yoink

Looks like we both found the issue - it's definitely a Logic issue then because I've run the system at 64 samples at my studio without issue for ages. But then that workstation is much more powerful than my rMBP and even then I roll it back to 128 when I need to mix and don't need low-latency.

I noticed something in your signature... it says 256K buffer, do you mean a 256 sample buffer setting in Logic? Just in case I switched my Logic buffer size to 256 and the issue goes away. 128 and it begins, 64 and it's extreme (as documented) and 32 won't work which more or less confirms Janq's post that it's a logic bug. And now that I think about it, I did see something similar on my Mac Pro at the studio but some plugin updates minimized the issue and for most mixing of big projects 50-60+ tracks, I increase the buffer size once any Software Instruments tracking is done.

I've been trying to narrow it down. Do you use iCloud for Contact/Calendar Sync? I'm wondering if it's some service that's causing the issue. I tried to disable notification center but that seemed to have no effect and, as I mentioned earlier, whether my interface is plugged in or not, it makes no difference. Last night, I ran AU Lab (from Apple's AU Developer toolkit) and see no CPU spikes whatsoever, so the problem is almost certainly within Logic itself for some reason, but I can't imagine how/why...

Thank you. I do have the Logic Studio 2 Package. If the effect on my productions at home increases then I'll reinstall. Your post was very very helpful. Thank you. I wonder why I'm not seeing it on my Mac Pro - it's possible it's there just that the effect is much more minute. The issue made me take a second look at PT10, as much as I love to hate it, what with my horrible PT9 experience. I continue to be worried Apple is just giving up on true professional production applications.

Here are some visual confirmations. I've never seen this before! Logic, Not Playing, Nothing Active - CPU Spike CPU Spike

I'm trying to diagnose an issue in Logic on a retina Macbook Pro and Mountain Lion. Basically I'm getting CPU spikes when absolutely nothing is going on. I can turn off Notification Center, Wifi, etc. and even with Logic Open on an "Empty Project" with no tracks yet created I can watch one of the available processing threads jump up to near 50% (say 35-40% to be accurate). This happens no matter which audio interface I'm using (though in this case it's a Sound Devices USBPre2 that I'm using most often.) Playability is acceptable in most cases with the system able to run at 64 samples of buffer, but the CPU spike issue does affect overall performance. I've tried watching Activity Monitor, while viewing all processes and sorting the view from High to Low in CPU usage and the only correlation is the "kernal_task" process but it's not going over 4-5% not 40%! Any insight would be welcomed - on a much older 6-core Mac Pro back at the studio I don't see these spikes but that system is running Lion and has 3x the RAM (16GB vs 48G)

(I'm copy/pasting this with some minor editing - the same question was asked on Apple's forums). I'm tempted to say this isn't an I/O buffer issue... as it happens at any latency setting... (from 32 to 1024) and only with Ultrabeat in use on multiple tracks. I'm currently running a project that has 10 Play instances (covering some 20GB of samples), Kontakt running Steven Slate drums, and a number of other Logic Softsynths and they all run fine - even with multiple Ultrabeat instances. It's in-fact only the Ultrabeat instances with suffer the clicks and pops on simultaneous transients.No other tracks suffer the issue, including massive string and piano libraries running at the same time. If I mute the Ultrabeat tracks - the rest of the instruments sound fine. If I unmute a single ultrabeat instance but multiples are there.. that instance will exibit the artifacting. At some point, I'll post a sample. My current workaround is to simply bounce one fo the Ultrabeat multi-outs down to audio tracks and cut/splice/mix there. The problem is mitigated... but it's still a problem (in that it exists.)

Hi folks, Recently I started having the oddest of issues: I haven't used ultrabeat in the longest of times. I opened up a few old projects with multiple ultrabeat instances and was getting some weird pops/clicks on transients when multiple Ultrabeat instances were present. If I mute them, the problems persist. But as soon as I rid the project of all but a single instance the issue goes away. I do not have any disk/memory issues, and can confirm as much since most of my current projects involve running multiple (and massive) Quantum Leap/East Wst libraries (of the 24bit variety) without any issue. System is a 6-core Mac Pro with 24GB of RAM of lots of fast disks on Lion (current) with Logic (current). Audio I/O is a FF800. I have no idea why this is happening or how to go about fixing it. Anything would help! Thanks!

Considering nearly every plugin I use doesn't work under Lion yet, I'd say Lion isn't Logic-ready.

I'm having some trouble with 9.1.5 on Lion. I've kept my 10.6.8 partition so I'm not in any trouble, but here's some funky behaviour. Every time I load Logic 9.1.5 on 10.7.0 it asks me for my serial number and then my XS Key. I'm not sure how to even deal with it - but thought I'd share. Update: under Lion my XSKey needs to be connected 24/7 to run in either 64-bit or 32-bit. I did not experience this behaviour with any previous versions of 9.1.x running as 32-bit or 64-bit under 10.6.x Update 2: It seems that Lion does not "remember" the XSKey insertion during Logic installs - which may account for several things: if you upgraded from Snow Leopard the XSKey insertion may be persistent, but a fresh Lion install will leave you with the need for the XSKey. However I found a thread on the Apple discussion forums where a user indicated that simply putting in a serial number from an LP8 upgrade works, and it did. I am XSKey-free once again. There is also a note on the Apple forum that another user traded in his/her XSKey for a new serial number. That does seem like the best idea in the long run. Here's the thread: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3218471?start=0&tstart=0

I've moved my own post to a new thread since it had to do with Lion and not 9.1.5

I don't think any have actually shipped yet, but I can say my MC Mix is pretty wonderful since the recent software and firmware update. Such speedy tight logic integration! I have had my MC Control on order since it was announced and after my time with the MC Mix I'm only more keen to get it's partner in crime.

We were on location recording at a small house in the country. I was in the make-shift drum room and heard a loud noise come from the makeshift control room. Someone had plugged a bass amp (head) into one of my handmade-in-england Mic Pre/DIs - apparently they didn't realise a DI input is not a speaker input and that the fuzz you get out of a speaker cab when you "crank it" is not the same as the fuzz you get when you blow up a few transistors. Not a very pretty sight or sound. But that's the problem with the magic smoke in electronics, as soon as you let it out, they stop working. Even though the stand-up company fixed the item for free the band still has a $700 FedEx bill to cover.

Based on my experience with the Fireface 800, I'd recommend the Fireface 400 from RME. The drivers are incredibly stable and I've never had the unit crash on me once. Stability would be my main concern live. And yes, I used to play with a couple of machines in a live environment. It's a lot of fun any way you cook it.

I'd recommend, with that kind of budget that you you aim to find a used Mackie Contol - it may be a bit of a stretch to find one for $300 but with some looking I bet you can do it. Even if you absolutely have to pony up a little more it might be worth it in the long run. The number of applications that support the mackie control is quite high. Also with the Euphonix artist series hitting the streets recently you might see a lot of Mackie Controls on the used market soon.