I dont know much about cpu levels, but i set a cpu button on my concert patch to know how hard my computer is working. After about 15 minautes in in perform mode. The cpu seems to be going really high. My battary was running really low btw also, i dont know if that would have an affect on the cpu. Is this normal? if not
what should i do?
MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch,Early 2015), OS X Yosemite (10.10.4)
Hi Matt (Trinity Cadet!)
I just did some troubleshooting, and verified the results. Here is what I found:
So if I set my I/O Buffer to say "256" samples....the effect on CPU Usage is negligible:
But if I set my I/O Buffer to say "64" samples....the effect on CPU Usage is HUGE:
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My Performance Rig:
MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2010), 2.66 Ghz i7, 4GB Ram, Stock 500 GB SATA Drive, USB External, Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 Pro Interface, Novation Impulse 49, Maschine MK2, Korg MS-2000, SE-1
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Pics:
IO 64 samples, No Feedback Protection:
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IO 64 Samples Yes Feed Back Protection:
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IO 256 Samples No Feed Back Protection:
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IO 256 Samples Yes Feed Back Protection:
For a newer computer like yours, it would seem that what you are showing would be unusually high. I occasionally get spikes, but nothing like what you are showing. What are you doing in your performances? I've gone through and reduced the use of effects and unnecessary plugins where possible.
You are showing the results of "activity monitor". What is using up memory? Your MS meter is maxed but you show yourself being 89.94% Idle. Do you have anything running in the background?
Switching from "performance mode" to "edit mode" will certainly reduce your load. No one seems to understand why, but has been noted by lots of users. Interestingly, when I'm in "edit mode" and I look at activity monitor, the percentage of CPU use for "user" seems to reflect the percentages shown in the CPU monitor in MS. However, when I go to "performance mode" the MS monitor jumps up almost double, but the activity monitor remains about the same. Which one do you believe?
Despite what the meters are reading, the performance of MS has been nearly flawless for me. It's never crashed, stopped working or added latency (all of which I have read about here).
My only struggles have been with finding a controller that works smoothly and plays the way I want it to. I've settled on a Roland A800. So far, it really seems to be doing a great job!
Good luck!
MacBook Pro (Retina, 15 inch, mid 2014), 2.2GHz i7, 16GB RAM, 250 GB SSD, Radial USB Pro interface, Roland A800, Roland RD30GX, Line 6 FBC MkII.
Thanks for your response, Yeah usually it doesnt go up that high, and i was confused because the readings of the cpu in activity moniter are never congruent with mainstage readings. Maybe they are reading different things i dont know. But Even if i just open mainstage the cpu reader is always at about 50 percent. anyways. my set up is macbook pro Retina 2015 "13", 3.1 GHz i7, 16gb ram, 120 gb Flash, and an external 1Tb SSD where i keep all my music and plug-ins stored. and as the attatched photo shown i have a akai mini keyboard controller USB plugged into my computer, also a Focusrite 6i6 audio/midi interface which connects to a microphone and a drum synthesizer (Nord Drum 2/pad). I have each instrament plugged in simultaneously. The Drum Pad and the microphone are configured at the concert level and the Akai mini keyboard/controller is configured at the set and patch level. I feel like my set up is not too out of the ordinary, and there should not be cpu issues. Maybe there are no issues, and im just being overly cautious being that i really dont understand cpu monitors. Maybe i should just get rid of the monitor so that i dont further frustrate myself haha.
Well... My mother used to say, "ignorance is bliss." I am a bit comforted by the fact that even though I have seen an occasional error message about the CPU not being able to process the information quickly enough, I've never heard an error while playing. I've been playing a few times a week and two or three times a week in rehearsal for the past three months with my system and the computer has never "glitched". I had plenty of problems with an older Mac Mini, but not the MacBook. I've had controller issues, but no audio artifact that would indicate the computer couldn't keep up with my playing.
Good luck!
Matt
MacBook Pro (Retina, 15 inch, mid 2014), 2.2GHz i7, 16GB RAM, 250 GB SSD, Radial USB Pro interface, Roland A800, Roland RD30GX, Line 6 FBC MkII
I can practically guarantee that your high CPU usage in Perform Mode is due to your machine being the 13" retina model. I'll also bet money that when you're in Edit Mode, the CPU usage is much lower...probably about 50% less.
I don't know what the exact issue is but I've seen this phenomenon on all recent MacBook Pro 13" retina models running MainStage. On a 15" machine, there is virtually no difference in CPU usage between Edit and Perform Modes but for some reason, there's a significant difference between these modes on the 13" model. I highly recommend submitting feedback to Apple via the MS menu item...that's the best way to make sure Apple is aware of your issue.
Now that i have looked into it more, it seems to be everyone with the retina 13. It seems to me a bug issue and not a computer capability issue. Especially since the retina 13 has more than enough juice to push out this program in my opinion. Im running the 3.1 i7, 16gb ram, and all my plug-ins are comming from an SSD. If i would have known about this before buying a computer i would have gone with the 15 inch, but its a little too late now. Do you think that they will come out with a fix to this issue?
Tylennol wrote:
Do you think that they will come out with a fix to this issue?
Only if users like yourself continue to submit feedback to Apple...use the MainStage menu item.
I'm pretty annoyed about this situation on your behalf (and anyone with a 13" model) because the difference in CPU usage between the 13" & 15" machines is very obvious when in Perform Mode. You guys paid good money for your 13" machines but are getting crap performance when using MainStage.
Tylennol: how much difference in CPU usage is there for you between Edit and Perform Modes. Based on what I've seen, I reckon your CPU usage will be at least 15-20% higher in Perform Mode compared with Edit Mode. Am I close?
I posted this in a different thread on latency. I ran an experiment using a simple layout: two controllers, two patches. I assigned the Steinway sample set to one and a B3 setup to the other. I ran the same set up in different resolutions and on the edit page and on the performance page.
edit range performance range
low rez (1020x640) 16-21% 18-30%
default (1440x900) 19-27% 22-41%
high rez (1920x1200) 22-37% 25-41%
Running in "Low Resolution" as selected on the "info" tab for MainStage 3.
5-7% 6-10%
WOW! What a diference! The screen certainly looks like a much lower resolution, but it still is very useable on stage in performance mode. We'll see if it continues to run without error.
Matt
MacBook Pro (Retina, 15 inch, mid 2014), 2.2GHz i7, 16GB RAM, 250 GB SSD, Radial USB Pro interface, Roland A800, Roland RD300GX, Line 6 FBC MkII
I noticed the same issue. But when I checked "Globally Disable Feedback Protection" (From the Preference Menu), the problem went away. They CPU load dropped drastically.
Nomad,
I just checked "Globally Disable Feedback Protection" and I didn't notice any difference in CPU use. What computer are you running?
Matt
MacBook Pro (Retina, 15 inch, mid 2014), 2.2GHz i7, 16GB RAM, 250 GB SSD, Radial USB Pro interface, Roland A800, Roland RD300GX, Line 6 FBC MkII
Tylennol,
Wow! I just ran my "experiment" while unchecking the "Feedback Protection" and decreasing buffer size. You are spot on! This is a very interesting observation. I wasn't having a performance problem, but this is really optimizing the setup.
Nicely done!
Matt
Yeah i played around with disabling the feedback protection, and changing from 128 to 256 to 64 and i so no improvement, if anything it was worse
Yeah, I like squeezing every bit of juice I can out of it! The lower the latency the better 🙂
So tell me, I have not figured out how to change the screen resolution. I must be missing something that one. Can't find the option. How did you do it? I want to try that too.
Nomad,
For me:
- Go to your "Applications" folder in Finder
- Click on MainStage to select it, but don't open it
- In the Finder menus click on "File"
- Click on "Info" in the submenu.
I find the box to click for "Low Resolution" under the "Info" section.
Let me know if that helps.
Matt
MacBook Pro (Retina, 15 inch, mid 2014), 2.2GHz i7, 16GB RAM, 250 GB SSD, Radial USB Pro interface, Roland A800, Roland RD300GX, Line 6 FBC MkII
@trinitycadet: Thanks for the tip on the low resolution. I will be sure to experiment with this! Your data looks promising.
Mainstage high levels of cpu
