Cubase not using all processor cores Os X 10.9

Cubase
1

Hello,

In a project heavily loaded with Vst’s an Vsti’s and the performance indicator goes through the roof.
Even at a 2048 buffer size i get serious glitches. Ok, to be fair, it is a very heavy project but;

When i check Activity Monitor the percentage of CPU used never exceeds app. 460%.
I have a MacPro5,1 with 12-cores and so the maximum percentage of CPU usage should theoretically be 1200%.

Why is this and what can i do about it?

Specs:

Cubase 7.5.20
MacPro5,1 2 x 2,66Ghz 6 Core Intel Xeon,
16GB 1333Mhz RAM,
1TB OWC Mercury Accelsior PCIe SSD,
Osx 10.9.3,
Steinberg UR28M USB Audio Interface with latest drivers.

Multi Processing - On
ASIO Guard - On
Direct Monitoring - Off

Of course I can start bouncing tracks or freezing but that’s a total workflow killer.

Hope someone can help and if more info is needed please ask! I need this fixed!

Thank you

2

My theory is : Its the way Cubase process audio, it’s an old engine originating from Nuendo 1 or 2 , and refined over the years .

More generally, I think it’s also the way computers work with audio.
Audio is a realtime thing so data needs to arrive fast and all “in time” . While other type of processing ( like
compressing a RAR file or decompress) dont need this so that type of processing can use all the cores processing available.

I know its annoying but I think Steinberg will need to reprogram its audio engine from scratch so it can uses all the amazing processing power we have noawadays , maybe for Cubase 8 ?

3

One kool thing about yer Mac is that you can run it as a PC 'puter.

So another approach for Cubase Mac users would be to give ‘Boot Camp/Win 7’ a try.

I find Cubase to be more ‘efficient’ and ‘zippier’ in a PC environment.

Good Luck!
{‘-’}

4

Well, although that might be the case, it’s a bridge too far for me. :slight_smile:
Thanks for the reply though!

5

Let’s hope so, because that would make the theoretical load capacity of my Cubase projects about 3 times more!

Thanks for the reply!