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pumpkinking
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pumpkinkingThe OP’s theory postulates that the issue is related to SD3 running on a bigLITTLE processor architecture (realizing that there are many aspects of this processor configuration that might be a potential reason). I was merely pointing to a bigLITTLE processor architecture (Mac M1) that functions well with SD3. So I was hoping to help eliminate possible sources of the problem.
pumpkinkingI cannot speak for the Alder Lake processor or Win11, but SD3 running on my 8-core Mac M1 processor (arm64 arch, 4 big, 4 LITTLE) seems to run almost exclusively on the efficiency LITTLE cores, even when I try to play as aggressively as I can, with no stuttering.
pumpkinkingYou might be limited by the 4GB of RAM in your machine. If you try to use an SD3 kit that uses more RAM than your machine has, you will have audio artifacts like you describe.
Make sure the kits you are loading in SD3 are less than 4GB (maybe a few 100MB less). There are presets in the 2-3 GB range, and you can always remove pieces to get the memory down.
pumpkinkingPretty much. Check out what trigger brands the edrumin has been tested with (they maintain a list in the forums).
Ive personally set up some large kits for specific projects like the rototoms/octobans in Hansa, a large D&D double-kick kit with a second hi-hat, and a Ludwig kit in the core library with a double kick, a high concert tom, second hi-hat and a side snare.
pumpkinkingLibrary drive speed will only affect the initial kit loading (assuming you’re not using the on-demand load feature, and the whole kit loads at once).
you can estimate the loading times by looking at the size of the kits/presets you use and measure the real drive performance. I suggest not looking at advertising/marketing figures for drive performance, but instead look at reviews of your SSD that contain real measured performance, or use any of several free tools to measure it yourself.
once you have the kit sizes and drive speed, it is simple math to estimate kit loading times (size/speed=time, assuming the units align). So an 8GB kit will take 13 seconds to load from a drive with 0.6GB/s read performance.
once the kit is loaded, the library drive speed should have no impact on performance since the samples are all in memory.
Library drive speed will only affect the initial kit loading (assuming you’re not using the on-demand load feature, and the whole kit loads at once).
you can estimate the loading times by looking at the size of the kits/presets you use and measure the real drive performance. I suggest not looking at advertising/marketing figures for drive performance, but instead look at reviews of your SSD that contain real measured performance, or use any of several free tools to measure it yourself.
once you have the kit sizes and drive speed, it is simple math to estimate kit loading times (size/speed=time, assuming the units align). So an 8GB kit will take 13 seconds to load from a drive with 0.6GB/s read performance.
once the kit is loaded, the library drive speed should have no impact on performance since the samples are all in memory.
pumpkinkingAlso maybe check the memory usage on the machine when you have the DAW open and SD3 plugin loaded with the kit in question. If that combo (plus whatever else you have going) is using all of your free memory, you would be starting to use swap, and that can cause distortion.
I have seen this when I had two different SD3 tracks in my DAW (recording two different preset kits in the same project). The total mem used was greater than the system memory and the SD3 samples started getting choppy.
pumpkinkingSome things to look at…
Have you tried standalone?
Are you hearing the distortion on other instruments or only snare?
Have you tried to load a supplied preset with the same snare and see if the distortion is there as well?
pumpkinkingTo help you answer your question, let me pass along some real data from my system. I have a Mac mini M1 with 16 GB RAM, and I started Logic Pro X with an SD3 plugin linked to a track. I have screenshots attached of the SD3-reported memory consumption (2823 MB) and the process memory consumption for Logic (312.5 MB), the SD3 AU (2.72 GB) and other Logic-related processes (these total ~11 MB, and there might be a few more but they are all very minor). My conclusion is that the 2.72 GB reported for the AU is (nearly) exactly what is reported by SD3, and the rest of the memory consumption of the Logic session is
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Thanked by: Red Gear MusicpumpkinkingI currently have 20 triggers in my kit connected through 2 different modules. I’ve been able to use all 20, although with some SDXs it is easier than others, depending on how many pieces the SDX kits support out of the box. You can always add X-Drums, but I find them a bit laborsome to balance to the rest of the kit and there is the matter of no X-Drum bleed (I’m sure there are nifty solutions, just never worked that much on it). I find that Death and Darkness provides a very large number of tom/cymbal slots in the two kit configurations supplied and fits well with a large e-kit.
I will say that ultimately you’ll be limited by the 128 midi note limit (Theoretically, there are two drum midi channels – 10 and 11 – but I have not found that SD3 can differentiate them). One way this has limited me is in the total number of articulations usable on pieces that tend to have a lot (like hi-hat). At some point you’re going to have to make a concession on either advanced articulations, or drop standard articulations of the basic kit pieces (like rim/rimshot on toms). Also the midi mapping of new triggers gets tricky as you fill up the midi notes (you end up searching for mapped notes that you are not using, changing them and then making sure your module sends a different midi note).
pumpkinkingOn your iMac, pull down a free app from the App Store called “AmorphorusDiskMark”. Once it is installed and open, then select the disk where your SD3 libraries live and run all tests (Just click on the All button). It will take a few minutes, but then look at the “Read” column (specifically the SEQ1M QD8 and QD1 numbers) and you should see something like the attached (which was measured on my SD3 library SSD.
Those numbers are in MB/s (and they are sort of best case scenario, but probably reasonably close to real world). So now look at the size of the library you are loading in the SD3 window, and divide it by the smaller of these two #s. In my case, the amber kit is 10227 MB, and I divide that by 612.11 MB/s for SEQ1M QD1 Read score and I get 16 seconds. The actual load time is 25 seconds, and the reason it is longer probably has to do with the details of how the libraries are stored and retrieved, but it should be within ~2X of the calculation.
pumpkinkingHave you measured your library storage hard drive read speed? My calculations showed the kit loading time were just about what the speed measurements predicted. If you are not seeing that the loading times match what speeds would suggest, then something else is going on.
The speedy reload could come from caching, so might not be reflective of the nature of your fresh loading delays.
pumpkinkingEven a fast SSD connected through the wrong interface will be slow, so you might need to tweak your setup. You could measure the read performance of your various drives with a free app (like AmorphousDiskMark – never used it but is free and has good reviews). Then you could compare with expected performance for the drive, others’ posted performances, etc.
If the SSD speed check is OK, then it is not drive performance causing your issue.
FYI – I just ran the above mentioned speed test and my SD3 library SSD read speeds were reported as 696, 613, 168 and 30 (all MB/s, tests: SEQ1M QD8 & 1 and RND4k QD 64 & 1).
Using this SSD the amber kit (10227 MB with my config) loads in 25 seconds. If I do the math that is about 400 MB/s, so not too far off of the sequential read results quoted.
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Thanked by: DavidpumpkinkingCheck out the memory footprint of the kit and compare it to the free memory on your machine. The crackling could be computer artifacts from SD3 needing more memory than is available (I have experienced this before). I say that because I use the amber kit and it tops out at 10GB for my config, and you indicate that your system has 8 GB RAM. You might consider 16-bit samples or the non-cached mode for the kits that need >6-7 GB (or whatever is free before you start the SD3 application).
pumpkinkingYou might check whether you’re triggering a hi-hat splash. There is a splash sensitivity slider in the Midi In/E-Drums window on the Hi-Hat Pedal tab.
A splash is triggered based on the timing of a foot pedal close/open sequence, and the slider likely controls that timing. You can also toggle splash off entirely in the same control tab.
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Thanked by: Kim MpumpkinkingRunning? Yes – community verified. Official support? Not yet that I’m aware of.
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