First application of effect is being unnecessarily delayed

[Trebor]

Fires up very quickly for me on W10 CE on first use- but I do have a fast laptop with 256 GB SSD non-spinning disk

On my (admittedly old) machine the CPU usage is way higher for equalizer than any of the other native effects:
just selecting equalizer from the effect-menu, without applying it, causes my fan to kick-in. No other native Audacity effect does that ...

Just selecting Equalization from Effect-menu causes abnormally high CPU, unlike selecting other native effects.gif (1.04 MiB) Viewed 1543 times

[ I don't remember the equalizer on Audacity version 1 having this delay/high-cpu problem ].

[steve]

The Equalization effect is overdue for some TLC. I'm hoping to have time to work on it for Audacity 2.2.2.

[Trebor]

The equalizer on 2-0-6 was much quicker, both in the time taken to appear when selected from the menu & the time taken to apply the equalization effect ...

click on this image to see it in its entirety

2-0-6 equalizer is faster.gif (349.71 KiB) Viewed 1295 times

I still think there's some sort of (accidental) delay loop slowing down the equalization GUI window in the more recent versions of Audacity.
Here's 2-1-2 for comparison ...

[waxcylinder]

Trebor,

I'll try to find some time for timing tests on versions 2.0.6 thru to 2.2.2 RC1

But My initial quick test on 1h 45m of stereo audio looked quite quick to me - but I work with a non-rotating SSD

Peter

[waxcylinder]

Curiouser and curiouser - I get puzzlingly conflicting results

Testing with a one hour stereo project

1) Working with the non-spinning SSD - 2.0.6 EQ is 50% slower than 2.1.3 thru 2.2.0

All those later versions take a consistent 12 seconds to process the EQ - whereas 2.0.6 takes a consistent 18 seconds


2) But working with the projects saved to the spinning HD the later versions take more than twice as long to process the EQ

2.0.6 - 22 secs
2.1.3 - 44 secs
2.2.0 - 50 secs
2.2.1 - 50 secs
2.2.2 - 48 secs





And in all cases no appreciable time to pop the EQ dialog up

Peter.

[Trebor]

I'll try to find some time for timing tests on versions 2.0.6 thru to 2.2.2 RC1
But My initial quick test on 1h 45m of stereo audio looked quite quick to me ...

Rather than the equalization itself, it's the equalizer GUI which takes too long to appear once selected from the menu, and is delayed to act after "OK" is pressed.

Repeating the equalization via "Ctrl"+"R", i.e. without the GUI appearing, is much quicker.

[My specifications : Windows Vista 32bit OS, on 64bit hardware, spinning hard drive].

[steve]

it's the equalizer GUI which takes too long to appear once selected from the menu,

I don't see that on Linux with Audacity 2.3.1 alpha.

[steve]

it's the equalizer GUI which takes too long to appear once selected from the menu,

I do find that some GUI effects are sometimes slow to open on Windows 10, but this is not specific to the Equalization effect.

When testing 5 minutes ago with Audacity 2.3.0, Equalization opened in about half a second, but PaulStretch tool close to 3 seconds to open.

I then tested with Audacity 2.2.2, and both Equalization and PaulStretch opened withing half a second.

I then retested with Audacity 2.3.0, and both Equalization and PaulStretch opened within half a second.

Perhaps Windows was busy doing something in the background when I tested first time (?)

Opening effects on Windows (Audacity 2.2.2 and 2.3.0 and 2.3.1) definitely feels sluggish compared to Xubuntu, but perhaps that is just Windows. I don't see any repeatable regression in this respect.


Update: Testing with Audacity 2.1.3, I sometimes see GUI effects taking a couple of seconds to open. This is not reliably repeatable - sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn't, as is the case with later versions of Audacity.

[steve]

Opening effects on Windows (Audacity 2.2.2 and 2.3.0 and 2.3.1) definitely feels sluggish compared to Xubuntu, but perhaps that is just Windows. I don't see any repeatable regression in this respect.


Update: Testing with Audacity 2.1.3, I sometimes see GUI effects taking a couple of seconds to open. This is not reliably repeatable - sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn't, as is the case with later versions of Audacity.

The problem that I'm experiencing appears to be due to the windows "animations".

Unfortunately, Microsoft have hidden these settings in recent Windows 10, but they are still available this way:

1. In the Windows 10 search box type sysdm.cpl and press Enter.
2. Click on the "Advanced" tab, then click the "Performance > Settings" button.
3. Disable the first three "Animation" settings.
4. Click the "OK" buttons to close the windows.

Audacity GUI effects are now reliably opening quickly (works for me).

[Trebor]

The problem that I'm experiencing appears to be due to the windows "animations".
Unfortunately, Microsoft have hidden these settings in recent Windows 10, but they are still available this way:

1. In the Windows 10 search box type sysdm.cpl and press Enter.
2. Click on the "Advanced" tab, then click the "Performance > Settings" button.
3. Disable the first three "Animation" settings.
4. Click the "OK" buttons to close the windows.

Audacity GUI effects are now reliably opening quickly (works for me).

Even turning all of those off, i.e. "adjust for best performance",
makes no obvious improvement for me on Vista + Audacity 2.3.0 :
still a consistent 2-3 second delay before the Equalizer GUI appears,
and a similar delay before Equalization is previewed or first applied,
(repeat applications of equalization via Ctrl+R are not delayed).

[ I turned-off the eye-candy aero glass years ago to maximize performance ]