.

Still the OSX version of Reason is much worse than the PC version regarding the CPU power. I really hope this will be fixed in Reason 10. I do not know if it is Propplerheads fault, might also be inherent in the OSX.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
https://soundcloud.com/aeon_eternal

sah
Posts: 17
Joined: 25 Jun 2016

28 Mar 2017

I contacted Propellerhead and they are currently investigating this.
They suggested I enable "Use In Low Resolution"

I tried your tip and it helped a little bit:)

Reason 9.2
MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2016)
2,6 GHz Intel Core i7
16 GB 2133 MHz LPDDR3
Intel HD Graphics 530 1536 MB

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Marco Raaphorst
Posts: 2504
Joined: 22 Jan 2015
Location: The Hague, The Netherlands
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28 Mar 2017

sah wrote:I contacted Propellerhead and they are currently investigating this.
They suggested I enable "Use In Low Resolution"

I tried your tip and it helped a little bit:)

Reason 9.2
MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2016)
2,6 GHz Intel Core i7
16 GB 2133 MHz LPDDR3
Intel HD Graphics 530 1536 MB
That Low Resolution tip is very evil. That looks so awul... it's like turning a first class MacBook Pro into a 2010 model...

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SA Studio
Posts: 411
Joined: 19 Nov 2015

28 Mar 2017

Marco Raaphorst wrote:Someone suggested me to read http://appleinsider.com/articles/16/08/ ... it-choices. It's an article from august 2016. And I guess they are right. The late 2016 new MacBook Pros have an integrated Intel HD Graphics 515 card. Low-tech stuff. Apple doesn't care anymore for the pro market I guess.

Super weird right? Why is Apple not making high tech MacBook Pros?
Thanks for spotting the issue. I'm not a Mac guy, but I think Mac people are having a hard time putting their finger on certain changes and this could be the big one. Apple's whole acumen seems to have changed. Cheap hardware, lesser specs, crappy OS that renders previously running software dead in the water. Don't know why they'd let themselves fall behind the curve with their laptops and towers - maybe more effort these days is put into their phones.

sah
Posts: 17
Joined: 25 Jun 2016

30 Mar 2017

I did a quick test
I opened the Demo Song BLKMGK - DEMON in Reason 9.2 on my Laptop and Mac mini.

The Mac mini played the song back with no glitches on 128 samples.
The MacBook Pro played the song back with glitches on 256 samples.
Both Machines are on (macOS Sierra 10.12.4)

MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2016)
2,6 GHz Intel Core i7
16 GB 2133 MHz LPDDR3
Intel HD Graphics 530 1536 MB

Mac mini (Late 2012)
2,5 GHz Intel Core i5
16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
Intel HD Graphics 4000 1536 MD

When I used Apple TV 4 as external monitor with the MacBook Pro I got a warning in Reason "Computer too slow to play song" on 256 samples.

sah
Posts: 17
Joined: 25 Jun 2016

30 Mar 2017

With the Automatic graphics switching turned off it played a little bit better on 256 samples, but still impossible at 128 samples.

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Oquasec
Posts: 2849
Joined: 05 Mar 2017

30 Mar 2017

A custombuilt would be doing 64ms on powersaving mode.
a lappy at 800$ would be doing 64ms no glitches at high performance mode.

But you use a mac device. A prebuilt one.
I would recommend a 1500$ minimum mac device for those since they are more about just being a 'reliable user friendly' brand.
Producer/Programmer.
Reason, FLS and Cubase NFR user.

sah
Posts: 17
Joined: 25 Jun 2016

30 Mar 2017

Oquasec wrote:A custombuilt would be doing 64ms on powersaving mode.
a lappy at 800$ would be doing 64ms no glitches at high performance mode.

But you use a mac device. A prebuilt one.
I would recommend a 1500$ minimum mac device for those since they are more about just being a 'reliable user friendly' brand.
The Laptop costs almost 3000$ It is the new one with Touch Bar!

MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2016)
2,6 GHz Intel Core i7
16 GB 2133 MHz LPDDR3
Intel HD Graphics 530 1536 MB

sah
Posts: 17
Joined: 25 Jun 2016

30 Mar 2017

sah wrote:I did a quick test
I opened the Demo Song BLKMGK - DEMON in Reason 9.2 on my Laptop and Mac mini.

The Mac mini played the song back with no glitches on 128 samples.
The MacBook Pro played the song back with glitches on 256 samples.
Both Machines are on (macOS Sierra 10.12.4)

MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2016)
2,6 GHz Intel Core i7
16 GB 2133 MHz LPDDR3
Intel HD Graphics 530 1536 MB

Mac mini (Late 2012)
2,5 GHz Intel Core i5
16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
Intel HD Graphics 4000 1536 MD

When I used Apple TV 4 as external monitor with the MacBook Pro I got a warning in Reason "Computer too slow to play song" on 256 samples.
Entering and exiting Fullscreen mode makes audio Glitch all the way up to and on 1024 samples, with the Automatic graphics switching turned on.

With the Automatic graphics switching turned off I can Enter and Exit Fullscreen mode on 256 samples. It starts to glitch on 128 samples.

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Oquasec
Posts: 2849
Joined: 05 Mar 2017

30 Mar 2017

3000 dollars on a mac?
Damn dude. Well...you wanted a 3000$ mac and that's a preference, you can eh...well everybody has their own taste in computers man.

I'm not even going go go over why I think that's not a good idea lmfao nevermind this thread.
[You can build custom desktops in the 300-1000$ range that go below 128ms]
That's the advice I'll give you instead actually. (subliminally saying windows/linux is superior)
Producer/Programmer.
Reason, FLS and Cubase NFR user.

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Marco Raaphorst
Posts: 2504
Joined: 22 Jan 2015
Location: The Hague, The Netherlands
Contact:

31 Mar 2017

sah wrote:I did a quick test
I opened the Demo Song BLKMGK - DEMON in Reason 9.2 on my Laptop and Mac mini.

The Mac mini played the song back with no glitches on 128 samples.
The MacBook Pro played the song back with glitches on 256 samples.
Both Machines are on (macOS Sierra 10.12.4)

MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2016)
2,6 GHz Intel Core i7
16 GB 2133 MHz LPDDR3
Intel HD Graphics 530 1536 MB

Mac mini (Late 2012)
2,5 GHz Intel Core i5
16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
Intel HD Graphics 4000 1536 MD

When I used Apple TV 4 as external monitor with the MacBook Pro I got a warning in Reason "Computer too slow to play song" on 256 samples.
Bad results indeed!

Wondering if Sierra has something to do with it. I haven't upgraded to Sierra yet. Have you contacted the Props? I find it extremely weird that the newest MacBook Pro is performing so badly.

What soundcard are you using btw?

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Oquasec
Posts: 2849
Joined: 05 Mar 2017

31 Mar 2017

I'd also say that OSX is to mac is windows 7 & 8.1 [not 8] was to windows.
Producer/Programmer.
Reason, FLS and Cubase NFR user.

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Marco Raaphorst
Posts: 2504
Joined: 22 Jan 2015
Location: The Hague, The Netherlands
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31 Mar 2017

Oquasec wrote:I'd also say that OSX is to mac is windows 7 & 8.1 [not 8] was to windows.
Maybe you are right. It is interesting to test Windows versus OSX on the same machine. Maybe I can do that, but not soon because I have running projects which needs the machine I am working on (late 2013 MBpro Retina).

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Oquasec
Posts: 2849
Joined: 05 Mar 2017

31 Mar 2017

I wonder if that's just the new OS thing happening right now as windows had an issue like that for a whole 2 weeks last year lol
Producer/Programmer.
Reason, FLS and Cubase NFR user.

sah
Posts: 17
Joined: 25 Jun 2016

31 Mar 2017

Not using any soundcard. Built in output/headphones only for this test. Yeah it is really really strange that this computer performs so badly. I have contacted Propellerhead and they said that they have started to get similar reports and are investigating.

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Marco Raaphorst
Posts: 2504
Joined: 22 Jan 2015
Location: The Hague, The Netherlands
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31 Mar 2017

sah wrote:Not using any soundcard. Built in output/headphones only for this test. Yeah it is really really strange that this computer performs so badly. I have contacted Propellerhead and they said that they have started to get similar reports and are investigating.
Keep us informed about how the Props are trying to solve this issue! Very interesting since many of us might wanna buy a new Mac one day...

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Last Alternative
Posts: 1343
Joined: 20 Jan 2015
Location: the lost desert

01 Apr 2017

Yeah I just got the best iMac yesterday hoping to rid myself of audio issues on my Windows computer and this is concerning. Haven't used it at home yet. Geez.
https://lastalternative.bandcamp.com
:reason: 12.7.4 | MacBook Pro (16”, 2021), OS Sonoma, M1 Max, 4TB SSD, 64GB RAM | quality instruments & gear

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Oquasec
Posts: 2849
Joined: 05 Mar 2017

01 Apr 2017

I'm just saying you could get a pixar level sculpting rig as well as a decent gaming setup if you build a windows/linux machine.
Especially if you use steaaaaaam and not consoles but hey just opinion.
Producer/Programmer.
Reason, FLS and Cubase NFR user.

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Data_Shrine
Posts: 517
Joined: 23 Jan 2015

01 Apr 2017

I updated my MBP (maxed-out mid 2014 model) to Sierra last week, also updated my soundcard/gpu drivers, everything works better than on Mavericks except Reason. It glitches very easily and I cant use a lot of devices. Ableton Live is actually using less cpu and doesn't glitches in tracks it struggled with previously.

sah
Posts: 17
Joined: 25 Jun 2016

06 Jul 2017

Good news! Reason 9.5.1. Fixes a lot of the issues using Reason on my MacBook Pro 15", Late 2016. :)

sah
Posts: 17
Joined: 25 Jun 2016

06 Jul 2017

But It is not perfect. I now get. Computer too slow to play song if I Enter/Exit Fullscreen. And there's not so many tracks and FX. Audio Glitches when using VST KORG Gadget Chicago's knobs. I guess there is a lot more Bad stuff...
I hope Propellerhead continue to optimize Reason for Mac.

sah
Posts: 17
Joined: 25 Jun 2016

06 Jul 2017

PRO TIP: Remember to turn off automatic graphic switching on MacBook Pro when using Reason. That helped with the Computer too slow to play song message. And the audio did not Glitch when entering fullscreen mode.

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Marco Raaphorst
Posts: 2504
Joined: 22 Jan 2015
Location: The Hague, The Netherlands
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06 Jul 2017

sah wrote:
06 Jul 2017
PRO TIP: Remember to turn off automatic graphic switching on MacBook Pro when using Reason. That helped with the Computer too slow to play song message. And the audio did not Glitch when entering fullscreen mode.
Are you sure? I noticed that because of VST in Reason 9.5 it will now always choose the discrete card when your Mac has one.

sah
Posts: 17
Joined: 25 Jun 2016

07 Jul 2017

Marco Raaphorst wrote:
06 Jul 2017
sah wrote:
06 Jul 2017
PRO TIP: Remember to turn off automatic graphic switching on MacBook Pro when using Reason. That helped with the Computer too slow to play song message. And the audio did not Glitch when entering fullscreen mode.
Are you sure? I noticed that because of VST in Reason 9.5 it will now always choose the discrete card when your Mac has one.
I hoped it would, but I had problems and I turned it off, and the problems was no more.
I was not connected to the power, so maybe that is why...

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