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  3. Advice for my new slave PC. Perhaps all in one.

  • Advice for my new slave PC. Perhaps all in one.

    L
    L

    Hi everybody! This is my first post, but I've been reading a lot from you until today. Thank you for all :P

    I tell you a bit my issue. I'm struggling to go with between the best processor i7 quad core, or with a LGA 2011 slower i7 but with the possibility to harbor up to 64GB of RAM. I work with Cubase in a master Macbook pro i5 2.4Ghz and 8Gb of RAM and a slave Mac Mini i7 quad core 2.0Ghz with 16Gb of RAM. This gear is becoming a bit annoying to play live directly from VSTis. The delay is getting bigger, producing is a hell when I have to add some extra tracks of audio with plug-ins and the like. I have a basic orchestral setup within VE Pro 5 in the slave computer (Mac Mini), and when I have to load extra VSTi, everything is wastes of time. Don't wanna tell if I'm trying out instrument by instrument to find one that suits perfectly...

    I have problems with the processor in order to be able to play and record easy from VSTi, and latches of RAM to setup a great template. The time of delay to load patches will be reduced with more RAM, I know, and would be a simple solution if I don't have enough money to buy SSD. Although, by owning some of them, I'd be able playing from the disc and release, with this way, a bit of RAM having more room for instruments. Certainly, I'll buy SSD, one each month, little by little.

    So, with a tight budget below 800-1000€ (1000-1250$), I got these two possibilities:

    1.- Better processor, up to 32Gb de RAM only.

    • LGA 1150
    • i7 Quad 4790k, 4.0Ghz- 316€
    • Asrock Fatal1ty H97 Performance - 96€
    • G.skill Ripjawsz Ddr3 1600 Pc3-12800 32gb 4x8gb Cl10 - 282€

    Total: 694€

    2.- Less processor but making sure not to be left without RAM in advance (up to 64GB of RAM).

    • LGA 2011
    • i7 Quad 4820k, 3.7ghz - 289€ 
    • Asrock X79 Extreme6 - 190€
    • G.skill Ripjawsz Ddr3 1600 Pc3-12800 32gb 4x8gb Cl10 - 282€ (I'll buy 32GB more from then on)

    Total: 761€

    I don't write other details down that I would have to analyze such as the amount of bays of SATA III for extra discs that I could need. Then, as I work with Cubase, and this works better under Windows, maybe I would be using the PC as "all in one", and the MacBook (this won't be sold) as a slave one for other libraries of Rock (drums, Trilian) if I will need 16GBs of RAM extra and I go with the option 1. With the option 2, I would use, in the case of more than 32GB, an only PC and I'd save consume.

    Let's see what's better for my pretensions. I don't know how much RAM could be necessary in order to not to be loading instruments constantly. I own everything of EastWest (regarding orchestral staff, version Gold), all of Spectrasonics, all of Steinberg, and some Kontakt libraries and others of drums and synths like Nexus 2.

    Thanks a lot in advance, and excuse me for my english.
  • D
    D

    Sorry, I lost the will to live half way through that post. Please go to your Profile and click Community, Content Editor and Enhanced an then use some paragraphs.

    So, perhaps you could sum up; which VSL products are you having trouble with?

    DG
  • L
    L

    Excuse me! What a chaos!!! Hahaha [:P]

    Well. Regarding VSL instruments, the VE Pro 5 bundle and a trumpet only. I don't use them. I use more the ones I wrote in my original post that I think you didn't get to read due to the chaotic post.
  • D
    D

    OK. That's much better.  [8-|]

    So I'm not really sure that the VSL forum is the correct place to post, if it's not about VSL products. Maybe try something like vi control instead. Or the East Wet forum, as you use a lot of their products. PLAY has very different requirements to VSL stuff, so what works for us almost certainly won't work for EW samples.

    DG
  • L
    L

    Don't know. I recently purchased the VE Pro to use my two machines and I now see the time to buy a slave PC to host the VE Pro. Perhaps I thought this is the right place to take advice. And sincerely, I don't use a lot the EW ones and ended up buying kontakt ones like Cinebrass, Orchestral Essentials and others. The thing got better a bit, but I need more power.

    Thank you [:(]
  • W
    W

     It's been my experience that using an SSD to store samples, and maximizing RAM, are the most helpful for using VSL instruments. 

  • L
    L

    Thank you, William. 

    Then, your advice is to trust more in SSD than processor? RAM is already maximized in the Mac Mini, and in the MacBook just admits 8 more Gb. In regard to RAM, I can't do a lot more. Also, I have to buy a computer right now, perhaps later it would be more difficult for me to purchase one. I'm waiting for a babe [:)]
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    @Lucius said:

    Don't know. I recently purchased the VE Pro to use my two machines and I now see the time to buy a slave PC to host the VE Pro. Perhaps I thought this is the right place to take advice. And sincerely, I don't use a lot the EW ones and ended up buying kontakt ones like Cinebrass, Orchestral Essentials and others. The thing got better a bit, but I need more power.

    Thank you

    The thing is that VE Pro will work pretty well no matter what you have. The real bottleneck is the sample player and product you choose to use, and it also depends on what sort of patches you prefer. Obviously, as William ways, SSD will help with VSL, however, unless you are using Dimension Strings (or Brass, but I don't have that, so I can't be sure), it is not really necessary, but when you use sample that have multiple microphone positions, then SSD becomes very important as in those situations the number of voices you use dramatically increases.

    DG
  • W
    W
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    @Lucius said:

    Thank you, William. 

    Then, your advice is to trust more in SSD than processor? RAM is already maximized in the Mac Mini, and in the MacBook just admits 8 more Gb. In regard to RAM, I can't do a lot more. Also, I have to buy a computer right now, perhaps later it would be more difficult for me to purchase one. I'm waiting for a babe

    If you use an SSD for samples you will be amazed at the improvement.  It is like night and day.  If you buy a computer get one with at least 32 gb RAM.  If you do complex arrangements, multiple cores (or multiple slaves) become more necessary, but the best place to put money in my experience is with SSDs and RAM. 

  • L
    L

    Thank you very much!!!

    But, the delay I suffer is due to my HDDs if all my samples are loaded into RAM?
  • D
    D

    I doubt that you have enough memory to load everything into RAM.

    DG
  • W
    W

    Yes, the samples are streamed from disc or SSD, and only MIR is loaded into RAM.  Since discs are very slow and problematic for his kind of streaming, SSDs will work much faster.
  • D
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    @William said:

    Yes, the samples are streamed from disc or SSD, and only MIR is loaded into RAM.  Since discs are very slow and problematic for his kind of streaming, SSDs will work much faster.

    Bill, I think the OP was thinking that he could utilise the features of PLAY and Kontakt, which allow you to load the whole sample library into RAM and not use DFD at all, but obviously if any of the libraries concerned have a half decent sized set of samples, I don't know of any domestic computer that could have enough RAM to make this viable.


    DG
  • L
    L

    Thanks a lot!!!

    So I'm gonna purchase a slave PC with a 4970k, 16GB Ram 1600 (16, at least for now), and 2 SSD of 500GB (I'll buy a SSD every month up to 4). I'll mostly working streaming from SSD.

    I think this setup will be enough. What do you think about this gear?