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Best hard drive to write audio to??


Bradley Hagen
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Hi folks-

New to this group, Logic user since 2009. I have a brand new Macbook Pro M1 Max 10 core, 64 gigs of RAM, 1 TB internal SSD, and a few external SSD's hooked up as well. Monterey 12.4, Logic Pro 10.7.4 running in Rosetta mode. After a reaching track count of around 40, with several plugins, and maybe 4 virtual instruments, I start receiving system overload messages. Now, according to everything that I have read and have seen on Youtube, this simply should NOT happen with this machine. Heck, it rarely happened with my late 2013 Mac Pro trashcan that I  upgraded from... I also make sure that nothing is running in the background, (especially Chrome lol) So my question is this? Would I be better off writing audio to the internal SSD rather than my external Thunderbolt 2 G-Drive SSD? Now, please keep in mind that I receive system overload messages, not hard drive messages. Also, it seems that increasing buffer all of the way to 512 doesn't stop the system overloads either... Heck, I should be able to run 150 tracks, with a gazillion plugins at 64 samples with this machine! (Which is why I paid $4000 for it, and dealt with all of the compatibility issues for months) In any case, thank you in advance for any thoughts or advice

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I suspect that the root cause of the problem has more to do with your Logic project than with your (Mac and ...) external hardware, which superficially "seems much more than adequate."

"System overload" occurs when Logic finds that it needs 1.001 seconds to calculate 1.000 second's worth of sound in real time.  You can begin to diagnose the problem by selectively muting tracks.  Then, when you find a particular track, look at what it's asking the computer to do.

However: "Freezing" is a convenient way to bypass many problems.  Reduce a set of tracks that you're not working with right now (perhaps having first combined them into a convenient track group) into an equivalent audio track – which the computer doesn't have to calculate "in real time."  This will free up the entire computing resources that are being used to calculate those tracks. It is trivial to "re-freeze" a track or set of tracks when you decide to go back and change something. 

The designers of Logic obviously anticipated this, so they put a lot of design effort into "freezing" and "bouncing" as a way to subdivide the computing task and to make portions of it "not real-time."  There will be no audible difference.

It is quite natural to move through a project "one objective at a time," so, as you do so, "freeze 'em and forget 'em."  That's exactly what the designers had in mind.

Edited by MikeRobinson
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8 hours ago, Bradley Hagen said:

running in Rosetta mode

That could be the issue. Non-native CPU-heavy plugins can bring your machine to its knees and depending where they are in the mix. If you have a lot of 3rd party plugins on the stereo out, that would go to one core and give you a system overload. Do you get single core peaks?

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Try to run the project on the internal SSD to eliminate the possible external drive issue. That machine should handle a LOT more than your project. Maybe as Triplets said there is a non compatible plugin that is causing the issue. (Or rosetta mode). I have no problem running a 100 track Logic project on my M1 Air, about 200 plugins, about 20 of them third party. CPU hovering around 25-50%. I have the luxury to work on only 1-2 projects at a time and always use the internal SSD. Later i move projects to an external drive. In my opinion nothing is as snappy as the internal SSD. 

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@triplets Yeah, I still have to run Logic in Rosetta mode, since not all of the plugin companies and library companies are native as of yet. I do put 2 or 3 mastering plugins on the output, even while tracking, and you are correct. It seems as though the first core maxes out as a result when taking the deeper dive into the resource meter. I will knock that off moving forward for sure! Thanks!

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@Mania I started a new project yesterday, and am writing to the internal SSD, and what do you know?? NO SYSTEM OVERLOADS....yet anyway. I have a feeling that it is a combination of all of the above, and I appreciate yours, and everyone else's response. I am sure that when everyone is FINALLY native on Silicon, these types of issues will be a thing of the past! 

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