MIR Process Priority? Please Help [SOLVED]

[kage49]

Hello, wondering if someone can help me...

I was having trouble running MIR where constant clicks keep happening if I use more than 5-10 instruments (like multiple clicks in a second)... I was doing some troubleshooting and I've changed MIR's process priority (windows 7) from High to Normal and the problem went away. I was able to run Jay's Battle of the Heroes demo perfectly at 512 ms. I don't know if this is the correct way to resolve it, but now everytime I start MIR I have to manually change the process priority. Am I missing something?

Thanks in advance.

Just for clarity, I use this setup:

1 PC, Xeon 5570 x2, 24 GB RAM, Windows 7 Ult

Vienna MIR using M-Audio Delta 1010LT,  S/PDIF out, MIR is using all cpu 16 threads, 512ms buffer

Cubase 5.1 64x, using Fast Track Pro USB, S/PDIF in

LoopBe30 for midi routing

[Dietz]

Hello Kage49,

Our developers told me that this is some kind of "Known Issue". If it works for you, nothing is wrong with normal process priority. Of course, this is a crude workaround, because you really have to re-adjust this setting each time, sorry to say so.

We are aware of the issue and will fix it with the one of the next updates.

Thanks for your patience,

[PrestoLargo]

 There is a free utility which allows you to save the process priority.  It add a new save feature to the priority menu.  Links to 32 bit and 64 bit versions are on this page:

http://www.askvg.com/how-to-permanently-set-process-priority-in-windows-task-manager/

[Dietz]

Welcome PrestoLargo, and thanks for the valuable input!

[kage49]

Thanks all for the input, I don't mind changing it manually because MIR almost always stays open, so it's a matter of doing this only once in a while.

I was just wondering if there is anything else I can do to improve performance even more :)

Awesome product by the way.

Since this thread is still active, I might as well ask this here: since a lot of people now use MIR and VEPro interchangeably (using MIR for the final mix), will there ever be a way to export/import templates between the two? like, list of instruments, VI settings, Midi assignment, VS plugins... etc? Just checking :)

[Dietz]

@Another User said:

Since this thread is still active, I might as well ask this here: since a lot of people now use MIR and VEPro interchangeably (using MIR for the final mix), will there ever be a way to export/import templates between the two? like, list of instruments, VI settings, Midi assignment, VS plugins... etc? Just checking :)

It's on the list! 😊

Kind regards,

[kage49]

Hello,

Sorry to bump this old thread but I'm still having problems :(

After lowering the process priority, I now get the occasional pop every 15 seconds or so, especially if there is some activity involving a high-priority process like Task Manager or Cubase. But I also get the pops anyway even if I don't do anything on the machine...

I tried changing from a radeon HD 4850 x2 to an Nvidia GTX 460..

I changed my sound cards from a couple of m-audio cards to 1 RME Raydat... 

I still get the same problem no matter what I do. Please help! 

[Dietz]

Kage49, are you sure that Cubase and MIR don't try to access the same audio port? You have to tell both applications that they _must not_ touch the audio ports used by the other program. In Cubase, it's done in the VST-connections (F4 by default); in MIR it's under Audio Settings / Audio Routing.

Apart from that: What are the system-wide latency settings of the RME? And how many buffers does MIR use additionally ("Buffer Multiplier" ... it's under the Preferences / Advanced)?

Kind regards,

[kage49]

Hi Dietz, thanks for responding.

MIR is using ADAT3+4 for output, which is routed through the RayDAT internal mixer to ADAT3+4 input.

Cubase has ADAT3+4 input as the "input" in VST connections, and ADAT1+2 as output. The buffer on the RME is 256. The multiplier on MIR right now is x16. (i kept increasing it because I also suspected that the pops were due to not having enough latency for MIR to handle all the instruments).

Also, before the RayDAT I had 2 M-Audio cards and I made MIR use one and Cubase the other. The output from MIR into Cubase was using spdif cable. I had the exact same problem, this is the main reason I bought an RME just to be sure :(

It might be worth noting that there is a guaranteed pop and/or total silence for half a second when I maximize or minimize a process with a priority set to "high" like Cubase... is this due to me having lowered the MIR process to "normal"?

[Dietz]

We discussed your problem today, but we really can't see a good reason for the behavior you describe. One possible culprit is the video card, though: Did you ever try to bring down the "Venue Details" in MIR's Preferences to a value like 0.5 or 0.25 - just for testing? The Venues won't look as beautiful as before, but it will take off some strain from the graphics engine.

Apart from that, the next MIR update to Vers. 1.2 (which is just around the corner) could solve the issue, as it introduces a different handling of process priority.

Kind regards,

[kage49]

I've tested with two cards already, no luck.

I'll try the following, in order, to troubleshoot:

1- Lower venue details, try.

2- Wait for MIR update. try.

3- Update to Cubase 5.5, try.

4- Downgrade to Vista 64. try.

If all of the above doesn't work, I might explore changing my mobo or RAM chips.. if not I'm just screwed [:(]

[Dietz]

I just re-read your messages and discovered the following sentence:

"I tried changing from a radeon HD 4850 x2 to an Nvidia GTX 460.."

... did you ever have the chance to try one of the more recent ATI cards? In our tests they have proven to be the best choice for MIR's needs, most of the time.

[kage49]

I have another PC with a radeon 58xx card (not sure which), I'll find some time to try this too...

But I just tried something: I lowered Cubase's priority to Normal and set Mir's output directly to the monitors... I did not hear any pops/clicks :/

Of course I cannot record MIR's output because Cubase jitters like crazy, due to  the low priority. So is it possible Cubase is hogging the CPU resources because it's a higher priority than MIR? (Cubase > High, MIR > Normal)

I have to ask: Anyone tried Windows 7 64x + Cubase 5.1 + MIR on one PC? 

hmmm....

[DG]

 Three other things to test:

1. Try the Affinity trick with Cubase
2. Raise the Cubase buffer to maximum and then lower it until the pops start.
3. Make sure the video window is not open, even if hidden.

DG

[kage49]

At the risk of sounding like the biggest idiot in this forum... Cubase needed more latency, that's all it was :(

It never crossed my mind! why would Cubase need more than 256 buffer size? It's just sending out midi data and receiving one bus input... I've run Cubase with 80 VI's as vst instruments, each with multiple effect inserts from Vienna Suite running at 256 buffer size and not one pop! But for one input bus I need to increase buffer size? Ugh.. 

Anyways, all's well that ends well I guess. I tested recording Battle of the Heroes multiple times and no pops/clicks so far. Thanks Dietz and DG and sorry to waste your time. I appreciate the help :)

[DG]

Glad to hear it's all sorted out. One more thing you can try is to record directly from the MIR outputs. This will mean that Cubase doesn't need to have an input bus at all. Does that mean Cubase can run at a lower latency?

DG

[Dietz]

Great news, Kage49! May I change the thread's subject to "Solved" then? :-)

BTW - DG's suggestions refers to RME's DigiCheck. This has a "Global Record" utility which allows for direct-to-disk recording from any of their audio interface's audio paths. You can get it from [URL=http://www.rme-audio.de/en_downloads.php?page=content/downloads/en_downloads_driver&subpage=content/downloads/en_downloads_digicheck]here[/URL].

Kind regards,

[kage49]

Yes you can change the title Dietz. :) Thanks DG and Dietz, I'll try the digicheck thing later today just for fun.