How can 2.4 P4/800MHz FSB & 2Gb RAM not be enough for Nuendo?

  • Thread starter Thread starter umair
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umair

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Ok. I must be doing something wrong. Maybe I have my buffers all crazy or something. I'm not an expert at this and it looks like I may have gone astray somewhere as I am getting more into the mixing thing.
This is what I have:
Computer:
Windows XP Professional
2.4Ghz P4 with 800Mhz Front Side Bus
2 Gigs of Ram (DDR 333Mhz!!!)
40 Gb 7200 RPM Hard Drive for programs
80 Gb 7200 Hard Drive for Audio Data
All in all a monster DAW that I built from the ground up using the best parts including intel motherboard (intel chipset too obviously)... with onboard graphics, network card, usb 2.0, etc... no cards needed in any of the PCI slots. Real fast machine. Changed the XP setting to gain better performance.


Software:
Nuendo 1.6

Sound Card is a Nuendo/RME Hammerfall DSP9652

Converters are 2 RME/Nuendo ADI8-Pro's
(This converter/Soundcard combo is suppossed to give me zero CPU load right?)

Plugins I use are Nuendo Standard EQ, Waves Rcompressor, Magento once in a while, and autotune once in awhile. I don't think I go crazy with any of these and I really can't afford to buy anymore. I usually use about 12-16 tracks for a 3 minute song.


Once in a while I will get skipping during playback (when I am trying to mix) and garbled sound. The CPU meter will be all the way to the end. I do not have any other programs runnign by checking the program manager. I am using a licensed copy of Windows XP Professional. What am I doing wrong? Surely my computer should be able to handle this type of mix without a problem right? I mean 2 Gigs of RAM is more than enough for these plugins. I must have configured something wrong. Please help me. I can get by right now by doing what sounds like "destructive plugin" inserts. But I built this computer to be powerful enough to handle twice as much but it's CPU meter goes through the roof when it sees a few measly plugins.

Something sound a bit off....

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
1: get a good video card. it'll help a lot

2: as "lost studios" said. tern of the onboard audio and ANYTHING else that isn't being used.. not usb of couse, you need that for the dongle..

3: skipping during playback.. check you settings on the rme and be sure under nuendo that the asio driver is selected not the full duplex or any of that shit..
if the problem is still there, defrag your HD, or get a fast HD

4: tern off all the effects of xp, and maybe get youself a copy of tweakXP..


i've used Nuendo 1.6 for a while and i use 2.1 everyday...i usually use about 32-48 tracks and my cpu doesn't even get to 60% after the full mix with a lot of waves plugins

Xp pro
xp2500+ overclocked to xp3200
abit nf7-s(i think thats it, i know its nvidia force 2 chipset)
1gig of pc2700 ddr
80gig WD 8mb cache
160gig WD 8mb cache(audio drive)
nvidia fx5200 video card
Delta 1010

2.1 uses way more resources than 1.6 so its just something simple.. i setup 2.1 on a 1.6gig machine and it can handle 30 tracks fiine..
 
I am going to check all of those things... thanks...

What about buffers?
What should those be set on ior should my machine be able to handle pretty much any config I through at it.
I know it must be fairly simple.
I'm going to figure it out...
 
I would call Steinberg tech support. There's no reason why you should be having problems with that setup.
 
Quite unlikely but is there any issue using DDR333 ram with an 800FSB? How come you're not using DDR400 MHz ram? Maybe there are clock synchrnisation issues between your memory and system buses. Maybe try winding back to 533MHz FSB.

You shouldn't be having any problems with that much resource at your disposal
 
uh yeah 333mhz ram is bad bad bad with 800fsb.

who recommended that system to you????? doesn't look like a monster daw to me, no offense.

salesmen are almost all bs. I'm a salesman, and when the boss is near I have no choice but to be bs to sell more. So don't trust the salesmen!! :)

(hint: a monster daw would at least have dual cpu and a raid0 setup.)
 
Shakuan said:
uh yeah 333mhz ram is bad bad bad with 800fsb.

who recommended that system to you????? doesn't look like a monster daw to me, no offense.

salesmen are almost all bs. I'm a salesman, and when the boss is near I have no choice but to be bs to sell more. So don't trust the salesmen!! :)

(hint: a monster daw would at least have dual cpu and a raid0 setup.)
Click to expand...

Sniff, Sniff, I smell bullshit. You don't need dual cpu's and RAID 0 for a monster DAW.

Many apps don't even take advantage of dual CPU's. RAID 0 isn't necessary, just nice to have.
 
Polaris20 said:
Sniff, Sniff, I smell bullshit. You don't need dual cpu's and RAID 0 for a monster DAW.

Many apps don't even take advantage of dual CPU's. RAID 0 isn't necessary, just nice to have.
Click to expand...
I guess that depends on how you define "monster DAW" There's no consortium that has set down the guidelines you need to meet to be considered a "monster DAW":D
 
cominginsecond said:
I guess that depends on how you define "monster DAW" There's no consortium that has set down the guidelines you need to meet to be considered a "monster DAW":D
Click to expand...

I guess. He just made it sound like the guy's computer, at 2.4Ghz, was second rate.
 
something to try

someone told me recently that in xp there is some tweak like give priority to background processing .
or else it might be the memory issues others said.
one idea. are you sure that the people that sold you the system set hard drives up for high speed dma access ? i dont use xp, but i know in windows OS if dma is not checked in device manager your system will be s l o w !
 
I didn't realize the thread was still going...
well here's an update...

I built the computer myself and hand picked all of the components. No salesman tried to pressure me into anything. I never listen to salesmen anyway. I used the recommended intel chipset and processor approve by Steinberg. I set the background services already to be optimized in XP. As far as being a monster daw, maybe not in your eyes but there is no way this computer should ever have a problem. And it is way better than a lot of other computers I've seen in studios (well at least in my area).

WEll anyway back to the problem... I think I know what it is... I narrowed it down to one plugin. I've been recording at 48Khz recently and it looks like I'm having trouble with my autotune plugin. It used to work fine at 44.1Khz but it seems to have problems at 48Khz. I read on the antares sight that they are aware of the problem. No big deal... I didn't hear any difference between recording at 48Khz or 44.1Khz... and I'm starting to not like using autotune on complete tracks so I can get rid of the problem.

Thanks for all of your help anyway.
 
Polaris20 said:
Sniff, Sniff, I smell bullshit. You don't need dual cpu's and RAID 0 for a monster DAW.

Many apps don't even take advantage of dual CPU's. RAID 0 isn't necessary, just nice to have.
Click to expand...

Wow thanx for the kind words...

Sorry but I just can't agree that 2.4ghz is a monster daw. I never said I had better (in fact all I have is a duron850 with 256ram) and I never said the computer he bought was sucky so you can keep ur "snif snif, i smell bullshit" cockyness for yourself.

If that computer is a monster daw, a civic is a racing car.

And of course even if it's not a monster daw, that setup should work properly. I mentionned Raid0 and dual cpu earlier cause that's 2 things directly related to skipping you might get. If your HD doesnt read fast enough or if you're cpu load gets to 100%, you're gonna get skipping. Raid0 increases the write/read speed on the hard disk, and the dual CPU helps alot when you're multi-tasking.

Cool to hear that it was only a plugin umair. It's nice when it's that easy. :)
 
Polaris20 said:
I guess. He just made it sound like the guy's computer, at 2.4Ghz, was second rate.
Click to expand...

I think you're just beeing picky and giving me a hard time. I'm trying my best to write in english and I clearly stated "no offense" for saying it's not a "monster" daw. That's faaaaar from saying that it's second rate imo.
 
Just an obeservation....

I'm no expert but I think the whole hard drive thing is a little over-rated with today's hard drive technology. The CPU thing is very important thing (but the hyper threading technology does it make it run like a dual pentium system). I just don't see the benefits of raid and high performance hard disk stuff. ... at least using nuendo and a hamerfall soundcard I have never had even a tiny bit of a problem with hard drive writing/reading at 16 channels of simultaneous recording. And when it comes to recording and playback (no plugins :) )It seems to take absolutely no toll on the computer's hard drive or CPU. And I'm just using regular Maxtor and WD 120 Gig drives on standard connections. I didn't go the RAID route. Then again, you guys may be using different stuff than me and the high freq I use is 48.0Khz.

I think the DAW thing is getting out of hand for the most part. The only two peices of software I am familiar with are Cakewalk Sonar and Nuendo. If using a decent sound card (like the hammerfall series or its Nuendo equivalent), I think my computer is overkill. So a little bit of advice from someone who is happy with his computer (now that the damn plugin installed properly): Don't believe the hype. Read the minimum requirements on your software box and you should be fine. Don't buy more than you need because you can spend that money on some nicer pre-amps. The only computer upgrade I plan on making is a dual VGA card so that I can run two monitors. But that's it for a long time.

Oh yeah.. and another suggestion is to make sure the chipset on the motherboard is recommended by the maker of your card.

Anybody care to comment on there DAW's performances? I'm very curious to see others results using nuendo. I think it would be beneficial and educational for all. Thanks.
 
I agree somewhat with your post, umair, but it really depends on what type of music you're doing. The music I'm doing is orchestrated indie pop with track counts that exceed 40 sometimes. Almost every song I do comes close to exceeding my computer's capabilities, and my computer far, far exceeds the manufacturer's minimum requirements.
 
cominginsecond said:
I agree somewhat with your post, umair, but it really depends on what type of music you're doing. The music I'm doing is orchestrated indie pop with track counts that exceed 40 sometimes. Almost every song I do comes close to exceeding my computer's capabilities, and my computer far, far exceeds the manufacturer's minimum requirements.
Click to expand...


True. My track counts rarely exceed 25.
 
track counts

the way round large audio track counts is to buy a used computer
running in synch to the audio daw and offload some tracks as midi tracks to the used one.
frankly i learnt at a young age years ago from senior engineers,
if you cant say what you want to say using 24 tracks on a song,
then your overproducing. and to qoute our friend in another post one is trying to polish a poorly arranged song often.
 
Funny. Nuendo is one of the few applications that really make use of 2 cpu's. Duals are sooooo nice. Who need raid when you can have U320?
 
Its not the size of the boat.. its the motion of the ocean!

My 2.4 P4 is part of a MONSTER DAW. It kicks the ass of all the other comps Ive had.. and any DAW I have ever seen in real life... at any, call it, real-life studio.

There are gamers with better machines.. but most guys I know would take the $400 they save by using a p4 and buy another Mic Pre.

xoxo

ps.. Umair!

I succesfully run Nuendo on a system similar to yours. I, however, concur with the 800 vs 333 note.. I run the RAM at 400. Also, You didnt specify what MB you use.

xo
 
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