Problem OrbiterSound is killing my frame rate!

[rocketdan85]

When in orbit, the default settings of OrbiterSound attempt to play an MP3 file when in external view. This is the point that I start seeing a significant drop in frame rate (down to ~17 fps). I figured out that I can halt mp3 playback in the Sound Config program, and this eliminates the frame rate issues. Cockpit view, with vehicle sounds enabled, experiences no frame rate drops.

Background:

I was experiencing some frame rate issues with Orbiter 2006, so I switched to the 2009 Beta. This fixed most of the problems, and by installing VistaBoost I was able to attain frame rates of 80-160 fps. I then installed OrbiterSound, and left all the default settings. When I am not in orbit and in external view, my frame rates are consistently high (80+). As soon as I get into orbit, in external view, when the music is supposed to play, i hear no music and my frame rate drops to 18 fps and below.

I am running the upgrade version of Windows 7 home premium (upgraded from Vista), with an intel core 2 duo and 2 gb ram, Nvidia geforce 8800 gts. I can't really tell if this is a Windows 7 problem (drivers), a hardware problem, or an Orbiter 2009 Beta problem, so I was hoping the community would have some suggestions.

I have been using Orbiter off and on since 2006 (after I took my Orbital Mechanics classes in college :thumbup: ), so I know my way around Orbiter. I never managed to get it running properly in Vista, so I had been dual booting into XP to run Orbiter.

What do you guys/gals think? Anything I can try to get music to play when in orbit? I think the music really helps create the mood when you are planning lunar transfers...

 

[Hielor]

It may be related to the fact that having OrbiterSound play music in orbit will hang Orbiter if you're in windowed mode on Vista or Win7--I reported this bug months ago and never heard back from Dan.

FWIW, though, I didn't notice a framerate drop when listening to music in external (well, at least until it dropped to 0 )

 

[Loru]

Well - I don't use Mp3 feature in OrbiterSound.
Instead there is winamp 5.56 playing all the time I fly. Winamp in minimum configuration (old skins, disabled winamp agent etc.) consumes less CPU power and RAM than OrbiterSound module. Framerate is more stable and playing is not interrupted by switching from cockpit to external view.

 

[dansteph]

OrbiterSound don't play himself the mp3, it deffer to window's directX api DirectShow, so the problem might be either in the drivers not enough mature yet or the fact that they abandonned directshow support I don't know.

If someone run it fine on another win7 or vista install it might be the drivers ? I don't know.
For the next version I'll probably disable the mp3 feature depend the situation.

Dan

 

[tl8]

Orbitersound works on Vista and Windows 7, other than that I have never used Orbiter without Orbitersound.

---------- Post added at 09:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:46 PM ----------

Did a quick test, The difference between MP3 playing and not playing for me is 1-2 FPS.

This was at 80-84 FPS, So really not too much difference at my end.

 

[dbeachy1]

My guess is the sound driver is just very inefficient or something. Are you running onboard sound? Onboard AC97 chips are much more CPU-intensive than discrete sound cards, so an inefficient sound driver could certainly impact Orbiter's frame rate, particularly if you are playing an MP3 with a high sampling rate (e.g., 44Khz 16-bit). However, I have run Orbiter on systems using onboard AC97 sound before and never noticed a problem, so perhaps the problem is a screwy sound driver here.

If you are running onboard sound, as a test you could try installing an inexpensive discrete sound card; even a very modest sound card will still have hardware acceleration (unlike AC97), plus it would use a different sound driver.

 

[Hielor]

OrbiterSound don't play himself the mp3, it deffer to window's directX api DirectShow, so the problem might be either in the drivers not enough mature yet or the fact that they abandonned directshow support I don't know.

If someone run it fine on another win7 or vista install it might be the drivers ? I don't know.
For the next version I'll probably disable the mp3 feature depend the situation.

Dan

Dan: http://www.orbiter-forum.com/showthread.php?t=8897