Logic Pro Multicore Benchmarktest !

[The Beatsmith]

what buffer size though?

[matt thomas]

Originally Posted by The Beatsmith

what buffer size though?

as per the instructions:

Logic uses a fixed playback buffer which is ( not confirmed ) 512 samples so I/O buffersize and Process bufferrange doesn´t affect performance in this test as it is a playback only test.
But to be futureproof I recommend 256 samples and medium buffer.

matt

[matt thomas]

I did it with my Apogee duet. I didn't measure how many tracks, except that it was not able to do as many as internal sound.

I did notice that if you just loop bar two it can play more tracks, but I assume the test is meant to include the silent bar one in its loop too.

matt

[Teemeister]

2012 Retina MBP, 2.6 GHz, 16 Gb RAM
Logic Pro 9.1.7 under OS X 10.8
buffer size = 256, internal sound

track count = 91

it cycles through 90 reliably.

[Firechild]

About your worries about 8 core 2.4 ( also 2.26) ghz Mac Pro performing slightly worse than the chart result approx 120 tracks.
Well, are you scoring around 100 tracks that is a correct result, however my guess is that my chart includes results made on Snow Leopard and my experience is that Lion is making your computer more sluggish overall.
It will be interesting to see some more scores on Mountain Lion.

[Alek75]

Awesome thread guys!!! You made my day!

I have a MBP 2009 13" and I wish to buy the new retina I was wondering if it will improve a lot my performance.

Now I can't almost even use Addictive Drums with other 10 audio tracks :(
It doesn't even play

Does we have an update for the retina performance?

[Teemeister]

Originally Posted by Firechild

About your worries about 8 core 2.4 ( also 2.26) ghz Mac Pro performing slightly worse than the chart result approx 120 tracks.
Well, are you scoring around 100 tracks that is a correct result, however my guess is that my chart includes results made on Snow Leopard and my experience is that Lion is making your computer more sluggish overall.
It will be interesting to see some more scores on Mountain Lion.

since my MBP jumped from 84 to 91 upon upgrading to OS X 10.8 I'll switch to ML on the Mac Pro as well once drivers for my Saffire Pro 40 have matured.

Will report here after the switch.

[Alek75]

Originally Posted by Teemeister

since my MBP jumped from 84 to 91 upon upgrading to OS X 10.8 I'll switch to ML on the Mac Pro as well once drivers for my Saffire Pro 40 have matured.

Will report here after the switch.

I have too the FF Pro 40 any issue with the ML?

[Trendkill]

Macbook Pro Retina 2012
2,7 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost upp till 3,7 GHz
16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3L SDRAM
512 GB Flash
OSX Lion @64 bit
Logic Pro 9.1.7 @64 bit
Built in sound @ 256
Core settings: Automatic

Tracks 95
Killer machine!

[Firechild]

Great. World record for a laptop I guess And that was with Lion !?! 100+ with Mountain Lion then !

Anyway I saw on our Swedish Logic board that your 12 core machine went from 178 tracks with Snow to 140 with Lion.
So, needless to say, Lion was a really bad OS from a performance point of view. Mountain Lion seems better indeed.

[matt thomas]

Originally Posted by Trendkill

Macbook Pro Retina 2012
2,7 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost upp till 3,7 GHz
16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3L SDRAM
512 GB Flash
OSX Lion @64 bit
Logic Pro 9.1.7 @64 bit
Built in sound @ 256
Core settings: Automatic

Tracks 95
Killer machine!

Wow, and is that looping both bars (the silent one and the full one) reliably?

Impressive, makes me a bit depressed about my Mac Pro actually!

matt

[rici]

Originally Posted by Jauqq

Comparable to these results posted here of an early 2011, MBP 2.2 Ghz i7. (poster results of 80 tracks)
MBP 2.2Ghz i7 early 2011

And this MBP 2.3 i7 early 2011 scored 81 tracks.
2.3 i7 early 2011

my early 2011, MBP 2.2 Ghz i7
does only 61 :(
reliable (looping about 5 times)

not sure if the different scores, with the same machine specs is why some guys
do not looping view times.

[rici]

Originally Posted by matt thomas

Wow, and is that looping both bars (the silent one and the full one) reliably?

Impressive, makes me a bit depressed about my Mac Pro actually!

matt

??? +1

[acidrulez]

Originally Posted by rici

my early 2011, MBP 2.2 Ghz i7
does only 61 :(
reliable (looping about 5 times)

not sure if the different scores, with the same machine specs is why some guys
do not looping view times.

early 2011, MBP 2.3 Ghz i7 8GB Logic 32 Bit.
62

Fan getting really Hot. 7 Cores at max and the last is free.

[J F K]

The posters of this thread are so nice to share this info in an attempt to help other users. Really and truly thank you to all of them for this data. Unfortunately, I believe it's relevancy to actual Logic writing & producing usage is limited. Here's why:

I have been a user of Logic since May 09. Spent thousands of hours producing on this program and it's been a commonplace to see a single core peaking constantly on the CPU meter (06 quad 2.66 mac pro and later a i7 2.0 quad mbp, their actual performance wasn't too far off though; explained below) in my songs, even in my template at rest. Why?

If you do a search for 'logic multicore' (Logic Pro Help • View topic - Disk is too slow or System Overload. (-10010) on MacPro , Logic Pro Help • View topic - CPU spikes/maxing out one core - is there no cure? , https://discussions.apple.com/thread...art=0&tstart=0) (or even 'ableton multicore' while you're at it https://forum.ableton.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=172654) you'll see there's no real solution for this "problem" (or they'll link you to this page which will give you no comfort after your song has -10010'd on you 14 times in a row). That's because Logic is functioning normally.

Xpost from VE Pro and Logic and the curse of 1 core overloading - VSL Community

Hi,

there are some flaws in Logics audio engine, most notably being:

- Forces processing of all outputs from multi-output instruments to a single core.
- Forces processing of any send chains from these channels to a single core

Combine the above, and you may end up with the scenario you describe. For whatever reason, Logic behaves better when no Aux outputs from the AU's are being used. Then it can spread the load of processing onto several cores. Thus, my suggestion to you would be to use only stereo returns from each VE Pro instance, mixing inside the VE Pro mixer - which has a properly multithreaded audio engine.

We have not experienced this behavior with any other hosts.



Thanks,

Martin Saleteg
Software Developer

How many users bus their tracks into subgroups for gainstaging? How many use multi-out instruments? How could you realistically work without these things?

For all intents and purposes (read that ableton post from earlier because this is basically the same info reiterated) these multicore machines boasting these impressive benchmarks crumble when the single core rears it's head. After a certain point the # of cores becomes irrelevant and you're restricted by the limit of an individual spiking core. Logic's programming limitation makes a mockery out of your investment.

My early 2011 MBP (see the benchmarks in the link) is downright pathetic after a certain [low] limit due to the low clock speed / core.

The cheap dirty solution is to find the beefiest frequency /core machine you can find. i7 3520M chip (2x core) is the fastest /core Intel out right now, which come in alot of laptops, both Mac and PC (if you are ready to jump ship) June 2012 13" (shitty display) and Retina MBPs, Sony 13" (good display) VAIO S, 14" & 15" (full 1080p option) Lenovo T430 , even cheaper HP and Dell alternatives.


Links
Intel's Ivy Bridge i7s: 3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i7 Processors

A 2012 comparison between some Ivy Bridge processors incld. a single core test here. The 3520M only shows a 7% improvement over it's last generation version 2640M. This means if you're in the market for a faster Hz/core machine you can save even more money buying last years model.


Hopefully Apple will wake up and update our beloved Garageband Pro. Good luck!


TL;DR: The benchmark test isn't reflective of actual Logic producing/writing usage due to it's programming being unable to utilize the cores efficiently thus having a spiking CPU core.

[nickelironsteel]

did the switch from logic to pro tools a year ago. mac pro 12core 64gb ram. apples software doesnt even work properly on their own machines. pro tools with vienna ensemble pro serves all my symphonic needs without a single hickup.

[phas3d]

Mixing a 220 track song with Logic 9.1.7 here. Everything is holding. I agree it could be snappier but I'm able to do the job

[ansonwing]

Macbook Pro 2012
2.6 GHz i7 Ivy Bridge
8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3L SDRAM
750 GB 7200 RPM HD
OSX Mtn Lion @64 bit
Logic Pro 9.1. @32 bit

86 Tracks! Definitely happy with what's in there. Hoping to get to 16 GB and put a SSD in there soon. Based on what I'm using Logic for though I'm seeing that I probably don't need the upgrade
Built in sound @ 256
Core settings: Automatic

[tablatom]

Originally Posted by ansonwing

Macbook Pro 2012
2.6 GHz i7 Ivy Bridge
8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3L SDRAM
750 GB 7200 RPM HD
OSX Mtn Lion @64 bit
Logic Pro 9.1. @32 bit

86 Tracks! Definitely happy with what's in there. Hoping to get to 16 GB and put a SSD in there soon. Based on what I'm using Logic for though I'm seeing that I probably don't need the upgrade
Built in sound @ 256
Core settings: Automatic

Nice,
your machine is the one might go for next.
If you had Logic @ 64bit your track count might go up 3 - 5

[ansonwing]

Ya I'm very happy with this new laptop. I do miss the 27" screen from my iMac though!

[kevaquarian]

Originally Posted by J F K

The posters of this thread are so nice to share this info in an attempt to help other users. Really and truly thank you to all of them for this data. Unfortunately, I believe it's relevancy to actual Logic writing & producing usage is limited. Here's why:

I have been a user of Logic since May 09. Spent thousands of hours producing on this program and it's been a commonplace to see a single core peaking constantly on the CPU meter (06 quad 2.66 mac pro and later a i7 2.0 quad mbp, their actual performance wasn't too far off though; explained below) in my songs, even in my template at rest. Why?

If you do a search for 'logic multicore' (Logic Pro Help • View topic - Disk is too slow or System Overload. (-10010) on MacPro , Logic Pro Help • View topic - CPU spikes/maxing out one core - is there no cure? , https://discussions.apple.com/thread...art=0&tstart=0) (or even 'ableton multicore' while you're at it https://forum.ableton.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=172654) you'll see there's no real solution for this "problem" (or they'll link you to this page which will give you no comfort after your song has -10010'd on you 14 times in a row). That's because Logic is functioning normally.

Xpost from VE Pro and Logic and the curse of 1 core overloading - VSL Community



How many users bus their tracks into subgroups for gainstaging? How many use multi-out instruments? How could you realistically work without these things?

For all intents and purposes (read that ableton post from earlier because this is basically the same info reiterated) these multicore machines boasting these impressive benchmarks crumble when the single core rears it's head. After a certain point the # of cores becomes irrelevant and you're restricted by the limit of an individual spiking core. Logic's programming limitation makes a mockery out of your investment.

My early 2011 MBP (see the benchmarks in the link) is downright pathetic after a certain [low] limit due to the low clock speed / core.

The cheap dirty solution is to find the beefiest frequency /core machine you can find. i7 3520M chip (2x core) is the fastest /core Intel out right now, which come in alot of laptops, both Mac and PC (if you are ready to jump ship) June 2012 13" (shitty display) and Retina MBPs, Sony 13" (good display) VAIO S, 14" & 15" (full 1080p option) Lenovo T430 , even cheaper HP and Dell alternatives.


Links
Intel's Ivy Bridge i7s: 3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i7 Processors

A 2012 comparison between some Ivy Bridge processors incld. a single core test here. The 3520M only shows a 7% improvement over it's last generation version 2640M. This means if you're in the market for a faster Hz/core machine you can save even more money buying last years model.


Hopefully Apple will wake up and update our beloved Garageband Pro. Good luck!


TL;DR: The benchmark test isn't reflective of actual Logic producing/writing usage due to it's programming being unable to utilize the cores efficiently thus having a spiking CPU core.

Yep - thanks for posting this. There are a lot of threads about the core/thread management in Logic - the whole "one core is maxed while the others lie doing nothing" phenomenon.

When I've brought this up on forums, some people who appear to know more than me about the internal workings of operating systems say that it's not Logic per se, it's some limitation of the OS? Hmmm.... I don;t really get it. Anyway, here's a couple of threads that may be useful on this topic:

Logic pro 9 8th core peaking

8-core vs 12-core. Does it really matter?

There are more but I can't seem to finds the one that speaks about the OS being part of the problem, unfortunately!


It would be interesting to hear the OP's take on this "realworld" performance gain, and how it relates to the chart for this "non-aux, non multi-out" benchmark test?

I am looking to setup a "multi-out, multi aux" benchmark test, but have not had the time yet.....

I would be REALLY interested to see how the chart changed by comparison to the existing test....

Maybe I do it this weekend.

[Firechild]

Yes, Logic has some bad multicore behaviour when it comes to certain things.
For example ALL busses will be processed on the same core.
However if you learn how Logic do things internally you can have Logic to spread the CPU load very well over all available cores.
But most of the arguments about bad multicore usage have some points , indeed but this particular multicore benchmark test is not intended to be the ultimate real life simulation test, but a test to compare different CPU configurations within Logic.

[Teemeister]

Originally Posted by Alek75

I have too the FF Pro 40 any issue with the ML?

Haven't tried yet as I have several projects going on on the Mac Pro and I don't want to risk breaking something by going through a major OS update. Snow leopard is rock solid on this MP. Unfortunately, I can't try it on the retina MBP because it doesn't have a FireWire port and I don't have an adapter.

[Leevi]

My new hackintosh setup:

i7 3770K, 3,5 Ghz
16 GB DDR3 1600 Mhz

ML 9.1.7

91 tracks.

[LGK_Dude]

New 2012 Macbook Pro 2.3 Intel Core i7 (shows up as 8 CPU in Logic); 16GB 1600MHz ram, Standard 500GB laptop drive, OS 10.8.1, Logic pro 9.1.7 in 64-bit.

85 Tracks!! Note, it was peaking at 79, but for some reason it got a 2nd wind of sorts and played 85 reliably (4 passes). I'm pretty amazed by this performance. Its hitting mac pro territory in a laptop!

[Jonik]

New 2012 2.7gHz Macbook pro (non-retina) with 16GB and with 1TB hard drive.

79-80 tracks. I'd have thought it would have gotten more than a 2.3 (above) but it is still very impressive! It also runs a very large number of virtual instruments too without a problem.

[Leevi]

Originally Posted by LGK_Dude

I'm pretty amazed by this performance. Its hitting mac pro territory in a laptop!

New MacBook Pros are great indeed!

[seclusion]

Thinking that the cMBP (non-retina) is the machine to beat.
Max out the CPU, ram and add 2-512 SSD's.
Likely be quite a work horse, that is portable.
I imagine, editing, comping and doing some basic mixing in the back yard while the kids are in the pool.
Hmm, sell MacPro 3.1 with 3 7200 3.5" drives, 12 gigs of ram for about $1200-$1300. Cough up a $1000 for the machine, grab SSD's n Ram.

Slick

[rici]

Originally Posted by Trendkill

Macbook Pro Retina 2012
2,7 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost upp till 3,7 GHz
16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3L SDRAM
512 GB Flash
OSX Lion @64 bit
Logic Pro 9.1.7 @64 bit
Built in sound @ 256
Core settings: Automatic

Tracks 95
Killer machine!

the same as above but osx ML

93 reliable

[kitaro]

2012 macbook pro, 2.6 GHz, 8 Gb RAM
Logic Pro 9.1.7 under OS X 10.7
buffer size = 256, internal sound
HDD 7200rpm

track count = 91

it cycles through 90 reliably.

to compare to my old macbook pro 2.8ghz 2duo core ,4 gb osx 10.6 (2009)

23 tracks