CPU Usage on Maschine +

jamesbelluk

Hi I'm very new to Maschine so would welcome advice as to whether my CPU usage is normal. When I load up a drumkit group the CPU usage immediately jumps to approx 20%. This seems high to me for one group. I have constructed my first tracks using 5 groups (drums, bass synth, synth pad and 2 samplers) and it is running at over 50% usage. I haven't added any additional effects. Does this seem normal as I worry that I could soon run out of CPU. Thank you.

DiosGnosis

I can only assume you are working with Maschine Plus in standalone mode… If so, for now, this is 'normal' however, not ideal behavior. If you are experiencing this type of of CPU usage in controller mode, your computer might need an upgrade.

In the meantime, we (Maschine+ community) are awaiting the Maschine 3 SW port to M+

Hopefully, this will address CPU usage/spikes and a host of other 'bugs' that have come up on the radar since M+ first released.

There are several 'workarounds' that can be found online that essentially 'bounce' your M+ tracks to the internal Audio Plugin to save precious CPU.

Personally, I think Jeremy with Red Means Recording does a great job showcasing the current state of M+ and how to potentially organize a workflow taking the limitations into consideration.

darkwaves

There is no concept of "normal" for a group because a group can be just about anything. If you're using some kit from some random expansion - there might literally be 20+ instances of reverb loaded - and many of them set to 100% dry. You might have 5+ effects on the group level all set to 100% dry.

Saying a group in maschine is causing high CPU use is like saying 16 tracks in a DAW cause high CPU use. You'll be fine with those tracks if just audio. I'm sure 16 instances of pigments that each have 15 effects like soothe and ozone will be an issue.

The point of my rant:

What's in your group that's causing 20% cpu? Are all of the effects even being used?

ozon

Everything @darkwaves said plus: You can even create a new Project with a single empty Group, add one instance of Monark (which is actually a Reaktor Ensemble) and observe the CPU hovering at 20%. That may seem unusable at first, but adding a second Monark instance will not raise the CPU by an additional 20% — but a much lower amount (couple of percent, don’t remember exactly).

So there’s more potential and more complexity than you might think at first sight. However, it’s a device with restricted CPU and memory capacity so you have to take that into consideration. Removing everything (Groups, Sounds, Effects) that’s not actually used is best practice. This also forces you to be more restrictive and clever with your sound design decisions. Do you really need Raum for that faint delay or could you use Beat Delay? Do you really need a dedicated Reverb for each sound or could you instead use one instance as a send effect (like in the good old days of analog consoles and tape machines).

Cretin Dilettante

Pick & choose. I personally use (less than) 16 pads for drums, 1-2 for bass, lead, and chords apiece w/ a handful of FX only on the built-in synths. I've only been hitting like 30% CPU usage in standalone.

tetsuneko

If you're feeling CPU conscious, try loading sounds only instead of whole groups. This will save a ton of CPU as many groups in the NI sound packs come with a metric ton of (redundant) fx plugins

DiosGnosis

I can only assume you are working with Maschine Plus in standalone mode… If so, for now, this is 'normal' however, not ideal behavior. If you are experiencing this type of of CPU usage in controller mode, your computer might need an upgrade.

In the meantime, we (Maschine+ community) are awaiting the Maschine 3 SW port to M+

Hopefully, this will address CPU usage/spikes and a host of other 'bugs' that have come up on the radar since M+ first released.

There are several 'workarounds' that can be found online that essentially 'bounce' your M+ tracks to the internal Audio Plugin to save precious CPU.

Personally, I think Jeremy with Red Means Recording does a great job showcasing the current state of M+ and how to potentially organize a workflow taking the limitations into consideration.

darkwaves

There is no concept of "normal" for a group because a group can be just about anything. If you're using some kit from some random expansion - there might literally be 20+ instances of reverb loaded - and many of them set to 100% dry. You might have 5+ effects on the group level all set to 100% dry.

Saying a group in maschine is causing high CPU use is like saying 16 tracks in a DAW cause high CPU use. You'll be fine with those tracks if just audio. I'm sure 16 instances of pigments that each have 15 effects like soothe and ozone will be an issue.

The point of my rant:

What's in your group that's causing 20% cpu? Are all of the effects even being used?

ozon

Everything @darkwaves said plus: You can even create a new Project with a single empty Group, add one instance of Monark (which is actually a Reaktor Ensemble) and observe the CPU hovering at 20%. That may seem unusable at first, but adding a second Monark instance will not raise the CPU by an additional 20% — but a much lower amount (couple of percent, don’t remember exactly).

So there’s more potential and more complexity than you might think at first sight. However, it’s a device with restricted CPU and memory capacity so you have to take that into consideration. Removing everything (Groups, Sounds, Effects) that’s not actually used is best practice. This also forces you to be more restrictive and clever with your sound design decisions. Do you really need Raum for that faint delay or could you use Beat Delay? Do you really need a dedicated Reverb for each sound or could you instead use one instance as a send effect (like in the good old days of analog consoles and tape machines).

Cretin Dilettante

Pick & choose. I personally use (less than) 16 pads for drums, 1-2 for bass, lead, and chords apiece w/ a handful of FX only on the built-in synths. I've only been hitting like 30% CPU usage in standalone.

jamesbelluk

Thanks everyone for your replies and advice. I'll try to minimise the sounds and effects in each group.

tetsuneko

If you're feeling CPU conscious, try loading sounds only instead of whole groups. This will save a ton of CPU as many groups in the NI sound packs come with a metric ton of (redundant) fx plugins

jamesbelluk

Thanks tetsuneko. Really useful advice for a new user like me.