More Ram Isn't the Solution?

[tju85]

Here is the problem. I had only been able to get about 3-4 tracks at a time, with 4 plug in effects on each track, and then Logic would say "System Overload" or w/e it says.

My computer specs were:

Apple iMac 20" 2.1gHz G5, PowerPC
1GB Ram

Logic Studio 8


I recently bought more ram for it, so now I have 2.5GB ram, thinking this would solve the problem.

When I installed the ram tonight, the computer added the Ram, and it says I have 2.5GB, but my computer doesn't feel any faster at all. I opened up a project I had been working on in Logic, and sure enough, the exact same thing happened.

In the bottom right corner of the Logic screen it has two meters, CPU and HD.

The HD is always barely moving to the right at all, and the CPU is 3/4 of the way, and usually turning red.

I thought adding more ram would solve this. Was I wrong?

 

[Chuck Fry]

What sample rate and bit depth? Are you mixing to/from an external drive? What happens when you do?

I suspect you should be able to do better. I have a G4 tower that's been upgraded to a dual 1.33 GHz and I have no trouble mixing 12 tracks at 44.1KHz/24 bit with 2 inserts per track in Logic Express 8. But I'm using a separate drive for audio.

If you're using the Logic channel EQs, try turning off all the bands that are reading 0.0 dB. It may not help but it can't hurt.

 

[danny.guitar]

Yes, you were wrong. You need more CPU power, preferably a dual core.

RAM is good for things like virtual instruments (VSTi's) or other samplers that load stuff into memory.

Real-time effects like reverb, EQ, chorus, etc., use a bunch of CPU power and not much RAM at all.

Although, it looks like your CPU is already pretty damn good. What kind of effects are you using? And what sample rate? A high sample rate+effects can eat up any CPU.

 

[tju85]

Yes, you were wrong. You need more CPU power, preferably a dual core.

RAM is good for things like virtual instruments (VSTi's) or other samplers that load stuff into memory.

Real-time effects like reverb, EQ, chorus, etc., use a bunch of CPU power and not much RAM at all.

Although, it looks like your CPU is already pretty damn good. What kind of effects are you using? And what sample rate? A high sample rate+effects can eat up any CPU.

Dang, well I'm using basically general effects that come pre-packaged in Logic.

I never changed the sample rate since I got the program.

The effects I use are basically like the presets for Kick Drum, Snare Drum, Guitars (2) and Bass(1), and then a comp and limiter on each vocal channel (2).

 

[tju85]

What sample rate and bit depth? Are you mixing to/from an external drive? What happens when you do?

I suspect you should be able to do better. I have a G4 tower that's been upgraded to a dual 1.33 GHz and I have no trouble mixing 12 tracks at 44.1KHz/24 bit with 2 inserts per track in Logic Express 8. But I'm using a separate drive for audio.

If you're using the Logic channel EQs, try turning off all the bands that are reading 0.0 dB. It may not help but it can't hurt.

I have another USB drive that is 250GB. I usually record everything on my iMac, and then drag it over to the USB drive after I track it.

If I try to write the files directly to the USB drive while tracking, Logic freezes and the drive just lights up. I'm wondering if its not fast enough or what. Its a brand new drive, only a few months old.

This is the drive:
http://www.amazon.com/LaCie-Externa...?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1192494152&sr=1-18

 

[THX1136]

If I am remembering correctly more RAM will make things faster/easier since you have more "room" in "temporary storage". Processing files or executing changes to a file should be faster since more can be in RAM instead of reading from the hard drive.

How do you have the Mac set up? Is it set up for audio only use? What interface are you using? What plug-ins do you have on each track? Are any of the plug-ins set exactly the same? - reverb the same on each track as an example. You could trim things by using the plug-in on the buss if you have the same plug-in with the same settings on each track. That would free up some of the CPU for other things.

To answer the question better you need to give us more information. I would think you should be able to do way more than 3 or 4 tracks with your Mac as described.

 

[danny.guitar]

For your high-end CPU, 3 or 4 tracks with a few plugins doesn't seem like much at all. I've never used Logic so I have no idea how CPU-intensive their built-in plugins are. I also don't know the default sample rate on Logic, although I would imagine it's 44.1KHz. Might want to make sure. Also check the bit depth.

 

[THX1136]

I've had no luck writing to/reading from a hard drive via USB. Firewire seems to work just fine though.

 

[tju85]

If I am remembering correctly more RAM will make things faster/easier since you have more "room" in "temporary storage". Processing files or executing changes to a file should be faster since more can be in RAM instead of reading from the hard drive.

How do you have the Mac set up? Is it set up for audio only use? What interface are you using? What plug-ins do you have on each track? Are any of the plug-ins set exactly the same? - reverb the same on each track as an example. You could trim things by using the plug-in on the buss if you have the same plug-in with the same settings on each track. That would free up some of the CPU for other things.

To answer the question better you need to give us more information. I would think you should be able to do way more than 3 or 4 tracks with your Mac as described.

My Mac is only setup for audio use, but it has alot of other programs on there. I only use Logic when I'm recording, as in I don't have the internet or itunes open.

I do use the Bus thing your talking about.

I will go take a picture of my setup right now (the mixing screen, and you can see what i mean)

 

[Chuck Fry]

I would check the sample rate in Logic.

My MacBook has no trouble tracking 12 inputs at once from a FireWire interface to a USB hard drive. But I don't try to put any effects on them while tracking.

THX's suggestion about using an aux bus for common plugins is a good one. That's what I do with reverb and echo for vocals.

 

[tju85]

I would check the sample rate in Logic.

My MacBook has no trouble tracking 12 inputs at once from a FireWire interface to a USB hard drive. But I don't try to put any effects on them while tracking.

THX's suggestion about using an aux bus for common plugins is a good one. That's what I do with reverb and echo for vocals.

I use the echo/reverb bus too.

I have a Firewire Firepod, and I usually just use some effects on the guitar track, Input 1, Input 2-8 have no effects on them. Then I just get the moving beachball in logic and the light on my USB drive comes on.

 

[Bulls Hit]

I'd suggest increasing the number of samples from 256 to 1024 and see if that makes an improvement.

Also a good idea to enable the '24-bit' check box

 

[tju85]

I'd suggest increasing the number of samples from 256 to 1024 and see if that makes an improvement.

Also a good idea to enable the '24-bit' check box

Alright I'll go do that now and tell you what happens.

 

[tju85]

I'd suggest increasing the number of samples from 256 to 1024 and see if that makes an improvement.

Also a good idea to enable the '24-bit' check box

Ok, I checked the box to 24 bit and I changed my samples from 256 to 1024. Will changing my samples give me any latency?

If not, then I don't care what it does.

Also, I just "freeze" all my tracks, and that helped out A TON.

It cut the CPU down to about 1/4.

 

[danny.guitar]

ASIO drivers

Freezing tracks is definitely the solution if it's just a matter of not having enough CPU power (I have to do it all the time on my crappy 1GHz). But for your computer, it shouldn't be necessary so I'm still a little confused as to why you're having these problems to begin with...

Also, I didn't see the sample rate on those screenshots. And this is probably a dumb question, but does the FirePod have ASIO drivers?

I took a quick look at the features on MusiciansFriend.com and don't see ASIO drivers listed, only "Zero latency monitoring".

And probably another dumb question, does Logic support ASIO drivers? Is there maybe a separate option for it somewhere in the Device/advanced settings?

 

[dgatwood]

And probably another dumb question, does Logic support ASIO drivers? Is there maybe a separate option for it somewhere in the Device/advanced settings?

ASIO is a Windows thing (and Mac OS 9). Mac OS X uses Core Audio instead.

 

[dgatwood]

I use the echo/reverb bus too.

I have a Firewire Firepod, and I usually just use some effects on the guitar track, Input 1, Input 2-8 have no effects on them. Then I just get the moving beachball in logic and the light on my USB drive comes on.

USB drives really suck. They use a lot more CPU power than FireWire drives because all the data movement has to be handled by the CPU. FireWire uses a bit more than internal drives, but at least it isn't horrible.

Record to your internal drive if possible. If it isn't big enough, use a FireWire drive, but your best bet is always an internal drive. Don't use USB for storage unless all you're doing is pulling photos off a camera or something.

 

[fuzzrhythm]

I've run bigger projects on a 2 GHz G5, so there's definitely something going on there.....

Some suggestions:

bypass any plugins that aren't necessary during recording

freeze tracks when possible/practical

unplug that USB drive when recording and record to your internal drive

make sure your sample rate is at an acceptable level. 44.1 KHz or 48 KHz should be fine

make sure you have no other background programs running (including Dashboard widgets). also check startup programs in System Preferences->Accounts->Startup Items

 

[Chuck Fry]

Check the sample rate. I'm not familiar with the FirePod, but it should have a control panel that lets you adjust the rate. If it's 96 KHz, that's probably your problem. Use 44.1K unless you have a very good reason to go higher.

The larger buffer size is a good idea. That will give your CPU more time to catch up between chunks of audio.

I disagree with the suggestion to turn on 24-bit. That increases your audio data volumes by 50%. If you're already running out of CPU, this isn't going to help. Turn it on later once you get your CPU load under control.

Turn off software monitoring if you don't absolutely need it. If you do, bypass as many of the inserts as you can during recording.

Some people have good success recording to a FireWire external drive with a FireWire audio interface. I haven't tried this myself.

 

[TerraMortim]

hmmm okay..this shouldn't be. I have a G5 dual 2 gHz.. It has 5 gigs of ram, however...Logic (as rumour has it only for a few more weeks untill Leopard is out) only can allocate 2 gigs for itself. I can, while running at 24bit 96kHz with Logic 8 run up to about 10 tracks before freezing anything (considering aboutu 4 or 5 effects at least on each channel as well as some bus effects). What do you have running on your computer? Haxies? (shapeshifter, etc) Perhaps you did something to fuck your system? Is your hard drive full? Defrag it? etc??