Any kind of plug-in diasnostic...?

[minminmusic]

So...recent i9-14900k build. Overall been running great however I'm working on one project where I'm getting crackling in CbB. Most recent Sonar is less so but still intermittently there as well. Was not having this issue on the previous machine but also multiple new plug-ins were added after the machine transition. Is there any way to determine where/who the bottleneck culprit is without removing everything and starting over. I know sometimes it can be one specific plugin that's not playing nicely. Other times it could be the order of plugins.  One project with double the amount of files plays fine...one with less and I'm getting crackles. Any thoughts/approaches?

[David Baay]

Crackle-inducing plugins will often be those that use lookahead buffers and require delay compensation. In Sonar you can identify these by hovering over each plugin in an FX bin to see how much PDC it's inducing, if any. Mastering plugins from Izotope, linear phase EQs and Compressors and transient shapers are common offenders. 

Also if you've added any soft synths in the mean time, you might try freezing those. Synths that use physical modeling like those from AAS and Arturia, Izotope's Iris 2, Pianoteq, etc. can add a lot of processing load.

[minminmusic]

I suspect it might be MCompressor as I was using it in sidechain mode on the master buss (to get a little pump in the junk). Looks like once I turned it off it calmed down a little. Have CbB open right now which I don't think has the "hover" option. I'll check in Sonar in a sec. Thanks for the suggestion!!!

[Wookiee]

@minminmusic I run an i9 14900k yet to experience any issues. You don't mention your interface,  make and model, or the driver you are using, or the sample rate or sample size.

My interface is a Focusrite Clarett Pre 8 USB, using their ASIO driver at 44.1kHz between 96 or 128 samples. Personally not used the MCompressor you mention, but I am totally in the box using modelled synths from GForce, Arturia, Korg, Cherry Audio without issue. 

[minminmusic]

RME Fireface 800. Has worked like a beast for well over 15 years. Also have an Apollo 8p but not as my main interface. System drivers are the ASIO RME drivers...again beasts. Running 24bit and 44.1. This Cakewalk project has been a little glitchy as I've been working on it over the last year (with both my old system and new one...band members live internationally so it's a little slow getting work done.)

Now...the only thing I can think of off hand I'm running the graphics off of the CPU. As I'm in deep in the UA waters, there's not a lot of motherboards with ample PCIe slots anymore. I went with the ASUS Tuf Gaming z790. Now...if I got rid of one of my Quad UA cards and upgraded that to a Octo it would free up a slot and I wouldn't loose any UA power...but as I'm not a gamer, would prefer something that is solid enough for an audio system, maybe put less stress on the CPU but not generate enough heat to add to the 14900k woes.

Just wish it was easier to debug who's the culprit plugin wise as I could try and find alternatives.

[Bristol_Jonesey]

7 hours ago, minminmusic said:

RME Fireface 800. Has worked like a beast for well over 15 years. Also have an Apollo 8p but not as my main interface. System drivers are the ASIO RME drivers...again beasts. Running 24bit and 44.1. This Cakewalk project has been a little glitchy as I've been working on it over the last year (with both my old system and new one...band members live internationally so it's a little slow getting work done.)

Now...the only thing I can think of off hand I'm running the graphics off of the CPU. As I'm in deep in the UA waters, there's not a lot of motherboards with ample PCIe slots anymore. I went with the ASUS Tuf Gaming z790. Now...if I got rid of one of my Quad UA cards and upgraded that to a Octo it would free up a slot and I wouldn't loose any UA power...but as I'm not a gamer, would prefer something that is solid enough for an audio system, maybe put less stress on the CPU but not generate enough heat to add to the 14900k woes.

Just wish it was easier to debug who's the culprit plugin wise as I could try and find alternatives.

There might be a way to identify it, but it's potentially a long and painstaking method.

Start by making a copy of the project and save it under a different name

Then open the original up in Safe Mode. When you're prompted to load plugins, enable the first 50% (as close as you can judge it) and disable the rest.

Save under yet another different name and see if it glitches.

If it does, you've narrowed the culprit down to those plugins you've enabled so you can then repeat the process and enable  the first 50% of the enabled ones. Repeat until you've found it

If it doesn't glitch, repeat the process on the second 50% of your plugins.

 

The more plugins there are in a project, the longer this will take

 

[minminmusic]

Yeah...Safe Mode needs an overhall. It should ask you those questions in some kind of order that makes sense or provide additional info in a specific order. Such as Track 1 - Kick Drum: EQ, Track 1 - Kick Drum: UA 1176, Track 2 - Snare: Sonitus Gate etc. That would be much more meaningful. Right now...it appears random though I think it's based somewhat on the historical order the plug-ins were loaded.

 

[Starship Krupa]

I would be surprised if MCompressor turned out to be the culprit, although of course it could be the proverbial straw that breaks the camel's back.

I've done extensive testing and comparisons using Plugin Doctor, and MeldaProduction plug-ins are almost always the least resource-hungry in their categories. I can't even remember what the exceptions were, and by how much, but sometimes it's orders of magnitude.

Since I tend to run trailing edge spec systems, it was a major selling point for my investment in their products.

Jonesy has the best advice, just narrow it down. Safe mode method, or you can try educated guesses. Linear phase processors tend to be resource hungry.

You might try going into MCompressor's settings and experiment with disabling/enabling OpenGL if you suspect that your video is a bottleneck.

But on the system I'm typing this on, a dual core i5 laptop from 2017, I can pile on MCompressor instances all day long. And I have OpenGL enabled in all of my MeldaProduction processors.

Also, can't recommend this highly enough, Microsoft Developer Pete Brown's guide to tuning your system for audio work.

[HOOK]

I battled  my "new" machine for months.  Then I realized I had somehow forgot to disable core parking.

[minminmusic]

I think you may have hit one issue on the head that I've noticed with my system. I have Process Lasso enabled on with an update it looks like it turned on Pro Balanced Enabled (which I think should be off for audio machines?) and I also noticed that core parking was on. I disabled both and the machine seems to be doing better and less fan throttling as well. Still haven't tried to re-enable MCompressor thought yet...been busy today.