Hi Christian,

Thanks for your reply.

I believe RME is just about to release a PCI-Express version of the Madi Cards.
It's supposed to ship within a month.

As I said, I'm talking about a system that I probably won't build before 6 months or so.

I realize there's going to be some issues at the start and I'm not expecting everybody to release drivers or software versions right away. I assume it will probably take 1 year or 2.

That's why I'm talking about a system for the future.

My point/question is that it might actually be better to build a system thinking about what's coming up.

The system will already work as of now with limitations but will be ready when each company will release the necessary updates.

As I said, I'm already happy with what I have and that doesn't prevent me from working but if I'm going to update my system, I'd rather see a lit bit ahead of time even if it costs a little more money.

I'm not changing my setup every day. I consider it as a 5 year investement.

That's why I've been posting this thread.

I'm still thinking about the whole thing and I'm not saying I'm right.
I just put everything on table to get as much feedback as I can to see if that seems feasible and reasonable with the knowledge I have.

This is a personal choice of course but at the same time, I'm open to any suggestions and critics about it.

I just want to make a smart investment [:)]

Vincent

thanks for the heads-up regarding RME and PCI express - i've been already wondering why it is so quiet at RME regarding this *new* connector ...

5 years ... hmm, looking back the past 2 or 3 years and reflecting how we can currently use (resp. no longer use) 3 year old machines i'd consider 3 years as a maximum age for computers used as (high end) sound devices ... of course i can still get *something* out of the machines which are now 5 years old, but i would not like to use them for daily work today.

i'm saying this as someone usually changing office computers not before 5-6 years in the past, but currently i doubt my 2 years old *working horse* will survive the next year at it's current purpose ...
christian

Ciao Vinco,
Thinking now "about a system that I probably won't build before 6 months or so" it's a bit too early.

Voices say we won't have 64 bit before next march.
So I think for you it could be better to buy some gigas of RAM and keeping your 2 computers for another year.
Ciao
Sergino

@cm said:

thanks for the heads-up regarding RME and PCI express - i've been already wondering why it is so quiet at RME regarding this *new* connector ...

5 years ... hmm, looking back the past 2 or 3 years and reflecting how we can currently use (resp. no longer use) 3 year old machines i'd consider 3 years as a maximum age for computers used as (high end) sound devices ... of course i can still get *something* out of the machines which are now 5 years old, but i would not like to use them for daily work today.

i'm saying this as someone usually changing office computers not before 5-6 years in the past, but currently i doubt my 2 years old *working horse* will survive the next year at it's current purpose ...
christian

Is it me or is the software (OS) running somewhat behind the current hardware. My main computer (G5 Dual 2.5/6.5MB RAM) is currently waiting imminent replacement but reading the forum the performance that others are getting with an 8 core MacPro doesn't seem too advance from where I am at the moment.

For good, quick and efficient transferable workflows I do prefer to try and keep the main production environment within a single computer. I am often resorting to some work rounds but I can get a reliable Logic Song structure that is using 25 Vienna Instruments as AU plug-ins and from what I read this isn't so far away from the current 8 cores.

Now the raw computer data would indicate that the latest fastest MacPro should have a capability nearly 5 times greater than the G5 PPC but currently this isn't demonstrated by practical operation.

I do hope that the new Mac OS system along with parallel 3rd party software development will unlock more of the potential in the current hardware and move the game forward.

Is their a similar "pause for breath" software hardware relatonship existing in PC land or is there a dfferent dynamic there?

Julian

Hi guys,

Thanks again for your comments.

I think you have all very good points and when I think about it, it is true that I changed my computers every 2 years or so and that so many things can change in 6 months.

I guess I'm going to let it nurture in my head for a while and keep doing music meanwhile!

Thanks again,
Vincent

julian, working on PC most of the time all my comments (and your assumption) from above are valid for this platform too, besides i don't see too much difference between a mac and a PC basically, particulary since apple moved to intel processors.

one could have long and abstract discussions about details like GUI, filesystems, thread handling and similar but for both neither twice as much RAM or harddisk capacity or GHz gives the user twice the power.

a significant amount of power is regulary eaten up by (what i call) *featuritis* of OS and apps, a certain amount lost by simple overhead immanent to the (hardware) system itself.

more impact on the performance has the design of a system and it's components. regarding media applications PPC simply suited better than the pentium 3/4/5 and the core duo/core 2 duo beats them both, SCSI performed better than IDE (pATA), sATA and SAS (serial attached SCSI) is more efficient, chipsets based on ICH (integrated controller hub, the successor of crossbars) give you more throughput than the southbridge/northbridge design, ect, ect, ...

remember the move from 16 to 32 bit computers in the mid nineties - a huge leap, besides the addressable RAM we got 32bit grafic (*true color*) and 32bit audio and the transition lasted ... a while.
what will be the advantage of 64 bit aside from addressable RAM? aside from x-ray pictures (fine greyscale) no graphical advantage, we don't expect audio to use 64bit in the near future, quality of video formats is actually decreasing (mpeg compressed and still 32bit), representation of unicode characters will still be 2 byte (16 bit), ect ...

so what should we expect overall: large overhead on every edge of a system because we will need 32bit compatibilty everywhere for a long time and it wouldn't take me wonder if we would see some disappointed faces around the table finally ...
christian

I'm along the same lines cm, but don't forget all we VI users are after are exactly the addressable RAM. [[;)]]

@Vagn Luv said:

I'm along the same lines cm, but don't forget all we VI users are after are exactly the addressable RAM. [[;)]]

And this is why it is so disappointing that there is no 64bit version of the player yet. I mean, XP64 is no spring chicken. [8-)]

DG

i don't want to tell boring stories about 64bit driver installation now, but: which host except sonar comes into your mind?
christian

@cm said:

i don't want to tell boring stories about 64bit driver installation now, but: which host except sonar comes into your mind?
christian

FXT...... [:D]

D

well i've read the lines ... sounds interesting, but is not a 64bit host ... lets see if it limits to 4 (as expected) or 8 GB RAM
christian

Bidule is a 64 bit host.

thanks Stéphane, i've not been up to date here ... btw: when i checked out bidule the last time i've been impressed how intuitively i've been able to understand the GUI (environment)
christian

Christian,

There is another possibility to find all (?) the 64 bit hosts : The KVR database.
Here it is the actual result

HDSPe MADI: http://www.rme-audio.de/en_products_hdsp_madi_e.php

@cm said:

well i've read the lines ... sounds interesting, but is not a 64bit host ... lets see if it limits to 4 (as expected) or 8 GB RAM
christian

64bit version (beta, I think) just released. Now over to you guys..... Oh, and make sure that Syncrosoft has its a*se in gear. [:D]

DG

hmmm, should i have receivved a respective newsletter?
though i can confirm LCC installs and works fine on XP64 i just notice it runs as x32 process ... i'll keep you posted ...
christian

@Another User said:

Ok, now we have prerelease of FXT x64 Server. Tested it with iZotope.
Will wait for other mentioned plug-ins availability in 64-bit, test and release. It is 64-bit server slaving to 32-bit master. Had not built 64-bit host yet.

So, as I said, over to you guys. [8-)]

DG

CM,



"Bidule Is A 64 Bit Host" (thanx stephane)



Time to write that 64 bit version just in time for September release of MAC OS [;)]

no excuses.

SvK[/code]

haha ... let's wait for the release (and possibly the first updates) and drivers, then look how the final code works, then run internal tests and then announce anything ... has been good practice in the past.
christian