Nuendo VST meter peaking when nothing is playing

Spikeh

Spikeh

New member
Let's get straight to it, system specs:

3.0Ghz Dual Core Pentium 4
2GB 1333Mhz DDR3 RAM
500GB 7200RPM SATAII HDD
P35 Chipset
M-Audio Delta 1010 (Upgrading to a RME/Presonus rig in a week or so)
Windows XP

Only have Nuendo, SoundForge, PowerISO and a load of VST plugins installed.

My issue is that when I have say, 20 tracks, most with Waves C1 gate & C4 Compression / Steinberg Multi-band compressor on them, plus a few with reverb and a few tracks (1 or 2) with automation on them, my VST meter is through the roof.

However - it's only through the roof when I'm NOT playing the track! That's right, when it's not actually doing anything. As soon as I start playing the track, the VST meter goes down to about 40%... which I think is acceptable for the amount of plugins I have going vs my machine spec.

I've also noticed that the VST meter goes up when an audio track is playing without an event underneath it, but it has a VST effect on it... i.e. at the end of a track when there is no audio data underneath the cursor.

It's puzzling me... surely if the plugins aren't being processed (it's not playing), there should be no VST drag on my system?

Thanks in advance for any help - any hints?
 
What version of Nuendo do you have. There was a version of N2 that did this.

BTW, why do you have a $2000 DAW and a $150 interface?
 
Farview said:
What version of Nuendo do you have. There was a version of N2 that did this.

BTW, why do you have a $2000 DAW and a $150 interface?
Click to expand...

Nuendo 3(.1 I think)

Read it again - I have an RME Hammerfall HDSP9652 + 2 x PreSonus DigiMax FS's on their way... and I can't wait to get em either :) The Delta 1010 is from my home set up, and now I have a studio I decided it was time to get a top range DAW + interface. I'm still waiting for the interface, but have clients to apease!
 
Farview said:
What version of Nuendo do you have. There was a version of N2 that did this.

BTW, why do you have a $2000 DAW and a $150 interface?
Click to expand...

"Everybody Loves Somebody" was recorded on almost exactly the same hardware and software setup as this guy (Nuendo, Soundforge, RME Hammerfall HDSP9652, but M-Audio hardware was used instead of Presonus - I'd say they are quite comparable, however, wouldn't you?)

The song went on to hit #1 on the billboard classical charts. Ted Perlman (the song's producer) has also been known to use M-Audio Delta 1010s, just like Spikeh. Sounds to me like maybe Spikeh does his homework and spends his money extremely wisely - I do the same....don't you?

Congrats on your choice of hardware/software, Spikeh - Did you know that you were picking out almost identical stuff as Ted Perlman when you picked it all out?
 
TyphoidHippo said:
Congrats on your choice of hardware/software, Spikeh - Did you know that you were picking out almost identical stuff as Ted Perlman when you picked it all out?
Click to expand...

Thanks :)

And no, I had no idea... don't even know who Ted Perlman is, or what "Everybody Loves Somebody" sounds like! :P

I picked this hardware / software from trying a few different set ups... the M-Audio is a cheap multi-track recording interface that was easy to use. I'm upgrading next week, because the Delta 1010 gives me more hassle than it's worth!

I came straight to Nuendo from Acid Pro - I've tried cubase too, but there are some features missing that I rely on now. I really love Nuendo :)

Soundforge - I'm still not sure about it yet. I'm considering trying WaveLab out, see what that's like, but my mastering is a bit slack at the moment... I need more practice! :)
 
:eek:You....don't know who Ted is?:eek:

http://tedperlman.com/

The man's a grammy winning legend in our field, man! He's got a forum on his site where you can talk to him - He's answered a ton of my questions there, but he doesn't come around it very often. I am probably the most active user on the board with a total of like 16 posts...come over and bring some friends, maybe we can get him more active in it again.

As for your actual problem - If I had that happening, I'd just pull up the mixer and start toggling plugins on/off until the problem went away. Sounds to me like you may have a buggy plug that only starts bugging out in the odd situation that you described - worth a shot, anyway...
 
I've only recently started getting in to it seriously... since I bought the studio basically. I've not really got in to producers etc, it's all been self taught.

Before that owning a studio was a "pipe dream", and recording was just something I did in my garage. Now I have the room and some very decent equipment, I'm realising how important a GOOD room is! I need a better one already - I want to custom build my own studio :)
 
Spikeh said:
plus a few with reverb...

...

However - it's only through the roof when I'm NOT playing the track!
Click to expand...
Makes perfect sense to me. I've seen this happen with some reverb and delay plugs. It's due to the dreaded denormal issue. No... not the one that plagued old Intel chips. The denormal issue can happen on any processor and it's the job of the software designer to take care of this. What happens is that when you're NOT playing any audio, the reverb/delay plug still keeps on processing whatever is in it's buffer (however inaudible) to infinitessimal low amplitudes, which makes the processor huff and puff.

Just to test this theory, disable and then enable your reverb plugs next time you stop your audio and see if that's what's causing it.

Other plugs to look out for are filters and other delay based effects such as flangers and chorus, although 99% of the cases I've seen the offender has been some reverb plug (including some convo reverbs).
 
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