Optimize your PC for Mixcraft!

Support and feedback for Acoustica's Mixcraft audio mixing software.

Moderators: Acoustica Greg, Acoustica Eric, Acoustica Dan, rsaintjohn

dougc
Posts: 6
Joined: Mon Nov 16, 2015 6:41 am

Re: Optimize your PC for Mixcraft!

Post by dougc »

I have found that using the 32bit instead of 64 in Mixcraft 7 Pro
makes a huge difference. I was using bout 65 to 75% usage on
my CPU and system with the 64bit. Using 32bit I can have a ton
of effects going on 6 tracks and on my master with only
pushing about 35% usage. I have 5gig of ram on my PC.
gypsy101
Posts: 2322
Joined: Wed Mar 07, 2007 7:00 pm
Location: near Music City,USA

Re: Optimize your PC for Mixcraft!

Post by gypsy101 »

RE: high CPU, a couple of things I came across w/ my own system recently-
http://www.howtogeek.com/209654/scammer ... ck-people/

https://blog.malwarebytes.org/security- ... -hijacker/

http://www.wintips.org/how-to-fix-msmpe ... solution-3
gypsy101
Posts: 2322
Joined: Wed Mar 07, 2007 7:00 pm
Location: near Music City,USA

Re: Optimize your PC for Mixcraft!

Post by gypsy101 »

this part may be "controversial" for some.
if running a Windows based 32 bit system the most Windows will show is 3.5gb of RAM although you may have more installed. here is a way to unlock more-
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/unlock-64g ... pae-patch/

http://www.unawave.de/windows-7-tipps/3 ... ml?lang=EN

a more technical version-
http://superuser.com/questions/67444/is ... windows-os
ruhestrom
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Location: Berlin/ Germany
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Re: Optimize your PC for Mixcraft!

Post by ruhestrom »

dougc wrote:I have found that using the 32bit instead of 64 in Mixcraft 7 Pro
makes a huge difference. I was using bout 65 to 75% usage on
my CPU and system with the 64bit. Using 32bit I can have a ton
of effects going on 6 tracks and on my master with only
pushing about 35% usage. I have 5gig of ram on my PC.
i´m at 12 tracks on my current project, with in average 4 effects on each, and the system starts to peak into the 45-50% marks. The song is about 5:20 long at moment, most of the tracks are guitars adn drums ... Using the 64bit version on my

AMD FX4100 (better per-core performance than many "better" processors, except for the 8000er series really)
8GB 1333 DDR3 Ram
Realtek HD audio (stock onboard)
Windows 10 64bit

it works for me, if it starts to run "unsober" i just mix a few down which usually makes room for more :)

thinking about a better sound card (built in), but i´m unsure if it will make much difference performance wise
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Starship Krupa
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Joined: Mon Jun 23, 2014 3:05 am
Location: California

Re: Optimize your PC for Mixcraft!

Post by Starship Krupa »

I tried to go with the 64-bit version, but the performance is so much better in the 32-bit version that I've pretty much abandoned it.

The big issue seems to be overhead from the VST wrapper. Acoustica just ship too many 32-bit plugs for me to be able to use the 64-bit program.

No problem, the 32-bit version does everything I want it to do on my aging Core 2 Quad!
-Erik
___________
3.4 GHz i7-3770, 16G RAM, Win 10 64-bit, ATi Radeon HD 5770
2X PreSonus Firepods, Event 20/20's, Alesis Monitor Ones, Alesis Point Sevens
Mixcraft Pro Studio 8.5, Cakewalk by BandLab
jflemmingjr
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Sep 04, 2016 4:59 am

Re: Optimize your PC for Mixcraft!

Post by jflemmingjr »

I have a question to any who can answer. Im not a computer guru and I am still kind of learning but Im looking onto getting this desktop CPU and this is what it comes with. How do you think it will work with Mixcraft 7 Pro? I know it will be better than I have now but Im going for a CPU that will use less CPU resaources. The one I have now isnt that great.
Operating System • Windows 10 Home
Processor • AMD A6-7310 Quad-Core Accelerated Processor
• Quad-Core Processor Speed • 2.00GHz
Cache • 2MB L2 Cache
Memory • 6GB PC3-12800 DDR3L-1600 SDRAM memory 1x4GB and 1x2GB (expandable to 16GB)
Hard Drive • 1TB 7200RPM Serial ATA hard drive
Optical Drive(s) • Ultra Slim Tray SuperMulti DVD Burner
• Write: 8x max DVD±R SL, 6x max DVD±R DL, 8x max DVD+RW, 6x max DVD-RW, 5x max DVD-RAM, 24x max CD-R, 10x max CD-RW
• Read: 8x max DVD-ROM/±R (SL/DL), 8x max DVD±RW, 5x max DVD-RAM, 24x max CD-ROM/R/RW
• Data transfer rates up to 3,600 KB/s (CD read/write) and 10,800 KB/s (DVD read/write)
Video Graphics • AMD Radeon™ R4 Graphics
• Up to 3328MB Total Available Graphics Memory as allocated by Windows 10
Network Interface • 10/100/1000 Base-T Network
FranklinNewhart
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Oct 23, 2016 4:36 pm

Re: Optimize your PC for Mixcraft!

Post by FranklinNewhart »

A program on your computer called Resource Monitor is a good tool. You can suspend a lot of un-needed processes and then save the profile as a file. Before you start Mixcraft just open Resource Monitor and load your profile and all the un-needed resources are gone. if you do need those resources after you exit Mixcraft then default settings can be restores in Resource Monitor.
tkres
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Dec 14, 2016 11:02 pm

Re: Optimize your PC for Mixcraft!

Post by tkres »

Have noticed in 64 bit Win 7 / Mixcraft 7 64 for a track multi with 2 64 bit VSTi 's and 1 32 bit VSTi' running there will be 2 or 3 instances of Mixcraft 32 bit VST host running in process manager that appear to hang around degrading performance even after closing the 32 bit VSTi instance .Now check every time after opening anything requiring the 32 bit
wrapper. Seems OK with a clean session
mjmclane
Posts: 13
Joined: Mon Oct 25, 2010 10:47 am

Re: Optimize your PC for Mixcraft!

Post by mjmclane »

Microsoft reports that Win 10 Creators Update has a "gaming mode" that optimizes the computer so that systems resources are focused on the gaming app and minimizes superfluous background activities. Will this have any positives for Mixcraft?
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Acoustica Greg
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Re: Optimize your PC for Mixcraft!

Post by Acoustica Greg »

mjmclane wrote:Microsoft reports that Win 10 Creators Update has a "gaming mode" that optimizes the computer so that systems resources are focused on the gaming app and minimizes superfluous background activities. Will this have any positives for Mixcraft?
Hi,

Sounds like it should. Laptops especially can have issues where they are optimized to prolong battery life instead of provide high performance.

Greg
Mixcraft - The Musician's DAW
Check out our tutorial videos on YouTube: Mixcraft 10 University 101
JsinOwl
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun Apr 23, 2017 11:16 am

Re: Optimize your PC for Mixcraft!

Post by JsinOwl »

I've been using this site for years to figure out which Windows services can be disabled without causing any issues:

http://www.blackviper.com/service-configurations/
MXCRFT864
Posts: 23
Joined: Sun Mar 19, 2017 6:01 pm

Re: Optimize your PC for Mixcraft!

Post by MXCRFT864 »

Another major improvement to using any DAW is to use at least a second hard drive (internal or external) for recording audio and storing your projects. And using yet another drive to store your loops/samples is good too if you have a large sample library.

Otherwise, you're slowing things down by making one hard drive run the OS, DAW, access plugins, stream audio (read) and record audio (write) at the same time. It takes more time with all that back and forth to different sectors on the same disc.
Mixcraft 8 Pro 64-Bit on Dell Optiplex 755 with 2.83Ghz Xeon Quadcore 8) and 8GB RAM. Windows 7 64-Bit.
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Acoustica Greg
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Re: Optimize your PC for Mixcraft!

Post by Acoustica Greg »

MXCRFT864 wrote:Another major improvement to using any DAW is to use at least a second hard drive (internal or external) for recording audio and storing your projects. And using yet another drive to store your loops/samples is good too if you have a large sample library.

Otherwise, you're slowing things down by making one hard drive run the OS, DAW, access plugins, stream audio (read) and record audio (write) at the same time. It takes more time with all that back and forth to different sectors on the same disc.
But you'd better be sure they are fast drives. A slow hard drive, or a slow hard drive interface, can really impede performance.
Mixcraft - The Musician's DAW
Check out our tutorial videos on YouTube: Mixcraft 10 University 101
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Ian Craig
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Re: Optimize your PC for Mixcraft!

Post by Ian Craig »

Thanks Gypsy101 and JsinOwl for providing the links. I've finally got Mixcraft 8 working properly after months of endless crashes and support isssues. Cheers :D
Mixcraft 9 Pro Studio (build 470) recording output using MRecorder
AMD Ryzen 8 Core 3.0 GHz (40 GB Ram) & Intel i9 11th Gen 3.5 GHz (64GB Ram),
Windows 10 Professional
Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 & 8i6
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Acoustica Greg
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Re: Optimize your PC for Mixcraft!

Post by Acoustica Greg »

Ian Craig wrote:Thanks Gypsy101 and JsinOwl for providing the links. I've finally got Mixcraft 8 working properly after months of endless crashes and support isssues. Cheers :D
Hi,

Did you find any particular culprit, or was it a variety of things?

Greg
Mixcraft - The Musician's DAW
Check out our tutorial videos on YouTube: Mixcraft 10 University 101
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