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DRUMS => Spark => Spark Technical Issues => Topic started by: bela on October 14, 2012, 07:12:13 pm

Title: 1.5.1 STILL has problem high CPU%
Post by: bela on October 14, 2012, 07:12:13 pm
 :-[ very upset this software   all ready update  the software still using high cPU ableton 8 40-50 %  if star playing example Spark  libary  and Fruity loops 10  70% CPU if I using regular software I heard scratch noise from the SPArk software its sucks. 
the native instruments  MASchine dont use much CPU%
How many memory we need or processor for work great?
 
sincerely joe






my system was windows 7 64 bit  intel core 7  720QM : 2.66 GHz - 1.6 GHz,  DDR3 1066/1333 MHz 8GB ATI Mobility™ Radeon® HD 5870, 1G GDDR5 VRAM
KOMPLETE audio 6 ASIO
Title: Re: 1.5.1 STILL has problem high CPU%
Post by: sparki on October 14, 2012, 09:18:54 pm
same problem here! i also use fl-studio! 
an empty project with one instance of spark  running is about 40-65% of the cpu usage. if spark controller is connected it rises about 5-10%. I dindt benchmark this, just my impressions. if i add just a few other vst plugins then it kills my cpu.
i just reset my whole system, in order to hopefully solve this big problem. but even after full wipe of my pc and using new spark 1.5 it STILL f*cks up my cpu.

is there maybe a tweak or something?

please solve this. for me the spark is useless without the ability to run it with other synths in realtime.
how can this be that the spark is using this MASSIVE amount of  CPU ?
Title: Re: 1.5.1 STILL has problem high CPU%
Post by: sparki on October 16, 2012, 05:05:04 pm
could someone of the stuff be so kind and respond something here??
i am not the only one with this BIG problem.
the spark is UNUSABLE!!
Title: Re: 1.5.1 STILL has problem high CPU%
Post by: bela on October 16, 2012, 08:34:36 pm
all ready higher and its junk software          HIGH CPU% costumer service very poor 2 all readyI  spend 550 $ 2 month and don't work how come they selling marketing like that? >:(


REQUIRED CONFIGURATION
SPARK minimun       
    PC/Windows: 2 GB RAM; 2 GHz CPU
    Mac (Intel only) : 2 GB RAM; 2 GHz CPU
    2GB free hard disk space

Title: Re: 1.5.1 STILL has problem high CPU%
Post by: silikonanswer on October 16, 2012, 10:50:13 pm
I am beginning to think I bought the wrong instrument. I wanted a drum machine and the controller part look great. But then I have problems with FL Studio and also pretty high CPU usage that its simply not aceptable. Are Arturia working ofpn this or is it Spark a dead product? Even with the quite impressive 1.5 version. Has anyone test it with Windows 8? Arturia tell the user how we could help you improving CPU usage. Even small companies had done great improvements in this respect. Look to Uhe Diva which cut drastically the use of CPU.

Title: Re: 1.5.1 STILL has problem high CPU%
Post by: sparki on October 17, 2012, 09:42:08 am
dear devs, is maybe a logfile of the systems stats or similar helpful to you?
if there is anything we (your customers) can do to help solving this problem, then please tell.
if switching to ugly windows 8 is helping, than im willing to change, just for this poor piece of software...
its a shame that this thread is open for a few days right now and no one of you is answering!
Title: Re: 1.5.1 STILL has problem high CPU%
Post by: silikonanswer on October 17, 2012, 11:25:26 am
+1 sparki. Can some developer answer or tell something? 
Title: Re: 1.5.1 STILL has problem high CPU%
Post by: xtinct on October 18, 2012, 06:09:12 am
Although I do not have Spark 1.5.1 (Spark VDM user) it appears from what I have read that the issue may be related to Vista and later related windows operating systems and not necessarily any particular DAW. I have the same issue with my VDM using Vista with Ableton Live 8. What is confusing to me is that my mac OSX snowleapord or whatever friend runs his copy of VDM with no CPU issues whats so ever and his macbook has half as much processing power as my system and only 1g of RAM on board. So perhaps Spark was developed on a Mac platform and something critical was missed on the post Vista 64bit platforms....
Title: Re: 1.5.1 STILL has problem high CPU%
Post by: silikonanswer on October 18, 2012, 09:43:01 am
Has someone checked on Windows 8? I don't have Windows 8 release candidate installed.
Title: Re: 1.5.1 STILL has problem high CPU%
Post by: Kevin on October 18, 2012, 10:10:34 am
Hi all,
I am very sorry about that.
It seems that there is a compatibility issue with some Windows setup.
Unfortunately we can not reproduce it in our office.
We have several Windows computer with different CPUs and the CPU usage is not so big.
For instance under 15% on my Windows 7 64 bit with a core i5 3.1 GHz.

Please be sure that we are very sad about this and do our best to solve this problem.
I will try to get back to you ASAP and tell you how you could help (for those who are willing to).

Kevin
Title: Re: 1.5.1 STILL has problem high CPU%
Post by: sparki on October 18, 2012, 10:17:12 am
i´ll wait for the official release of win8 and then give it a try. it should be released this month.
yesterday i installed the xp-mode on win7 and want to try spark on a virtual win xp pc. but unfotunately my virtual pc doesnt start (just freezes at the boot screen). so if anyone wants to try it, please tell summary here.

btw i also think it has nothing to do with the daw. even in standalone its quite unusable. i found that sample based kits have better performance, but if using the 909-kit for example the first factory patterns (a1-10) work fine, but from pattern 11-16 the cpu goes down, which ends in crackles, jumps etc.

i also had some cpu issues on spark 1.4 but with some workaround it was (also not very satisfying) usable, but since 1.5 my spark has turned into a useless piece of junk.
Title: Re: 1.5.1 STILL has problem high CPU%
Post by: silikonanswer on October 18, 2012, 08:42:28 pm
Thanks Kevin. With the collaboration of the forum members I am sure you will find how to solve it. Maybe with Windows 8 will be different.
Title: Re: 1.5.1 STILL has problem high CPU%
Post by: sparki on October 20, 2012, 11:58:39 pm
I can't wait anymore, few hours ago I wiped my PC and give windows 8 RC a try.
just installed necessary system drivers and spark. This worked and spark seemed pretty stable. then i installed my USB asio interface  and select it in spark preferences.
This caused exactly same CPU issues. I reinstalled the the USB asio interface with compatibility settings, restart system e voilà : it worked
the spark CPU meter is while running at about 40–50% and stay there. performance is way better now, but t it's still far from live using because sometimes CPU meter goes in the red area and then crackles appear (sounds like a buffer underrun).
i just tested the standalone version right now, which runs way smoother now but is still far from perfect.

which leads me to the question :
can anyone use spark with few synths and Traktor in realtime without any crackles?
i want to use it live on gigs but this is still impossible 
Title: Re: 1.5.1 STILL has problem high CPU%
Post by: brother303 on October 23, 2012, 01:51:42 pm
Hi all,

I started this thread ( http://www.arturia.com/evolution/smf/index.php?topic=5950.0 ) in march and NOTHING has been solved/improved during the last 7 month.

The hardware is great, but the software sucks. A lot of users here (incl. myself) were describing their system configurations here and it is surely not a Windows7 or DAW-related problem...

Instead of adding fancy new features to Spark, Arturia, please do your homework and fix this shit! It´s still close to be unusable and that´s no more acceptable, since you had enough time to scratch your heads and solve the problems. It´s our money you´d been taken and all we´ve got back from you are "fancy new features" but not a software that simply works as other programms do. VERY DISSAPOINTING!!!

 ???

Cheers
Greg
Title: Re: 1.5.1 STILL has problem high CPU%
Post by: sparki on October 23, 2012, 04:32:03 pm
today i wanted to WORK with spark and load it as vst in fl-studio on my FRESH & CLEAN PC. There is just FL-Studio and Spark installed, nothing else!
and...still same shit. it is fully unusable. the only way to make it kind of work is using a triple buffer in the fl-studio audio settings, but this result in a big lag.
i really tried everything i can imagine now and NOTHING worked, even wiped my PC 2 times right now, just for this useless piece of crap.
i think i will sell my spark and buy a NI Maschine, i dont like NI much, but their stuff is working. So please hurry guys, i want to make music and not benchmarking and testing for you (...but i would)
if it comes to selling my spark, this was definately my last product of arturia. i will also tell everyone i know to not buy anything from arturia anymore, because updating the spark software WHILE knowing the CPU issues and dont do ANYTHING about it is just impertinent.
Title: Re: 1.5.1 STILL has problem high CPU%
Post by: bela on October 23, 2012, 05:35:24 pm
yes its  arturia Hardware great design and good but software very bad latency   I have other using harddrive controller native   instruments Maschine  controller works great no high lantecy at all ! when  just simply playing spark you will see high latency
Title: Re: 1.5.1 STILL has problem high CPU%
Post by: silikonanswer on October 30, 2012, 10:45:02 am
IS this related to the CPU (AMD, Intel...) or graphic card Nvidia/AMD? Chipsets? No clues whatsoever?
Title: Re: 1.5.1 STILL has problem high CPU%
Post by: Blue Monster 65 on October 30, 2012, 11:59:19 am
Just wondering what speed (Ghz) your computers run at?  I think Arturia's stated minimum is way off.  I had the same problem with Ableton live on my old laptop: it was up to their specs, but there was no way it would run on that system.  As a result, I gave it up.

Full Disclaimer:  I don't work for Arturia, nor am I a computer whiz.  I just hate to see so many people having problems with an instrument I really think is a blast to use and sounds great. 
Title: Re: 1.5.1 STILL has problem high CPU%
Post by: Kevin on November 08, 2012, 10:06:17 am
I may have found something that could improve the performances but since I have no computer to test it I can not be sure.
If someone is willing to test it please send me a PM or answer to this post.
Title: Re: 1.5.1 STILL has problem high CPU%
Post by: punkdSICO on November 10, 2012, 10:03:31 am
Hi Kevin

I also have this problem;  PC Based running a DARC DAW / Ableton Live 8.  New set shows 2-3% CPU.  When I drop Spark in, CPU goes to 30% without hitting play.  Not as bad as the other examples so I might not be the best to test this.  However, I am happy to do so if you want to send me the details.

thanks,

Paul
Title: Re: 1.5.1 STILL has problem high CPU%
Post by: MikeDee on November 10, 2012, 05:51:11 pm
I'm experiencing this issue in stand-alone mode on my Win7 machine as well.  I can see the high CPU usage...bad clicks & pops/distortion when the usage spikes.

Unfortunately, I cannot determine whether the issue exists in the VSTi, since Spark crashes my DAW (see my other post).

I plan to install Spark to my XP2 machine...hopefully I'll fare better in that environment.

Kevin, I'm keeping my fingers crossed...hope what you have found resolves the issue.  Also, I am hopeful that you will have resolved my crash issue.

Thanks and regards,

Mike
Title: Re: 1.5.1 STILL has problem high CPU%
Post by: xtinct on November 12, 2012, 01:08:22 am
I may have found something that could improve the performances but since I have no computer to test it I can not be sure.
If someone is willing to test it please send me a PM or answer to this post.

Hey Kevin, if you are looking for a beta tester for VDM on a Vista 64x platform, Im ur guy.
Title: Re: 1.5.1 STILL has problem high CPU%
Post by: silikonanswer on November 14, 2012, 09:34:39 pm
Windows 8 and 20-30% cpu with Intel I7 920 (quad core 2.6). Spark is eating more CPU than other power hungry plugins. If you need a tester here I am :-)
Title: Re: 1.5.1 STILL has problem high CPU%
Post by: Kevin on November 15, 2012, 08:52:15 am
I may have found something that could improve the performances but since I have no computer to test it I can not be sure.
If someone is willing to test it please send me a PM or answer to this post.

Hey Kevin, if you are looking for a beta tester for VDM on a Vista 64x platform, Im ur guy.

Currently no test version for Spark Vintage, sorry.
Title: Re: 1.5.1 STILL has problem high CPU%
Post by: silikonanswer on November 17, 2012, 10:42:20 pm
I have a problem with the dll. i sent you años email.
Title: Re: 1.5.1 STILL has problem high CPU%
Post by: Kevin on November 19, 2012, 08:43:19 am
Ok, both of you have problem with the dll I sent but it's working well at the office (as usual :)).
I will try to figure out what's wrong.

Thanks for your help.
Kevin
Title: Re: 1.5.1 STILL has problem high CPU%
Post by: silikonanswer on November 21, 2012, 03:06:45 pm
Can't wait for the new dll :-)
Title: Re: 1.5.1 STILL has problem high CPU%
Post by: silikonanswer on December 10, 2012, 11:31:59 pm
Today I have compared Spark to Tremor, another rhythm beast. Spark uses 20% of CPU without making a sound. 25-30% when playing. Tremor 0-1% without making a sound and 15-18% playing. Arturia some process is eating CPU on idle and this is not up to the standards of a company of its reputation. It seems Kevin is the only one who cares. this is not a toy, it's a pro audio vst /controller which eats CPU on idle like a bad written synthesis plugin. Do you think this is fair for Arturia's customers?

Apart for that this controller doesn't work very well with some DAWs like FL Studio. And there is 0 interest in making it to work with it. FL Studio supports many controllers from Kork, Akai, Novation, etc, but no one from Arturia.

So basically I have a great looking and sturdy controller which tons of sounds and possibilities which is let down by its hunger for CPU even when is not in use and which doesn't transmits midi data to my host. Now get your own conclusions of what are my feelings for Arturia (Kevin aside).
Title: Re: 1.5.1 STILL has problem high CPU%
Post by: vaikl on December 12, 2012, 03:30:16 am
today i wanted to WORK with spark and load it as vst in fl-studio on my FRESH & CLEAN PC. There is just FL-Studio and Spark installed, nothing else!
and...still same shit. it is fully unusable. the only way to make it kind of work is using a triple buffer in the fl-studio audio settings, but this result in a big lag.
i really tried everything i can imagine now and NOTHING worked, even wiped my PC 2 times right now, just for this useless piece of crap.
i think i will sell my spark and buy a NI Maschine, i dont like NI much, but their stuff is working. So please hurry guys, i want to make music and not benchmarking and testing for you (...but i would)
if it comes to selling my spark, this was definately my last product of arturia. i will also tell everyone i know to not buy anything from arturia anymore, because updating the spark software WHILE knowing the CPU issues and dont do ANYTHING about it is just impertinent.

That's why FruityLoops and a Win Pc aren't the first choice for serious producers. Period.
Title: Re: 1.5.1 STILL has problem high CPU%
Post by: silikonanswer on December 12, 2012, 12:23:57 pm
vaikl I was not even going to answer but I think I should. I am sure you are top producer selling millions of records like Mike Oldfield who uses FL Studio (as thousands of power users who I am sure you will know personally as you are so profesional). Your argument is childlish and stupid and you don't even know how the DAW is called.

If all the plugins from other companies, Arturia included, work with FL Studio, why Spark is eating some much CPU?
Title: Re: 1.5.1 STILL has problem high CPU%
Post by: Kevin on December 12, 2012, 01:45:50 pm
I don't think Spark is taking more CPU in FLStudio than in Ableton or Cubase.
It is just that it is taking more CPU on some setups.

This problem is something that we will adress. I can just no tell you when because I don't know exactly where it comes from.
Maybe we will have to rewrite a big part of the engine to improve this so it might take some time.

Kevin
Title: Re: 1.5.1 STILL has problem high CPU%
Post by: punkdSICO on December 12, 2012, 02:02:14 pm
That's why FruityLoops and a Win Pc aren't the first choice for serious producers. Period.
The first two Beatles albums were recorded on 2 track tape recorders.  Even some of Front 242’s most popular tracks were 2 track recordings..  Im not sure where this puts them on the "serious producers" scale..   :)

Paul
Title: Re: 1.5.1 STILL has problem high CPU%
Post by: vaikl on December 13, 2012, 01:49:49 am
The first two Beatles albums were recorded on 2 track tape recorders.  Even some of Front 242’s most popular tracks were 2 track recordings..  Im not sure where this puts them on the "serious producers" scale..   :)

I definitely wasn't talking about recording on its own, but about producing aka the whole workflow from recording to mastering.

If Abbey Road Studios as *the* hitec, state-of-the-art producing  expert at their times would've had 64GB-RAM quad-core comps in 1960, what do you think would had been running on them?? :)
Title: Re: 1.5.1 STILL has problem high CPU%
Post by: silikonanswer on December 13, 2012, 09:57:19 pm
Maybe what dedmau5 is running.
Title: Re: 1.5.1 STILL has problem high CPU%
Post by: vaikl on December 14, 2012, 12:15:42 am
Maybe what dedmau5 is running.

Now Ableton Live, after his first years with FL? No, you're kidding... :)
Title: Re: 1.5.1 STILL has problem high CPU%
Post by: CC4 on December 14, 2012, 05:52:44 am
If a comparison is needed, I'm running Windows 7 Professional on a 64-bit machine Intel Core i5 2.40GHz with 4GB of RAM. 

In standalone mode on my PC, Spark runs on average around 9% when idle.  I notice there are differences depending on which kit is loaded.  When playing it's anywhere from 10% - 25% depending on which kit is loaded.

In FL Studio 10.0.9, Spark 1.5 (according to Spark's CPU meter) runs on average around 11% when idle, and about 15% - 35% when playing (again depending on which kit is loaded).
Title: Re: 1.5.1 STILL has problem high CPU%
Post by: Kevin on December 14, 2012, 09:40:57 am
hi Chuck,
same sample rate, same buffer size?
Title: Re: 1.5.1 STILL has problem high CPU%
Post by: CC4 on December 14, 2012, 04:46:58 pm
Good question.  Let me check...
Title: Re: 1.5.1 STILL has problem high CPU%
Post by: CC4 on December 14, 2012, 05:47:01 pm
No ::) , actually the sample rates were different when I mentioned the previous CPU readings (Standalone was 48, FL was 41).  So I set them to the same rates.  I first tried out 80s Studio Drums and then Alien Circuit.  I used to consider Alien Circuit "the beast" kit.  In earlier versions it seemed to load a lot slower and seemed to be one of the heavier CPU labor intensive kits:

Spark using 80s Studio Drums -
Standalone:  ASIO Echo PCI, 24 bit, 410000 Hz, 512 Buffer - Idle:  8%-9% (rather constant) - Playing Song:  16% (constant)
FL Studio:  ASIO Echo PCI, 24 bit, 41000 Hz, 512 Buffer - Idle:  9%-18% (stays somewhat constant at 9% but oddly fluctuates to higher percentages) - Playing Song:  16-17% (rather constant)

Spark using Alien Circuit -
Standalone:  ASIO Echo PCI, 24 bit, 410000 Hz, 512 Buffer - Idle:  8%-9% (rather constant) - Playing Song:  16% (constant)
FL Studio:  ASIO Echo PCI, 24 bit, 41000 Hz, 512 Buffer - Idle:  15%-21% (wavers slowly) - Playing Song:  24-31% (CPU usage seems to waver depending on complexity)

If it helps, I can send you some more detailed readings privately.
Title: Re: 1.5.1 STILL has problem high CPU%
Post by: silikonanswer on December 19, 2012, 04:44:52 pm
Maybe what dedmau5 is running.

Now Ableton Live, after his first years with FL? No, you're kidding... :)
vaikl read this.
http://www.image-line.com/documents/powerusers.php?entry_id=1287669909
Title: Re: 1.5.1 STILL has problem high CPU%
Post by: vaikl on December 19, 2012, 05:21:14 pm
Read this, an independent source:
http://www.musicradar.com/news/dj/deadmau5-we-all-hit-play-550353
Title: Re: 1.5.1 STILL has problem high CPU%
Post by: silikonanswer on December 20, 2012, 08:50:42 pm
That's his live setup. 90% of band use Live for live use as it is a DAW designed for this purpose. Live is fantastic as Cubase or Logic or the BBC Micro sequencer used by Vince Clark. FL Studio is used by professionals like any other DAW. So use whatever you want and makes you happy.
The problem of high CPU is something that Arturia is aware and I see they will sort it out. It is not related to any sequencer. Probably something to do with Windows.
The Spark controller is beautifully build. I also like the software. Maybe the effects could be more editable. The library is pretty impressive. My only gripe is the CPU usage and that is not supported natively in FL Studio. I could use it as generic controller and it works very well, but I would love to use it fully.
Anyway the CPU usage will be lower in 2013 if the world not ends tomorrow :-) I am sure the Arturia team are searching for a solution.
Title: Re: 1.5.1 STILL has problem high CPU%
Post by: Kevin on December 21, 2012, 09:14:25 am
My only gripe is the CPU usage and that is not supported natively in FL Studio.
What are you exactly missing in FL Studio?
The only thing that is not working is MIDI recording.
Title: Re: 1.5.1 STILL has problem high CPU%
Post by: dijidave on December 21, 2012, 04:57:33 pm
           "Anyway the CPU usage will be lower in 2013 if the world not ends tomorrow :-) I am sure the Arturia team are searching for a solution."

            Didn't end 4 us Aussies        8-)
Title: Re: 1.5.1 STILL has problem high CPU%
Post by: xtinct on January 22, 2013, 05:01:42 pm
Any updates for a fix on this issue?
This is the only thing holding me back from using this live in ableton recordings....
Title: Re: 1.5.1 STILL has problem high CPU%
Post by: rodanmusic on January 22, 2013, 05:04:44 pm
I've been noticing that cpu is pretty high in Windows 8 lately with Spark.  I can usually get a full instance running and like 2 or 3 other synths without some stuttering.  If I disable Spark I can keep on without stuttering.

I'm using a 3.3ghz intel core i5 quad, 16 gigs of 1800mhz ram, a ssd os drive, and a 10,000 rpm samples drive so I don't think it should be doing this.  I've been hunting in windows hoping to find a setting that i didn't turn off that could be contributing ot the slow down.
Title: Re: 1.5.1 STILL has problem high CPU%
Post by: Kevin on January 23, 2013, 08:27:04 am
Hi all,
sorry for the lack of feedback concerning this topic.
I have been pretty busy these last weeks on another thing, sorry.
Hopefully after the NAMM show we would start to work on this seriously.

Title: Re: 1.5.1 STILL has problem high CPU%
Post by: silikonanswer on January 24, 2013, 08:34:43 pm
Kevin the new mini Spark looks terrífico, I hope it sells like hot cakes :-). I am not happy at all with Spark. It just eats lots of my CPU but I have high hopes that this situation is going to change, I trust you. I don't expect 5% of CPU, just something realistic and also that it only eats CPU when it is in use, not on idle. I like the controller, the sounds and the interface, just cut the CPU usage and Spark will turn in the perfect drum machine.  ;D
Title: Re: 1.5.1 STILL has problem high CPU%
Post by: silikonanswer on February 05, 2013, 11:17:06 pm
Does version 1.6.1 include improvements regarding the CPU usage?
Title: Re: 1.5.1 STILL has problem high CPU%
Post by: Kevin on March 19, 2013, 11:28:24 am
Hi guys,
for those who are interested.
We are looking for volunteers to help us solving this problem.
More information here (http://www.arturia.com/evolution/smf/index.php?topic=12739.0).
Title: Re: 1.5.1 STILL has problem high CPU%
Post by: hermitnerd on May 27, 2013, 05:36:44 pm

Is the Spark CPU usage lower in DAW's other than Ableton Live?

How is the CPU usage in Live for SparkLE vs Spark?
Title: Re: 1.5.1 STILL has problem high CPU%
Post by: Kevin on May 28, 2013, 09:37:46 am
I don't think this issue has anything to do with Ableton.
The CPU is the same for Spark and SparkLE, they share the same software.

Kevin