My view is: if everything works fine without predictive loading, do not use predictive loading.
If I am doing a gig that requires faster set up, I create a gig file from the set list (but my set lists include all the songs the band does listed the end of the “real” set list, so I am safe if we go beyond the setlist).
, have you seen the price of a MacBook Pro with more? Not everyone has bags of disposable income.
I got more than I had because it will, and does help. Ive been gigging with 16GB without issues, as long as ive used Predictive loading.
This is not the question though, im asking if Predictive loading is working correctly under my circumstances. Not here to discus my finances lol.
At gigs, where its all start to finish (mostly) Predictive Loading is perfect. I too have a few extras on the list, but it seems they might still need to be loaded in and are not always loaded and ready to go. it’s not really a problem though.
Im just trying got get my head around how this works, rather than depend on it. At rehearsals we do jump around and I’ll load everything up at the start. Ive not noticed the Swap file issue that it had with my old Mac so far, and for rehearsals and at home its not a problem even if it was there, so I may well stop using predictive loading, but id still like to know how it works properly.
This is what I dont understand, and here to be educated.
I cant understand why rackspaces, or songs are still loading once I get to the Set list window. Id have assumed they were loaded, at least the first song.
Maybe my understanding is not quite right.
Oh, I know—that’s why I’m using 2 NUC Windows based machines with 32 GB of RAM each , which is still less expensive(by quite a bit) than that M4 Macbook Pro! 
Back to your question though:
When you’re in Panels(rackspace) view, Predictive loading logic is oriented around those rackspaces. (e.g If you select Rackspace 5 with a Predictive loading value of 3, then Rackspaces 4,5, and 6 are loaded.)
However, when you switch to Setlist view the logic changes to orient around the songs instead–which in most cases would not be the same logic as in Panels view. (e.g. with a Predictive loading value of 3, songs 1,2,3 and might be utilizing Rackspace 2, 7 and 12. Hence the wait while those other rackspaces load after you switch views.)
If you simply start in Setlist view and stay there, there won’t be any change of logic and you won’t have to wait.
Hopefully that answers your questions.
Yeah, I could have gone for used with my memory etc, but 16GB was enough for most of what I was doing before, and 24GB has made life easier and I don’t really need to use Predictive loading. Im using it really to speed things up but I may just not bother and see how I get on.
I went from the M1 14" MBP to the M4 Air, as you know from the other thread, but then got a good deal on the M4 pro MBP. I know I originally said wanted something a bit lighter, but more power wins out over that as I also do photo/video editing and the M4 Pro is much faster for these, plus I like the idea of no slowing down under load. More ram is not really needed so I didn’t even look at anything more costly (this is over budget as it is).
I understand how Predictive Loading works with Rackspaces, but ive been getting quite a long period before i can make any noise when loading directly in to Setlist mode. It’s like it loads based on the Rackspaces, then moves over to the Song list and starts loading those. I still see ‘Predicting’ across the bottom when ive started to play. If I wait for a bit it all settles down, but I was surprised that it didn’t allow me to play straight away. Midi was going in but no sound was coming out until the first song was loaded and GP had stopped loading other songs.
Top be clear, im booting straight in to Setlist mode, and not going to RS at all.
I think some of what ive just written isn’t clear and correctly worded, but hopefully it can be understood.
Going forward ill turn off PL, I don’t really need it.
Ok, so i over the past few weeks ive been trying to use Predictive loading, as my GP file is taking up 37GB. It’s not a real issue, a few sounds stutter maybe once every now and then when going to a new rackspace, but not the end of the world.
I figure for gigs i could still make use of Predictive loading as everything is in a certain order.
But ive found an issue (which i cant say i noticed up to a few weeks ago) with Halion, which is quite a big one if im not careful.
I start GP in Set list mode, don’t go to Rackspace at all. Doesn’t matter how many RS i have set in predictive loading.
First song uses a few plugins, inc Halion 7. Once GP has loaded, i notice it starts to then load the songs in the set list order. If i play any notes before all the Loading has finished, Halion produces a white noise on certain notes. Not all. This sticks though. i can go to other rack spaces and back, and those notes are still unplayable. Only option is to re start GP and dont touch anything until ‘Loading’ has finished. If i dont use Predictive loading there are no issues.
Obviously the answer is ‘don’t play any notes until “Loading’ has finished’, but this doesn’t seem as smooth as i hoped.
Halion is loading samples, so i guess they aren’t loading correctly.
I wonder if its a similar issue as was reported here:
No, im not using any FM engine, only samples.
It also only happens under the circumstances outlined above. If i dont play any notes before “loading’ has finished it’s fine. Same with if i don’t use Predictive Loading.
Ive tried with different Songs at the top of the list, also with Halion, and the issue can still be reproduced.
It is more likely that halion is loading them asynchronously. So the time to load them is asynchronous.
When predictive loading is turned off, all plugins are loaded in advance (before you can start) and if Halion is loaded early enough, it probably has time to finish sample loading before GP has finished loading all the rackspaces and their plugins.