System Optimization recommendations?

Hi -- I noticed with some of my 3rd party plugins, not surprisingly, I am slamming the CPU to the limits more than with the equivalent plugin built-in to Logic (e.g. EZDrummer 2, Scuffham S-Gear amp modeling). In another forum, I had posted that I was having CPU limitations with S-Gear. A comment I received back said they had never had any CPU issues, and that it "Sounds like you haven't optimized your MacOS X for audio." Not sure if this would solve my issue, but since I have done *none* of this, I figured it's worth exploring. 

 

So I did a search for system optimizations, and there are a billion suggestions, some of which sound like they're relevant, but many seem like they might be bad medicine. Do we have set of recommended settings for OS-level system settings to ensure the best possible performance of Logic on a given machine?

 

I already am using the practice of increasing the buffer when mixing, and decreasing it only when recording, and freezing tracks when necessary, but given that I have done *zero* in terms of OS-level system optimization, I wanted to explore what improvements, if any, that would bring.

 

As you can see, I don't have a super-powerful system, but I think I am well above the minimum requirements.

 

Thanks for any pointers or links to trustworthy resources!

Bob

these are things that help me: turn off wifi. make sure no apps are set to open on startup (ie check your login items in the Users & Groups System Preferences). also in sys prefs, in Accessibility, check Reduce Motion and Reduce Transparency.

 

the idea is to have as little for the hardware to do as possible, so most resources go to Logic.

 

i do these things, then reboot, and open ONLY logic... and go to work. sometimes, i have to repeat that process (at least, after working on several projects).

 

am sure others here have some ideas as well...

I never let my Mac or my hard drives go to sleep. I don't turn off my Mac at night, unless I'm not going to use it for more than 48 hours or so. 

David - does turning one's Mac off at night impact performance? I ask because I used to just put my Mac to sleep but  since I got my new 2015 iMac with SSD, booting is so quick I now just turn it off at night. Also I reboot before working in Logic. 

David - does turning one's Mac off at night impact performance? I ask because I used to just put my Mac to sleep but  since I got my new 2015 iMac with SSD, booting is so quick I now just turn it off at night. Also I reboot before working in Logic. 

I never put my Mac to sleep, it can make it unstable in various ways, so I haven't used sleep mode on any of my Macs for the past 10 years or so. 

 

As for turning off vs leaving on at night... that's an age old debate... it won't affect performance, no, it's more about getting all your components through power-cycling every day (which puts stress on them) vs leaving them on all night (which -also- puts stress on them). 

David - does turning one's Mac off at night impact performance? I ask because I used to just put my Mac to sleep but  since I got my new 2015 iMac with SSD, booting is so quick I now just turn it off at night. Also I reboot before working in Logic. 

I never put my Mac to sleep, it can make it unstable in various ways, so I haven't used sleep mode on any of my Macs for the past 10 years or so. 

 

As for turning off vs leaving on at night... that's an age old debate... it won't affect performance, no, it's more about getting all your components through power-cycling every day (which puts stress on them) vs leaving them on all night (which -also- puts stress on them). 

david, in all these years, i've never disagreed with anything you've said, but... i don't understand your issue with sleep. better to let components idle, than having the mac active 24/7. you will wear things down. 

i have never had a problem with sleep (altho i am in the habit of quitting logic before i sleep my mac). ultimately, we do what (seems to) work best for us. but i think sleep is a perfect, and necessary, state for the mac when you're not using it...

i don't understand your issue with sleep. better to let components idle, than having the mac active 24/7. you will wear things down.

You will also wear things down by constantly waking them from sleep. Like I said, it's an age old debate, I'm not sure which will wear them down more, my guess is it's probably about even.

 

My issue with sleep is based on my own experience. Waking up a Mac from sleep can create all sorts of unstability, especially with things like drivers. I've since found out that the issue is widespread and not limited to my own experience. A quick Google should turn a few results, even if not necessary based on music production systems.