Hello everyone

I am contacting you to find professional guidance on managing my plugins and improving the performance of my Digital Audio Workstation. I would love to hear your thoughts on the difficulties I have been having as a pretty beginner music musician.

DAW: Suite Ableton Live 11
Computer: Intel i7 processor; 16GB RAM; and 1TB SSD built in custom
Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 audio interface
Plug-ins: A variety of Waves plugins; Serum; Omnisphere,

• I have a really powerful machine; but when I run numerous tracks and plugins; I sometimes experience CPU crashes and audio dropouts. What are some practical methods I may use to improve the performance of my DAW and avoid these problems?
• Are there any particular software settings I should adjust to improve performance? Any recommendations regarding sample rate; buffer size; or other pertinent parameters?
• It is becoming more and harder for me to effectively handle and arrange my growing collection of extensions. How do you arrange your extensions for optimal usability and worker efficiency?
• Is it possible to organise and manage visual studio team studio in live by using any guidelines or tools?
• Are there any basic computer adjustments I can do to enhance overall performance for music production; outside of the DAW settings? For instance; are there any services or background activities that I should turn off?
• Is there a recommended way of updating my software and audio drivers to ensure their stability; and if so; on what schedule should I do it?
• What are some common troubleshooting processes that you follow to identify and fix performance issues?
• Which specific websites or discussion boards apart from this one; of course would you suggest reading to learn more about enhancing DAW performance?
• I would be interested in learning about your personal encounters with extension management and DAW performance optimization. What difficulties have you encountered and how did you resolve them?
• Which particular extensions have you discovered to be especially helpful for simplifying your workflow and enhancing performance?
• Would you suggest any hardware changes that could greatly improve performance given my present setup?
• Which techniques do you like best for protecting your extension settings and projects against losing data?

Also I explored some topics related to this https://audiosex.pro/threads/why-does-my-computer-have-alteryx-problems-with-these-shared-plugins.74064/ but I did not get the sufficient solution of my query so I would really want to get some help from a more experienced person.

I would be grateful for any guidance and opinions you might have. Your combination knowledge and expertise will be of tremendous use to me as I try to enhance my setup for the creation of music.

I appreciate your assistance in advance

 

simplify. do you really need all those plug ins?

learn to commit, do you really need all those plugins running on all those tracks? Print the tracks with the fx and shut off/close the plugin, there you go less cpu load already.

You should turn off every service/program you don't need for composing on your DAW. If you don't know what those are, you should start by learning whats running on your computer, what it does and why do you need it or not need it. You should not be connected to the internet, and you should NOT have a web browser open to read a pdf, there are more efficient programs for reading pdfs and I wouldn't recommend using any Adobe products to read pdfs on your computer, there are tons of 3 rd party pdf readers and editors.

You ask a million questions, anyone of which would need a separate discussion to discuss the nuance and reasons behind the choices and decisions. Try to focus your attention, even if some poor fool answered all your questions, you would need to spend weeks reading it and I'm sure you'd still have dozens of questions.

Turn off your blaster and ask a single question, you are more likely to get an answer and a discussion that might elighten you.

You are not going to learn everything at once, how do you eat a whale? a single bite at a time. learning music and music production is a similiar process, take small bites. Digest them and then try another...

Good luck,learn to commit. Simplify, take small bites. Learn how to google, a million people have asked somebody every question you just asked, and surely someone has answered every question as well.

 

I wouldn't say that a computer that has 16 GB of RAM is powerful nowadays.

If your computer is crashing, you have to get the crash log and find the culprit - most of the time it is a faulty plugin.

Practical methods:
- Optimize your computer: https://audiosex.pro/threads/the-ultimate-guide-to-optimize-your-windows-pc-for-the-stage.55902/
- Use your plugins cleverly, i.e. disable all the features you don't need.
- You may want to upgrade your RAM with another 16 GB module.

 

I'll add this on the topic of organizing plugins, although the VST3 spec lets developers assign a Type (FX or Instrument) and one or more subcategories (Instrument|Synth, FX|Mastering|Dynamics for example), not all DAWs will recognize the subcategories, namely Ableton Live. Instead, Live lets you assign tags to anything in your Library, viewable when you click Edit which is to the right of your Filters in the Browser.

Just pull up your plugins, select one or more, then use the checkboxes next to the tags to assign them. You can add custom tags to a group, and custom groups. The button to add a tag is at the bottom of the list in the group you have open. So, for my FX plugins I only used the tags under the "Devices" group, but for my Instrument plugins I used tags from Devices, Character, and Sounds where it made sense.

It's a tedious process, but I would suggest doing it regardless of the size of your plugin collection. I think a well tagged Library of samples, plugins, devices, etc. is crucial for organization and staying in the creative flow.

 

Last edited: Jul 30, 2024

this way you can increase kontakt instances not synth instances.
i guess its not plugins its to much omnisphere instances .

 

Sounds like you have a broken RAM or other serious problem ,thats not normal,noone has to adress such behavoiur cause stuff like that should never happen .
Besides timebombs on particular plugins (not DAW) breakin recall or preset shizzles .

a big load you can turn off yes...search web for infos , im still on 7 so i guessing my list wont ad up with 10 or 11 or even mac (you did not say which anyways ).

huh ? what extensions ? you mean plugins ? max4live ? performance can only be boosted by cpu ,ram,turn off uneeded process's and services ,fixxing gpu hick up(never had issues so dunno nothing bout it ) or by using not hungry vst or vsti....and for ableton by freezing midi tracks or bounce midi into audio track and delete vsti track .

 

Last edited: Jul 30, 2024

uninstall your antivirus, and turn off all protection in Windows Defender. then setup your Firewall to block all incoming and outgoing connections.

disable bluetooth + wifi

can you share your GPU stats?

Pro Tip: Move over to Bitwig.. it never crashes

 

n̶e̶v̶e̶r̶ use unbloated and unshitified win 10/11 iso's
EDIT i meant always not never of course....

 

Last edited: Jul 30, 2024

built in custom
what does that mean ?
BTW
whats your OS ? what built ?

 

No matter what, I always had to debloat my OS for music production.. I don't want Microsoft apps and services or telemetry to cause any hiccups or queing up on my CPU, ram and whatnot when working on tracking, or just production with loads of samples in use, samplers in use, etc.. Even Windows Updates gets disabled after I did a fresh install with most recent updates at the time of installation. Experiences may vary on this topic. but it did help tremendously. Both in w10 and 11.

Although, I do need to upgrade my ram from 16gb someday.. I think when the time comes, its better to buy a new mobo/cpu combo aswell.

As for plugins.. I like getting acquainted with the DAW's stock plugins before "third party enters the chat". While I already have a great arsenal of tools, you can at most cases save up resources on utilizing plain native software. Really depends on the features each plugin would have for specific cases, mixing decisions, sound designing... Not sure what else to say on that topic.

 

Get a better computer. Which i7 CPU do you use? Could be an older generation, you didn't specify.

Yeah just search "windows 10 daw optimization" or whatever your windows version is on Youtube and you see the right tutorials.
Buffer size should be adjusted for mixing and producing. I use 32 Samples safe mode off (my interface uses a driver and has safe mode, yours might not) for recording MIDI and audio and 1024 or higher safe mode on for mixing/mastering.
When I record audio I turn delay compensation off. I have the option "reduced latency when monitoring" on so recording MIDI doesn't need that workaround.
Sampling rate should be 48kHz at least, 96k if you have a good PC.

Find the plugins that are the culprits (performance meter) and get rid of them.

Buy your DAW so you get updates the fastest.

What do you mean? Well, get a faster PC, better audio interface, buy SSDs if you don't have them already and acoustic treatment, that would improve your setup lol. You didn't even tell us what your CPU is, i7 could mean anything

 

Last edited: Jul 31, 2024

Horrible idea, you should schedule them so you don't download them in the background but still get the updates in time so your system isn't vulnerable.

 

I have a similar setup so here are some tips that may help:

• Ableton Live 11 stinks performance wise. Upgrade to Ableton Live 12.
• Enable all your CPU usage meters, global and per track, so you can see which plugins are eating up your resources.
• Use more native Ableton plugins rather than third-party plugins.
• Don't stack too many plugins on a single track or group.
• Use sends and returns to cut down on multiple instances of the same plugin.
• Freeze and/or bounce your tracks if you are using CPU intensive plugins. Again, watch your Ableton CPU meters.
• Keep an eye on Windows Task Manager for any processes eating up resources when you are using your DAW.
• Add more RAM. 16GB is the bare minimum. 32GB is better.
• Use multiple SSD drives instead of only one C: drive. Keep as much off your C: drive as possible. Use NVME SSD drives if possible.
• Use Windows 10 or 11. Optimize your Windows setup for audio production: https://support.focusrite.com/hc/en-gb/articles/207355205-Optimising-Windows-for-Audio
• Search for more Windows optimization posts in this forum.

 

Last edited: Jul 31, 2024

www.cantabilesoftware.com

Download the appropriate free .pdf on the above webpage. (It's called glitch free.)

Someone on this site shared it with me, and it did wonders before I was even halfway through all the suggestions!

Recommended.

 

Vulnerable to what ?

If you go to dodgy websites, download from non trusted sources, do yourself a favor and use a Sandbox.

For the rest... FIGURE OUT YOUR FIREWALL !

 

To every attack vector because your system is not up to date. You don't have to visit any website at all for this to happen.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...-history-53c270dc-954f-41f7-7ced-488578904dfe
That is a list of all changes Win 10 has gone through including security risks

 

Vulnerability is a thing, always.

But never in my 12 years of walking this path on an offline system has it been a factor.

And like I said. Experience may vary. Updates have corrupted my stuff from time to time and that's enough reason to do what I do. Probably not for you.

 

Last edited: Jul 31, 2024

take your music computer off the internet,stop updating it, it can't update anyways once its disconnected. Segment your network, into online and offline computers, mark them or remove the ethernet/wireless software/hardware as applicable.

Save your self a butt load of headaches, most computers don't need updated if they aren't on the internet. a 256 gb usb thumb drive is about 12$, you can do a whole lot of sneaker net on 12$ if you need to move files around computers...

 

pray tell how does an attack vector occur on an off line system? - The only reason I can think of is stupidity, and there is no update that can stop stupidity.

 

first the original poster (op) has to learn about their computer. Optimize windows, plug security holes and disable background services and tasks, like google updates and adobe pdf preloading just in case you want to read a .pdf. hundreds of such tasks need to be evaluated and taken care. Only the OP knows what they are doing with their computer, not you or I, so we cannot answer the plea for help. OP must help themselves by learning about their computer and deciding what they want that computer to do..

Do they need FAX service running? I don't know and you don't know and they probably don't even know its running. I haven't sent but 1 fax in the last 10 years and I did it at physical fax machine at a copy center down the street. I don't run FAX service on my computers.
OP might fax a dozen times a day, and hence need it. Or more likely not, and can disable it.

One example to help you understand, we don't know what we don't know, until for some reason it comes to our attention.

So before going balls to the wall on the hardware or the application programs, USER needs to understand Computer Operating System. Is it hard? no idea, I don't know what they know about computing or Windows. Doesn't matter it has to be done.

Once windows has been properly neutered and brought to the needs of its owners, evaluate the hardware vs the application. The DAW and the plugins will have a definition of both the minimum operating hardware and o/s and the recommended reqs as well.

Compare them, read the F*cking Manual that came with the software and plugins . COmputing 101,

Once this has been evaluated, and IF the requirements are met, onto the application software.

OP has a lot of research and work to do. No good thing comes without a price. If OP wants to make music on a computer, OP must learn these things..