[Ardour-Users] Processor load on ardour

[Paul Winkler]

On Sun, Sep 07, 2008 at 12:51:03PM -0300, Tiago Tavares wrote:
> Hello
> 
>   I have been using ardour for some time now, but I have found that some
> tracks (about ten...) are enough to overload my processor (I start hearing
> those clicks that happen when you don't produce samples as fast as you play
> them). I am considering changing my athlon xp 2100+ (five years old!) to a
> newer one.
>   Do the rest of you have the same problem? Those dual (or quad) core
> processors are better for this specific job (managing a lot of tracks)?

Like the other responses, I don't think it's the CPU per se.
Some things to look into if, like me, you're still using "old" EIDE /
UDMA drives:

  * use a dedicated drive for audio

  * put the audio drive on a separate physical cable & channel than
    the system drive (this made a big difference for me; I used to
    have my main drive on /dev/hda and audio as a slave on /dev/hdb,
    but I get much better results with audio being on /dev/hdc)

  * use hdparm to select the highest dma setting your audio drive
    supports.  (hdparm -I /dev/hd* will tell you all the detected
    capabilities and their current settings).


With this setup, I've gone as high as 19 mono and 2 stereo tracks. I
don't know how high I could go; that's the most complex session I've
done to date.

-- 

Paul Winkler
http://www.slinkp.com