How reaper effects CPU

mcmac74

Active member
I'm loving the fact that reaper let's me add unlimited tracks without faffing around with bouncing or having random guitar bits on the same track before live mixing...however...although I'll be upgrading my laptop before long, I'm nearing the end of my first ' proper' recording on reaper. I'm upto 17 tracks most of which just have cockos compression, dragonfly reverb vst and a nebrini guitar sim as plugins. I'm just starting to have problems with Reaper occasionally not responding, the odd crash and very occasional random crackling when I move a fader or play with levels of reverb.

I'm guessing the number of tracks (and plug ins on each) is causing the issues due to my fairly low spec Acer laptop. I've probably got a few more tracks to add so wondering if I should try and combine some tracks ( where parts don't overlap) and manage that inconvenience with automation / envelopes. Woukd it make any difference?

Also, would a laptop running near the limit of its CPU cause the finished wav file to be of poorer quality?

Cheers Mark
 
See if the "freeze" track feature helps reduce that.

I don't think it is the number of tracks that is giving you problems but the processing on the tracks. Also, if you are not tracking anything analog, increase your buffer size. Lower buffers strain your computer resources.

But freezing the track (you can still adjust sound) and increasing buffer will give you a lot more resources.
 
With actual spinning discs and a lot of recorded media you can end up with disc read underruns where you’re basically asking for more data off the disc than it can do in the time allotted. Especially if it’s near full and/or badly fragmented, it could be a thing.

It sounds in this case more like CPU. Reaper’s Performance Monitor will show you what it’s doing to your system and might give you a hint.

If is the CPU, then you can pick whether you want to render or freeze or apply FX and remove the plugins. If it’s the disc, this won’t help. In either case, increasing your ASIO buffers should help quite a bit. You don’t need ultralow latency when mixing.
 
I think my first question would be whether you need individual tracks to each have their own instance of a reverb plugin. You could set up a few tracks, each running their own instance of each flavor of reverb that your project needs, then send individual tracks to the reverbs. This will cut down greatly on the CPU load of the project.
 
I'm upto 17 tracks most of which just have cockos compression, dragonfly reverb vst

Are you inserting the reverb directly on tracks? The usual method is to use a shared reverb (set to 100% effect, 0% dry) on an effects bus and aux sends from each track. (Note that terminology might vary regarding "effects bus" and "aux sends" depending on the DAW, but the concepts are the same.) That way you save a lot on CPU load, and it puts your tracks in the same space. Once in a while I'll have a "special" reverb just for one track, but the main reverb is still shared.
 
I think my first question would be whether you need individual tracks to each have their own instance of a reverb plugin. You could set up a few tracks, each running their own instance of each flavor of reverb that your project needs, then send individual tracks to the reverbs. This will cut down greatly on the CPU load of the project.

Are you inserting the reverb directly on tracks? The usual method is to use a shared reverb (set to 100% effect, 0% dry) on an effects bus and aux sends from each track. (Note that terminology might vary regarding "effects bus" and "aux sends" depending on the DAW, but the concepts are the same.) That way you save a lot on CPU load, and it puts your tracks in the same space. Once in a while I'll have a "special" reverb just for one track, but the main reverb is still shared.

Yes...each track has reverb added as a vst. I'm not tweaking the preset too much so that the tracks are in the 'same space '. It would make sense and save time to have the reverb fed to each track rather than me having to add manually...however I wouldnt know where to start getting an effects bus set up. If there's a quick start guide anyone can point me to, that would help. ?

Cheers
Mark
 
To create a parallel effects bus in Reaper, what I figured out is that you:

1. Create a new track (with no audio clips in it).

2. Add the reverb to that track's inserts. (Set the "dry" to 0% and the "wet" to 100%, or set the mix to 100% "wet" or "effect" or whatever it takes so it's just reverb coming out of the effect with none of the input returning to the mix.)

3. On the tracks you want to use the reverb with, add sends routed to the reverb channel.

4. Use the sends to add more reverb to some channels and less to others, if desired.

Voilà, a classic effects bus.
 
Now that you have an effects bus you can get clever by adding eq, compression or even gating before or after the reverb. You can even stack a delay on it. You would probably want the delay wet/dry mix to be balanced.
 
You mention that your Acer is low spec. Not sure what that means....so give us the specs if you can. First and foremost.....your PC performance is key and certainly can and will affect and DAW performance to the extent of the specs. Reaper is one of the least CPU usage intense DAWs I've ever tried so you'll likely get the best performance results possible using it. Many 3rd party VST's are CPU intense. Be careful with them. Reaper's VSTs are excellent. Use them when you can.
 
Thanks for the info...My pc is Aspire ES1 - 531. Processor is Intel R Pentium. CPU N3700 @ 1.6 GHZ. RAM is 8GB of which 7.83GB is usable. System type states it is 64 bit x 64 based processor.
Mark
 
You mention that your Acer is low spec. Not sure what that means....

I use the lowest spec Acer laptop that you could buy back in 2004 and that one is fine for 24 tracks at 24 bit 44.1kHz with basic processing from Reaper's own plug-ins on each track. Anything newer should be able to handle more provided there is no other processor hungry software installed and you use things like reverb on busses rather than individual tracks.
 
That's all useful info thanks...I'll probably try and get through this song with the individual effects and then get on the bus for the next!...I was doing a bit of work on it last night with no issues. If playback sounds fine is there any reason to worry about how the render will sound?
 
When you have time give this vid a watch, sends come near the end but it's a good explanation!. REAPER | Videos

To create a parallel effects bus in Reaper, what I figured out is that you:

1. Create a new track (with no audio clips in it).

2. Add the reverb to that track's inserts. (Set the "dry" to 0% and the "wet" to 100%, or set the mix to 100% "wet" or "effect" or whatever it takes so it's just reverb coming out of the effect with none of the input returning to the mix.)

3. On the tracks you want to use the reverb with, add sends routed to the reverb channel.

4. Use the sends to add more reverb to some channels and less to others, if desired.

Voilà, a classic effects bus.


I watched the video and coupled with the step guide I'm sure I can get that set up. Just wondering...KG was using cockos reverb in the example and didn't push the wet upto 100% ...I use a different reverb vst dragonfly room reverb which has some nice presets for drum rooms/ vocal rooms etc...would I still look to push the wet upto 100% or will I be losing the benefit of those presets if I do that?

Mark
 
If you know the settings on your Dragonfly reverb......then try to replicate them on the Reaper reverb. If not......experiment.....use your ears.......and you'll get there as well as learn a few things about reverb settings as you go.

The Reaper effects are truly excellent and you can save your settings and call them whatever you want as a preset.
 
...KG was using cockos reverb in the example and didn't push the wet upto 100% ...
When we say “100% Wet” that means the proportion of the output signal. Like 0% dry and 100% wet. Reaper’s verbs have a slider for the volume of each. As long as the dry slider is all the way down, you’re only going to hear the wet signal. Then that wet slider just controls how loud that will be. There’s no good reason it should be all the way up. I think that’s like +12db for most people. You’d just end up turning things down elsewhere to get the reverb back down to a usable level.
 
Just wondering...KG was using cockos reverb in the example and didn't push the wet upto 100%

If there's a single wet/dry balance control, put it to 100% wet. If there are separate wet and dry controls, put the dry at 0% (or -∞, all the way down) and start the wet at whatever is "normal" on the scale.

What I often do is set the send on the lead vocal to -3dB and set the output of the reverb by ear to whatever sounds about right. That way is some other track needs a little more reverb, its send can be around 0dB.

Be sure the sends are set to post fader rather than pre fader for this kind of effect. That way if you lower the channel fader, it will keep the reverb on that channel in proportion.
 
Thanks for all the info...as mentioned I'll start using buses on my next song..this one is almost done. I have noticed the distortion getting worse when I adjust faders during playback. I'm hoping to get away with it though. The track plays smooth as long as I'm not tinkering with faders or vsts. Does this mean it will render in good shape

I'd really rather not have to set up the reverb bus and assign about 15 tracks which will all need their reverb mix getting right all over again to match the current sound of the song.

Mark
 
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