I/O performance in Sonar

  • Thread starter Thread starter Bulls Hit
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Bulls Hit

Well-known member
I was considering upgrading the ram on my laptop from 512MB (shared with video) to 1GB and now I'm wondering if it will make any practical difference.

I run GT3, which uses the same audio engine as Sonar.

The thing maxes out at about at about 16 tracks @ 24/16 (the 4200rpm disk can't keep up) so I thought more memory could be the answer.
I had a look in task manager and GT3 is not even using all available memory.
Also when I select a clip and loop it, GT3 re-reads the same audio over & over, thrashing the disk. I would have thought it would be a bit more intelligent than this and buffer up the audio so it doesn't have to keep going back to the disk...?

Does Sonar do the same thing, or is it a bit smarter than this?

If this is the way it works, I don't see that more memory will get me any more tracks
 
Using Sonar 5, I have had 44 tracks going, with plugins. I have a P-4, 3Ghz, and 1Gb of Ram, WinXP. Mine doesn't seem to access the hardrive too often, at least not to the point where it stutters. Don't know if this helps, but just what I have experienced. More RAM should help as far as not accessing the HD as much, but it is all app dependant. The app has to utilize the RAM, which it sounds like GT is not fully using what you have. Can you change any settings to make it use RAM more? Some apps let you do this, but I don't think Sonar does.
Ed
 
I suspect the problem is your hard drive. My understanding is that memory usually helps when you have a lot of plugins, but I don't think it will help get you more tracks.

A second hard drive could help. This way you could run your audio separately from your OS. I don't have any experience with firewire, but this might be the way to go if your laptop has a firewire port.
 
Thanks guys.

Yeah I do believe a usb drive will be a better bet for me than more ram. Cheers
 
Bulls Hit said:
I was considering upgrading the ram on my laptop from 512MB (shared with video) to 1GB and now I'm wondering if it will make any practical difference.

If this is the way it works, I don't see that more memory will get me any more tracks
Click to expand...

I have 512mb shared memory on my desktop. I can get at least 28 tracks. 1.8ghz AMD sempron sams club cheapo.
I assume its the hard drive.
 
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