How you software guys do it?

[architecture]

I just bought NI Komplete not that long ago, just got it installed yesterday. One of the things I immediately realized is, I dont think I have enough power for all of these plugins to run at once.

These are my Specs

Windows XP SP2
AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ 2.00Ghz
4GB Ram
224GB Primarly HD (83 GB left)
1TB Secondary USB2.0 HD drive
Emu 1820M soundcard
DAW: Ableton Live 6

I noticed most of this just running Reaktor by itself in standalone mode. Thats where I really noticed the Processing lacking.

Or is it pretty universal that Reaktor is just a power intensive program period?

right now I have to have the latency set around 20ms, which is exceptionally high in my books. I just

[krssvr]

your specs look fantastic, are you running vista or xp 64 bit? minimum requirements for the synths to run properly is one gig, it could be the synths but it also might be you DAW :\

(im sure someone that actually has the synths will give you a better answer)

[pr0ded]

i read it depends on how effiecently build the ensemble is, probbly try lowering the sample rate, i heard these ones are really intensive
http://www.recordlabelrecords.org/patche s/autechre%20reaktor/

i just try rendering the sounds to samples
and service configurations to converse ram
http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/servicec fg.htm

i have 4gigs, it recognizes it and my computer never crashes

[architecture]

I know a guy with a brand new 2,000 dollar Mac Book Pro struggling with Reaktor too, so it cant just be me. Not to mention alot of the ensembles are confusing as hell to use, but i'll just have to read the manual on those. Im just miffed that 6 year old ensembles still gets me bogged down.

oh, and my sample rate is at a whopping 44,100 khz, i wouldnt dare go lower than that, espeically on ASIO. it is the lowest setting on my ASIO drivers.

I normally just use my DAW as a recorder for all of my hardware. One of these days I'll get a 24 channel sound card and Mixing console, and mix out of the box and send it all to a reel to reel mastering console, so I can just strictly use hardware and not futz with this software nonsense.

[architecture]

and to the guy about defragging, thats a good idea, after all it was a 60gb install. Probably will even clear out more cobwebs in this computer as well while im at it.

[Darren-M]

well here are some points to note

1. it could be that your audio card just cant deal with it, this can happen like someone said before because you arent being efficient about how you are using the plug ins

2. the sad but true way of getting it all together is by rendering files after you have finished them and just laying them down as audio tracks step by step, i hate this method though because you are allready compressing a bunch of compressed wav files when you export the entire project.

3.try learning about effect sends, they can really be helpful especially if you ant the same effect on a different instrument, but instead of assigning a neweffect plugin you just use one that is like the community effect, creating reverb for each instrument is much more consuming than making one that they all run through. then again i hate dealing with the harmonics that appear in the reverb.....

man i really dont know what to tell you.

im glad i read this stuff about reaktor though

[architecture]

I highly doubt the interface, its a 600 dollar soundcard with pro tool HD converters in it. Its also a PCI card too, so its not an issue of it being an external sound system either, ive had bad experiences with USB interfaces.

I'll keep tweaking the system. I just defragged the HD drive and still clearing out unneeded bloatware.

[Khuskan]

It's mostly done by bouncing, or by turning up audio buffering to give the computer more time to process the audio - the latter sucks if you are using midi interfaces though.

[architecture]

To me that was the benefit of software, being able to tweak things to death in real time before you commit it. I use an Akai MPC2000XL to drive my entire studio, every piece of midi equipment is sequenced with it, even my softsynths.

But then again, the only one I have a problem with is Reaktor, but I think its always been one of those programs that requires bouncing no matter how good your system is.

The lowest I can have my latency is at 10ms, otherwise i get pops in my recordings. Its no fun trying to find and edit thats for sure.

I hate to say it, i even cringe saying it, FL Studio seems to run fine on this computer, maybe I'll look into that. god I cant believe I said that.

[Nav]

At 7/17/09 01:46 PM, Khuskan wrote: It's mostly done by bouncing, or by turning up audio buffering to give the computer more time to process the audio - the latter sucks if you are using midi interfaces though.

Yep. I have basically the same specs as you (same processor, damn 939 socket). The only solution is to turn up the latency.

[architecture]

It looks like I'll be getting a Motu 24 I/O here soon. Which will help immensily with the fidelity of all of my recordings. instead of just 6 channels, i'll have 24 channels of inputs and outputs.

I'll fill that up real quick!

so i take it the Socket 939's is the main culprit in this dilema? If I was to build another PC, what would I go with? This computer is 3 years old and running XP still.

[Nav]

At 7/17/09 03:42 PM, benyue1978 wrote: Go Quad core, or even an i7 system if you can afford it. Get 64 bit man. Multicore processing is where it's at. With Vista 64 bit, you can go up to even 64 Gigs of ram. I've heard it might even be more. Then again, you could just wait till next year and Get a i7 based Windows 7 system. They'll be relatively expensive till the end of the year at least.

He already HAS a 64 bit system. And a multicore system. 64 gigs of ram is somewhat useless.

I do recommend an i7 system, though. The socket is basically the place on your motherboard where the processor attaches to. The 939 is an older one, about 3 years old. It's since been replaced by the AM2+ and soon the AM3 sockets. At least, on the AMD side of things. Nowadays, I'd recommend Intel.

[architecture]

for a while I was just using the stock 1gb of ram that I had for years.

My only worry with Vista is Midi timing. This is a incredibly cruical part to my setup. its bad enoguh right now in XP, that I use an external midi sequencer to drive the entire studio. I would never trust a computer Midi interface newer than 2000.

Or I could really go back and get an Atari ST 1040 with Cubase, put 4mb Ram, and just totally dump the computer, that would in the long run be VERY expensive. Because id have to do all of my fx's via outboard.

This makes me want to go back to DAT recording.

[moose3642]

60 GB installation? wow. I would like that many samples.

The guys at NI are terrible programmers, they don't care about efficiency and, as you may find out, bugs. Here are my specs, so you can see how I "do it":
pentium II processor
2 20 GB HDDs, one with OS, one with project files
three hundred something MB of RAM

That's all enough to run Reason 4. The only problems I run into happen when I go lazy and use Thor, a seven-or-so-oscillator synth, for more than one instrument. That is the only time my processor strains.

[nathanallenpinard]

Anything heavily sample based (VIs) you want about 8gigs of RAM to start.

I use 16GB, and I still almost fill it up.

A quad-core is recommended for samples as well.

If you however use more synth based, RAM isn't as important, but CPU is.

[loansindi]

At 7/18/09 02:37 PM, nathanallenpinard wrote: A quad-core is recommended for samples as well.

People say quad core this, quad core that.

How many DAW's are multi-threaded?

[Rig]

At 7/18/09 03:08 PM, loansindi wrote: How many DAW's are multi-threaded?

Pretty much all of them nowadays.

[joshhunsaker]

At 7/18/09 03:33 PM, Rig wrote:

At 7/18/09 03:08 PM, loansindi wrote: How many DAW's are multi-threaded?

Pretty much all of them nowadays.

It's true. Developers aren't dumb.

[joshhunsaker]

Just to clarify:

Multiprocessor support exists in Cubase (since version 3.1), Nuendo, Sonar, Reaper, FL Studio, Reason, Digital Performer, Ableton Live, Pro Tools, Logic, etc., etc.

So actually every major DAW offers support in that context. From what I understand - Reaper offers the best benchmarked testing.

Often even nicer/newer vst plugins offer their own multi-core subroutines (Tone2 Gladiator and Firebird+ as an example).

[nathanallenpinard]

For mac users, the newest Snow Leopard being released is optimized to squeeze every drop of CPU out of quad cores.

Not to mention they are giving developers the ability to siphon CPU power for normal CPU options from the computers graphics card when using just 2d applications.

So basically when Logic support's it, I could get another 800 or so mhz from my GPU to go to Logic. That is just...awesome.