Although Ardour has always used multiple processors, until release 3.0 it has only ever used a single processor to run the DSP of all tracks and busses. Starting with this release, Ardour will utilize any number of processors to process track/bus DSP. The number used is configurable via the following preferences setting:
This example was taken from a machine with 5 processors - Ardour will discover the number of processors on the machine for itself. The default setting is “All but one processor”, thus leaving adequate CPU power available for the GUI, MIDI I/O and disk operations. Huge thanks are owed to Torben Hohn for his implementation of the core of this functionality.