Benjamincharles; I have to thank you for how well you answered my questions and the grace you showed in doing so.  I also have to agree with Brundlefly that this is a job for tech support. This problem seems without a doubt above our pay grade.

I do hope you get this sorted out and as well the others. I will say this you have brought to light something we were as a group unaware of. For that you have done us all a great service.

Thank you all, for trying your best!

Planetearth:

Yes, I've done a clean install of my OS, and installed only SONAR (nothing else, just standard Win7 x86).

I hear what you're saying about what SONAR 9 could really "fix" at this point? - I guess, for lack of better words, maybe this:

"better CPU efficiency with regards to VSTi" or "better handling of i7/multithreading/CPU/loads"?

------
I know what you mean, it's tough to have them "fix" such a general, and quite honestly "odd" problem.  But I have faith in Cake!  The fact that other DAWs or "hosts" can handle this CPU load flawlessly proves that it's possible.  I can feel it! :)

SONAR is the best DAW, seriously.  Mad powerful!  I just wish I could load my synths in it :(

But, I'm a very patient and understanding person.  I know I'm just one user.  But this community rocks!

Thanks again everyone.

Thanks, Benjamin.

Have you had any luck with Cakewalk support?

Bear in mind this is with Win7 64 and Sonar 8.5.3 64 & with a 6 core AMD cpu, fast SATA 3 data drive and 4gb of 1333 DDR3 ram. I HAVE to be doing something wrong here, surely?

I agree - something is bogus in your setup.  I'm working on a 24 track with over 50 plugs and Sonar CPU is ~22%.
 
What interface are you using?

Also, if you're using 32 bit, why are you on Win7 instead of XP?

Even XP wasn't stable enough to reliably run a studio machine until sp2, and didn't fully mature until sp3. Win7 is still half-baked, and if you look at the problem threads on this forum, a majority of the people complaining are using Win7. I've got a modest single-core Athlon XP 2500 that I use to test plugs with Sonar and to surf the internet, and I can run 30 tracks of audio, 30 compressors, and 30 EQs without a dropout on a twelve year-old LynxOne card. I haven't even tried to max out my new quad-core, but I have yet to see any weird behavior. Both machines are running a fully updated XPsp3 Pro install. There's definitely something wrong with your setup, and I'm willing to bet there's some type of conflict between your hardware, Win7, and Sonar. While Reaper may be able to run more efficiently, my own studies show that Sonar runs the same plugs as Reaper in relatively the same fashion. Compared with the stats in the windows task, Sonar regularly overestimates the cpu usage while Reaper under reports it. One problem I've had with Reaper is the cpu load for routing tracks. (I also have problems with the phase issues and the lack of a sinusoidal curve for panning, but that's a different discussion.) I still use Reaper for recording my live jams with Reaktor and soft synths like the Moog Modular, but in the end, I've found Sonar best for actually putting it all together.

From the Cakewalk help file:

"CPU meter. The CPU meter displays the time it takes to process a buffer full of audio data as a percentage of the maximum time available to process that data and maintain uninterrupted playback. There is some tolerance built into the meter, so it's very possible that it will exceed 100% at times (more so during recording than playback). When the meter exceeds 100%, it displays the word "Overload"."

If you're not getting full use out of your cpu, then there is definitely a conflict.

Resonant Order


What are your midi buffers set to?

What is your ExtraPluginBufs in the aud.ini file set to?

What is your ThreadSchedulingModel in the aud.ini file set to?

 
 
 
So THATs what the aud.ini references were about.
Where does one find this mythical file?

Thanks - having read the whole lot two or three times over the last few days you`d think that would have stuk in my subconcious.
I plead being old and infirm...

What does RME say?

Can you please update your footer/signature with the current hardware/software you are running?
 
For example, are you still loading the Alphatrack and its drivers?
(There are mentions of some issues from users running Sonar... I notice that the AlphaTrack installs some control drivers in Sonar... but not in Raper).

tried changing the ini file.. but can't seem to make the changes stick. always defaults back to 1.

 This happens to me as well, on Win7 64.

Are you trying to change the actual file, or are you using the Options/Initialization File procedure in Sonar to change the file?

Well I did nothing last night - forgot we had a rehearsal scheduled!

FWIW I have contacted rme and got no response other than "well if it is working OK with one app it shoul be OK with all apps" which of course makes perfect sense.

I suppose one thing I havent tried is moving my Emu 1212m over to the 6 core to see if that affects anything. Lot of effort, though.
I will have a couple of hours to work on this tonight and then I am out of the loop till Sunday unfortunately.

Well I did nothing last night - forgot we had a rehearsal scheduled! FWIW I have contacted rme and got no response other than "well if it is working OK with one app it shoul be OK with all apps" which of course makes perfect sense. I suppose one thing I havent tried is moving my Emu 1212m over to the 6 core to see if that affects anything. Lot of effort, though. I will have a couple of hours to work on this tonight and then I am out of the loop till Sunday unfortunately.

Make sure all the AMD Cool n' Quiet operations are turned off. You might want to start a new thread listing all your specs, and we might be able to get down to the problem since there's usually a checklist to go by. I always use AMD because of the great performance.

This may be of some relevance.

Today, I upgraded my CPU from a Phenom X3 (2.3 GHz) to a Phenom II X4 (3.4 GHz).  So you can guess that I was pretty astonished to open a test project that I have going in Sonar and find the CPU use reported by Sonar had almost doubled from ~15% to ~25%.

At any rate, I stumbled around a bit and ran into what appears to be the issue (at least as far as reporting goes):

With the normal power plans, the OS and CPU will run the multiplier up and down so that the CPU doesn't work as hard if there isn't as much to do.  Putting the power plan to max performance locks the multiplier and speed of the CPU at the top end.

I can't remember if you did that (and don't have the stamina to read all these posts again) , but that would be worth a try.  I found a nice desktop gadget (powerscheme) that will let me select power plans with a single click.

If that fixes the problem, then I suspect that the difference with Reaper is that Reaper has code that bumps up the power plan.  that would explain your rewire result, since with Rewire, the Rewired application is actually still running.

If all you do is music on the machine, you might just leave in on Max Performance or disable the features (I'm pretty sure it's cool and quiet on AMD, not sure on Intel).  But if you have a mixed use box, then just switch into Max Performance whenever you run Sonar.

I hope that's of some use.

AndyDavis


This may be of some relevance.

Today, I upgraded my CPU from a Phenom X3 (2.3 GHz) to a Phenom II X4 (3.4 GHz).  So you can guess that I was pretty astonished to open a test project that I have going in Sonar and find the CPU use reported by Sonar had almost doubled from ~15% to ~25%.

At any rate, I stumbled around a bit and ran into what appears to be the issue (at least as far as reporting goes):

With the normal power plans, the OS and CPU will run the multiplier up and down so that the CPU doesn't work as hard if there isn't as much to do.  Putting the power plan to max performance locks the multiplier and speed of the CPU at the top end.

I can't remember if you did that (and don't have the stamina to read all these posts again) , but that would be worth a try.  I found a nice desktop gadget (powerscheme) that will let me select power plans with a single click.

If that fixes the problem, then I suspect that the difference with Reaper is that Reaper has code that bumps up the power plan.  that would explain your rewire result, since with Rewire, the Rewired application is actually still running.

If all you do is music on the machine, you might just leave in on Max Performance or disable the features (I'm pretty sure it's cool and quiet on AMD, not sure on Intel).  But if you have a mixed use box, then just switch into Max Performance whenever you run Sonar.

I hope that's of some use.

 
Thanks for trying but I suspect this was the first thing all of us with the problem tried.
I am planning on starting a new thread once I have time to set some benchmarks on exactly what is going on, unless I get lucky and find a cure, in which case I will post my findings on here.
 
This all just so weird.

Well, I finally found something that worked for me: I got a USB-based audio interface (Focusrite Saffire 6).  I spent ALL DAY today making music and no time wrestling with Sonar/Windows/Drivers/etc.  I almost forgot what that was like!

The meter says CPU1 is still doing most of the work, but it's at around 20% rather than 50%.  Most important: no clicks, pops, dropouts, crashes or handfuls of hair!

For what it's worth, my advice to others having this problem is if you're using a Windows computer (a laptop in particular) with a Firewire interface (a Presonus Firebox in particular) -- check that out first.  I would have saved myself MONTHS of headaches had I done so. 

Now I'm going to go find a productive use for my Firebox.  Doorstop?  Paperweight?  Scrap metal??  The possibilities are endless!

PS - the Saffire 6, so far, is great.  Excellent sound, stable, flexible @48K/24-bit/7ms latency ASIO.  USB 1.1 is not an issue, which was my biggest fear.  My only quibble is the headphone amp is a little weak (a function of the limited USB bus power, no doubt) ...