Handbrake a lot slower (or faster?) after MacOS Monterey reinstall on M1 Mac Mini

[quintana]

So I had to reinstall MacOS Monterey. After the reinstall Handbrake is much slower (or faster?).

Why I can't say if it's slower or faster is simple: I don't know if I used the "slow" or "slower" setting for encoding x265 videos before the MacOS reinstall.

When I use the "slow" setting now the encoding is three times as fast as before (which I find hard to believe) but if I use "slower" it is only half as fast as before which I would find very annoying and unexpected.

I am 99,9% sure that my other settings are exactly as before the reinstall. Unfortunately I didn't backup the settings (I rarely have to reinstall so I am often overlooking some things) so I can't be 100% certain. Where I am 100% certain is the x265 setting without videotoolbox and constant quality with RF 21 setting for 1080p encodings.

I tested it with the exact same source material (x264 file, 1080p resolution, about 21 minutes long) after I got the first speed results I was wondering about and still I get these big performance differences (around 30 minutes encoding in "slow" setting, around 3 hours in "slower" setting while it used to be around 1,5 hours before the MacOS reinstall - can't tell if I used "slow" or "slower" setting).

Since I first used handbrake at the end of November 2021 I am pretty sure that I am using the same version (1.4.2) now as I was using before the MacOS reinstall. Also the CPU usage on my M1 Mac Mini is the same as before (mostly a bit over 700% while 800% would be the maximum with the 8 core CPU).

Is there any setting I might be overlooking that can cause such big differences in performance? All my other applications seem to be as fast as before so I really wonder why Handbrake is so different?

Here is the activity log after the MacOS reinstall: https://filehorst.de/download.php?file=eAsjemez

Unfortunately I do not have any logs from before the reinstall.

[quintana]

I didn't find an option to edit the last posting so just for clarification: The activity log is the result of using the "slow" setting.

[rollin_eng]

Unfortunately without your old logs there is no way to know what has changed.

Do you have a Time Machine copy of your old logs?

[quintana]

I don't use Time Machine because I already store the most important data on a backup drive and in the iCloud but maybe I should think about using it in the future.

Maybe it helps if someone could tell me which other settings could have such a drastic impact on the encoding speed (aside from the RF setting and videotoolbox because I am 100% sure what settings I used here before the MacOS reinstall).

[rollin_eng]

Can you post your activity log here, I can't see it in your link.

[quintana]

Can you post your activity log here, I can't see it in your link.

Sorry it's a German site so maybe there is a little language barrier. So here is the unabridged activity log (just changed the file title to a generic one):

HandBrake Activity Log for Session: 2022-01-06T17:45:51Z
Handbrake Version: 1.4.2 (2021100300)
x.mkv
Preset: 1080p
[18:45:52] Compile-time hardening features are enabled
[18:45:52] hb_init: starting libhb thread
[18:45:52] macgui: fr.handbrake.HandBrakeXPCService scanning specifically for title: 1
[18:45:52] CPU:
[18:45:52] - logical processor count: 8
[18:45:52] hb_scan: path=/Volumes/SSD500GB/Downloads/Filme/x.mkv, title_index=1
udfread ERROR: ECMA 167 Volume Recognition failed
disc.c:333: failed opening UDF image /Volumes/SSD500GB/Downloads/Filme/x.mkv
disc.c:437: error opening file BDMV/index.bdmv
disc.c:437: error opening file BDMV/BACKUP/index.bdmv
bluray.c nav_get_title_list(/Volumes/SSD500GB/Downloads/Filme/x.mkv/) failed
[18:45:52] bd: not a bd - trying as a stream/file instead
libdvdread: DVDOpenFileUDF:UDFFindFile /VIDEO_TS/VIDEO_TS.IFO failed
libdvdnav: vm: vm: failed to read VIDEO_TS.IFO
[18:45:52] dvd: not a dvd - trying as a stream/file instead
Input #0, matroska,webm, from '/Volumes/SSD500GB/Downloads/Filme/x.mkv':
Metadata:
encoder : no_variable_data
creation_time : 1970-01-01T00:00:00.000000Z
Duration: 00:21:11.01, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 8712 kb/s
Stream #0:0(eng): Video: h264 (High), yuv420p(tv, bt709, progressive), 1920x1080 [SAR 1:1 DAR 16:9], 23.98 fps, 23.98 tbr, 1k tbn, 47.95 tbc (default)
Metadata:
BPS-eng : 8453027
DURATION-eng : 00:21:10.978000000
NUMBER_OF_FRAMES-eng: 30473
NUMBER_OF_BYTES-eng: 1342951474
_STATISTICS_WRITING_APP-eng: no_variable_data
_STATISTICS_WRITING_DATE_UTC-eng: 1970-01-01 00:00:00
_STATISTICS_TAGS-eng: BPS DURATION NUMBER_OF_FRAMES NUMBER_OF_BYTES
Stream #0:1(eng): Audio: eac3, 48000 Hz, 5.1(side), fltp, 256 kb/s (default)
Metadata:
BPS-eng : 256000
DURATION-eng : 00:21:11.008000000
NUMBER_OF_FRAMES-eng: 39719
NUMBER_OF_BYTES-eng: 40672256
_STATISTICS_WRITING_APP-eng: no_variable_data
_STATISTICS_WRITING_DATE_UTC-eng: 1970-01-01 00:00:00
_STATISTICS_TAGS-eng: BPS DURATION NUMBER_OF_FRAMES NUMBER_OF_BYTES
Stream #0:2(eng): Subtitle: subrip
Metadata:
title : English (SDH)
BPS-eng : 88
DURATION-eng : 00:21:07.016000000
NUMBER_OF_FRAMES-eng: 427
NUMBER_OF_BYTES-eng: 14049
_STATISTICS_WRITING_APP-eng: no_variable_data
_STATISTICS_WRITING_DATE_UTC-eng: 1970-01-01 00:00:00
_STATISTICS_TAGS-eng: BPS DURATION NUMBER_OF_FRAMES NUMBER_OF_BYTES
Stream #0:3(dan): Subtitle: subrip
Metadata:
title : Danish
BPS-eng : 69
DURATION-eng : 00:21:06.932000000
NUMBER_OF_FRAMES-eng: 256
NUMBER_OF_BYTES-eng: 11028
_STATISTICS_WRITING_APP-eng: no_variable_data
_STATISTICS_WRITING_DATE_UTC-eng: 1970-01-01 00:00:00
_STATISTICS_TAGS-eng: BPS DURATION NUMBER_OF_FRAMES NUMBER_OF_BYTES
Stream #0:4(ger): Subtitle: subrip
Metadata:
title : German
BPS-eng : 90
DURATION-eng : 00:21:05.139000000
NUMBER_OF_FRAMES-eng: 319
NUMBER_OF_BYTES-eng: 14275
_STATISTICS_WRITING_APP-eng: no_variable_data
_STATISTICS_WRITING_DATE_UTC-eng: 1970-01-01 00:00:00
_STATISTICS_TAGS-eng: BPS DURATION NUMBER_OF_FRAMES NUMBER_OF_BYTES
Stream #0:5(spa): Subtitle: subrip
Metadata:
title : Spanish
BPS-eng : 85
DURATION-eng : 00:21:06.473000000
NUMBER_OF_FRAMES-eng: 364
NUMBER_OF_BYTES-eng: 13555
_STATISTICS_WRITING_APP-eng: no_variable_data
_STATISTICS_WRITING_DATE_UTC-eng: 1970-01-01 00:00:00
_STATISTICS_TAGS-eng: BPS DURATION NUMBER_OF_FRAMES NUMBER_OF_BYTES
Stream #0:6(spa): Subtitle: subrip
Metadata:
title : Spanish (Latin American)
BPS-eng : 81
DURATION-eng : 00:21:06.557000000
NUMBER_OF_FRAMES-eng: 316
NUMBER_OF_BYTES-eng: 12978
_STATISTICS_WRITING_APP-eng: no_variable_data
_STATISTICS_WRITING_DATE_UTC-eng: 1970-01-01 00:00:00
_STATISTICS_TAGS-eng: BPS DURATION NUMBER_OF_FRAMES NUMBER_OF_BYTES
Stream #0:7(fre): Subtitle: subrip
Metadata:
title : French
BPS-eng : 85
DURATION-eng : 00:21:06.640000000
NUMBER_OF_FRAMES-eng: 342
NUMBER_OF_BYTES-eng: 13475
_STATISTICS_WRITING_APP-eng: no_variable_data
_STATISTICS_WRITING_DATE_UTC-eng: 1970-01-01 00:00:00
_STATISTICS_TAGS-eng: BPS DURATION NUMBER_OF_FRAMES NUMBER_OF_BYTES
Stream #0:8(fre): Subtitle: subrip
Metadata:
title : French (Canadian)
BPS-eng : 77
DURATION-eng : 00:21:06.557000000
NUMBER_OF_FRAMES-eng: 307
NUMBER_OF_BYTES-eng: 12329
_STATISTICS_WRITING_APP-eng: no_variable_data
_STATISTICS_WRITING_DATE_UTC-eng: 1970-01-01 00:00:00
_STATISTICS_TAGS-eng: BPS DURATION NUMBER_OF_FRAMES NUMBER_OF_BYTES
Stream #0:9(ita): Subtitle: subrip
Metadata:
title : Italian
BPS-eng : 83
DURATION-eng : 00:21:06.556000000
NUMBER_OF_FRAMES-eng: 356
NUMBER_OF_BYTES-eng: 13142
_STATISTICS_WRITING_APP-eng: no_variable_data
_STATISTICS_WRITING_DATE_UTC-eng: 1970-01-01 00:00:00
_STATISTICS_TAGS-eng: BPS DURATION NUMBER_OF_FRAMES NUMBER_OF_BYTES
Stream #0:10(dut): Subtitle: subrip
Metadata:
title : Dutch
BPS-eng : 73
DURATION-eng : 00:21:05.139000000
NUMBER_OF_FRAMES-eng: 279
NUMBER_OF_BYTES-eng: 11648
_STATISTICS_WRITING_APP-eng: no_variable_data
_STATISTICS_WRITING_DATE_UTC-eng: 1970-01-01 00:00:00
_STATISTICS_TAGS-eng: BPS DURATION NUMBER_OF_FRAMES NUMBER_OF_BYTES
Stream #0:11(nor): Subtitle: subrip
Metadata:
title : Norwegian
BPS-eng : 81
DURATION-eng : 00:21:05.556000000
NUMBER_OF_FRAMES-eng: 362
NUMBER_OF_BYTES-eng: 12873
_STATISTICS_WRITING_APP-eng: no_variable_data
_STATISTICS_WRITING_DATE_UTC-eng: 1970-01-01 00:00:00
_STATISTICS_TAGS-eng: BPS DURATION NUMBER_OF_FRAMES NUMBER_OF_BYTES
Stream #0:12(por): Subtitle: subrip
Metadata:
title : Portuguese
BPS-eng : 89
DURATION-eng : 00:21:06.515000000
NUMBER_OF_FRAMES-eng: 362
NUMBER_OF_BYTES-eng: 14240
_STATISTICS_WRITING_APP-eng: no_variable_data
_STATISTICS_WRITING_DATE_UTC-eng: 1970-01-01 00:00:00
_STATISTICS_TAGS-eng: BPS DURATION NUMBER_OF_FRAMES NUMBER_OF_BYTES
Stream #0:13(fin): Subtitle: subrip
Metadata:
title : Finnish
BPS-eng : 62
DURATION-eng : 00:21:05.973000000
NUMBER_OF_FRAMES-eng: 234
NUMBER_OF_BYTES-eng: 9903
_STATISTICS_WRITING_APP-eng: no_variable_data
_STATISTICS_WRITING_DATE_UTC-eng: 1970-01-01 00:00:00
_STATISTICS_TAGS-eng: BPS DURATION NUMBER_OF_FRAMES NUMBER_OF_BYTES
Stream #0:14(swe): Subtitle: subrip
Metadata:
title : Swedish
BPS-eng : 84
DURATION-eng : 00:21:05.556000000
NUMBER_OF_FRAMES-eng: 353
NUMBER_OF_BYTES-eng: 13410
_STATISTICS_WRITING_APP-eng: no_variable_data
_STATISTICS_WRITING_DATE_UTC-eng: 1970-01-01 00:00:00
_STATISTICS_TAGS-eng: BPS DURATION NUMBER_OF_FRAMES NUMBER_OF_BYTES
[18:45:52] scan: decoding previews for title 1
[18:45:52] scan: audio 0x1: eac3, rate=48000Hz, bitrate=256000 English (E-AC3) (5.1 ch) (256 kbps)
[18:45:53] scan: 10 previews, 1920x1080, 23.976 fps, autocrop = 0/0/0/0, aspect 16:9, PAR 1:1, color profile: 1-1-1
[18:45:53] libhb: scan thread found 1 valid title(s)
[18:45:53] macgui: fr.handbrake.HandBrakeXPCService scan done
[18:45:53] macgui: fr.handbrake.HandBrakeXPCService started encoding x.mkv
[18:45:53] macgui: fr.handbrake.HandBrakeXPCService with preset 1080p
[18:45:53] Starting work at: Thu Jan 6 18:45:53 2022

[18:45:53] 1 job(s) to process
[18:45:53] Starting Task: Encoding Pass
[18:45:53] Skipping crop/scale filter
[18:45:53] job configuration:
[18:45:53] * source
[18:45:53] + /Volumes/SSD500GB/Downloads/Filme/x.mkv
[18:45:53] + title 1, chapter(s) 1 to 1
[18:45:53] + container: matroska,webm
[18:45:53] + data rate: 8712 kbps
[18:45:53] * destination
[18:45:53] + /Volumes/SSD500GB/Downloads/Filme/converted/x.mkv
[18:45:53] + container: Matroska (libavformat)
[18:45:53] * video track
[18:45:53] + decoder: h264 8-bit (yuv420p)
[18:45:53] + filter
[18:45:53] + Framerate Shaper (mode=1:rate=27000000/1126125)
[18:45:53] + frame rate: 23.976 fps -> constant 23.976 fps
[18:45:53] + Output geometry
[18:45:53] + storage dimensions: 1920 x 1080
[18:45:53] + pixel aspect ratio: 1 : 1
[18:45:53] + display dimensions: 1920 x 1080
[18:45:53] + encoder: H.265 (libx265)
[18:45:53] + preset: slower
[18:45:53] + profile: main
[18:45:53] + level: 4.0
[18:45:53] + quality: 21.00 (RF)
[18:45:53] + color profile: 1-1-1
[18:45:53] * subtitle track 1, English [UTF-8] (track 0, id 0x2, Text) -> Passthrough
[18:45:53] + name: English (SDH)
[18:45:53] * subtitle track 2, Deutsch [UTF-8] (track 2, id 0x4, Text) -> Passthrough
[18:45:53] + name: German
[18:45:53] * audio track 1
[18:45:53] + decoder: English (E-AC3) (5.1 ch) (256 kbps) (track 1, id 0x1)
[18:45:53] + bitrate: 256 kbps, samplerate: 48000 Hz
[18:45:53] + E-AC3 Passthru
[18:45:53] sync: expecting 30473 video frames
x265 [info]: HEVC encoder version 3.5+1-f0c1022b6
x265 [info]: build info [Mac OS X][clang 13.0.0][32 bit] 8bit+10bit+12bit
x265 [info]: using cpu capabilities: NEON
x265 [warning]: Specifying a decoder level with constant rate factor rate-control requires
x265 [warning]: enabling VBV with vbv-bufsize=30000kb vbv-maxrate=30000kbps. VBV outputs are non-deterministic!
x265 [info]: Main profile, Level-4 (High tier)
x265 [info]: Thread pool created using 8 threads
x265 [info]: Slices : 1
x265 [info]: frame threads / pool features : 3 / wpp(17 rows)
x265 [info]: Coding QT: max CU size, min CU size : 64 / 8
x265 [info]: Residual QT: max TU size, max depth : 32 / 3 inter / 3 intra
x265 [info]: ME / range / subpel / merge : star / 57 / 4 / 4
x265 [info]: Keyframe min / max / scenecut / bias : 24 / 240 / 40 / 5.00
x265 [info]: Lookahead / bframes / badapt : 40 / 8 / 2
x265 [info]: b-pyramid / weightp / weightb : 1 / 1 / 1
x265 [info]: References / ref-limit cu / depth : 5 / off / on
x265 [info]: AQ: mode / str / qg-size / cu-tree : 2 / 1.0 / 32 / 1
x265 [info]: Rate Control / qCompress : CRF-21.0 / 0.60
x265 [info]: VBV/HRD buffer / max-rate / init : 30000 / 30000 / 0.900
x265 [info]: tools: rect amp limit-modes rd=6 psy-rd=2.00 rdoq=2 psy-rdoq=1.00
x265 [info]: tools: rskip mode=1 limit-tu=4 signhide tmvp b-intra
x265 [info]: tools: strong-intra-smoothing deblock sao
[18:45:53] sync: first pts video is 0
[18:45:53] sync: Chapter 1 at frame 1 time 0
[18:45:53] sync: first pts audio 0x1 is 0
[18:45:53] sync: first pts subtitle 0x2 is 262710
[18:46:00] sync: first pts subtitle 0x4 is 420390
[19:51:26] macgui: fr.handbrake.HandBrakeXPCService encode canceled
[19:51:26] work: average encoding speed for job is 2.644390 fps
[19:51:26] vfr: 10377 frames output, 0 dropped and 0 duped for CFR/PFR
[19:51:26] vfr: lost time: 0 (0 frames)
[19:51:26] vfr: gained time: 0 (0 frames) (0 not accounted for)
[19:51:27] eac3-decoder done: 13646 frames, 0 decoder errors
[19:51:27] h264-decoder done: 10443 frames, 0 decoder errors
[19:51:27] sync: got 10398 frames, 30473 expected
[19:51:27] sync: framerate min 23.976 fps, max 23.976 fps, avg 23.976 fps
x265 [info]: frame I: 118, Avg QP:18.92 kb/s: 20664.58
x265 [info]: frame P: 3300, Avg QP:23.00 kb/s: 6466.48
x265 [info]: frame B: 6902, Avg QP:27.73 kb/s: 1435.22
x265 [info]: Weighted P-Frames: Y:1.2% UV:1.0%
x265 [info]: Weighted B-Frames: Y:1.3% UV:0.9%
x265 [info]: consecutive B-frames: 33.1% 12.7% 12.8% 22.4% 9.1% 4.1% 2.1% 2.2% 1.4%

encoded 10320 frames in 3934.82s (2.62 fps), 3263.92 kb/s, Avg QP:26.12
[19:51:28] mux: track 0, 10319 frames, 175649134 bytes, 3240.14 kbps, fifo 2048
[19:51:28] mux: track 1, 13552 frames, 13877248 bytes, 255.99 kbps, fifo 4096
[19:51:28] mux: track 2, 147 frames, 8476 bytes, 0.16 kbps, fifo 32
[19:51:28] mux: track 3, 113 frames, 7536 bytes, 0.14 kbps, fifo 32
[19:51:28] Finished work at: Thu Jan 6 19:51:28 2022

[19:51:28] libhb: work result = 1