Dorico Performance Issue

Dorico
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1

Hello,

I’m aware that condensing slows Dorico down, but I feel this has become a major workflow issue. I love the software, but working with large scores is honestly a headache.

I recently upgraded from an iMac to a Mac Studio (M4 Max, 16-core CPU, 40-core GPU, 64 GB unified memory) specifically because of Dorico, yet I’m still experiencing significant lag. I’m working on a single-movement score of ~600 bars with around 40 staves, and almost every edit takes a couple of seconds to process.

I know some users will suggest turning off condensing, however there are too many edits and condensing-related decisions that need to be made with condensing enabled. Also, working with multiple tabs (e.g. Write mode + Engrave mode side-by-side) becomes nearly impossible due to the slowdown.

Are there any plans to improve Dorico’s performance with large projects? I do love new features with each version, but I think this is as important or probably more important than adding new features.

This is the only major limitation that makes large scores very difficult to handle right now.

2

I’d look into something within the system itself. I’m on an Intel 7 Ultra 255H based system with 32 GB of RAM, and I’m experiencing no issues with it lagging using Condensing. My system, by all measures, should be much slower than yours overall. Now, I haven’t written a 600-measure score with 40 staves yet, but I’ve loaded up a few that are near that, and still no lagging. There’s some setting in your system causing this, I’m betting. At least I hope so for your sake. :slight_smile:

3

You could try changing to the Silent playback template. Larger Expression Maps require more calculation when things redraw, I think.

I’d agree that this sounds slower than expected for a machine of that kind.

1 Like
4

Maybe it is an issue with the VST libraries you are using or the way they are connected to Dorico.

A few months ago I finished copying the first movement of Mahler’s third symphony. 875 bars 52 players several with more than 1 instrument. I in the final sessions had condensing on and also kept proofreading on but I have no real CPU related issues. I also have 64GB unified memory however with an M1Max chipset. Just switching between write and engrave mode sometimes but not always takes some time and when adding an additional player or deleting one takes a bit of patience.

I do use VE Pro for all instruments but on the other hand also have MIR on all VEP channels which gives some additional charge.