I have quite a fast PC, although not the best of the best of course. But I got a Mainboard with two NVME SSD slots so that now I have my Livesets, samples and libraries on a dedicated NVME and windows and all programs/plugins in the other.
I use a Ryzen 5600G and 32GB DDR4.

Since I don't think there's anything much faster for a hard drive then having multiple NVMEs at the moment I'm a bit disappointed that my projects still take up to around 20 - 30 seconds to load. I use Ableton and each project usually has a lot of VSTs including Omnisphere which uses a lot of samples.

Everything else on my PC feels really snappy and also once the project is loaded I almost never hit a CPU bottleneck even with hundreds of plugins.

Is there anything I can do to make loading projects faster? Is it even possible to load everything almost instantaneously? I can only imagine that the NVME SSDs are the bottleneck?

 

Ableton is a huge cpu hog with maxforlive unless you NEED ableton i suggest you to move to fl studio or reason much faster daws i also use ableton but it is slow as hell

 

It really isn't. Those times can be decreased with better hardware, like you are trying. But when your DAW starts up, it does a bunch of tasks sequentially under the hood. Every plugin inside your project is validated and possibly authorized, as an example. Remove a plugin from the system; one that is in a project, and you will see this happen. The DAW starts to open the project and then finds that plugin is not installed.

Nothing in a closed project can be pre-fetched before you select and load the project. You can even see this in action when you load a first instance of a plugin. The new additional instances of the same plugins often load quite a bit faster than the first.

 

A system that loads Livesets in an instant. is it possible?​

Not possible. You can change sounds instantly but load a (large) project file instantly - no way.
If you don't need a DAW, you can try some of the lean audio plugin hosts such as Gig Performer or Cantabile.

 

Loading from a RAM-disc could speed up things a bit, but there's still the plugin-handshake and it takes some time.

 

Load faster ? Render all VSTi (Omnisphere esp.) tracks to wave.
Use loops instead of full track if possible.
Use internal effects instead of VSTs.

Esp. for live situation it's always better. For studio, 30 sec. loading time is just nothing ... not enough time to take a cofee ;-)

 

Using ramdisk doesnt change that much because everything has to be copied into ram disk before launch, and even with 64g ram you cant get large sized ramdisk to compete with X To NVE ssd.

 

They don't, because it's not going to be Zero. Since Quantum Computing is not yet a reality for those of us on Earth; you should post the specs of your machine. Obviously, you have solved how something can exist in multiple states at the same time.

 

The only mean to reduce loading ... is to keep plugins loaded.
Like ppl making orchestral music and using their kontakt always loaded ... on another computer.

Using Vienna Ensemble Pro and alternatives.
BUT in your situation, it will not help.

Like ppl said before : render tracks/ freeze is the best solution
Freeze works right on Ableton

 

The only thing you could do is to load several projects at once but I don't know if your DAW (and RAM) is capable of this. This would also require that inactive sub-projects are not kicked out of the memory.

 

Logic will do this, by using a feature called Project Alternatives. And you can then switch between them really quickly; and I still do not think it would be near-instant either. But every file that was going to be used has to be pre-loaded by being all inside the same media pool. You would basically be creating one extremely big project. I've never tried it.

If I was this worried about silence periods during a live set, I would create some "bridge songs" and put them on an external player, and route the 2 sources into a hardware mixer with at least two channels. Like you would to DJ with. You could make some ambience with no beats so it would just be a subtle fade in and out.

 

All agreed, but it should (or could) be faster, at least.

 

don't close them - I know it may sound stupid, but it's really the only way to get instant workflow,
not many DAWs support multiple project tabs open at once though, no idea about Ableton

 

How about these programs like Steinberg VST, Gig Performer, Mainstage, and other similar ones. Are they any better at loading quickly like this?

I'd come up with some sneaky workaround instead of fighting (and spending) for unrealistic expectations of improved hardware. You could probably use something like Rogue Amoeba's utility programs to have a mixer one layer above the DAW and then some other program. (as system would allow) . projects loading faster will always be nice, but you almost never hear about anyone doing anything about it because it is basically unnecessary. For serious situations, the solution would just be adding a second computer. 2 minis and a mixer; or something like that. That would make more sense $ to me, rather than spending many thousands of dollars for a ThreadRipper or some other spec that you have no need for.

 

Last edited: Nov 9, 2023

If you are using the mostly the same effects and synths with different patches and different routing, figure out a way to put your entire performance in one project as regions. Each region can have it's own patches and FX settings and sends as well as loops and static audio.

Or if you use Cubendo or DP use the VST Racks/Racks and you can load projects that connect to those racks but don't init. instruments and mixers which is what actually takes a long time.

The way you are doing it is logical for a song not for a set.

 

Gig performer, cantibile, Steinberg vst live

 

I could think of 3 options.

1) create a separate folder for just the plugins you use regularly, and ONLY load that folder when starting Ableton. That way projects will load much quicker.

2) Go back to an older version of Ableton, as with all progress in computerised technology the newer something is, usually the more bloated it becomes resulting in longer load up times.

OR

3) Go grab a drink as the project loads, although don't bother making tea or coffee as that usually takes longer than 30 seconds to make!

EDIT:- Apologies to anyone else's comments I appear to have copied.. I didn't because I always type mine before reading others.

When you're talking about 20/30 seconds load up times being a lot, then yes I think even shaving 2 or 3 seconds off the time is 10%

Seriously? 2-3 seconds to load a project? that maybe contain over 100 tracks, several VST and lots of samples you'd expect it to take only 2-3 seconds? Are you writing from on board the Starship Enterprize?

 

Last edited: Nov 9, 2023

Like most noticed, Ableton won't start instantly. Version 11 starts in a couple of seconds on a decent machine, but it scans vsts later in the background. So it's not fully up, well, until it is. I don't think throwing "fast" HW at it will affect the process as much as what plugins do (checks, auth, loading samples..)

Yes, there is a check "Allow Multiple Instances" (usually set to off for, u know, normal ppl ..;)

Even switching between presets in one synth vst takes (some) time, let alone a sample based instrument. So those who use Ableton "live" load multiple instances of the same synth with a different presets and control/automate the on/off for that synth/patch combo. Ableton doesn't really switch off anything (ok, actual process being more complex) ..as opposed to e.g. Reaper

Briefly tested Gig performer and I think it's a beast for live performance (tbh, always thought it was an overpriced wrapper). But it doesn't load anywhere instantly. In fact I have a feeling that it really takes time to "check" everything is rock solid aso.

 

Ableton cant load multiples projects, only one at once, but you can do this with Bitwig.
Ableton also scan for new VST and sample at boot, you can disable this by renaming :
X:\folder\Ableton\Live 11 Suite\Resources\Extensions\Index\Ableton Index.exe
to "Ableton Index.old" for exemple, it will bypass the update scan.
But again, 20-30 seconds load is *Not* that long esp. if you have VSTi which need to load patches which consists of multiple sample files (like Kontakt, Omnisphere etc...).

 

those are basically lightweight DAWs without many features,

using multiple programs virtually router together, or even multiple computers, poses a problem of synchronization (samplerate, buffer, midi clock...) so it's better to use dedicated software with plugin insert itself, such as Vienna Ensemble Pro, or Audio Gridder,
another option is to properly link DAWs, using something like Reaper's ReaStream VST (audio and midi over local network) or NDI VST but still network buffering will add some latency (although low enough to play virtual instruments live if you will, ofc depends on local network complexity, firewalls, QoS etc..), notice Reaper's ReaMote was completely removed in Reaper 7 because almost nobody uses it...