Stephen :

VSL did not re-sample there whole lib, it is years of work !!!

I remember VSL saying many years ago that it was a ... to use instruments recorded with reverb.

Synchron instruments are using the samples of the VI lib !*

The advantage to use MIR PRO 3D is that the load is spread into two processes.

One for Logic and another one for MIR PRO

Logic is ending the wraw sound to MIR that calculates the tails.

This explain why I do not go over 25 % on big tuty on 100 tracks

I move from an Intel Macbook Pro to the M3 for Dolby Atmos

Macker :

From what I learn you need to use low buffer size when you record fast parts

I have record a singer at 1024, no problem

May be I am wrong !

* VSL can give more details of newly record libs

@Macker said:

The read speeds you quote for your internal and external SSDs look respectably substantial - especially compared to the low figures I was making do with about 5 years ago (locally-hosted VEP on my 2017 iMac 7700k)! I doubt if there's much that can be done to improve your SSD read speeds significantly.

But there is one parameter that sticks out like a sore thumb - your I/O buffer size setting of 128! That's pushing your machinery hard in this kind of work!

Guys! So check THIS out though!

64 buffer, Synchron Pianos (Fazoli F308), with FOUR mic positions, no VEPro, MAX (1024!!) voices per mic allocation... LIVE. 🔥🔥🔥

This was in no way possible on the Intel Mac. Very, very excited about this. It means that when mixing with 1024 buffer in Logic Pro, Synchron pianos will never come close to peaking the CPU. 🤠

IMPORTANT NOTE: My (sloppy) quick rendition of the Chopin Polonaise audio was captured through the mono audio interface microphone because I couldn't figure out how to live screen record audio, plus video, and also hear the live playback all at the same time. Still, zero pops/clicks. 🤌🏻

Other details:

Logic Audio Settings:

I/O Buffer Size: 62

Processing Threads: Automatic

Process Buffer Range: Medium

Synchron Pianos Settings:

Preload Size: 4096

Speed 64k: 576.5 MB/s (Samples streaming from Sandisk Pro-G40 4TB)

Streaming Threads: 4

Loading Threads: 4

@Cyril-Blanc said:
Synchron instruments are using the samples of the VI lib !*

No, they are not. Synchron libraries are all new recordings done in Synchron Stage Vienna.

SYNCHRON-ized libraries in comparison are re-worked VI libraries with improvements, adjustments and sometimes even additional content for the new Synchron Player.

Playing with Synchron Pianos on M3 max MBP more...

Yeah, so even when I bring the Logic buffer down to 32 (!!!), and reduce the voice-per-mic to ~100, and use 3 mic positions, Synchron Pianos loaded directly in Logic are not peaking the CPU. That's more than enough to sculpt a sound as you are performing, then increase the voices-per-mic number and/or add mic positions once your MIDI performance is in. Very cool. This is great. Excellent work VSL!

Stephen, so pleased you've got that great result playing your VSL Fazoli live with 64 buffer (your excitement and joy came through wonderfully in your quick and enjoyable live rendition of the Polonaise!).

When I was talking about buffer sizes of 128 and 256 it was of course in the context of full orchestral renditions with Synchron Libraries. Nevertheless it's good to know how very powerful a single one of your M3 cores is when tackling live playing. Super result!

I'm very optimistic that you'll be able to configure a fully versatile orchestral template that won't need slaves. Hope you'll keep us posted.

You just need to enable "record" on a second track that is configured for your second mic

When I record my drums I have 12 mics

@stephen-limbaugh said:

IMPORTANT NOTE: My (sloppy) quick rendition of the Chopin Polonaise audio was captured through the mono audio interface microphone because I couldn't figure out how to live screen record audio,

Hi Stephen, there is a huge difference when you use VEP Pro with all your VSL and eventual,other libraries loaded on the same MBP and rather then loading all Synchron and other instruments directly in your DAW or scoring software.

I tested using a Le Sacre du Printemps, the first part, score in Dorico. It is availbe for download on the Scring Notes site. It really has a lot of instruments playing atbthr same time with many changes of articulations and changing fast rythms. With my 64GB M1 Max and all instruments directly loaded it pops and clicks in the busiest parts and randomply even stops playback at some points. On the other hand with all instruments in a VEP Pro template (with 19:instances with upto 16 instruments per instance, 16 instances active for this piece) the whole piece plays without issues.

With your double amount of unified memory it should even be better.

I do have most VSL libraries diredtly on my MBP (taking 3.5 GB) but I do not think that SSD random speed is an issue.

I'm having a laugh at several items of 'helpful advice' and 'pearls of wisdom' dished out above by someone, while I'm also wondering why a particular few of these all-too-busy 'advice-givers' here seem to have a couldn't-care-less attitude about the quality of their own knowledge and expertise just so long as they say something ... anything. Perhaps it's more about getting attention than giving actually relevant, sound and helpful advice?

• "Fragmentation of the disk contents might be causing a problem here". [Paraphrased.]

Erm ... lol. One does NOT defragment SSDs.

An SSD's stored data is constantly and very deliberately being 'fragmented' by the device controller's wear-levelling algorithms in order to spread around as evenly as possible the wearing down of each memory location's lifespan caused by write operations. This is why it's often recommended to avoid filling an SSD beyond about 80% or 90% or so, to leave enough wiggle-room for the wear-levelling process to do its essential pro-'fragmentation' work. SSDs with S.M.A.R.T. health monitoring and reporting facilities will flag up a caution if the "Available Spare" amount drops below a certain threshold.

(Check out the DriveDx app if you want to keep a eye on the health of your SSDs and spinning-platter disk drives - given that they have S.M.A.R.T. support).

• "Recording a singer while your I/O Buffer is set at 1024 samples is not problematic." [Paraphrased]

Sure, just so long as you don't give a damn about providing the singer with low-latency headphone monitoring which often would include some reverb and perhaps a few other tweaks personalised for the singer's cue mix. Or, of course you could set up a cue mix on a separate little analogue monitoring mixer - in which case your DAW's Buffer size would be pretty much irrelevant, but then why mention it?

So here's the point: perhaps it would actually be problematic if the singer - owing to an awful experience with terrible cue-monitoring via a horribly sluggish DAW - would never want to set foot in your studio ever again. Oh but then again, I was forgetting – that wouldn't be seen as problematic by a would-be recordist who has no empathy, would it now?

• "You need to record fast stuff with a small I/O Buffer size." [Paraphrased]

No s**t? Gosh!

Spoiler alert:- what's probably the first thing youngsters do when they first get their hands on a DAW and a MIDI keyboard? Yep, hook up a software instrument and try to play it live. Then what's likely the next thing that concerns them? Trying to get it to feel more like a live instrument. Somehow, I doubt if many if any at all in this hallowed forum are still at that stage. Perhaps this particular 'advice-giver' would do better posting such 'wisdom' in a junior school forum.

• "VSL re-uses some VI samples in their Synchron libraries" [Paraphrased]

Well that's been dealt with above in no uncertain terms, so I needn't go there except to say, what a bloody cheek to lie like that! Here!

Ok dear readers, there's plenty of other wonderful examples from our resident 'founts of wisdom', but you get the gist so I'll leave my little critique at that for now.

Fragmentation happened with spinning hard-drives, but is no longer relevant for SSDs (solid state drive).
SSDs don't fragment, and they can't be defragmented. In fact using old software to defragment can degrade or even damage your SSD.

SSDs are not accessed mechanical but instead have random access to all storage cells.

Instead SSDs need regular TRIM to free up cells with deleted content so they can be re-used.
This is something your OS handles automatically, no need to manually interfere with it.

@Helmholtz & @Cyril Blanc Would you please moderate your tone again a little, thank you. Knowledge is power, but a bit of kindness can also go a long way. 😉

Yes, those tests were PRE iLok.

Oh ****! Then I surmise that what we're seeing and actually measuring now shows the penalty of the damnable PACE realtime streaming decryption. But that's a can of worms I'm going to try to ignore for now.

Looking at the new Macs, what I want - if I can justify the price - is a really substantial total horsepower hike above the 8 virtual cores of my old but still very capable i7 Kaby Lake 7700K 4.2 GHz (boost 4.5 GHz) CPU. Problem is, without going for the "Ultra" double-chip which costs an arm and a leg, I'm not seeing a whole lot of attractive options. Two steps forward, one step back.

What I'm wondering now - if I go for a Max Mac (Mini or Studio) - is whether I can face returning to the days of having to print tracks to audio whenever I run out of CPU horsepower. Also, I'm already thinking ahead to perhaps designating each of Synchron Player's audio channels as Essential or Extra, and providing a way of switching on or off the Extra in any one or multiple Synchron Players in my template. I don't fancy that but might have to do it, if I'm to be a happy consumer of all that rich and lovely Synchron Stage sound.

Or .... maybe I'll break my own rule and consider using a slave - even a PC slave.

[Edit]

Well I'm now settled into my computing equipment 'bunker'.

With merely the addition of a couple of new and fast SSDs that can max-out both of my Thunderbolt 3 ports as well as provide substantial random-access read speed, I'm now prepared to bide my time for a while. Maybe it'll be a long while.

I can't go beyond macOS Ventura on this machine because Apple, in their cultish way, try to ... erm ... 'dissuade' users from thinking of Macs more than 5 years old as anything other than obsolete. "Obsolete" used to mean "falling into disuse" in a natural way. Nowadays however, we see more and more examples of products being pushed into disuse by their parent corporations.

Hence my current stubborn bunker attitide, carrying on regardless with my dear old iMac.

As a minimum requirement for a new computer I want many more CPU cores - at least 16, as Stephen now has in his superb new M3 Max MBP. Maybe in this or the next Autumn, Apple will release a Mac Mini or Studio with a 16 core plus 128 GB Ram M3-Max option, or perhaps drop the price of the Ultra 24 core option. In my book, currently the options for Mac Mini and Mac Studio are just nasty.

Don't get me started on that ridiculous toy that now masquerades under the once-proud name of iMac.

Also, Intel's recently announced Thunderbolt 5 would be a very useful new feature in all Macs, most especially for us sample-library users. But who knows how long before that will happen - given that Intel and Apple aren't exactly best friends now.

And anything less than a 27" Retina screen is simply not a choice I'd make willingly.

Hey ho, on we go.