Plugin CPU use - Solus Fortitude

Fergler · 04-07-2020, 11:13 AM

Testing out Reaper in Linux. Running very smooth and very interesting to see Alsa pulling off nearly half the latency compared to Windows.

I have no reference to other distros. I'm wondering if it's normal for you guys to see much higher CPU use by plugins than in Windows.

Examples:

Windows ReaEQ: 0.0 - 0.1
Linux: 0.2

Windows JS Midi Eater: 0.0
Linux: 0.1

Overall the system seems to be using less though. My fan hasn't kicked on unless I ask a lot of Google chrome. It goes all the time in Windows... it's one of the main reasons I've been looking into Linux for recording mainly, as I have a small room and would love to take the fan out of the background noises I have to deal with.

p.s. could anyone eli5 getting ReaPack to show up? I've placed the .so in /usr/me/.config/REAPER/UserPlugins.

JamesPeters · 04-07-2020, 01:26 PM

I see no higher CPU use for the Cockos plugins or JS plugins when I compare Reaper for Linux and Reaper for Windows. The same goes for some other VST plugins that I've compared under those same conditions. I think Airwindows Linux versions of the plugins might take slightly more CPU though, and possibly others but if the numbers weren't significantly higher I would've forgotten.

To get accurate CPU % readings in Linux you'll need to set your CPU frequency governor to "performance", to match the Windows power setting of "high performance" (of the CPU). This sets the CPU frequency to its maximum. The CPU % reading of Reaper will only show a % of the CPU's current ability/speed. So if the CPU throttles down--which it will by default unless you change the CPU frequency governor setting--you'll see higher CPU usage in Reaper. But then once you load the project down with a lot of plugins and the CPU throttles up, it'll probably seem to use less CPU than Windows did (since I noticed I could push my system significantly harder using Linux than I could when using Windows, and maintain stable low latency performance).

I use indicator-cpufreq as a plugin for the panel, so I can change the governor when I want.

Reapack has some dependencies and your distro might not be meeting them (GCC in particular might be outdated). I'm using the most current Xubuntu but previously I had that problem.

s wave · 04-07-2020, 04:42 PM

You can copy and paste the .so (plugins) into your new project if that helps.

Glennbo · 04-07-2020, 07:33 PM

I see pretty equal performance and CPU use between Windows and Linux.

I did do the following in Linux though, and in my case it made the difference between being able to run at 64 samples latency without a struggle and being forced to use 128 barely able to keep up.

1. Install a lowlatency kernel, should be in your repos.

2. Make sure that you reconfigure the system so that you get the ability to run realtime threads and lock memory. Normally accomplished by editing a file called limits.conf in /etc/security (the details might wary slightly depending on your distro). add the following and login again:
your-username - rtprio 98
your-username - memlock unlimited

3. Verify that the above worked by running the command ulimit -a

Some audio apps you install will make those priority and memlock mods for you so you may already have permissions to run apps with a realtime priority of 98 and with unlimited memory locking, but it would be worth checking.

Fergler · 04-09-2020, 04:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JamesPeters

To get accurate CPU % readings in Linux you'll need to set your CPU frequency governor to "performance", to match the Windows power setting of "high performance" (of the CPU). This sets the CPU frequency to its maximum. The CPU % reading of Reaper will only show a % of the CPU's current ability/speed. So if the CPU throttles down--which it will by default unless you change the CPU frequency governor setting--you'll see higher CPU usage in Reaper. But then once you load the project down with a lot of plugins and the CPU throttles up, it'll probably seem to use less CPU than Windows did (since I noticed I could push my system significantly harder using Linux than I could when using Windows, and maintain stable low latency performance).

That makes a lot of sense. Considering how much time I've spent configuring windows for optimal audio I'm surprised I forgot about that.

Quote:

You can copy and paste the .so (plugins) into your new project if that helps.

Can you elaborate? ReaPack is meant to be used globally. I did try dragging it onto Reaper to see if it would install it like a theme or config file but no luck.

Quote:

2. Make sure that you reconfigure the system so that you get the ability to run realtime threads and lock memory. Normally accomplished by editing a file called limits.conf in /etc/security (the details might wary slightly depending on your distro). add the following and login again:
your-username - rtprio 98
your-username - memlock unlimited

Thank you for this detailed explaination. Low latency flags are apparently already there in the Solus kernel according to my research. Latency wise in general, I'm getting comparable performance to Windows though I have not yet run anything other than a single track test. ALSA is working very smoothly and detecting all my hardware without fail.

Fergler · 04-09-2020, 05:36 PM

After editing the .conf, running ulimit -a shows memory lock is unlimited but real time priority says 99 not 98. Not sure how much this matters or what it was before.

Glennbo · 04-09-2020, 09:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fergler

After editing the .conf, running ulimit -a shows memory lock is unlimited but real time priority says 99 not 98. Not sure how much this matters or what it was before.

Might have been pre-tweaked somewhere in your distro, should be cool.

Fergler · 04-10-2020, 02:55 PM

@James Peters mentioned maybe needing GCC update.
My distro software centre says it is up to date and it appears to be something only related to building programs.

I am not compiling ReaPack myself, all I have is the .so that comes right from the website. Is that still relevant?

JamesPeters · 04-10-2020, 05:42 PM

Yes. Reapack depends on a later GCC than many distros have.

What is your distro and what version?

Fergler · 04-10-2020, 09:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JamesPeters

Yes. Reapack depends on a later GCC than many distros have.

What is your distro and what version?

Solus 4.1 Gnome
GCC version 9.3.0

JamesPeters · 04-10-2020, 11:58 PM

I had been instructed to do this to troubleshoot Reapack when I had my issue with it. Install GDB (GNU debugger), and enter this in terminal (in the folder with the Reaper executable):

Code:

gdb reaper -ex 'set pagination off' -ex run -ex bt -ex quit

See what the output is.

I had problems with ReaPack a couple times in the past (dependency issues) and this was how I figured them out. I checked my notes that I saved, and it had needed libcurl4. (For some reason I also thought it needed GCC 8.3 or higher, but that might have been for something else.)

04-07-2020, 11:13 AM	#1
Fergler Human being with feelings Join Date: Jan 2014 Posts: 5,220	Plugin CPU use - Solus Fortitude Testing out Reaper in Linux. Running very smooth and very interesting to see Alsa pulling off nearly half the latency compared to Windows. I have no reference to other distros. I'm wondering if it's normal for you guys to see much higher CPU use by plugins than in Windows. Examples: Windows ReaEQ: 0.0 - 0.1 Linux: 0.2 Windows JS Midi Eater: 0.0 Linux: 0.1 Overall the system seems to be using less though. My fan hasn't kicked on unless I ask a lot of Google chrome. It goes all the time in Windows... it's one of the main reasons I've been looking into Linux for recording mainly, as I have a small room and would love to take the fan out of the background noises I have to deal with. p.s. could anyone eli5 getting ReaPack to show up? I've placed the .so in /usr/me/.config/REAPER/UserPlugins.

04-07-2020, 07:33 PM	#4
Glennbo Human being with feelings Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Planet Earth Posts: 9,098	I see pretty equal performance and CPU use between Windows and Linux. I did do the following in Linux though, and in my case it made the difference between being able to run at 64 samples latency without a struggle and being forced to use 128 barely able to keep up. 1. Install a lowlatency kernel, should be in your repos. 2. Make sure that you reconfigure the system so that you get the ability to run realtime threads and lock memory. Normally accomplished by editing a file called limits.conf in /etc/security (the details might wary slightly depending on your distro). add the following and login again: your-username - rtprio 98 your-username - memlock unlimited 3. Verify that the above worked by running the command ulimit -a Some audio apps you install will make those priority and memlock mods for you so you may already have permissions to run apps with a realtime priority of 98 and with unlimited memory locking, but it would be worth checking. __________________ Glennbo Hear My Music - Click Me!!! --

04-10-2020, 11:58 PM	#11
JamesPeters Human being with feelings Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Near a big lake Posts: 3,943	I had been instructed to do this to troubleshoot Reapack when I had my issue with it. Install GDB (GNU debugger), and enter this in terminal (in the folder with the Reaper executable): Code: gdb reaper -ex 'set pagination off' -ex run -ex bt -ex quit See what the output is. I had problems with ReaPack a couple times in the past (dependency issues) and this was how I figured them out. I checked my notes that I saved, and it had needed libcurl4. (For some reason I also thought it needed GCC 8.3 or higher, but that might have been for something else.)

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04-07-2020, 01:26 PM	#2
JamesPeters Human being with feelings Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Near a big lake Posts: 3,943	I see no higher CPU use for the Cockos plugins or JS plugins when I compare Reaper for Linux and Reaper for Windows. The same goes for some other VST plugins that I've compared under those same conditions. I think Airwindows Linux versions of the plugins might take slightly more CPU though, and possibly others but if the numbers weren't significantly higher I would've forgotten. To get accurate CPU % readings in Linux you'll need to set your CPU frequency governor to "performance", to match the Windows power setting of "high performance" (of the CPU). This sets the CPU frequency to its maximum. The CPU % reading of Reaper will only show a % of the CPU's current ability/speed. So if the CPU throttles down--which it will by default unless you change the CPU frequency governor setting--you'll see higher CPU usage in Reaper. But then once you load the project down with a lot of plugins and the CPU throttles up, it'll probably seem to use less CPU than Windows did (since I noticed I could push my system significantly harder using Linux than I could when using Windows, and maintain stable low latency performance). I use indicator-cpufreq as a plugin for the panel, so I can change the governor when I want. Reapack has some dependencies and your distro might not be meeting them (GCC in particular might be outdated). I'm using the most current Xubuntu but previously I had that problem.

04-07-2020, 04:42 PM	#3
s wave Human being with feelings Join Date: Sep 2018 Location: Colorado Posts: 429	You can copy and paste the .so (plugins) into your new project if that helps.

04-09-2020, 05:36 PM	#6
Fergler Human being with feelings Join Date: Jan 2014 Posts: 5,220	After editing the .conf, running ulimit -a shows memory lock is unlimited but real time priority says 99 not 98. Not sure how much this matters or what it was before.

04-10-2020, 02:55 PM	#8
Fergler Human being with feelings Join Date: Jan 2014 Posts: 5,220	@James Peters mentioned maybe needing GCC update. My distro software centre says it is up to date and it appears to be something only related to building programs. I am not compiling ReaPack myself, all I have is the .so that comes right from the website. Is that still relevant?

04-10-2020, 05:42 PM	#9
JamesPeters Human being with feelings Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Near a big lake Posts: 3,943	Yes. Reapack depends on a later GCC than many distros have. What is your distro and what version?