@DG said:
Mike, the three problems with Giga are:
1) You can only access about 1.1GB of your memory.
2) If you tweak Windows in order to get this much it can cause problems for other applications.
3) It can be very touchy about sharing a computer with anything else.
As to whether or not it will all work together with VST instruments all on 1 PC, I'm afraid that the answer is that it should, but no guarantees.
My best advice would be:
1) Crossgrade from Giga, to the VST version (GVI) which works within your host in the same way as Vienna VI (and will allow you to use much more memory), and run any non VSL instruments in this.
2) Buy VI so that you don't have to worry about the Performance Tool
3) Upgrade your RAM to at least 2GB (preferably 4GB).
The reason Nick runs Logic and Giga on two machines is that Giga is PC only and Logic is Mac only. The reason I use 4 machines is that my working template is around 8GB.
DG
Regarding my setup, I have Giga installed on 1 PC, which also runs VIs - this is for legacy samples and I use the same PC for Percussion VIs. Aside from this I have a further 3 PCs which run the various other collections of VIs. Ultimately, I use multiple PCs in the same manner as DG, because of RAM and CPU limitations.
Regarding RAM, Gigastudio can access more than 1.1GB with the /3GB switch - the exact amount depends on configuration (and added to that I can't remember, but I know that I've been using 1.5GB and upwards).
I would agree with DG on his advice regarding VIs; remember that with GS you get a sampling playback engine, which you will need if you ever want to play samples other than VSL! VIs are the most efficient way of playing back Vienna samples, so for most efficient workflow you will want both (unless you chose Kontakt, which I believe is a viable option on the PC).
Regarding your older machine, I'm not sure whether or not it meets the minimum requirements - I'd suggest you send an email to
support@vsl.co.at to check this for sure. If you were to use it, you would probably want to upgrade the RAM, and you'd want to make sure the hard drive has acceptable performance (since sample streaming is a reasonably demanding application). Networking the machines together would be fine - you'd probably want something like MIDI Over LAN, produced by Music Lab, which does what it says on the tin - send MIDI Over a LAN. It's a pretty good product, and I've happily been using it without issue for a while now.
Kind Regards,
Nick.