- Joined
- Aug 5, 2014
- Messages
- 124
- Motherboard
- Z490 Designare
- CPU
- i9-10900K
- Graphics
- Vega 64
Hey guys. I am an audio engineer/producer for a living, and I use a hackintosh as the main computer for my studio. I've had a Yosemite 10.10.5 build (GA-Z77Z-UD3H, i7 2600k, 16GB DDR3, GeForce GT740) that I've been running 100% stable for a while now, booting with Chimera. I tried to update to El Capitan and realized I'd have to convert to Clover for that. At the same time, with modern audio plugins getting better and better, they also use more and more cpu. I've had a few projects recently that taxed the 2600k beyond even being able to play the project without freezing a substantial amount of tracks. So, I decided to build a whole new rig for El Capitan and conversion to Clover. Here's the specs:
GA-Z97X-UD3H rev 1.2
i7-4790k CPU
16GB Vengeance Pro Gold DDR3 (from Yosemite rig)
EVGA GeForce GT-740 (from Yosemite rig)
3 x SSD (OS X, Windows 10 + Extra Data) + 1 HDD (Extra Data)
2 x External USB3 HDD
Roland Octa-Capture USB 2.0 Audio Interface
I followed the TonyMac install guide to install El Capitan, went flawlessly first try without a hitch. For post-install, I used a config and SSDT for my board that I found on the internet that worked for other people. I used the nVidia web drivers for the GT740, even though it worked natively. Under the native drivers, the card wasn't listed properly and the nVidia drivers fixed that. For USB 3 I followed what worked in this post: http://www.tonymacx86.com/user-buil...-970-256gb-ssd-bcm94360cd-wifi-bluetooth.html
Everything seems to work properly. I have built in ethernet, USB 2/3 on all ports correctly, onboard sound, both the HD4600 and nVidia working and everything is recognized/listed properly in System Information.
My problem is as follows...
On my old 2600k Yosemite rig, using one specific audio project as an example, running the Roland at 1024 sample buffer, I couldn't play this project without first freezing all the drum tracks and the vocal track, as well as shutting off oversampling on my master chain. (Freezing a track renders the track to temporary audio and "removes" all the plugins running on that track, freezing up processing power)
I opened this project to test the power of the new setup. I decided to try it first at 512 sample buffer and to my surprise, it played the project without needing to freeze anything, I only had to shut off oversampling on the master chain. So naturally, I thought to myself "well then if I raise the buffer back to 1024, I should be able to play the project fully without shutting off the oversampling." So I tried this, and it actually got worse; I couldn't even play the project with the oversampling off. So what I don't understand is why on this rig, raising the buffer does the opposite of what it's supposed to. Instead of processing efficiency getting better, it got worse. Since this is a USB audio device, I'm not sure if this means my USB isn't being driven properly? (although everything else works fine). I don't know what else it could be. But at the moment, it's pretty depressing. I just spent $700 to build this new rig, and the performance improvement seems only marginal so I can only assume it's because something isn't running or being driven properly, hardware-wise. If I could get it to work properly in regards to the buffer doing what it's supposed to do, that would be major. Besides the hardware difference (which is essentially just the mobo and cpu), the only other variable is El Capitan 10.11.2 versus Yosemite 10.10.5.
Any ideas?
Thanks in advance.
GA-Z97X-UD3H rev 1.2
i7-4790k CPU
16GB Vengeance Pro Gold DDR3 (from Yosemite rig)
EVGA GeForce GT-740 (from Yosemite rig)
3 x SSD (OS X, Windows 10 + Extra Data) + 1 HDD (Extra Data)
2 x External USB3 HDD
Roland Octa-Capture USB 2.0 Audio Interface
I followed the TonyMac install guide to install El Capitan, went flawlessly first try without a hitch. For post-install, I used a config and SSDT for my board that I found on the internet that worked for other people. I used the nVidia web drivers for the GT740, even though it worked natively. Under the native drivers, the card wasn't listed properly and the nVidia drivers fixed that. For USB 3 I followed what worked in this post: http://www.tonymacx86.com/user-buil...-970-256gb-ssd-bcm94360cd-wifi-bluetooth.html
Everything seems to work properly. I have built in ethernet, USB 2/3 on all ports correctly, onboard sound, both the HD4600 and nVidia working and everything is recognized/listed properly in System Information.
My problem is as follows...
On my old 2600k Yosemite rig, using one specific audio project as an example, running the Roland at 1024 sample buffer, I couldn't play this project without first freezing all the drum tracks and the vocal track, as well as shutting off oversampling on my master chain. (Freezing a track renders the track to temporary audio and "removes" all the plugins running on that track, freezing up processing power)
I opened this project to test the power of the new setup. I decided to try it first at 512 sample buffer and to my surprise, it played the project without needing to freeze anything, I only had to shut off oversampling on the master chain. So naturally, I thought to myself "well then if I raise the buffer back to 1024, I should be able to play the project fully without shutting off the oversampling." So I tried this, and it actually got worse; I couldn't even play the project with the oversampling off. So what I don't understand is why on this rig, raising the buffer does the opposite of what it's supposed to. Instead of processing efficiency getting better, it got worse. Since this is a USB audio device, I'm not sure if this means my USB isn't being driven properly? (although everything else works fine). I don't know what else it could be. But at the moment, it's pretty depressing. I just spent $700 to build this new rig, and the performance improvement seems only marginal so I can only assume it's because something isn't running or being driven properly, hardware-wise. If I could get it to work properly in regards to the buffer doing what it's supposed to do, that would be major. Besides the hardware difference (which is essentially just the mobo and cpu), the only other variable is El Capitan 10.11.2 versus Yosemite 10.10.5.
Any ideas?
Thanks in advance.
