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  4. VE Pro setup on a mac pro... problems, and where to look for solutions.

  • VE Pro setup on a mac pro... problems, and where to look for solutions.

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    Hi all - am fairly new around these forums, but have read where necessary. I've been over @ nuendo.com and associated forums for a good 10 years... and have a reasonable technical grounding in DAW use.

    Anyway - in the last 2 months, I've taken the plunge and added VEPro to my system. 2 reasons mainly - to access more memory (nuendo is running 32bit on mac) and also to give me the possibility of using slave machines if I need to. I *don't* really want to, but will see. So - I've experimented with all sorts of settings, and can't seem to come up with anything that is working brilliantly, and was hoping other users here might be able to help with what I should be looking out for. I'll let you know how I've got my system set up right now, and then maybe if you want to tell me either settings that are incorrect, or prefs, or even the entire setup...

    I have 16GB ram in this particular system (2008 mac pro 2x4 core, no hyperthreading)OSX 10.6.6, blackmagic intensity for video.

    Nuendo 5.1 1

    VEPro Server 64bit server hosting 2 active instances.

    Instance 1 - Spectrasonics (Omnisphere, Stylus and Trillian). Not a lot going on in here - I have used sessions with 6 instances of omnisphere, and 2 each of trillian and stylus with no issue. I don't think its a spectrasonics problem! (Relief!)

    Instance 2 - Native Instruments. 2xBattery (currently empty) and 4x Kontakt (with only 1.3GB loaded in the kontakt memory server for the moment - it will expand!)

    My buffers are at 512, which is far from acceptable, but thats the way it goes on this machine. (Metric Halo 2882 interface)

    VEPro Server Prefs : Multithreading (4 cores per instance) Audio ports : 16 per instance VST Midi ports : 8 per instance (Im using VST3...)

    It is perhaps the Kontakt prefs that are causing me the most concern (but I could be barking up the wrong tree...) Engine prefs : CPU overload protection : off Multiproc support (AU-plugin) - 8 cores. (IS THIS CORRECT?) Memory : Override Instruments preload size : 240KB. Memory Server is on, and set to Automatic.

    Nuendo has buffer setting for VEPro as 1 buffer. (almost unplayable, given 512 buffers inside nuendo, but hey!) I get audio dropouts in VERY simple sessions (compared to what I have run in the past - but in the past, kontakt use has been minimal inside VEPro. I'm now starting to lean on it a little more.

    The dropouts started when having LESS than 16 instruments open, 8 of those "infinity samples" for a drum set. The dropouts might only be .5 sec, but will occur when just playing back, or even recording a bit of audio (like guitar etc.) This has only started since using Kontakt more in VEPro.

    Drive setup is fine (4xdrives...1 system, 1 (WD 2TB black) for audio, 1 WD 1.5TB black for samples, and a WD Green for backup) I have tried increasing nuendo buffer setting to 1024, and the dropouts still occured. ASIO does not appear to be peaking out. CPU usage is low (<30% in playback) and ram usage is less than 40% in this session. Nuendo prefs are : Buffers 512, Audio priority boost, Disk preload 4 secs, Multi proc turned ON and adjust for record latency turned on.

    Am I missing any variables (there are enough of them!) Any thoughts on where I should go fishing for a solution would be greatly appreciated!

    Cheers, Brendan.
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    Sorry - just working out the intricacies of your forum system (that I love - just had the wrong editor selected for a while there...)

    TAGS! Nice.

    B.
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     Hi Brendan, nice to see you here.

    The first thing is although NI says to turn multi processor support off, I find it works better with it on, so I'd check both as see which is best.

    Second, if you are not using your network ATM, turn it off (including wireless, which is a huge culprit) to make sure that it isn't interfering.

    DG
  • civilization 3C
    civilization 3C

    Definitely lose the multiprocessor support option in Kontakt if it's enabled in Nuendo.

    NB: When I first installed K4, that was ticked either by default or I accidentally had done, and there were problems that vanished at once. I would turn aiport off for local host use of VE Pro as well.
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    I'd also suggest turning off Kontakts memory server. As I understand it, this was Kontakts way of using more available RAM inside a 32bit host. If you run Kontakt in the 64bit VE Pro Server, you should be able to use all available RAM without using the memory server. I've had better luck myself turning it off.
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    @civilization 3 said:

    Definitely lose the multiprocessor support option in Kontakt if it's enabled in Nuendo.

    NB: When I first installed K4, that was ticked either by default or I accidentally had done, and there were problems that vanished at once. I would turn aiport off for local host use of VE Pro as well.

     

    This is very dependent on machine. In one of my studios I have to switch it off, but leave it on in the other one. I think it's just a case of try it and see,

    I would get rid of the memory server though, as I think there is a proper 64bit version of Kontakt for OSX.

    DG
  • civilization 3C
    civilization 3C
    last edited
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    @civilization 3 said:

    Definitely lose the multiprocessor support option in Kontakt if it's enabled in Nuendo.

     

    This is very dependent on machine. In one of my studios I have to switch it off, but leave it on in the other one. I think it's just a case of try it and see,

    DG

    I take your point... The OP's machine I didn't imagine a lot diff than my slave machine but I could be wrong. Just out of curiosity, have you enabled MP support in both Kontakt and Cubase or Nuendo?

    Another +1 for losing the memory server unless you have to use K4 in 32-bit mode. EDIT: to clarify, you can boot in x64 kernel and run Nuendo as a 32-bit app anyway, so you can use VE Pro in x64 effectively.
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     On the machine that is very similar to Brendan's  I have no multiprocessing in Kontakt. On my Nehelem machine I do use multiprocessing in Kontakt.

    Nuendo always have multiprocessing on, and the Nehelem machine has hyperthreading switched on (it would be a waste of money without....!).

    DG
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    Hey all - thanks for the replys.

    I have turned OFF multiproc in kontakt, and left it ON in Nuendo.  I've also shifted everything into a single VEP instance in nuendo, telling it to use 8 cores, and just using loads of midi channels so I can use many instruments inside the single instance.

    This seems to have had a remarkable effect (positive) with my system.

    I'm running a 64bit kernal, nuendo is obviously still running 32bit.  I have kontakt 64bit AU running inside VEP, but still with the memory server on... I'll attempt to turn it off AFTER i render out the current episode I'm working on.

    I want to get further into this - and will in a few days.  Deadlines.  But your advice and discussion has helped me get out of jail at least for today.

    Hopefully this helps others too!

    Cheers, Brendan.