EZdrummer 2 with Slate Trigger

[popbaby]

I'm using EZdrummer multi out and triggering kick, snare, and tom samples. Each of those tracks has one or two FX, as does the OH, usually no more than 8 Vst's including the instances of Trigger. The EZdrummer stereo buss has tape emulation, Decapitator, Slate Mix Rack, and sometimes a Multiband Comp. That's usually no more than 4 total VST's.

This seems to create quite a bit of strain on my CPU despite never hitting above 30%. By contrast I downloaded Reaper and while I don't like the DAW very much, I don't have the same skipping, popping, cracking, and sometimes crashing.

If I use Trigger on audio tracks I can use a TON of plugins with little to no issue, regardless of where I set my buffer.

I understand that the best thing to do in terms of mixing is rendering the drum audio, but I tend to write, arrange, and produce at the same time.

Can anyone think of a way to get Ezdummer/Trigger to play nicer with Mixcraft?

Edit: I'm using the latest version of Mixcraft. I have 16GB Ram and I7 processor. Internal and External SSD. Audient ID4