MainStage 3.2.2 cpu overload issue still exists

My hardware info is wrong. I have a new MB PRO and running on the newest El Capitan

Nope,

i already had a Gig with El Capitan and Mainstage 3.2.1, but since the update to 3.2.2 it's gone from bad to worse.

Before, on Yosemite, the problem was there as well, even on another 2011 Macbook Pro i used earlier. It's definitely a Mainstage issue. The old Macbook had exactly the same CPU problems. The new Macbook has the same problems, even though it's so much faster, has 16GB and a SSD and so on.

So, the problem seems to be relatively independent from the hardware you use. It's a software problem built into MainStage or Core Audio. Whatever. We all know it has been there for some time now.

No special hardware, just use a "dry" setting.

You have 256 buffer, right? Try anything below. 128 will give you the spikes, while 64 might end up unplayable.

To reproduce it, follow those steps:

Open up the fresh Mainstage, Buffer 128

Open a new "Keyboard minimalist" factory preset

Replace the E-Piano with Alchemy

Make a glissando over the on-screen keyboard to give it some work (use your mouse for example to glide over the keyboard)- POOF there you got it.

I know i can reduce the risk by raising the buffer, but this ist very annoying to play with buffers higher than 128. Even 128 has a too high delay for some live performances. Maybe i am a bit itchy about it, but on my old hardware and with 128 buffer it was okay, too.

Now that's a very disappointing discovery: Apple integrating a plugin that can't be handled in a satisfying way by even their latest hardware.

However: I also got CPU overloads on the E-Piano or the B3, but it's not reproducible in a reliant way. That's even more annoying: To know during a live gig it *could* happen, and hoping and praying it *wont* happen. Totally annoying.

I already considered "downgrading" (cough cough) to Ableton or Reason. We'll see. If Apple can't solve this problem anytime soon, they've lost me as professional musician. It's a shame that other companies can build software that runs great on Apple hardware, and Apple just can't. This isn't only Mainstage, but i don't want to make a greater rant out of it as it already is.

To me there's only one thing that matters: Does it work?

Apple is promoting it's hard- and software as a state of the art solution for live musicians, and if it "doesn't simply work", users have any right to complain. I'd rather pay some hundred bucks and have a 100% reliable system.

The price of a software or it's "bang for the buck" is not the point we are discussing. Apple could remove this CPU hog synth and MainStage would still be worth a lot more in terms of features. The problem still remains that MainStage has much more CPU issues than other audio software.

For now, i can live with the 256 samples buffer, even if it's not very satisfying to play with in a live setup. It's on the edge of getting annoying.

Working with Logic i found that Apple has problems distributing the CPU load on multiple cores. This is why a i7 won't help you. It's always a single core that is overloaded and creates artifacts. This is a long known issue for Logic users. They have improved it, but still haven't solved it completely.

Pouring the Alchemy synth into this potential problematic setup makes it worse, because Alchemy was already known for it's brutal CPU hogging. I really don't care how much great stuff i get there - if i can't make good use of it in a live situation, it's not what i expected.

Apple has to live with this feedback - if they want to make their products better. To applaud them for putting more and more stuff into a faulty environment is the wrong way and sounds like fanboy prosa. It's you who should stay reasonable.

You can also switch Logic to "live" mode - and of course it will share the same culprits MainStage offers right now.

However, other software that is used in live situations seems to be much ! more CPU friendly.

I am not talking explanations. I want to hear a solution.

Don't forget that i don't complain that my old 2006 white Macbook cannot keep up. I ran MainStage on it, too, and it performed surprisingly well. But i never expected it to do miracles nor run multiple layers of high demanding Sculpture + Space Designer plugins at crisp buffer settings.

(almost 10 years later):

But now i am talking about a completely other system that has tons of CPU power compared to before. And know what? I don't really feel much difference in terms of limitations. I still have to watch out for that buffer, still have to avoid the space designer, still have to be careful how "big" my patches get.

I mean, if you compare just the CPU power of those two systems, we are not talking about a fully loaded Cessna having troubles to lift off, but we are talking about a F-22 Raptor having trouble to lift off 😉

I had problems with my 2011 MBP, and i bought a new one thinking some problems would get better. But the problem wasn't the CPU. The problem is the program code.

So, i will appreciate any comments that help me to work around this and get my job done on stage. But please, please: Refrain from giving any more explanations what i can expect, and don't tell me i should stay in a close airport pattern with my F-22 because this plane wasn't designed for combat.