How to eliminate slowdowns and crackles in a big template on a 2020 MBP

[BatBoySings]

Hi! Thanks btw to all of you guys for all your hugely helpful advice over the years. It's been a while since I've had to ask a question here, because there's almost always an answer or fix you've already found, so cheers!

Ok: I'm at that stage where my MacBook Pro starts to wheeze and crackle as I add more tracks and effects. I'm trying to extend its life and not buy a new one just yet:

• 2020 MBPro, 64GB RAM/8TB storage
• Catalina 10.15.7, running DP 11.2
• VEP7 (7 different instances for WW, Br, Strs, Rhythm, Drs, Perc, Synth/Choirs), natively/no slave PCs
• 2 Omnisphere, 4 ERA, 4 Battery instances; many Kontakt 5 instances, a few Kontakt 6, no Kontakt 7
• Kontakt preload buffer size is 12kB
• 200+ tracks available (but crackles show up with MIDI data on fewer than 40 tracks)
• Capturing audio onto Samsung Portable T7 SSD using USB-C
• trying to keep RAM consumption low with sample purging and Memory Cleaner 3
• recording with a buffer of 512 (would love 256 or less, but then crackles are even worse)

Crackles, pops and slowdowns appear even when I have a few instances disabled. They show up a lot when my Orange Tree Samples guitars get busy, or when I do nearly anything with Cinematic Studio Strings or Brass. Infinite Brass and Winds are also a bit suspect.

When I first buy a new MBPro I don't have to disable any VEPro instances; but then over time the crackles seems to crop up earlier and earlier in my projects. And that's with no reverbs or effects.

But this MBPro is only 4.5 years old. Surely I should be able to get smoother response if I work smarter and tax it less?

So, which (if any) of the following might best smooth out the recording process and avoid the most clicks?

a) Replacing the USB-C SSD to a Thunderbolt SSD like a SanDisk PRO-G40?
b) Upgrading OS (if so, which is best for smooth recording, Ventura/Sonoma/other?)
c) Upgrading to DP 11.22 or 11.3
d) other housecleaning apps or tricks (disabling unused VEP instances, changing preload buffer, etc)
d) New MacBookPro (yup, considering it)

Thanks very much!

[BatBoySings]

P.S. My audio interface is a UAD Apollo Twin Solo (connecting by Thunderbolt 3, bus-powered). Would a more powerful (or non-bus-powered) interface make MIDI recording and playback smoother? Seems unlikely...

[HCMarkus]

When I first buy a new MBPro I don't have to disable any VEPro instances; but then over time the crackles seems to crop up earlier and earlier in my projects. And that's with no reverbs or effects.

If it's a matter of cruft, might a macOS reinstallation help?

Otherwise, are you talking Intel or Apple Silicon? If it's a 2020 Intel MacBook Pro, you might just need a new computer. I don't know about you, but my template hasn't gotten any smaller over the last 4 years... call it, "Mission Creep."

[BatBoySings]

Otherwise, are you talking Intel or Apple Silicon? If it's a 2020 Intel MacBook Pro, you might just need a new computer. I don't know about you, but my template hasn't gotten any smaller over the last 4 years... call it, "Mission Creep."

Hah! Excellent point, thanks. And yup, it's a 2.4 GHz 8-Core Intel Core i9 chip. so it may be time to get a new MBPro. Then again, I'm still running Catalina. So might this chip run DP 11.2 better if I upgraded to Sonoma, Ventura (or even Sequoia)? Hm...

[HCMarkus]

Then again, I'm still running Catalina. So might this chip run DP 11.2 better if I upgraded to Sonoma, Ventura (or even Sequoia)? Hm...

That is an interesting question, one for which I have no answer. Some Internet research is probably called for.

What I do know is my studio life improved dramatically when I moved to Apple Silicon. Admittedly, my last Intel Mac housed a pair of Xeon X5680's. You might take a look here: https://browser.geekbench.com/mac-benchmarks. Locate your Mac, then compare single- and multi-core scores to get an idea what kind of horsepower increase you would reap by moving to Apple Silicon.