The latest version of Ableton Live (9.7.1) does not override the MMCSS priority of RME drivers (if enabled) anymore.

Reaper may or may not override driver based MMCSS, depending on the Preferences set in Reaper.

Preferences -> Audio -> Device -> Audio thread priority:

ASIO Default / MMCSS Pro Audio / Time Critical: Keeps the driver based MMCSS priority intact (26 with RME drivers, if enabled, else non MMCSS priority 15)

Time Critical: Uses non MMCSS priority 15, regardless of driver settings

MMCSS / Time Critical: Uses MMCSS priority 24, but only if MMCSS is disabled in RME drivers, else it falls back to non MMCSS priority 15. This looks like either a bug in Reaper or at least a conflict between Reaper and drivers that shouldn't happen.

Any other software you want checked (should I be able to get my hands on it)?

I'm working with the new Universal Audio Thunderbolt Windows ASIO drivers.

Every time I open Ableton, it says Failed set MCSS Priority: UADASIO. Any ideas?

It is still my opinion that the DAW should be responsible to set MMCSS for the driver threads, not the driver itself. That way the DAW can decide what to use and how to tweak it. But Steinberg insisted on shifting MMCSS responsibility to the ASIO driver. Good thing that this is an optional switch in the RME drivers.

In any case there is little reason to expect much of a difference on a well set up system. MMCSS is a good compromise, but not necessarily the best possible solution to the priority problem. Curiously when MMCSS was introduces it was a necessity (due to priority conflicts with DWM) that hardly any DAW used. Now that computers have become much more powerful MMCSS isn't so necessary anymore.

I use a program, Process Lasso, that lets me choose what Task to use. I used Pro Audio Task that I tweaked.
On activating the MMCSS button it looks like the RME panel activated the Audio Task not the Pro Audio.

So now I tweaked the Audio Task and all pops and clicks are gone.

Can I have MMCSS activated and switch between Tasks or must I use the Audio Task and tweak that one?

Regards
Christian

FYI, you can tweak the MMCSS service trough the registry. You can try to go down to 10% CPU time for the low prority taks.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library … s.85).aspx

The MMCSS settings are stored in the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Multimedia\SystemProfile

This key contains a REG_DWORD value named SystemResponsiveness that determines the percentage of CPU resources that should be guaranteed to low-priority tasks. For example, if this value is 20, then 20% of CPU resources are reserved for low-priority tasks. Note that values that are not evenly divisible by 10 are rounded up to the nearest multiple of 10. A value of 0 is also treated as 10.

The key also contains a subkey named Tasks that contains the list of tasks. By default, Windows supports the following tasks:

Improved audio stability (7.0.6)
To improve the overall audio stability under Windows, Cubase now ensures that the ASIO driver threads are using Windows MMCSS (Multimedia Class Scheduling Service).

I believe Cubase 6.xx dosn´t support MMCSS, it came with Cubase 7.0.6 .... maybe I am wrong.

If somebody confirms this, I could relaunch the test with Cubase 7

I did a test to compare MMCSS on or off.

This test use my own tool to automate the Dawbench Benchmark

Here are the results with a Hdspe Pcie (Multiface 1), Cubase 6.5, Project RXC-EXP 2014.
The enabled plugins are reduced until there is no drop for 5 minutes, and each buffer value is tested 10 times.

I believe Cubase 6.xx dosn´t support MMCSS, it came with Cubase 7.0.6 .... maybe I am wrong.

This test use my own tool to automate the Dawbench Benchmark

Here are the results with a Hdspe Pcie (Multiface 1), Cubase 6.5, Project RXC-EXP 2014.
The enabled plugins are reduced until there is no drop for 5 minutes, and each buffer value is tested 10 times.