Ever wonder why inserting a particular plug-in makes the latency go through the roof? Which tracks you should transform because they require a lot of CPU power, and which ones aren't a problem? The Performance Monitor, accessed via View > Performance Monitor, reveals all
But this isn't just about interesting information. The Performance Monitor will help you decide which block settings to use, whether native low-latency monitoring will work for you, what level of dropout protection is appropriate, and more. Then, you can make intelligent tradeoffs to process audio in the most efficient way, while optimizing system stability.
Start at the the Top
Referring to fig. 1, the readout at the top indicates CPU and disk activity. Check this periodically to make sure you aren't running your CPU up against its limits. This can lead to audio crackles, dropouts, and other potential glitches. You can also set the level of dropout protection here.
Figure 1: The Performance Monitor window (the UI has been modified somewhat to make analyzing the data easier).
The Cache readout lets you know if you're wasting storage space. The Cache accumulates files as you work on a song, but many of these files are only temporary. If you invoke Cleanup Cache, Studio One will reclaim storage space by deleting all unused temp files in the cache. If you have lots of songs and haven't cleaned out their caches, you might be surprised at how much space this frees up. I usually wait until I'm done with a song before cleaning it up.
Finally, there's a list of all the plug-ins that are in use. The left-most column shows much relative CPU power a plug-in consumes, as a bar graph, and numerically. The next column to the right shows the plug-in name and format. The Type column shows whether the plug-in is an instrument or insert effect. The final column on the right shows the delay compensation a plug-in requires.
(Note there's also a column that shows the plug-in path, which is the track where the plug-in resides. For effects, it also shows the effect's position in the insert section. However, fig. 1 doesn't show this column, because it takes up space, and doesn't really apply to what we're covering.)
Figure 2: The transport shows useful performance information.
The transport includes a performance summary (fig. 2). Toward the lower left, you'll see meters for CPU consumption (top meter) and disk activity. Click on Performance to call up the Performance Monitor window. The circle of dots indicates writing activity to the cache. Also note the figure under the sample rate-this is the total time Studio One has added for plug-in compensation.
Analyzing the Data
I've altered the UI graphic a bit, by grouping plug-ins, and adding a line in between to separate the groups. This makes it easier to analyze the data.
The top group includes a variety of reverbs, which in general tend to consume a lot of CPU power. Waves Abbey Road Chambers, iZotope's Neoverb, and Rare Signals Transatlantic Plate clearly require the most CPU. Neoverb and Abbey Road Chambers also require the most latency compensation.
HD Cart is more efficient than I would have expected, and Studio One's reverbs give a good account of themselves. Open Air and Room Reverb in Eco mode are extremely efficient, registering only 01 on the CPU meter. However, bumping up Room Reverb to HQ mode registers 03.
Bear in mind that lots of CPU consumption doesn't mean a poor design-it can mean a complex design. Similarly, minimal CPU consumption doesn't mean the effect won't be as nuanced; it can simply mean the effect has been tightly optimized for a specific set of tasks. Also note that CPU-hungry reverbs are good candidates for being placed in an FX Channel or Bus. If used in individual tracks, Transform is your friend.
The next group down compares virtual instruments. You'll see a fair amount of variation. I didn't include the native Studio One instruments, because none of them requires delay compensation. Mai Tai and Presence typical register 01 or 02 in terms of CPU consumption, while the others don't move the CPU meter noticeably. Bottom line: if you want to have a lot of instruments in a project, use as many native Studio One versions as possible, because they're very efficient.
The next group down is plug-ins that use phase-linear technology. All of these require large amounts of delay compensation, because the delay is what allows for the plug-in to be in-phase internally. The Pro EQ2's reading (which alternates between 3 and 4) is for only the phase-linear stage enabled; the nonlinear EQ stages draw very little CPU power. This is what you would expect from an EQ that has to be efficient enough to be inserted in lots of tracks, as is typical in a multitrack project.
The next-to-the-last group is amp sims. The figures vary a lot depending on which amps, cabinets, and effects are in use. For example, the Guitar Rig 6 preset includes two of their new amps, in HQ mode, that use a more CPU-intensive modeling process. The PRS V9 doesn't have a lot of bells and whistles, but concentrates on detailed amp sounds-hence the high CPU consumption. Ampire is somewhat more efficient than most high-quality amp sims, but there's no avoiding the reality that good amp sims consume a lot of CPU power-which is another reason to become familiar with the Transform function.
Finally, the last group shows why even with today's powerful computers, there's a reason why people add Universal Audio's DSP hardware to their systems. Both the Manley Massive Passive and Shadow Hills compressor draw a lot of power, and require significant delay compensation. But, they don't draw any power from Studio One, because they get their power from UA's DSP cards, not your computer'
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
06/12/2025
In a live broadcast from the Reagan National Defense Forum, L3Harris Chair and CEO Christopher Kubasik joined Morgan Brennan on CNBCs Closing Bell: Overtime. Ku...
06/12/2025
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. A new survey from Pixitmedia by Datacore revealed a major shift in the Media & Entertainment industry in media archiving, with 85% of resp...
06/12/2025
HACKENSACK, N.J. LiveU has announced that the national public broadcaster Czech Television has completed one of the largest LiveU live production deployments fo...
06/12/2025
NEW YORK The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) presented the Excellence in Production Technology Emmy Award to NASA+ and Dr. Tom Leight...
05/12/2025
2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nati...
05/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Veritone's Sean King on the Power of Mining Video, Audio DataThe company's Data Refinery offers users total control and governance over da...
05/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: Inside the Nashville Predators' Unified, Flexible, Sca...
05/12/2025
Netflix Reaches Agreement To Acquire Warner Bros. Following Planned WBD SplitThe deal does not include WBDs sports assets like TNT Sports (US, UK, LatAm), Euros...
05/12/2025
FOX Sports Returns to Indianapolis for Primetime Broadcast of Big Ten Championsh...
05/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Digital Engagement & Monetization Workshop Tackles the ...
05/12/2025
Atlanta United Lights Up New Emory Healthcare Studio With First Live Broadcast f...
05/12/2025
As Messi Takes the Pitch, MLS, Apple, NEP Roll Out Largest MLS Cup Production Ev...
05/12/2025
ESPN Enters College Football's Most Intense Month With Elevated Workflows fo...
05/12/2025
It's about that time! Awards season is in full swing, and the Film Independe...
05/12/2025
Every year, Spotify Wrapped offers a personalized look back at the audio that defined your year. It's a snapshot of your listening habits, designed to tell ...
05/12/2025
In 2025, Spotify's EQUAL, GLOW, and RADAR programs celebrated women, LGBTQIA , and emerging artists who turned moments into milestones. From breaking record...
05/12/2025
In our latest blog, we explain how Wi-Fi 7 rollouts can drive consumer loyalty with value-add services such as consumer cybersecurity. We also explore how this ...
05/12/2025
LOS ANGELES Netflix announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Nielsens Gracenote has launched Gracenote Content Connect, a new ad platform that provides agencies, brands, supply-side platforms (SSPs) and demand-si...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK In an most important update to the workings of deal-based programmatic advertising, IAB Tech Lab has released version 1.0 of its Deals API for public c...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Pass the turkey. Pass the stuffing. Pass the cranberry sauce. All are common requests of Americans celebrating Thanksgiving Day with family and f...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. Netflix announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has approved AT&T's $1.02 billion acquisition of spectrum from UScellular in a decision that was issued sho...
05/12/2025
The Best Coldplay Songs: 21 Tracks That Shoot for the Stars From Yellow to Viva La Vida, Fix You to Paradise, this playlist goes back to the start.
December ...
05/12/2025
Zafris Lecture Series Brings Nabil Ayers to Berklee The 32nd annual James G. Zafris Distinguished Lecture series was held on Thursday, November 13, with guest...
05/12/2025
Introducing New Perks to Help You Get Even More from LinkedIn Premium Published on Dec 5, 2025 Categories: Company News, Product News
LinkedIn Corporate Co...
05/12/2025
Friday 5 December 2025
A new Game of Thrones Tale: Official trailer for Sky Exc...
05/12/2025
Back to All News
Don Lee, Lee Jin-uk, and Lalisa Manobal to Star in Netflix Act...
05/12/2025
Tis the season of giving once again and this year we've taken our Give Back Fridays' concept and turned it on its head.
In the autumn we were approach...
05/12/2025
Brayden Gogis doesn't remember a time when he wasn't completely fixated on games in all forms. In preschool, when they asked us to dress up as what we ...
05/12/2025
The Grinch steals the spotlight as the theme for The Late Late Toy Show 2025
Tune in tonight at 9:35pm on RT One and worldwide on RT Player
#LateLateToyShow...
05/12/2025
RT Announces New Presenters of Flagship News Programmes
New RT Six One News co-presenter Tommy Meskill
Sarah McInerney & Justin McCarthy join Morning Ir...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir Blackmagic Design HyperDeck Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & ...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir AJA Ki Pro Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & just:in linux
More Details:Starting with version 5.5, both just:in mac pro and just:in linux sol...
04/12/2025
Wangu Kanuri from Kenya and Godwin Asediba from Ghana are two of this years finalists for Thomsons Young Journalist of the Year Award. The pair are runners-up i...
04/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: ProximaVision's Claudio Lisman on Why Tethered Drones Could Be...
04/12/2025
SVG Campus Shot Callers: Imry Halevi, Senior Associate Director of Athletics, Co...
04/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: LiveU Lightweight Sports Production: A Step Change in Spor...
04/12/2025
London to Riyadh: DAZN brings the boxing glamour to new production levels for Be...
04/12/2025
Analysis: Paramount bets on the battering ram' with Champions League play By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Tuesday, December 2, 2025 - 10:12
Print ...
04/12/2025
Space City Home Network Launches SCHN DTC App for Astros and RocketsThe Rockets and Astros were previously the lone NBA and MLB teams without a DTC appBy Jason...
04/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Content Workflows Workshop Spotlights Evolution of Spor...
04/12/2025
New Sponsor Spotlight: Geotech's Patrick Wambold On the Unreal Engine Revolu...
04/12/2025
Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nationally and RegionallyBy Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Thursday, December 4, 2025 - 1:52 pm
Print This Sto...
04/12/2025
(L-R) Rebecca Lichtenfeld, Mohammadreza Eyni, Sara Khaki, and Judith Helfand att...
04/12/2025
SBS launches Future Frames initiative to support emerging First Nations video ed...
Ever wonder why inserting a particular plug-in makes the latency go through the roof? Which tracks you should transform because they require a lot of CPU power, and which ones aren't a problem? The Performance Monitor, accessed via View > Performance Monitor, reveals all
