I’m trying to work on a project with 18 different instruments but not a lot of notes yet. I’ve read lots of the posts about speeding things up. I’ve removed virus scan and any other background programs. I’ve restricted myself to one flow, galley view, no other layouts open, no other files open, no other programs open. My system is quad core CPU Intel i7-2760QM 2.40 GHZ, 8 GB RAM, running Windows 10. Should I still expect it to run sluggishly for me, using HSSE+HSO default playback template for basic creative entry/editting/copying and pasting?
Some examples of what feels slow to me:
10-20 seconds to paste a few bars
2+ second lag after entering each note from a midi keyboard
30 seconds to go between Write and Play mode
8 seconds to save, right after just saving
I’ve attached a diagnostic report here. If I can send the project file to a Dorico guru to find out more what’s up please let me know! Or if this is just what I should I expect, it will be good for me to know. Dorico Diagnostics.zip (427 KB)
I wonder if you are running into a specific problem that affects some users where there the project file gets very large due to hundreds of redundant mixer channels (we have a fix for this in the forthcoming update). Can you attach here a project that shows the problem?
Thanks, PaulWalmsley. I should have said that I am using Dorico 2.2.20, because I didn’t think I yet needed the features offered with Dorico 3.0. But if Dorico 3.0 would make the difference for speed then I would consider it.
I am trying to attach a test dorico project file here, which like my project but no notes, that is still very sluggish for me. But it says that it is an invalid file type – Dorico file extension is not one of the allowed types, I guess – and when I tried to give it a temporary “wrong” file extension, it said the file was too big. Can I email it to you?
You might need to try zipping up a version that has the playback template set the way it was before, seeing as the very act of applying the Silence template will wipe the mixer channels! The “Silence” tip is a good one for uploading files to the forum in general, but may mask the very problem you’re trying to get to the bottom of…
I will add that 2.4ghz is a fairly slow clock speed (especially since a number of operations in dorico are single-core operations) and 8gb of ram is not all that much. Not bad, per se, but not much. I’d guess that at least some of your problem is due to the limitations of your hardware. (And lest you feel put out, one of my two computers is too weak to do playback so I feel the burn too.)
It’s a 2nd gen i7, which dates it as c. 2011. Geekbench scores are below 700 / 2600. My 2014 MacBook Pro has a 2.2 GHz i7-4770HQ, 4th gen, and is only slightly faster : c. 800 / 3000.
On even my largest scores (16 voices, 8 instruments, 1000 bars), Pasting a few bars is almost immediate. No lag entering with MIDI keyboard. Under 1 second between Write and Play modes. Saving is under 3 seconds.
I’d say there’s something other than underpowered hardware at work to cause multi-second slowdowns.
The file you attached has no notes, just 1147 empty bars, but setting the playback template back to HSO, entering a few bars of notes, and doing a few copy/paste operations is more or less instantaneous for me in both Dorico 2 and Dorico 3. Dorico 3 seems to feel a little bit snappier, but Dorico 2 is certainly not giving 10 second delays.
Thanks all. Seems like there is still something causing unexpected slowness for me. PaulWalmsley, can you tell if this file has the problem you were describing? Before the silent playback template I just had HSSE+HSE default template, and I had humbly removed any notes from the file and had still experiences the slowness.
I’ve had a look at your project and I can’t find any specific problems in it. I’ve loaded it in Dorico 2 and Dorico 3, added notes, copy/paste, switch between Write and Play Mode and it’s absolutely fine on my machine. This suggests that there’s some problem specific to your machine. Do you have the problem with any score, or just this one?
One further thing that might help us work out what’s happening:
Start Dorico and open the score that shows the problem
Do one of the operations that takes a long time, eg copy/paste
Immediately create the diagnostic report again
The diagnostic report contains some very low level timing details that may give us more information, but only for the last couple of operations, hence why you need to do it straight after doing the thing that is slow.
I would also suggest downloading Dorico 3 and using it in trial mode to see if it performs better on your system. There are a number of performance improvements with each release.
Thanks, PaulWalmsley. I’ll try Dorico 3 too, but I’m hoping to save my trial chance until I’m ready to thoroughly try the main new features of Dorico 3.
I’ve now made several diagnostic files made immediately after a sluggish moment, but this site says they are each to big too upload here. Each is about 7 MB. Can I send by email?
Unfortunately I still can’t see any obvious problems in those log files - they don’t contain enough useful information as most of them seem to be straight after some clicks on the score window (which are processed in a fraction of a second), rather than straight after the long operations. It does seem that saving is very slow. Do you have an SSD?
If you wish, you can try out the Dorico 3 version, and if you need to get a new trial code later then you can contact us and we can give you one.
Ah, I may well have clicked before creating the diagnostic reports. I made some new ones, being careful not to click first. Often the sluggish moments were just in the middle of scrolling around, sometimes after things like copying and pasting. I have emailed them to you. Thanks for looking into this.
I’ve been trying out Dorico 3 and still experience similar frequent sluggish moments. I’ve made diagnostic files and also emailed them to you, PaulWalmsley. Thanks!