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Plugin Question

As I understand it, every instance of a particular plugin (Space Designer, say, or Amp Designer) in a given concert has to run on a single processor core. This is why we use auxiliary buses, rather than having multiple instances of a giant convolution reverb running on every channel strip that needs reverb. But does this mean there's a separate instance of each plugin in the entire concert, all running on a single core?


For example, I'll set up a concert with a dozen patches. Since I'm a guitarist, each of those patches will have one or more channel strips with an insert of either Amp Designer or Amplitube. My question is, are all of those instances of the plugin running simultaneously, or are only the ones in a particular patch running? If I've got ten patches, each having two channel strips with an insert Amp Designer plugin, an I running twenty instances of Amp Designer concurrently, or only two?


I'm hoping it's the latter.

iMac with Retina 5K display, OS X Yosemite (10.10.1)

Posted on Aug 24, 2015 1:44 PM

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3 replies

Aug 25, 2015 1:04 AM in response to ericmurphysf

Well, it's not the latter, you have multiple instances. BUT ... and now the the great surprise ... this eats up some memory but not CPU cycles. As you switch a patch, the plug-ins of the preceding patch is processed for a few seconds to avoid an audible click and then they're bypassed or not processed anymore by the audio engine. You can configure this behavior in the preferences/Audio/Audio channel strips.

Since most machines have a huge amount of RAM, preset switching like in the old days doesn't make sense so much.


Hope this helps!


Best,


DaCaptain

Aug 25, 2015 9:59 AM in response to DaCaptain

Well, that's actually fine. I've got plenty of RAM (32 GB, and the memory bar graph usually looks like this):

User uploaded file


—so I'm more concerned with CPU utilization. If the audio engine is only processing plugins used in a particular patch, then I should be good no matter how many patches I've got in a concert. I rarely if ever have more than two channel strips in a given patch, and I usually only have a handful of insert effects per channel strip (typical would be a noise gate, a pedalboard, an AmpliTube AU, channel EQ, and a compressor), and then maybe an auxiliary bus with an effect or two).

Aug 25, 2015 12:14 PM in response to ericmurphysf

Actually, a follow-up question: what about auxiliary channel strips? It appears that Buses are defined at the concert level (since there are also patch buses that presumably are only defined on a per-patch level). But is it valid to assume the effects on a bus are only processed by the audio engine in patches where they're active? I do occasionally use Space designer on an auxiliary bus….

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