Serum 2 performance issues

Started by pizzaboy
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pizzaboy

Just installed Serum 2 on my Intel i7 PC (running Cubase) and a lot of the preset sounds max out VST performance and the sound stutters and cuts out.
Task Manager CPU utilization however is only at around 20-30%. A patch like STR-Pedal Chords causes instant carnage and I get the "Audio Processing Disabled" warning message. Has anyone else got these types of issues?

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c.tauchhammer

Also have cpu issues when play around with presets. Amd ryzen 5 5600g 16 GB RAM. Win 11 24h2

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fatherseb-splice

Unfortunately the same behaviour for me. Also on a AMD ryzen 5.

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crystalmystic11

Same issue. My computer is a little older.. 2.9 GHz Dual-Core Intel i5 with 8gb of ram.. I wasn't expecting it to be great for Serum 2 but at this point running one instance of Serum 2 with nothing else going on is almost too much especially when I have a couple voices added and a small FX chain running. I really love that this new update has been free for all prior Serum users but I will have to get a new computer before I can use Serum 2 in any kind of songwriting capacity. Still, though I can plink around on it and at least learn the new features for now. This new update is awesome but it's a greedy pig when it comes to CPU usage.

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PieDo

I confirm. Performances are not great, even on a Ryzen 9 7950X - 96Go

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7blackknights

I confirm. Performances are not great, even on a Ryzen 9 7950X - 96Go

Thank you for the heads-up!

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magickalmutagen

The new presets are presumably made to showcase Serum 2 at its best and thus leverage its new features, some of which require more power. That said, any further CPU optimisations are always welcome, whether at the preset or programming level.

Regarding the referenced STR - Pedal Chords preset: The main demanding factors look to be the use of two granular oscillators with too high density and too short grain length, the clip editor playing a chord per note, and a high polyphony count set (25 notes with a max of 2275 voices). The patch is meant to be played one note at a time, and if doing so, the CPU usage isn't much greater than quite a few other S2 presets (which could be argued to still be fairly high for relatively modern computers). The preset's description states that it's a demonstration of certain S2 features.

I haven't tested this myself, but S2 is claimed to have the same or better performance when compared to S1 for equivalent patches. The only current options for demanding S2 presets are to optimise them yourself, and/or to bounce their tracks to audio. Designing your own patches will ensure they play nice.

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BluzerOne

Works great on apple silicon

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Tianzii

Hey, I have the same issues. Some presets produce crackling sounds. Running Serum 2 on i7, which imho should be more than enough.

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Luca Sonicspore

I can confirm, I'm also experiencing CPU (i7 - 13700 ) issues, even with simple patches using granular or spectral mode.

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Strizbiz

I'm getting the same thing on my M3 Max MacBook Pro with 16 cpu and 40 gpu cores and 64 bfs of ram….I have to admit I'm utterly disappointed. Hopefully a future update will make it more optimized

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JohnBoy

Geeeez, so al be waisting ma time getting Serum2 with my PC (Intel i7-9700 CPU @3.00ghz 8Core)?

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Arrair

Hello all!
I have the same issue. Suddenly, the message "Audio processing disabled" appears.

MBP 16, M3 Max, 36 RAM, Sonoma 14.6.1
Reaper v7.35
Serum 2 v2.0.16

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Shockspears

Same here - M1 on Mac. I have a preset created on my own which does that, if the devs interested I can send it to inspect.
Playing chords is hell.

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PieDo

Hi

Parking core OFF help a lot on Windows 11 and AMD Ryzen

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borolas-splice

Same issue, Mac Pro Late 2013 3.7 GHz Intel Xeon E5.

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petarsakic

Ryzen 9 5900x and 9950x here - both struggle with a lot of presets. Doesnt happen with other synths at all.

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user-9641641643-splice

same, i'm getting the "audio processing disabled" thing keep flashing on and off as soon as i add reverb to my FX chain. my patch only uses 1 oscillator with unison set to 2 voices. if i turn off reverb it magically becomes perfectly smooth again.

edit: i'm using FL Studio 2024. when this problem occurred, I was using ASIO4ALL as the sound driver, but I haven't tested it on others.

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tomaeusd

Congrats on this huge release, Steve! It's a fantastic upgrade and very generous to owners of the original.
I am getting high CPU usage with a Ryzen 9 5900X in FL Studio 21. Hopefully it be can optimized better, so far Serum 1 is more efficient.

Avatar for archon

archon

Same problem here. This plugin is causing my audio drivers to completely cut out. Fwiw, I have an intel 13700k processor and it's only running at 12% with a massive project.

If I use Serum 1, I don't have any issues. If I load the same exact patch in Serum2, then I have persistent playback issues.

Windows 11, Cubase 14, and as mentioned 13700k intel with 64gb of RAM.

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pulustudio

Same problem here. It glitches badly when tring complicated presets.
Win 10 / Cakewalk Sonar / 8 cores / 32 GB.

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consumerml

Win 10 AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 8-Core / 16 GB. I can play about 8 notes at once in an empty project before CPU is overloaded.

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skiddytub

Unfortunately I have to vouch as this is quite a huge workflow roadblock, serum 2 is great, its in its beta, its done everything else amazing in my expirence, and has really elevated the textures in my tracks.

though as of recent, I thought I was having extreme troubles with my PC fiddling with all kinds of bios settings and audio settings looking for answers, the last thing I arrive on is it being serum 2 itself, so I freeze the only 3 tracks in the song im working on that have serum 2 open running, and my average CPU usage drops from a huge 185%!! to only 15-20%, I understand serum is in a primitive state, and I expected some issues, but for the love of god, this has to be top priority, its extremely jarring.

hope this helps.

  • skiddy
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YuusouAmazing

I am disappointed, how so many synth plugin companies do not get optimal performance. I have a Ryzen 5950x CPU, which I also overclocked a bit and it's not enough for playing even chords on some simple electro piano presets. Similar issues also existed with UVI's Falcon 3 in the past. How come performance hasn't become a priority for initial software releases? I have no use for software that may be feature-packed, but I can't use those features due to performance issues.