Logic Pro 8 core overloads: one solution

[rainguitar]

I stumbled on this quite by accident. I use an iMac (2.8, 24", 4 gigs of ram). Like many folks using Logic Pro 8 I often get very uneven core distributions, lots of activity on one core, next to nothing on the other. I discovered that if I create and select an empty audio track before playback, this tends to even out the core loads, often significantly so. I have no idea why this works or whether it will work on multicore machines.

 

[Markdvc]

Interesting - I wonder if this is inferred to in the Apple KB document about dealing with distributing the load on mulitple CPU machines, which refers to this - more precisely, they advise not having an audio instrument channel strip selected .

Anyway, thanks for posting that tip. it gives me an opportunity to mention that there is a link to this Apple KB doc in the FAQ, along with other useful tips, right here:

http://www.logic-users-group.com/index.php?q=logic-8-faq.html

Look at FAQ 8 🙂

kind regards

Mark

 

[Orren Merton]

I discovered that if I create and select an empty audio track before playback, this tends to even out the core loads, often significantly so. I have no idea why this works or whether it will work on multicore machines.

The reason, AFAIK, is that when a track is selected, even an audio track, it is technically put into "live mode." That means that the process buffer is much smaller, since it assumes that the selected track will need to be played live. The KB Article that Mark mentions talked about instruments, since they tend to eat a lot of CPU. Even audio tracks to a lesser degree will take more CPU when selected since any plug-in does processing, etc.

Orren

 

[Howard W]

This little trick has been around for quite a while.

As I remember, after creating and selecting a new audio track, set it to "No Input" for max cpu savings. Also, set any unused audio tracks to "No Input."

Howard