Experiment 1:
Finale was MIDI source
VE standalone was the playback device
450MB of samples loaded
1 instance of Altiverb instantiated.
Working on a relatively simple file in Finale with limited polyphony, limited CC data and few articulation changes I noted intermittent digital artifacts (clicks and pops) when the VE standalone was the playback object. Activity Monitor reported that VE was consuming 70-75% of CPU during playback.
Experiment 2:
Played back the same file
Finale was MIDI source
Logic 8 was set up to act as Finale's playback object- - with exactly the same set of VI matrices (450MB) loaded.
1 instance of Altiverb was instantiated
No digital artifacts during playback.
Activity monitor reported that Logic 8 was consuming 20-25% CPU during playback.
Conclusion:
It is well known that Finale is a CPU hog, consuming 90-105% of CPU to play back anything on a dual 2.5GHz G5.
Using it in combination with VE which, according to Activity Monitor is consuming at least three times the CPU power as does Logic 8 - - at least on a G5 PPC - - under the same conditions, will likely result in digital artifacts during playback. For this reason, Logic 8 is preferable to VE as a VI host when used in conjunction with Finale on a G5.
Question:
Is the OSX Intel version of VE more efficient than the PPC version? If anyone has an Intel Mac and uses Finale 2008 in combination with VE, it would be most helpful (if you have the time) to note (and post here) Activity Monitor readings for both applications during playback.
Thanks.