Jason Moore LAcSo…. I am fairly new to SD 3 (covert from EZ Drummer). I am using Studio One. Early 2015 MacBook Pro 8 GB RAM. 2.9GHz Dual Core I5 processor.
All libraries are on a 1TB external SSD with 3/4 of it empty. Internal HD is 512 GB SSD with only 125 GB on it.
I was having no performance issues at first.
I recently discovered mic bleed and the ability to turn on surround channels. Now I have a horrible glitch issue but it’s only in the one track I am working on that has all of the mics and bleeds turned on. I have completely optimized my system. I have done everything in the world that could possibly free up more space. I am thinking to buy a new MacBook that is supercharged but I don’t think I really need to because all other tracks and drum configurations (I’m working on 11 different tracks at the moment) are working totally fine.
When looking at the performance monitor in Studio One I can see that SD is fluctuating between 20-30% of CPU usage… Not nearly enough to be causing this problem.
Now for the interesting part……
I go into activity monitor in my Macbook and I see that studio one is taking up about 40% and FONTD is also taking up 40-50% ONLY during the tracks that’s giving me fits. On all other tracks Font D is completely irrelevant.
If I go into the problem track and disable SD3, FONT D usage is irrelevant and the track plays fine.
So….. why is FONT D being activated during a specific configuration of SD3? It’s not been an issue until I turned on Mic Bleed on the default kit with surround libraries also in use.
I can use mic bleed without the surround libraries no problem.
So…. SD is using Font D for some reason in this particular case. Why? The track is unlistenable.
Yes, I’ve tried changing Cache settings in SD3. Yes, I have done everything imaginable to free up space, RAM, and optimize my computer.
I have definitely tracked it down to FONT D’s usage of 30-40% of CPU while running SD 3 in this config. And, again… in my other drum config’s this FONT D issue is not there.
OK developers….. Good luck figuring this one out!
Bear-Faced CowFONTD running normally here activating all surround channels on default kit. Sudden high FONTD usage is an indication of a corrupt font. If the validation in Font Book doesn’t uncover the bad font, you may have to try removing font families one by one and test.
jord
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Thanked by: Jason Moore LAc
BradI also found this on the apple user forum where a user noticed high CPU usage from FONTD.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7535896
The first step to try is reboot into safe mode, then reboot normal, causing the font caches to be purged and rebuilt.
Second step (if step one doesn’t work) is exactly what Jord suggested.
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)
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Thanked by: Jason Moore LAcJason Moore LAcThank you both for replies.
On further inspection I am also now noticing this. FONTD issue is not there. Now it is Kernal Task. Looking further into it it is something that diverts resources away from CPU hogging programs as the computer heats up.
So…. I am using Studio One.
I am also looking in Activity monitor.
With this track running, CPU shows SD3 taking up about 12-20%, Studio one over 100% and the Kernal task over 100%. This is causing the glitching.
So…. I disabled VST, AU, etc…. in Studio One and turned them all on one at a time. The problem is in either (and both) VST and AU. Now….. SD is what is running on those. But why does it take the Studio One CPU usage from about 30% if I turn them off to over 100%. SD3 usage doesn’t change…. but I know for a fact the increase in Studio 1 usage is due to SD3.
I have installs in AU as well as VST but have read on Toontrack that that should not matter. I also tried running the track via only AU (with VST disabled) and vice versa. CPU usage was the same.
I have gone through Studio one advice as well… but the increased CPU usage is due to SD3. Why though does CPU usage of SD3 hover at around 20% but it increases Studio One usage from 30-40% to over 100%?
Again….. this is only on one track with bleeds and surrounds activated. Other tracks without surrounds do not have this problem.
This is a head scratcher. I’d hate to buy a new $3,000 computer just to use surrounds…. but if I have to I will.
It seems to me something is just not jiving that can be figured out.
Thanks again for earlier replies!
BradIs this when SD3 is record enabled? Does it go away when record enabled for all tracks is deselected?
Do you have low latency monitoring enabled? What are you interface settings? Have you tried disabling low latency monitoring? (deselect the green z on the master track)
How much RAM do you have?
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)
1
Thanked by: Jason Moore LAcBear-Faced CowThe good news is that you won’t have to buy a new computer to fix this issue. The bad news is that you have some work ahead of you to fix it (or maybe that’s good news… who knows).
It really has nothing to do with the bleed in SD3 itself. FONTD is being called in order to grab font information for display purposes. If you have a corrupt font, FONTD does not go quietly into the night. It will try to read that corrupt font over and over. Only way to get it to stop is to locate and remove the corrupt font. Luckily, it is only slowing the system down. I’ve had cases where it crashed apps because I had some old fonts in the system as a result of being a long time Mac user.
jord
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Thanked by: Jason Moore LAcNo products in the cart.