Topic by kipy

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Topic: Is Pianoteq 6 more CPU intensive ?

Hi,

Some years ago, I bought Pianoteq 4 after trying the demo version, because I liked the way it works. No recorded samples, only pure modeling.
As a trained classic pianist and with only experiences on "real" pianos, I was not a big fan of libraries with shitload of gigabytes of samples that sound good-enoug-but-not-so-realistic

And yeah ! Pianoteq was clearly my best mate on this : can't use anything else, in other words : true bro love with it (really), I became the new marvel super hero called "happyman", the man that is happy and stuff

I had a intel i7 3770k CPU back then. (Still have it now, actually)
Pianoteq just ran smoothly with it, no lags, max polyphony, no "crackings" noises, just cool.

Since then, I
- bought a new midi keyboard (with wooden keys and ivory touch feel <3)
- bought a new pedal (3 pedals set)
- bought the Pianoteq 6 update (and I told myself it was time to upgrade from stage to standard, what I did)

And, I'm still in love with the product, but I really have this feeling it now consumnes much more CPU.
Surprisingly, I can't see any high CPU / RAM load in the Windows task manager, but in the "perf" window of pianoteq, the audio load easily reaches its limit.

I already read some posts on this forum about that, and I tested with the "ultimate performance" option enabled on windows's power plans.
It helped, but it's still not enough.

I set the polyphony down to 128, it works, but I have some cracking noises when it comes to play too quickly.

I'm going to buy a new CPU in 2019 (Ryzen 7 2700 I think) no matter what, so it's not really an issue for me in the future.
I just wanted to share this experience with you (pianoteq 4 -> no problemo, pianoteq 6 -> more CPU intensive) and if you had the same impression.

It still is a wonderfull product. You did a great job on that, guys, keep it up !

Last edited by kipy (25-11-2018 16:06)

Reply by dazric

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Re: Is Pianoteq 6 more CPU intensive ?

No experience of v4 here (I started in v5), but v6 does generally seem to require more CPU, and I think several other users have said so.
But, as you say, super product. No need for gigabytes of samples on my computer

Last edited by dazric (25-11-2018 16:34)

Reply by meper

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Re: Is Pianoteq 6 more CPU intensive ?

Hi!

While Pianoteq 6 certainly is more CPU demanding than earlier versions a 3770K should be able to handle it with ease. I run dual instances of Pianoteq on a i5-7260u (which has approximately the same single core performance but half the number of threads).

I suspect the problem lies elsewhere, maybe with the soundcard drivers? Some drivers actually use up a big chunk of its audio buffer for internal processing leaving very little for the audio programs. I read that Cantabile (free VST host) has added double buffering support in the latest release which when enabled gives the VST an extra safety buffer that the driver can't touch. I haven't tested it but it might help.

(also, according to Passmark Ryzen 2700 has almost exactly the same single core performance as 3770k).

Reply by kipy

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Re: Is Pianoteq 6 more CPU intensive ?

Thanks for your replies

Don't know for the soundcard drivers, I didn't update my config for a while. I got a UR22 mk II model, and the drivers have been updated the day I set it up. I was still using pianoteq 4 at that time. But I'll sure give a try updating the drivers, who knows

meper wrote:

(also, according to Passmark Ryzen 2700 has almost exactly the same single core performance as 3770k).

That's a good point to mention, thanks for that. But doesn't pianoteq use a "multicore rendering" ? (I've got this option turned on)

I made my sister buy the Ryzen 2700, so i'll test it anyway

Reply by NormB

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Re: Is Pianoteq 6 more CPU intensive ?

Run a couple of different latency checkers because as others have said, you have plenty of CPU power. Also check Task Manager to see if you have any non PT processes slurping up CPU cycles in the background.

Last edited by NormB (26-11-2018 20:58)

Reply by MrRoland

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Re: Is Pianoteq 6 more CPU intensive ?

Is your power profile set to "performance"?
This also might need to be adjusted in your bios settings.
Disable speedstep or something like that.
I have a i5 that runs smoothly and a T8600 that performs excellent as well, though I have reduced polyphony to 48.

Reply by Lylo

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Re: Is Pianoteq 6 more CPU intensive ?

Hello, me to I have some issue with the last version of Pianoteq and is a big problem because I use Pianoteq on stage, ma computer are only i3 2,53ghz and a Core2duo 2,5ghz.

Reply by kipy

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Re: Is Pianoteq 6 more CPU intensive ?

NormB wrote:

Run a couple of different latency checkers because as others have said, you have plenty of CPU power. Also check Task Manager to see if you have any non PT processes slurping up CPU cycles in the background.

Yes, the issue is indeed maybe elsewhere. But in the task manager, CPU is always < 20%, and virtually all the process are consuming 0%/1%. Can't tell wich one is the bad one.

Maybe I'll make a fresh install to start with a clean sheet and see if it's better.

MrRoland wrote:

Is your power profile set to "performance"?

Yes, it is

MrRoland wrote:

This also might need to be adjusted in your bios settings.
Disable speedstep or something like that.

Will try that, thanks

MrRoland wrote:

I have a i5 that runs smoothly and a T8600 that performs excellent as well, though I have reduced polyphony to 48.

Isn't 48 quite too low ? I'm always above 100, and much if I play really fast

Reply by MrRoland

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Re: Is Pianoteq 6 more CPU intensive ?

I'm not playing classical music, mostly gospel / pop / ballads.
So I really don't need a max polyphony.
I can play with max polyphony at both systems without performance problems, but since I don't need the full polyphony I decided to reduce it, just as a preventive measure against performance issues.

Reply by kipy

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Re: Is Pianoteq 6 more CPU intensive ?

That's a good reason