CPU usage on pedalboard and general advice

Pedalboards
#1

Hey! I’ve been playing around with this pedalboard using it with my bass clarinet:

But I very quickly hit 100% CPU usage

I tried removing some plugins which helped for a bit but it seems like the Freeze is super power-hungry.
I was wondering if this is something which could be solved with Portals which I found in this forum. Still I would kind of like to keep my reverbs in the “main” branch so they can affect all the next effects/looping.

But I would also like general advice if I’m doing something conceptually wrong. For example with the 3 gains at the end to control the individual volume of each component, maybe there is a better way to do that?

Also, what’s the recommended way of finding out which plugin eats up all the CPU other than removing/adding each component? It would be super nice to have something like VCV Rack which shows the CPU usage of each plugin

#2

Hey @StefanD,
I guess you are loading quite heavy plugins all on the same board.
I have a first quick tip for you: replace all the tinyGain plugins with Gain and Gain 2x2, they are less CPU hungry.

The Portal plugins can indeed help you a little bit. Especially for the TimeWrap, LP3 and MrFreeze.
Eventually, something like the ToggleSwitch and a system using CV plugins that turns the right effect (mostly from the same 3 end of the chain plugins) and routes the audio correctly will eventually help you. Alternatively, for the routing purposes, you can try the new osc-Audio Router from @steve

1 Like
#3

I made some changes now replacing the gains and using the portal and indeed I went down to 50% usage! That’s fantastic.

5 Likes
#4

This is also very helpful for saving CPU power:
https://wiki.mod.audio/wiki/MOD_Web_GUI_User_Guide#Using_meter_plugins_for_gain_staging_purposes

1 Like
#5

Great news @StefanD! I believe that you may be able to get even a little bit better. But that’s already a lot of room.

@khz, that’s a great tip. I’m actually at the moment working on a better/more clear chapter for the wiki to help users better manage CPU resources.

1 Like
#6

Sorry I think I’m missing some connection, but how can a level meter help save CPU power? I would assume it just shows you the volume of the outcoming sound?

#7

@StefanD You’re right. The example is only if you want to use a level meter, as shown in the pedalboard in the initial post.

1 Like
#8

@StefanD, that’s exactly why I am working on a better chapter :slight_smile:
That one was a quick fix to show how you could control your gain staging and how to do it in a way that was not CPU-hungry.
If I don’t mistake, at the time the Level Meter even had an output port, which has been removed to not even allow users to do that “mistake”

#9

Something I do on my boards to further improve CPU usage is to use the two channels of the Portal separately until the signal goes stereo.

A signal chain could look like this:

Board input > mono plugin > mono plugin > mono plugin > Portal in 1 >
Portal out 1 > mono plugin > mono plugin > mono plugin > mono plugin > Portal in 2 >
Portal out 2 > mono plugin > stereo plugin > stereo plugin > stereo plugin > Board outputs

Unfortunately, I have not found a better way to determine which plugin goes into which Portal “loop” than by trial and error. It’s a bit tedious but can make a big difference.

2 Likes