Hello,
running Mainstage 3.2, i tried out the Alchemy synth.
Oh my God! This plugin tears down my CPU completely and spikes up to the max. Practically unusable in live performance.
My Macbook Pro 2011 8GB's i7
MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.7), 8GB, Logic Pro
i am having the same issue. one of my core's spikes and it's game over and my macbook is just from 2013. the synth is virtually unusable to me. very disappointing. if anyone has a hack here, please let us know.
Same issue for me as well. New Alchemy synthesizer is totally useless for live performance (MBP 2013, OS X 10.10.5, 16GB, i7). Hoping that Apple support considers the feedback of the community...
I've had the same issue. Very high CPU spikes. Very hindering in live performance. Mainstage 3.2.
Macbook Pro 13" (2011)
OSX 10.10.5
2.4 GHz Intel Core i5
8GB
It's just not Mainstage, I am finding that Alchemy will kill my mix in Logic X. I am running Logic 10.2.2 and I am finding that it will be OK for a little bit, but when I try to do some basic sound designs in Alchemy, i.e. use a couple modulations and maybe play with some of the internal effects in - it will jack up the processor to an ungodly amount of 135% percent.
Also, I found the memory will start to climb or leak really bad! My only course of action is to close my project and quit Logic, and just open it up again and just don't use Alchemy. I am almost tempted to just scrap Logic and use Ableton Live on my Windows 7 Laptop. My goal is to focus on sound design and mixing, but I am finding that I have to spend to much time troubleshooting Logic X issues... I'm a long time Logic user and I have never seen it as bad as it is now...
Maybe this is due to the version of Logic X I am running and maybe I need to go back a version, like 10.1? I can't use the newer 10.4 version, that will force me to upgrade Mavericks to El Capitan and I can't do that. Because, I'd have to buy a new machine, and I can't afford the price of a new Mac right now... My goal here is to just make music.. not spend my time upgrading software and hardware, ugh!!
I half wonder if this is due to some sloppy code with the integration of Alchemy in Logic X?? I know for sure, It's not like my mac is under powered, I am running Mavericks 10.9.5 on an older Mac Pro with a custom 2 x 3 Ghz Quad-Core processor rig with 32GB of memory and I don't use 3rd party plugs. And as soon as I open Logic X and start to use Alchemy, my memory use will slowly start to climb to an ungodly amount, 29 GB!!!
Anyhow, you can really see my frustration with Apple in general, It seems, I had better mixes with Logic 9 on old iMac with Snow Leopard.
Replying back to my earlier comment to give some updates on this issue: First let me say, I was able to figure out a way to upgrade to the new EL Capitan, which now let's me use the new Logic X 10.2.4. This has some what tamed the Alchemy beast. I don't have any weird memory issues and my processor usage is someone OK now, But, I am still challenged or perplexed when using Alchemy!
It's OK with certain sounds that are basic, like a VA saw sound. However, when I go a little deeper into more of it's advance functions: like complex modulations with Additive or Spectral synthesis and then add a couple of it's internal effects like Distortion, Waveshaper or the Acoustic Reverb. This will still jack my processors over 100% percent, and this is using only one instance of Alchemy.
I know that you can change the quality setting to good or draft, or just start freezing your tracks and or bouncing them to audio. Plus, I learned a new one: just create an empty audio track, and select and stay on it when playing your project in the final mixing stage.
Bottom line is this: IMO, Alchemy has always been a huge processor hog, even at it's earlier versions. I'm writing this post in hopes, Logic's Dev team will take notice and try to stream line it and make it more processor friendly. For Example: I can create a Logic project with 25 ESX24's, 25 ES2's, 25 ES1's and 25 Retro synths and I still have room for more! Those synths are just smooth, but I can't do that with Alchemy, and I feel I should be able too.
OK, Now I'm going to sound really stupid... I've been using the Alchemy plugin for months and I haven't had a single problem. I have a CPU meter as part of my setup and I have concerts that have five or more instrument plugins running along with Alchemy and I rarely go above 50% usage.
I have a 2.2Ghz 17 (mid 2014) with 16 GB of ram. I am running the most current version of MS 3.2.4 and El Capitan 10.11.6. I haven't tried Sierra yet. But I probably will next week.
Am I unusual?
What's your buffer setting? If you play live, you want to set it as low as possible to avoid lag. But if you set it high enough, the CPU will have less to do. However, 256 is a setting i barely can live with. But it still will spike sometimes.
Also, depending on the plugins, you might get more or less spiking. And it also depends on the Alchemy setup you're using.
Mainstage should be designed to use multiple instruments at once, and some channelstrips to do some magic with.
Ah - by the way: I upgraded to a 2015 MBPro, 16 Gigs, BUT Alchemy will still hog the CPU like no other plugin. Not amused.
I'm running the buffer size at 64 samples and I have I/O Safety Buffer checked. The driver latency is maxed (more safety) and I have the CPU usage set at max (8 cores).
Alchemy extreme CPU usage
