Loud 'thud' noise when using Waves Abbey Road Plugin

Origin
1

I’ve suddenly started getting a loud noise when tracks start using Waves Abbey Road studio Plugin. Ok with other plugins.

Debug:
Audirvana Origin 2.5.2 (20502)

macOS 10.15.7 with 16GB physical RAM

Connected account of : Keith Forbes

NETWORK
Status: available

SIGNAL PROCESSING:

Polarity Inversion:
	Globally: OFF
	Per track: ON
Effects plugins ACTIVE in offline mode with new macOS API
	AU plugin #0: Music Effect - Waves Abbey Road Studio 3 (s) ()
	AU plugin #1: None
	AU plugin #2: None
	AU plugin #3: None

UPSAMPLING:
SoX to DSD64 with filter type B 7th order
SoX filter parameters
Bandwidth at 0dB = 99.5%
Filter max length = 30000
Anti-aliasing = 100
Phase = 66%

AUDIO VOLUME:
Max allowed volume: 100
Replay Gain: by album
SW volume control: OFF

LIBRARY SETTINGS:
Sync list: 2 folders
AUTO: /Volumes/Music/Music/1.Albums
AUTO: /Volumes/Music/Music/Mixes and Compilations
iTunes/Music library synchronization: not synchronized
Library database path: /Users/4bs/Library/Application Support/Audirvana/AudirvanaDatabase.sqlite

Remote Control server:
Listening on fe80::1083:9ce0:36de:d905%en0 on port 51565

=================== AUDIO DEVICE ========================

Active method: Local

Max. memory for audio buffers: 4236MB

Local Audio Engine: CoreAudio
Exclusive access: ON
Integer mode: ON
Use max I/O buffer size: ON
Actual I/O buffer frame size: 512

Preferred device:
FiiO FiiO BTA30 PRO
Model UID:FiiO BTA30 PRO:2972:0047
UID:AppleUSBAudioEngine:FiiO:FiiO BTA30 PRO:14120000:1

Currently playing in Integer Mode:
Device: 2ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24bits little endian Signed Integer, 6 bytes per frame 176.4kHz

Active Sample Rate: 176.4kHz
Hog Mode is on

Bridge settings:
Sample rate limitation: none
Sample rate switching latency: none
Limit bitdepth to 24bit: OFF
Mute during sample rate change: OFF

Selected device:iFi (by AMR) HD USB Audio
Manufacturer: iFi (by AMR)
Model name: iFi (by AMR) HD USB Audio
Model UID: iFi (by AMR) HD USB Audio:20B1:3008
UID: AppleUSBAudioEngine:iFi (by AMR):iFi (by AMR) HD USB Audio:0002:1
USB Vendor ID: 0x20b1
USB Product ID: 0x3008
ID 0x2a

8 available sample rates up to 384000Hz
44100
48000
88200
96000
176400
192000
352800
384000
Audio buffer frame size : 116 to 4096 frames
Current I/O buffer frame size : 512

Volume Control
Physical: Yes
Virtual: Yes
Max volume alert: Disabled

MQA capability
Auto-detect MQA devices: No
Not a MQA device, user set to not MQA
DSD capability: DSD via PCM 1.0

Device audio channels
Preferred stereo channels L:1 R:2
Channel bitmap: Ox3, layout:
Channel 0 mapped to 0
Channel 1 mapped to 1

Audio channels in use
Number of channels: 2
Use as stereo device only: No
Simple stereo device: Yes

1 output streams:
Number of active channels: 2, in 1 stream(s)
Channel #0 :Stream 0 channel 0
Channel #1 :Stream 0 channel 1

Stream ID 0x2b 2 channels starting at 1
32 virtual formats:
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 384kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 352.8kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 192kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 176.4kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 96kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 88.2kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 48kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 44.1kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 384kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 352.8kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 192kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 176.4kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 96kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 88.2kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 48kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 44.1kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 384kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 352.8kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 192kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 176.4kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 96kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 88.2kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 48kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 44.1kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 384kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 352.8kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 192kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 176.4kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 96kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 88.2kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 48kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 44.1kHz

48 physical formats
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 384kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 352.8kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 192kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 176.4kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 96kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 88.2kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 48kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 44.1kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 384kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 352.8kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 192kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 176.4kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 96kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 88.2kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 48kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 44.1kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 384kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 352.8kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 192kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 176.4kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 96kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 88.2kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 48kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 44.1kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 384kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 352.8kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 192kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 176.4kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 96kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 88.2kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 48kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 44.1kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 384kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 352.8kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 192kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 176.4kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 96kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 88.2kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 48kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 44.1kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 384kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 352.8kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 192kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 176.4kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 96kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 88.2kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 48kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 44.1kHz

Local devices found : 2
Device #0: ID 0x43 Built-in Output
Manufacturer: Apple Inc.
Model UID: AppleHDA:82
UID: AppleHDAEngineOutput:1B,0,1,1:0
Model name: Apple Inc. Built-in Output
Device #1: ID 0x2a iFi (by AMR) HD USB Audio
Manufacturer: iFi (by AMR)
Model UID: iFi (by AMR) HD USB Audio:20B1:3008
UID: AppleUSBAudioEngine:iFi (by AMR):iFi (by AMR) HD USB Audio:0002:1
USB Vendor ID: 0x20b1
USB Product ID: 0x3008
Model name: iFi (by AMR) HD USB Audio

UPnP

UPnP devices found : 0

Chromecast

Chromecast devices found : 0

2

Further investigation shows a marked increase in CPU load since the upgrade to 2.5.2.

3

Reverting to 2.4 has lowered CPU Load, but noise the same on plugin.

4

And this… CPU Load increases when waves Plugin is DISABLED. :confused:

5

Try lowering the output volume of ABRS3 (-1dB) and the volume before up-sampling (-2dB)
and set DoP to DoP1.1 and use the new Audio Units API.

I’ve seen this as well… seems there may be background activity when Audirvana is connected online?

6

Thanks, I already have -3dB before upsampling,
Use new AU API is selected.
I’ll add the -1dB to ARs3.
Why should I be connected online, it’s Origin, no streaming?
Where’s the D.o.P setting again, I can never find it :confused:

7

So,
the noise is only happening when I use the next track button…

8

Sounds familiar… Reminds me of a thread (not so long ago) by @Agoldnear … (not a thud but a drop). But maybe I am seeing/imagining things :face_with_spiral_eyes:

9

It’s hard to describe…

10

My drop-outs were associated to adding tracks to the play queue… I have since made some changes in how I personally add tracks to the play queue… In my use scenario, it also seems that the recent Audirvana updates have increased the demand for RAM, as I have had to lower my playback pre-load memory allocation to 4GB to avoid initial playback ‘ticks’…

In AS it is found in the DAC Input settings… However, I think Antoine once mentioned that if the DAC is iFi you won’t see this option.

11

Thanks.
Yeah, I vaguely remeber something like that.
If I leave the tracks to play and move on, there is no issue, it’s a combination of using ther ‘next’ button and the plug in.

12

‘Next’ works seamlessly for me (famous last words…) either from the play queue or from the album tracks view… I’ve also lowered my sample-rate change delay to .5s… :thinking: Try removing ABRS3 and then add it again… Where is your music library located? I also defragged the database.

I found that the background loading of tracks really puts a load on the CPU… so if I want to listen to a track without the background CPU activity, I add it to the queue and play it there with no other files in the queue or maybe one other, always clearing the queue afterwards… a bit of a hassle, but it is what it is… Otherwise, if I play a track from a point in the album of tracks and work from there, things generally behave without drop-outs…

13

Deleted and reloaded ABRS plugin, still makes noise on pressing next buton, and using a lot more CPU, has something changed in how Origin runs plugins?

14

Try lowering the playback pre-load buffer to 2GB and see what happens…

1 Like
15

No luck, same issue.
Though if I wait a while, the CPU load drops, is this because of some background stuff?

Thanks.

16

If you clear the play queue, and then select a track from an album of tracks to start playback … then open the play queue, you will see the entire album of tracks being loaded in the background… The CPU load will dramatically increase until all of your playback pre-load memory is filled and at that point the CPU load decreases… This behavior continues as tracks play and the pre-load memory is refilled… You will see a similar behavior when adding a track to the play queue and just play the single track, while the track is being loaded into memory during playback…

17

Thanks for the explanation. That’s what’s happening.
So if I make my preload buffer larger, say large enough for an entire album, the CPU load will be high initially, then drop for the duration of that album/playlist?

18

That’s what I see happening… However it is a balance between platform operations and audio-engine operations that require memory to run efficiently… So if too much RAM is allocated and there is not enough Virtual Memory available on the System drive, these operations are compromised due to processing wait-times (interrupts).

2 Likes
19

How do I know how much virtual memory is available?

20

Open the ‘About this Mac’ drop-down from the Menu bar and select the ‘Storage’ report… It will begin calculating the file distribution on the System drive and you will see the remaining space… this is your Virtual Memory…