Bad sound from Heavy CPU usage.What are the main causes/solutions?

[Mistro17]

I would think I have a decent rig for music making. It's originally built for gaming and 3D graphic work. I have a i7-8700k, GTX 980Ti, M.2 1T ssd and 32gb RAM. My sample rate is at 44,100 in Reason. But some instruments especially sythns cause my speakers to start popping when the CPU usage gets heavy. In some cases it's only one instrument. Like Europa, and a few Kontakt instruments I have. I'm wondering if it's a hardware issue or am I just not optimizing something right with Reason and my system. Or is it these old monitor speakers (Studiophile BX5 bought many years ago). I understand the better the quality samples being played the more CPU have to work. So how do most musicians deal with all the complex songs using so many quality instruments, effects, etc. without pulling your hair out? Any advice is welcome.

EDIT: I should add I have a Behringer U-PHORIA UMC22 audio interface and I'm on Windows 10 64

[Loque]

ASIO?
Performance settings of windows?

[Jackjackdaw]

If it's your speakers then they will sound bad whatever you play through them. Test them with an audio source that is definitely not CPU intensive.

Try bypassing your audio interface and use windows audio drivers, is there still an issue? Are your asio drivers up to date?

Those specs should be able to handle a single instance of Europa with ease. Maybe you have some other stuff running in the background, anti virus software or something?

[Steedus]

I get the same thing with heavier VSTs - every now and then the DSP meter will spike into the red causing a pop/glitch, but I'm using a 2018 MacBook Pro which is notorious for immediately overheating and throttling CPU.

You should hear this thing after just 10 minutes using Chromaphone!

[Loque]

Not sure, what you guys are doing or what machines you have. I can easily add a big bunch of everything, lots of tracks with lots of devices, instruments and fx, easily 30 tracks with a big bunch of stuff in each track and no crackling. The crackling starts if i add the mastering devices like oversampling limiters, linear EQs and high class compressors. No problems here. And i repeat this all the time when than ppl complain about performance, crackling, drop outs, underruns...:
* Check your performance settings of the OS
* Check your driver (ASIO?)
* Check your buffer settings
* Check your multithreading and multicore settings in Reason
* Check other options to optimize your machine for audio (background service for audio and so on...)
* Check your devices (easy with R11 new "show cpu usage" option)
* Avoid heavy linear routings (you need high single core performance!)
* Buy high performance single core performance CPUs and not many-core CPUs with low single core performance
* Buy a SSD (damn, it's 2020 and not 1999)
* 16GB RAM is minimum today (check virtual memory settings)
* Do not expect a 10 year old computer torun software from today, you need a new computer or 10 year old software

[Mistro17]

Most of my instruments run just fine. Just those special ones with high quality samples give me issues. For example I got the free YANGQUIN instrument from NI last night. I only loaded that to test it (very nice instrument BTW) and my speakers started crying after a while. In Kontakt I saw the CPU spiking. This happens in a few other instruments I have including some presets in VITAL. At the same time I have songs with many instruments loaded up and have no problem. I just try and keep only one song open at a time. So now I get nervous about using any high sampled instruments. Most suspects are Kontakt ones. Like Analog Dreams. I see people using it with no problem so I'm wondering what's going on in my end.

I do have ASIO4ALLv2. Currently in Reason it's set to ASIO BEHRINGER USB AUDIO. I have it there because that's what works for me if I want to hear my system audio and follow along with a YouTube video if I want.

[Loque]

Most of my instruments run just fine. Just those special ones with high quality samples give me issues. For example I got the free YANGQUIN instrument from NI last night. I only loaded that to test it (very nice instrument BTW) and my speakers started crying after a while. In Kontakt I saw the CPU spiking. This happens in a few other instruments I have including some presets in VITAL. At the same time I have songs with many instruments loaded up and have no problem. I just try and keep only one song open at a time. So now I get nervous about using any high sampled instruments. Most suspects are Kontakt ones. Like Analog Dreams. I see people using it with no problem so I'm wondering what's going on in my end.

I do have ASIO4ALLv2. Currently in Reason it's set to ASIO BEHRINGER USB AUDIO. I have it there because that's what works for me if I want to hear my system audio and follow along with a YouTube video if I want.

I really would appreciate if you check all my other points or give some answers to it. Without, it is just walking in the dark and i suspect, you did not have configured everything as it should be.

[Mistro17]

I really would appreciate if you check all my other points or give some answers to it. Without, it is just walking in the dark and i suspect, you did not have configured everything as it should be.

OS Performance settings- ??
ASIO- YES
Buffer Size- at 256 samples. If I change to ASIO4ALL it goes to 512 samples
Performance (in Reason 11 suite)- All 3 are checked
Other options to optimize machine- I have a lot to learn
Check your devices- Is that for each device in the rack?
Avoid heavy linear routings-??
As sated in my first post I have a i7-8700k is pretty decent (Might upgrade probably next year). Also have M.2 1T ssd and 32gb RAM

[Loque]

I really would appreciate if you check all my other points or give some answers to it. Without, it is just walking in the dark and i suspect, you did not have configured everything as it should be.

OS Performance settings- ??
ASIO- YES
Buffer Size- at 256 samples. If I change to ASIO4ALL it goes to 512 samples
Performance (in Reason 11 suite)- All 3 are checked
Other options to optimize machine- I have a lot to learn
Check your devices- Is that for each device in the rack?
Avoid heavy linear routings-??
As sated in my first post I have a i7-8700k is pretty decent (Might upgrade probably next year). Also have M.2 1T ssd and 32gb RAM

Ok, now check your power saving settings and ensure, they are set to highest performance:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/win ... 24e5ea7679


And than, check the performance of each device, and look out for a pretty high value. This might be sequenctial rendering. Think about removing or exchanging a device. Maybe a different routing can do it too.

r11performance.jpg (41.85 KiB) Viewed 634 times

Try to set your audio card settings to:
* 64 or 128 samples
* Multicore
* Multihtreading
* No use of audio card buffer size
* And also check the settings of the VST, since they often have multi core support, which causes problems, when the DAW tries to optimize the load

asio.jpg (48.94 KiB) Viewed 634 times

[Mistro17]

OS Performance settings- ??
ASIO- YES
Buffer Size- at 256 samples. If I change to ASIO4ALL it goes to 512 samples
Performance (in Reason 11 suite)- All 3 are checked
Other options to optimize machine- I have a lot to learn
Check your devices- Is that for each device in the rack?
Avoid heavy linear routings-??
As sated in my first post I have a i7-8700k is pretty decent (Might upgrade probably next year). Also have M.2 1T ssd and 32gb RAM

Ok, now check your power saving settings and ensure, they are set to highest performance:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/win ... 24e5ea7679


And than, check the performance of each device, and look out for a pretty high value. This might be sequenctial rendering. Think about removing or exchanging a device. Maybe a different routing can do it too.
r11performance.jpg


Try to set your audio card settings to:
* 64 or 128 samples
* Multicore
* Multihtreading
* No use of audio card buffer size
* And also check the settings of the VST, since they often have multi core support, which causes problems, when the DAW tries to optimize the load
asio.jpg

Thanks a lot. Some of this info I did not know. I will look into those in my next session and report back here.

[xylyx]

I'd also check the CPU temperature, as I had issues on my old system with the CPU throttling due to the CPU running too hot - some projects with plenty of tracks in them would run fine, others would choke with just a couple.

There is some useful info here that should point you in the right direction.