Multiple SD3 Instances slowing down computer

[HARKNESS]

Hi, I have created multiple custom SD3 Drum patches, all...

Hi,

I have created multiple custom SD3 Drum patches, all aprox 3.5 gigs each when loaded. I use a different drum patch for each song of my Ableton live set which means i need a separate instance of SD3 for each (17 patches/instances in total) But after i have loaded 7 or so the computers performance begins to really lag , the CPU level is at about 50% which is usually OK.

Is this a common problem or is there a lighter version of SD3 for purposes such as mine?

Are there any ways to streamline(shrink) SD3 in general to make the total gigs per patch smaller?

Any suggestions would be appreciated,

Thanks!

Superior Drummer 3 version: 3.1.4
Operating system: Windows 10

Hi,

I have created multiple custom SD3 Drum patches, all aprox 3.5 gigs each when loaded. I use a different drum patch for each song of my Ableton live set which means i need a separate instance of SD3 for each (17 patches/instances in total) But after i have loaded 7 or so the computers performance begins to really lag , the CPU level is at about 50% which is usually OK.

Is this a common problem or is there a lighter version of SD3 for purposes such as mine?

Are there any ways to streamline(shrink) SD3 in general to make the total gigs per patch smaller?

Any suggestions would be appreciated,

Thanks!

Superior Drummer 3 version: 3.1.4
Operating system: Windows 10

Topic

[mprinz]

Hi guys! Just for those reading until here:

I have a rather large kit. So, since I don’t want to set up esxtra instruments in a single SD3 instance, I pulled up 3.

1. main standard set, 4 toms etc.
2. high toms (or octobans), side snare, 2nd hihat
3. sample pad with percusssion, FX etc.

And I got 2 VST hosts that can do snapshots of the plugins and load them and mess around with MIDI, switching pad notes, whatever …

1. Cantabile 4.0
2. LiveProfessor2

Check then out!

Superior Drummer 3 version: 3.3.6
Operating system: Windows 10

[Scott Eshleman]

The [PERFORMANCE] tab under SETTINGS contains some options to reduce hits on the CPU & RAM.
https://www.toontrack.com/manual/superior-drummer-3/9/9-3-settings-2/9-3-4-settings-window-performance-tab

[Dean Sanvido]

did you ever max out the ram? did it help?  thx

[Mac McCormick]

I didn’t see a mention of how many and what kind of drives you are using. SSD’s can very much decrease load time in both cache mode and when loading entire kits. And obviously, the more samples you can simultaneously have in RAM the less bottleneck problems you will have. So upping the amount of Ram can certainly help.

But running 17 instances of SD3 will take a lot of processing power to run smoothly.
You might want to give us your complete computer specs: OS version , processor, drive count, types of drives, did you optimize your computer for audio, are you running any other apps in the background, etc.

If it’s an older/slower computer you could put 2 terabytes of RAM and you’d still have problems running 17 instances of SD3 along with Ableton. So knowing your specs can tell us a lot about what to recommend.

-mike

Superior Drummer 3 version: 3.3.6
Operating system: Windows 10

Cubase Pro, Korg Kronos, M-50, Hammond XK-1c, Toontrack SD3, EZBass w/lots of expansions, many VSL Vi's, Shreddage 3 everything, and shit-tons of FX plugins.

[Brad]

What about something like (or exactly like) Gigperformer?

https://gigperformer.com

Superior Drummer 3 version: 3.3.6
Operating system: macOS Ventura (13)

Mac Studio M1 Max, RAM 64 GB, 1TB Drive, OSX 12.x/13.x and Windows 10 (VM)
DAW: Studio One Pro (always up to date)
DTX Express III (Extreme triggers), Nektar LX88
OWC Thunderbay Mini (4 X 1TB Sata SSD), Express 4M2 (4 X 2TB M.2 SSD), Envoy Express (1TB M.2 SSD)
Presonus Quantum, Faderport & Faderport 8
Black Lion Sparrow Mk2 A/D, FMR-RNP-RNC, MIDI Xpress 128, BM5A, KRK VXT4, Equator D5
2020 Macbook Pro 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD Audio(mobile rig)

[Axel Wagner]

I understand this thread to be about unloading times. I am using multiple instances, too, and the unloading of SD3 is incredibly slow. It is not about RAM or CPU usage or load times, only about closing a project. Any idea to speed this up other than killing the thread in task manager?

Superior Drummer 3 version: 3.3.7
Operating system: Windows 11

[John]

Hi Axel,

I do not read this thread being about unloading times; the OP was concerned about having multiple instances loaded making his computer behave sluggish after a while.

If you read this thread, you will find several ways of slimming down your loaded kits. If your RAM is full, your OS will struggle with Virtual RAM and shuffle data to and from disk and RAM. Depending on what else is going on on your PC, the system can choke. SSD drives are faster, especially USB4 or TB, which helps. Lots of RAM, of course.

BR,
John

John Rammelt - Toontrack
Technical Advisor

[Axel Wagner]

Hi John,

Thanks for your reply. I have 96 GB RAM of which 68 are used by my current project. I am using a PCIe 5 SSD RAID for sample streaming. This is not the problem and during operation, the system is not sluggish at all. Cubase shuts down quick with the exception of unloading the SD3 instances which take minutes (!) for each one to unload.

BR, Axel

Superior Drummer 3 version: 3.3.7
Operating system: Windows 11

[John]

Hi Axel,

so shutting down Cubase with a Project not using more than one instance of the SD3 plug-in, however big the kit is, is behaving “normally” but having more than one instance makes Cubase take a long time to shut down?

BR,
John

John Rammelt - Toontrack
Technical Advisor

[Axel Wagner]

Exactly. I am using three SD3 instances in my current project, each of which uses approx. 8 GB. The more they use, the longer their unloading takes. Other sample intensive plug-ins, like Kontakt, VSL etc. are as quick as always during unloading in the same project.

BR, Axel

Superior Drummer 3 version: 3.3.7
Operating system: Windows 11

[Shen G]

While not exactly the same situation as Alex, I am using only 1 instance in a project, but also find the exit/shutdown/unload times to be strangely long, nearly as long as the loading.

Having a pretty fast SSD it isn’t excruciation but I would think too long for a live situation to change song to song… without some planned banter 😉  Although without any bleed or ambient mics for live I guess it would be fine.

With some of my bigger kits being around 15GB’s, it can take some time though.  And without any disk activity, and not much CPU usage it seems strange watching the RAM utilisation decrease so slowly on exit.  Although I wouldn’t be surprised if it just a windoze memory management thing that would be hard/impossible to improve from TT’s end.

 

This may also spur me to look for or start a thread about some of the technical/performance aspects of SD3.  Why I don’t see great utilisation of SSD/CPU speeds when loading comes to mind.

Cheers all.

Superior Drummer 3 version: 3.3.7
Operating system: Windows 10

[John]

Sorry for the late reply but it has been sent to the programmers to investigate.

BR,
John

John Rammelt - Toontrack
Technical Advisor

[Bear-Faced Cow]

It’s possible that this might either be a Cubase or a Windows thing. I just tested this on my Mac in Studio One loading multiple VST3 instances, consisting of 20 GB kits. Upon closing the Studio One project all instances of Superior Drummer were released instantly.

jord

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Jordan L. Chilcott

Web Site: https://jordanchilcottmusic.com/

[Author]

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