Re: Please Help Me Improve My System

David, if you could get 64 samples without problem on your notebook with Babyface and now 128 work......

A) Then it would be good to think what has changed on your setup in time between.

You have already mentioned two things:
1) Yamaha audio driver has been installed.
2) New piano library has been installed.

Try to think and write down, what else has been changed.... In software installation, changes in hardware (also external like computer keyboard, mouse, monitor, MIDI controllers, piano,....), change in setting of software used.

B) I would strongly recomend (as Ramses and I have already recomended few times...) to test different USB sockets (all of them). It is very important. The difference may be day and night.

C) How do you use piano plugins/libraries? Do you have one project with several plugins/libraries and just use one or another without need to load another project?  Or do you have individual projects and changing piano means loading another project?

Re: Please Help Me Improve My System

Kubrak wrote:

David, if you could get 64 samples without problem on your notebook with Babyface and now 128 work......

A) Then it would be good to think what has changed on your setup in time between.

You have already mentioned two things:
1) Yamaha audio driver has been installed.
2) New piano library has been installed.

Try to think and write down, what else has been changed.... In software installation, changes in hardware (also external like computer keyboard, mouse, monitor, MIDI controllers, piano,....), change in setting of software used.

B) I would strongly recomend (as Ramses and I have already recomended few times...) to test different USB sockets (all of them). It is very important. The difference may be day and night.

C) How do you use piano plugins/libraries? Do you have one project with several plugins/libraries and just use one or another without need to load another project?  Or do you have individual projects and changing piano means loading another project?

A. besides the Yamaha Steinburg USB Driver I installed last month before going to the store to play their hybrid piano, nothing else has been installed by me. Of course, there's Windows updates, but that shouldn't be too bad.

B. I've tested the other 2 USB type A ports on the right just now, and the USB type C port on the left works best both for my setup physically and for transferring of data. Though I do have to add that the USB A port on the top right have similar performance to the type C port on the bottom left, I think. I'm not a computer pro, I'm just describing how I feel.
C. I have different project files loading different pianos, so if I want to load one, I just choose a project file and go from there.

Re: Please Help Me Improve My System

A. So, what about trying to uninstall Yamaha driver?

Re: Please Help Me Improve My System

Kubrak wrote:

A. So, what about trying to uninstall Yamaha driver?

I'll leave for the US next week, and will uninstall it afterwards, because I won't have use of it then.

55 (edited by ramses 2024-08-22 14:18:58)

Re: Please Help Me Improve My System

So you use the VSTi inside reaper (not stand-alone) and have a master keyboard connected via USB?
In this setup you have about half of "RTL", as I mentioned. Only the output latency.

To put an example. UFX III, ADI-2 Pro via SPDIF for monitoring.
DAW Cubase Pro 13.0, VSTi being used for HALion Sonic.
Arturia Minilab is the Master Keyboard connected through USB to the computer.

For the UFX III, the output latency at 44.1 kHz is:
2.968 ms with 64 samples ASIO buffer size
4.150 ms with 128 samples ASIO buffer size
7.052 ms with 256 samples ASIO buffer size
12.857 ms with 512 samples ASIO buffer size
24.467 ms with 1024 sample ASIO buffer size

I could comfortably play using ASIO buffer sizes up to 256 samples, 512 was also "ok".

I took a little test in Cubase recording 1 piano note repeatedly with different ASIO buffer sizes from 32 to 2048 samples.
Below, a screenshot of the different tracks with the wave form after performing render in place.
I did my best to be in sync with the drummer.

For me, it appeared as if it is pretty safe to play with ASIO buffer sizes of 32 up to 256, maybe even 512 samples.
Playable was up to 1024, uncomfortably it became with 2048 samples buffer size.

Therefore, I would like to come back to my point.
Do you have a "real problem" playing with an ASIO buffer size of 128?
From what I see here, playing with 128 samples ASIO buffer size should be possible without any issues.
Even 256 could be possible as you do not have the full RTL (round trip latency).

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ppwb9cf7s6hrivrux63ph/2024-08-22-Cubase-Test-Project-ASIO-Buffersize-VSTi-Latency.jpg?rlkey=wx3eav9sdrt40rymb0fv86thp&dl=1

Here the single wave files if you want to download and compare or play multiple together to check how narrow the single notes are between 32 and 512 samples ASIO buffersize:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/bbgvoch6 … p&dl=1

BR Ramses - UFX III, 12Mic, XTC, ADI-2 Pro FS R BE, RayDAT, X10SRi-F, E5-1680v4, Win10Pro22H2, Cub14

Re: Please Help Me Improve My System

ramses wrote:

So you use the VSTi inside reaper (not stand-alone) and have a master keyboard connected via USB?

Thank you, ramses. I do have a master keyboard, but it's connected to the Babyface via midi cable, because the USB port constantly cuts power to my Kawai VPC1 in the US. Plus, when I switch from the VPC1 to my NU1 in China, using a midi cable is easier and I don't have to constantly switch input devices.

So far, I do feel comfortable with 128. I just remember days of old when 64 was much faster and more smooth, that's why I asked the question about improving my system. smile Hope this helps!

57 (edited by ramses 2024-08-22 14:56:00)

Re: Please Help Me Improve My System

Via MIDI is also fine.

Then you need maybe really a different machine with a more performant CPU, good drivers and with significantly lower DPC Latencies.

Still, you could try, whether changing USB ports improve the situation.

I think you should try different USB ports to look whether it changes the situation.

Furthermore, a good idea would be to buy a Thunderbolt docking station from Dell to isolate the Babyface Pro
behind the USB3 controller of the TB dock. Do not connect any other device. Possibly, this works better.
As thunderbolt is "external PCIe" it's nearly the same as if you would insert a USB3 PCIe card into a desktop PC.
No guarantee that it fixes anything, but would be a good chance that things become a little better, if the BBF Pro
is connected to a USB3 controller of its own, where no other USB device is connected to.

BR Ramses - UFX III, 12Mic, XTC, ADI-2 Pro FS R BE, RayDAT, X10SRi-F, E5-1680v4, Win10Pro22H2, Cub14

Re: Please Help Me Improve My System

ramses wrote:

Via MIDI is also fine.

Then you need maybe really a different machine with a more performant CPU, good drivers and with significantly lower DPC Latencies.

Still, you could try, whether changing USB ports improve the situation.

I think you should try different USB ports to look whether it changes the situation.

Furthermore, a good idea would be to buy a Thunderbolt docking station from Dell to isolate the Babyface Pro
behind the USB3 controller of the TB dock. Do not connect any other device. Possibly, this works better.
As thunderbolt is "external PCIe" it's nearly the same as if you would insert a USB3 PCIe card into a desktop PC.
No guarantee that it fixes anything, but would be a good chance that things become a little better, if the BBF Pro
is connected to a USB3 controller of its own, where no other USB device is connected to.

Sounds like some great practical ideas. Thank you, ramses! You've provided some ideas for me to still continue using this machine till it starts breaking down. I want to keep my money's worth before getting a new laptop. It may be next year... But I'll surely post and ask for your advice then.

I'll see about the USB 3 docking station when I'm back in the States.

59 (edited by Muffin 2024-08-22 17:54:57)

Re: Please Help Me Improve My System

ramses wrote:

...
Ah ok, then I have old information. When I investigated, this was not yet clear. Thanks.
But still .. I do not like Win11, I will try to stay on 10 as long as possible and hope the next version is better.

Windows 11 gives me the Windows 8 vibes of full bore GUI annoyances from what I've seen, though some colleagues says that the GUI has improved over the three years since Windows 11 was released. At my company we've managed to avoid every second release of Windows that we support for our customers, so perhaps we can skip to Windows 12 to keep the trend since Windows XP. Not any guarantee that Windows 12 is any better, GUI wise, than Windows 11.

For my PC at home, Windows 10 Pro works just fine for my purposes, I'll have build a new one next autumn unless Microsoft extends the EOL deadline for Windows 10. The EOL has been changed for other versions before so perhaps Microsoft does it again, especially as of June 63% of Windows PC's runs Windows 10 with about 13% running Windows 11.

Re: Please Help Me Improve My System

I don’t  really find any difference in my system with Cubase 13 running on win11 over win 10. I dual booted for a while before fully switching. I found no difference in how my DAW performed

Babyface Pro Fs, Behringer ADA8200, win 10/11 PCs, Cubase/Wavelab, Adam A7X monitors.

Re: Please Help Me Improve My System

Obviously ramses has a problem with W11.

Well, other than the recent change from buffer of 64 to 128, I also find no performance change when using my system every day. So it’s fine by me.

Re: Please Help Me Improve My System

And buffer 64 samples worked fine only in Win10 or also in Win11?

Re: Please Help Me Improve My System

Kubrak wrote:

And buffer 64 samples worked fine only in Win10 or also in Win11?

Buffer 64 also worked well in Windows 11 till, if I remember well, sometime after the installation of the Yamaha dSteinburg driver.

Re: Please Help Me Improve My System

ramses wrote:
davidlaijiajun wrote:

Obviously ramses has a problem with W11.

Well, other than the recent change from buffer of 64 to 128, I also find no performance change when using my system every day. So it’s fine by me.

You told that you disabled kern isolation, so no wonder that you have no performance issues wink

Well, now that I remember well, I didn't go and dissable it. When it was first introduced, I went in and tried enabling it, and I received a pop-up that said something about unable to turn this on. I can't remember why, but since it can't be turned on due to some kind of limitation, I decided to not care about it.

Re: Please Help Me Improve My System

ramses wrote:

Online accounts in particular are so unacceptable.

Well, Apple has been asking users to use their devices with an Apple ID for many years. It's the case with my iPhone. I haven't used a Mac, but I bet it's a similar situation. So, it's alright. I've gotten used to it.

66 (edited by Kubrak 2024-08-23 08:13:25)

Re: Please Help Me Improve My System

I do not need to let MS know when I start computer, when I switch it off an how many times I go to toilet. And much more. It is far beyond Orwell.

67 (edited by davidlaijiajun 2024-08-23 10:27:52)

Re: Please Help Me Improve My System

ramses wrote:

I didn't really want to write anything more about this, but I have to correct myself at one point.
After a quick recherche, it seems to be the following.

Both the Apple ID and the Microsoft account offer cloud services and enable a certain amount of data synchronization between the devices.

However, the Microsoft online account interferes more deeply with the system because certain data would already be synchronized automatically (I find that annoying).

If I understand it correctly, Apple is essentially limiting itself to giving you an ID for authentication to use cloud services. So it doesn't seem to be directly intertwined with the system and your account in such a way that data from your account automatically ends up in the cloud.

They claim that the majority of the data would remain stored locally on the respective devices. If the account is blocked by Apple or Microsoft, you should lose access to the respective cloud services, but still have access to the device and the local data.

But still, it's all too dubious for me. I can only say, “Beware the beginnings”.

I would like to be able to decide for myself whether I want to activate a synchronization service, and then decide for myself exactly which folders this includes. The Microsoft defaults already go way too far for me, just like the automatic transmission of telemetry data, which you first have to laboriously deactivate and then check after every update to see if Microsoft has changed anything.

And with every Windows release after Windows 7, Microsoft gets greedier and takes more liberties with your system. I see the major risk that sensitive data from my local account could suddenly end up in Microsoft's cloud, which is notoriously not the most secure place. As evidenced by the incident last year when a Microsoft signing key was stolen, allowing access tokens for cloud services to be generated.
In theory, this could also grant access to emails or even data from online accounts, which are said to store not just Windows system settings but also sensitve user data as even WiFi passwords from your local network.

These are all things that really go too far for me.
I don't see this as a service but rather as quite an audacity for taking unwanted and unauthorized liberties on your system.

OK, I agree to disagree. I just want to say that I don't have anything to hide from the authorities except things that needs to be hidden, let's just end that subthread at that.

Regarding my system, it looks like I'll just work with buffer size of 128 and watch my laptop slowly retire. I'll post here again when that day comes and I'm in the market for a new PC again. I see you can give me good advice in that department. Until then, take care thank you for everything, and happy music-making!

Re: Please Help Me Improve My System

Try if uninstalling Yamaha driver does help, or not.

Re: Please Help Me Improve My System

ramses wrote:

As an American, you should know that better than anyone.

I'm not American. I'm a Chinese studying abroad in the US. In China, I know that the Internet is a public place, that information is not purely personal, and that people know what I say. That's why I said that since I've already been sharing a lot online, I don't care if big tech companies wants more info from me. I'm willing to share what I know can be shared. Also, for accessibility reasons, I prefer keeping my systems up-to-date, because certain bugs might be fixed OS wide for me so I can use the OS better with NVDA or Jaws.

So, we come from different vantage points. That's how I understand this topic.

Re: Please Help Me Improve My System

ramses wrote:

I really can't understand this current lax attitude towards such things.

I guess maybe I still have a lot to learn. At first I thought you were very paranoid or overreacting or overthinking or too nervous about these things. But I guess your word  lax can rather accurately describe my attitude towards it. I basically don’t care and don’t have the time to care, because I feel like this doesn’t have anything to do with me. They get what they want to get and I use what I want to use, we don’t bother them and as long as they don’t bother us, what is there to worry? Or in the words of uncle Maxx in the sound of music, what’s happening is going to happen, just make sure that it doesn’t happen to you.

But I guess on the other hand, the world around us is like a Jewish circle in the musical fiddler on the roof. It’s true that in the prologue, “we don’t bother them and so far they don’t bother us,” but later in act 2 the very constable that so far didn’t bother them, issued an edict to “get out in three days.”

So maybe I should try and think about how practical all of what you have shared might be for me? Maybe that’s how I can begin to understand where you’re coming from.

Re: Please Help Me Improve My System

@ramses The OP wrote that "I'm a Chinese studying abroad in the US." and China is a brutal oppressive dictatorship keeping tabs on Chinese living abroad, so obviously he/she has to be very careful what they express online.

I think this is off-topic, though.

72 (edited by davidlaijiajun 2024-08-23 18:14:54)

Re: Please Help Me Improve My System

Muffin wrote:

@ramses The OP wrote that "I'm a Chinese studying abroad in the US." and China is a brutal oppressive dictatorship keeping tabs on Chinese living abroad, so obviously he/she has to be very careful what they express online.

I think this is off-topic, though.

Thank you! Yes, I’m afraid all of what you said stands true. I do have to choose what I say, especially when in a Chinese social media environment, not so much on an international forum, because I feel like I can express myself a little more.

Well, I guess this digression happened because I told them that I use Windows 11.

No worries, all good!

Thanks!

David

Re: Please Help Me Improve My System

ramses wrote:

It seemed like you were downplaying those privacy issues, which gave me the impression that you thought I didn't know what I was talking about and needed to justify myself to avoid looking foolish.

I didn’t find that very considerate, especially since I genuinely put in the time and effort to help you with your computer problem.

Yes, I was downplaying it because I didn't believe it's something I need to think about at the moment, but no, I wasn't being inconsiderate to you, I was trying to quickly wrap it up and avoiding a long thread. If I sounded that to you, then I'm sorry for it and for what I said.
But I'm glad we had this conversation, to have compared notes so I knew where you're coming from. I guess what I can conclude from this was something I said above, that we are being effected by decisions, and that maybe what isn't bothering me now might worry me in the future. So, mutual understanding? At least I feel like I'm beginning to understand you a bit.

Re: Please Help Me Improve My System

ramses wrote:

Thank you, very kind of you. I would be pleased if you agreed to my suggestion to simply delete the postings on this topic starting with around #60. I am also very pleased to hear that you understand me and my intentions a little better.

Have a pleasant day, David, it's already night here. If there is anything else with your setup, I will be happy to help you again in the future.

Thanks, ramses! Hope you have a good evening. If you'd like, yes, you may delete what's not related to this thread, just as long as what's kept can also fill in on the missing context a bit. Good luck, and thanks for your time! I'll delete the Yamaha driver today, seeing that I'll return to the US next week.

Re: Please Help Me Improve My System

Hi everyone.

Today I was adjusting my Repaer midi device settings as I just returned to the States, and I found some legacy devices I used back in China that are no longer available. I removed them, and now the only midi devices are my Korg Nanokontrol Slider Knob, and the Babyface Pro FS Midi Port (connecting the Kawai VPC1).

And amazingly, when I put through some midi files with many notes and pedal down, it's no longer clipping and popping at 64 buffer size. Earlier I could only achieve real glitch free at 128, but now it sounds like 64 samples is working again.

This positive improvement makes me wonder -- was the unavailable midi devices the real cause behind all this stuff I've been working with over the past few weeks? If they even make a difference, then that's a very interesting discovery.

Happy weekend!

David

Re: Please Help Me Improve My System

Any HW driver may cause such problems. Mainly if it is not written with care.....

Anyway, great that you have found the source of your problems...