johnchop Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 Mainstage users: On my MB Pro (2.3Ghz i5, 8GB RAM, OS X 10.7) I've found that Mainstage 2 is slow to start relative to, say, Ableton 8... and that, for some reason I can't yet determine, pegs CPU running a couple of plugins (say Pianoteq 4 + AAS UltraAnalog) compared to other hosts. Before I go spending my (gasp!) $30, should I expect to see snappier performance with version 3? Thanks for your input. -J I make software noises. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sven Golly Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 I still haven't updated to MS3, but as for MS2, you should spend some time and deactivate the plugins that you aren't using, as Mainstage preloads/organizes everything in its active list on startup. Also spend a bit of time at the Apple Support forums looking at some other pointers folks have... it'll be time well spent, with either version. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnchop Posted December 30, 2013 Author Share Posted December 30, 2013 ... deactivate the plugins that you aren't using, as Mainstage preloads/organizes everything in its active list on startup... Thanks SG! I certainly have more plugins than I'll use in the app. Will try tonight if time allows. I make software noises. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buscemi Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 I downloaded the 3.0.2 update, extremely buggy, cpu spikes with just one channel strip, had to go back to 3.0.1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b3plyr Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 MainStage 3 is working fine for me. None of the issues reported by buscemi. I upgraded from 2 and have never looked back. Well, except for VB3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markay Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 ... deactivate the plugins that you aren't using, as Mainstage preloads/organizes everything in its active list on startup... Thanks SG! I certainly have more plugins than I'll use in the app. Will try tonight if time allows. If you dont want to delete the existing Concert, make a copy and delete the suspect AU's from the copy one at a time. Then you can flick between Concerts and test the difference in load time. Adding Sampletekk's White Grand to my active concert doubled the MainStage load time, in my case from about 4 secs to 8 secs, loading from an SSD. The larger the sample library the longer load time in my experience. A misguided plumber attempting to entertain | MainStage 3 | Axiom 61 2nd Gen | Pianoteq | B5 | XK3c | EV ZLX 12P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnchop Posted December 30, 2013 Author Share Posted December 30, 2013 Ah, I assume SG was referring to the AU manager, so I went through that an unchecked plugins I wouldn't ever use in MainStage. Well, for that matter, the application itself does seem to load faster, but I'm going on my memory here. I compared Live 8 (32-bit) to MS2 running in 64-bit mode, playing just Pianoteq Stage (no added effects), with 64 sample buffers. Looking at Activity Monitor, MS2 consumed ~80% CPU, whereas Live was steady at 40%. 32-bit mode is only a hair better. Something's definitely wonky with that app, at least on my system. -John I make software noises. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sven Golly Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 Ah, I assume SG was referring to the AU manager Indeed I was. Edited to add: Removing a plugin from a concert will reduce the time that specific concert takes to load, but will NOT change the initial startup time for Mainstage. Only removing them via the AU Manager will speed up your initial startup time. I compared Live 8 (32-bit) to MS2 running in 64-bit mode, playing just Pianoteq Stage (no added effects), with 64 sample buffers. Looking at Activity Monitor, MS2 consumed ~80% CPU, whereas Live was steady at 40%. Interesting. What's the CPU at when you run Pianoteq standalone? 32-bit mode is only a hair better. Something's definitely wonky with that app, at least on my system. Sounds like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnchop Posted December 31, 2013 Author Share Posted December 31, 2013 Comparing Pianoteq standalone to Ableton to MS, is a hair lighter on CPU than when run in a DAW, and again, WAY lighter than run in MS. The CPU issue (for 2 AND 3) is all over the Apple Support forums with no magic bullet to cure it. Going to disable still more AUs, repair disk permissions, and free up some disk space. Thanks again for the assist. I make software noises. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sven Golly Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 Hmmm... I've got Pianoteq 4.5.1 (full), and when it's idle (standalone) on my MBP, OS X 10.6.8, it's in the single-digit percentages... playing the demo sequence (no controllers available at the moment) it jumps up to around 35% with the default settings. You might want to try removing the Pianoteq effects (delay, reverb, comp) and use the Apple inserts instead, see if that helps at all. Haven't tried it, but it's worth a shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana. Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 I downloaded the 3.0.2 update, extremely buggy, cpu spikes with just one channel strip, had to go back to 3.0.1. Steve? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tusker Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 3.0.2 is fine here, using only Mainstage plugins running at 64 bit. New hardware is much faster so I can't compare to my previous experience with Mainstage 2. Eager to hear your experience, as I am being cautious about complexity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnchop Posted January 10, 2014 Author Share Posted January 10, 2014 Well, just to put this baby to bed, I found enough change in the couch cushions and bought into MS3. Man, what a world of difference. Pianoteq is running in the 30% CPU range. Everything else is running more smoothly as well. I make software noises. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tusker Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 Man, what a world of difference. Pianoteq is running in the 30% CPU range. Everything else is running more smoothly as well. Glad it's working for you John. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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