Polystep sequencer CPU usage high

[pongasoft]

I just noticed that simply adding a polystep sequencer makes my CPU rise by 20% or so. Even if there is nothing happening, nothing playing, nothing moving. Just sitting there. Simply create a project with an ID8 and add a polystep sequencer. Easy to reproduce... (macOS).

I have the feeling that the UI is constantly redrawn when it shouldn't be...

Yan

[Billy+]

What Reason build are you running?
What Mac OS version are you using?

I'm sure there are reports that the last 11 build has caused increased dsp usage.

[pongasoft]

I am using the latest version of Reason (I am actually using Reason+....) on macOS 10.14.6

[bigguy1]

I'm on Win 10 with Reason 11.3.9d22. Adding a Polystep Sequencer maybe adds 1% to the CPU load. Can't reproduce this on Win10 I guess.

[bigguy1]

I was wondering what happens when adding other players. I tried Quad Note Generator, Beat Map and Pattern Mutator. No noticable raise of CPU usage after putting them in front of an ID8. But when I added Delta Midi Computer there was also a 1-2% raise of CPU load.

Not that I am concerned about that, just an observation.

[buddard]

I'm also on macOS 10.14.6, running Reason 11.3.9 Suite.
I'm not noticing any abnormal CPU usage for PolyStep, at least not by looking at the CPU load meter in the rack.
PolyStep sits there at 2%, occasionally flashing to 3%.

[Loque]

I am using the latest version of Reason (I am actually using Reason+....) on macOS 10.14.6

Which version exactly do you use? Are you sure, it is not a beta version?

[pongasoft]

Here is a gif showing exactly what is happening on my system.

polystep.gif (722.73 KiB) Viewed 1615 times

I have Reason 11 suite (not a beta version) and is the latest version available (no update when I select check for updates). I have a blank project with an ID8. The CPU is about ~11%. I add a poystep sequencer and the CPU quickly jumps to over 30% and stays there. You can see that if I delete the player, the CPU goes immediately back down to ~11%. During this entire exercise, Reason is not playing, I am not doing anything like hitting keyboard keys or anything else. I am simply adding the player and then removing it.

As people have asked, I am on macOS 10.14.6. Maybe it doesn't do this on PC as I don't have a way to test on PC. But note that I am not using the highly imprecise DSP meter from Reason. I am using the System activity monitor that is accurately tracking the CPU usage of the process. So if you run this test on your machine (whether PC or mac) you need to look at the process itself.

An idle device that takes 20% CPU is a problem. Moreover, this device is a sequencer player, whose primary goal is to issue the right midi note at the right time, and whether in action or idle, really shouldn't consume 20% cpu to do that. It is not like it's doing complex fft math or whatever...

[Loque]

...

I know that Reason reserves CPU load by having threads beeing fully busy, but not consuming all the CPU, which means you still can use the "allocated" CPU amount.

Would be interesting what happens if you add more Polysteps?

Can you show the CPU load in Reason? The new feature in the Options menu?

[pongasoft]

Can you show the CPU load in Reason? The new feature in the Options menu?

Screen Shot 2021-06-14 at 09.17.57.png (107.35 KiB) Viewed 1575 times

This confirms what I am seeing. Reason hovers between 3% and 4% but I assume it is overall machine. The activity monitor is reporting per core, meaning (with 8 core) using all CPUs would be 800%, so 3%-4% of the machine is about 24%-32% of CPU for 1 core which is what activity monitor reports.

It is also linear, meaning every added polystep sequencer adds the same amount of CPU. Even more weird, if you click on "On" to essentially bypass the player entirely, which also turns off the screen entirely, it has 0 effect on the amount of CPU used and happily use over 20% of one core for absolutely nothing.

Something is really off with this player. I tried with all the other players I have (Note Echo, Beat Map, Quad Note Generator...) and none of them behave this way.

[Loque]

That looks like an issie. Dunno if the Panda is around atm, but you can try to contact him through his homepage or create a ticket at RS.

[MannequinRaces]

Can you show the CPU load in Reason? The new feature in the Options menu?

Screen Shot 2021-06-14 at 09.17.57.png

What sorcery is this?! What version did this feature come out on?

[challism]

Screen Shot 2021-06-14 at 09.17.57.png

What sorcery is this?! What version did this feature come out on?

I want to say it came out in 11.3.5, but I'm not 100% sure. I've currently got 11.3.4 running, and it isn't in that version. 11.3.9 definitely has it.
It's under options/show CPU bla bla bla... forgot what it's called, exactly.

[MannequinRaces]

What sorcery is this?! What version did this feature come out on?

I want to say it came out in 11.3.5, but I'm not 100% sure. I've currently got 11.3.4 running, and it isn't in that version. 11.3.9 definitely has it.
It's under options/show CPU bla bla bla... forgot what it's called, exactly.

Awesome. Thanks!

[challism]

11.3.9 still installed on my other computer... here's a screenshot of it's location.
.

Untitled.jpg (97.74 KiB) Viewed 1478 times