These detailed, well-thought reponses are of comfort and aid. I'm quite grateful.
"You may be reaching the maximum number of voices your EXS and VI instruments can deliver." Right. I have two patches in particular from SAM Brass (horns and trombones) that are four-layered. At the tipping point, muting just one of those usually gets me past the crescendo.
Curiously, I need to mute three VI winds (flute, oboe, and clarinet) to get past the same sticking point. In other words, three VI tracks seem to be demanding less power than a four-layered EXS instrument. And the topper is, they're legato patches.
By the way, I moved my whole Woodwind I from an external Firewire LaCie to an internal Hitachi. It made no difference.
Jack, your articulate review makes me think we live in parallel universes, from the loathsome organ-like tuttis to the hand-wrenching over a new Mac Mini.
My problem also preceded VI. In fact, VI had no effect, which is great praise considering the tremendous power and realism we gain by it.
"I think the extra two gigs of RAM helps a little but not a lot." That's exactly the conclusion I'm forming. There may be some tangential benefit to 2 more GB, but I feel like our "core" issue remains.
"For the most part I'm organized enough to keep all this in my head but it is difficult to sustain the memory of the original emotional content."
That is precise truth. After all the stat sheets and system requirements, that is one number you will never see.
In the past, I've spent months developing Giga templates to access from Logic, for the express purpose of sidestepping the core overloads. But now, after VI, many of my Giga sounds are unacceptable. Even some of the VSL stuff from First Edition! Add to that the inability to bounce offline once Giga is in the mix, and I happily wash my hands of it -- only to re-inherit the core overloads.
Perhaps a single-computer solution (or seamless network) for a *reasonable* orchestra is just over the river. Maybe Mac Mini's are the bridge.
And if people are reporting outrageous performance from the mini's, imagine the power of the new MacPros (desktop Macs). Macrumors reports today, "...the Mac Pro will be announced at WWDC and shipping in August."
"You may be reaching the maximum number of voices your EXS and VI instruments can deliver." Right. I have two patches in particular from SAM Brass (horns and trombones) that are four-layered. At the tipping point, muting just one of those usually gets me past the crescendo.
Curiously, I need to mute three VI winds (flute, oboe, and clarinet) to get past the same sticking point. In other words, three VI tracks seem to be demanding less power than a four-layered EXS instrument. And the topper is, they're legato patches.
By the way, I moved my whole Woodwind I from an external Firewire LaCie to an internal Hitachi. It made no difference.
Jack, your articulate review makes me think we live in parallel universes, from the loathsome organ-like tuttis to the hand-wrenching over a new Mac Mini.
My problem also preceded VI. In fact, VI had no effect, which is great praise considering the tremendous power and realism we gain by it.
"I think the extra two gigs of RAM helps a little but not a lot." That's exactly the conclusion I'm forming. There may be some tangential benefit to 2 more GB, but I feel like our "core" issue remains.
"For the most part I'm organized enough to keep all this in my head but it is difficult to sustain the memory of the original emotional content."
That is precise truth. After all the stat sheets and system requirements, that is one number you will never see.
In the past, I've spent months developing Giga templates to access from Logic, for the express purpose of sidestepping the core overloads. But now, after VI, many of my Giga sounds are unacceptable. Even some of the VSL stuff from First Edition! Add to that the inability to bounce offline once Giga is in the mix, and I happily wash my hands of it -- only to re-inherit the core overloads.
Perhaps a single-computer solution (or seamless network) for a *reasonable* orchestra is just over the river. Maybe Mac Mini's are the bridge.
And if people are reporting outrageous performance from the mini's, imagine the power of the new MacPros (desktop Macs). Macrumors reports today, "...the Mac Pro will be announced at WWDC and shipping in August."