Topic by Karlselbst

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  • Karlselbst
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Topic: Crazy about crackles - MacMini FusionDrive

Hello everyone,

the headline says it all: I permanently recognize crackles on the following system:
Pianoteq Standard 7.5.4
Logic 10.7.1
MacMini 2014, 2.6 i5 dual, 8 GB, OSX 11.6

The indicator shows heavy CPU-load - only when using Pianoteq, the rest works fine even with several plug-ins and tracks. Reducing polyphonie brought no effect, all updates were performed.

Maybe the computer in general is too slow, although I thought till now, the Pianoteq Plug-In does not use much CPU-capacity. I think the reason for the trouble must be the machine itself, the only speciality on mine: it has a so-called "Fusion Drive", i.e. combination of Standard HD and SSD. As far as I know Apple built these drives only for a short period, maybe it caused problems?

My question: has anyone experienced similar problems with a fusion drive? Or can give me a hint what could cause the described problems? Any message welcome.

Thanks a lot and best wishes

Karl

Reply by Irmin

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  • Registered: 20-04-2012
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Re: Crazy about crackles - MacMini FusionDrive

Under prefs:

What is :
the internal sample rate
host sample rate
buffer size

Do you have multicore rendering selected?
CPU overload detection?

PS: Fusion Drive should not affect Pianoteq at all as it runs in memory only

Last edited by Irmin (04-04-2022 14:42)

Reply by Karlselbst

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Re: Crazy about crackles - MacMini FusionDrive

Hi Irmin

thanks for trying to help, here are the actual settings:

Under prefs:

What is :
the internal sample rate: 44100 Hz
host sample rate: 44100 Hz
buffer size: 256 samples

Do you have multicore rendering selected? Yes
CPU overload detection? activated
Max polyphonie: 48

PS: Fusion Drive should not affect Pianoteq at all as it runs in memory only
Ah, this is an important hint, the MacMini runs in general very smooth, so I give it another try.

I just loaded a little project, just 1 audio-track and Pianoteq, no crackles at all ...sic.
But then again two ours later ...: zack, there they are again, you simply can't trust it, if I knew it would help, I would buy  an M1.
Thanks again, any further ideas?

Reply by Irmin

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Re: Crazy about crackles - MacMini FusionDrive

Karlselbst wrote:

Hi Irmin

thanks for trying to help, here are the actual settings:

Under prefs:

What is :
the internal sample rate: 44100 Hz
host sample rate: 44100 Hz
buffer size: 256 samples

Do you have multicore rendering selected? Yes
CPU overload detection? activated
Max polyphonie: 48

PS: Fusion Drive should not affect Pianoteq at all as it runs in memory only
Ah, this is an important hint, the MacMini runs in general very smooth, so I give it another try.

I just loaded a little project, just 1 audio-track and Pianoteq, no crackles at all ...sic.
But then again two ours later ...: zack, there they are again, you simply can't trust it, if I knew it would help, I would buy  an M1.
Thanks again, any further ideas?

Your settings are fine.  I'd try turn off multicore rendering to see if it helps

I have a 2013 macbook air, 48k sample rate with a 128 sample buffer and it has no issues. Works fine with internal audio and my Focusrite 2i2
I run pianoteq standalone or in reaper, unfortunately I don't have logic so I don't know how that performs.

Obviously an M1 machine would be light years better then what you have (as long as all your plugins work). I don't think anyone on here with an M1 machine has issues with crackles.

Last question does it sound like a buffer issue (e.g. increase the sample buffer to 512 and see if it improves) or is the audio clipping(that can also cause crackles)?