Building instruments
Performance and track freeze
Reduce live processing with track freeze and read the audio measurements shown while testing a custom device.
A patch with many modules, long effects or several simultaneous voices can take more time to play. Freeze track lets Studio render a track’s instrument and effects in advance, so playback can reuse the result while you continue working with the song.
A custom device’s audio preview also has a DSP meter. DSP means digital signal processing: the calculations used to make and shape audio. The meter helps distinguish processing pressure from a quiet or disconnected patch.
Freeze a track
Right-click a track header, an arrangement clip or the device area and choose Freeze track. Studio renders the whole instrument and effect chain at 48 kHz, including the arrangement and release tail. Watch the Studio status for Rendering locally…, then Frozen audio is ready in this browser.
The editable source stays in the project. Freeze changes how the track plays; it does not replace its notes and devices with an imported audio file. The mixer remains live. Audio export renders the full source rather than depending on the frozen cache.
After freezing, the menu offers Render freeze again and Unfreeze track. Use Render freeze again after changing the sound or arrangement. Unfreeze track removes the frozen reference and returns to the live chain.
Live clip launching uses the live instrument. Freeze covers the arrangement; it does not turn every newly launched clip into pre-rendered audio.
When freeze cannot be used
If the sound changes or the local cache is unavailable, playback rebuilds the freeze when it can and uses the live chain if needed.
If you edit the track while it is rendering, Studio can report The track changed during rendering. Render it again. Render once more after finishing the edit. Other failures appear in the Studio status. The source project remains available for live playback.
A frozen stereo cache entry has a 64 MiB limit. A long track can exceed it. Shortening the source arrangement can help; the menu action itself always targets the full arrangement.
Browser storage can be cleared or unavailable. A frozen cache is a playback aid, not a replacement for saving the project. Keep your project through Projects.
Read the preview DSP meter
Open a compiled device interface, then choose Test audio. The preview shows its active voice count and a DSP pill. Open the pill for DSP performance.
| Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Average DSP | Approximate recent processing load. A low value can display as < 3%. |
| Precision | The timing method; coarse timing is labelled Measured with a 1 ms clock, ±3 points. |
| Slowest block | The longest observed audio block time, with coarse measurements labelled in 1 ms steps. |
| Audio status | Keeping up, Falling behind, a recent glitch count, or Unavailable. |
| Block deadline | How long the browser has to produce one block of audio. |
| Voices | Active voices reported by the audio engine. |
| Active operations | Work in the prepared patch. |
| Last compile | Time spent checking and preparing the patch definition. |
| Visual refresh | The preview’s display refresh rate. |
| Arena + buffers (estimate) | An estimate of allocated audio memory, rather than total browser memory. |
Unavailable means the measurement is missing, not zero. A disconnected meter says Waiting for the audio engine. A browser without usable block timing says Block timing is unavailable in this browser. Audio time does not measure DSP cost.
When the browser supplies a glitch count, Glitch count source identifies it as Reported by the browser. Load when behind can show an estimated multiple of real time when playback falls substantially behind.
Under Audio safety, Non-finite samples counts unusable numerical output, and State resets counts processing states that had to recover. Reset modules identifies affected modules when available. These are fault indicators, separate from normal musical clipping or a chosen distortion effect.
Compare before changing the sound
Sustained pressure can show Ways to reduce audio load, suggesting a freeze, fewer simultaneous voices or a cheaper stretch mode. These are suggestions. Nothing changes automatically, and a global measurement does not measure the cost of each named track.
Reducing polyphony can cut off notes or change a chord. Changing a stretch mode can change texture and timing. Save your work, compare the result, and keep the change only if it suits the song.
The preview meter does not provide a general Studio quality selector. Performance profile in Compile Device belongs to that device definition. Render quality is used for offline work such as exports and freezes.
Measure offline in the compile report tests render speed separately. A fast offline measurement does not prove that live playback is glitch-free, and a low display refresh rate does not by itself mean the audio is dropping out.