What size is yours??

  • Thread starter Thread starter kcearl
  • Start date Start date
kcearl

kcearl

I see deaf people
Im running a dual 2.66Ghz 3Gig Ram at the moment and Im starting to grind it to a halt now which is a little disappointing

Fair enough its my biggest project but I bounce down to stem for mixing...at the moment I have a couple of reverbs and delays on auxiliaries (about the only effects I use), drums on a bus, and a side chain compressor on around 30+ audio tracks with separate EQs..

any guitar/bass/vocal compression and drum stuff is done before being bounced

No internet, streamlined for xp, on Sonar Studio for mixing..

I dont want to start bouncing within the mixes but it looks like Im going to have to, nor do I want to fork out for another PC as I just bought this 2 years ago....

What size of CPU/Ram and tracks are you using in projects? Does this seems normal to you guys?
 
kcearl said:
Im running a dual 2.66Ghz 3Gig Ram at the moment and Im starting to grind it to a halt now which is a little disappointing

Fair enough its my biggest project but I bounce down to stem for mixing...at the moment I have a couple of reverbs and delays on auxiliaries (about the only effects I use), drums on a bus, and a side chain compressor on around 30+ audio tracks with separate EQs..

any guitar/bass/vocal compression and drum stuff is done before being bounced

No internet, streamlined for xp, on Sonar Studio for mixing..

I dont want to start bouncing within the mixes but it looks like Im going to have to, nor do I want to fork out for another PC as I just bought this 2 years ago....

What size of CPU/Ram and tracks are you using in projects? Does this seems normal to you guys?
Click to expand...

Try increasing the soundcard latency during mixdown. This will make a huge difference.

I got a dual-core Athlon x64 6000+ and haven't had too many issues unless I use heavy synths. Upping the latency definitely helps.
 
noisewreck said:
Try increasing the soundcard latency during mixdown. This will make a huge difference.

I got a dual-core Athlon x64 6000+ and haven't had too many issues unless I use heavy synths. Upping the latency definitely helps.
Click to expand...

you know what...thats bloody obvious, I never though about it...


Ill give it a shot and see what i can get away with...it was fine when my projects were 20 or less, maybe i just need to stop trying to be too clever...its generally sounds shite anyway :)
 
forgot to ask, and probably a silly one, but is their any limit to latency adjustment if im just playing back and not recording?
 
kcearl said:
forgot to ask, and probably a silly one, but is their any limit to latency adjustment if im just playing back and not recording?
Click to expand...
No. You can generally increase it to the max when you're just playing back. If you're recording/triggering soft synths/samplers, then it can be unusable, but just for playback and general mixing tasks it shouldn't matter.

Having said that, I've had issues with some soundcard/drive combinations where if I have a short audio clip that's beeing triggered on an audio track (a kick hit for example) the beginning of it may get chopped off at higher latencies, but if you've got a solid ASIO driver, then you should be OK. Try it out and see how it works.
 
it just halfed (literally) my CPU usage.......Im going back to the n00bs forum :o :D
 
I'm glad that you got this fixed.


Now I don't have to tell you what size mine is. :D
 
Well......

Mine is 2.33 inches.:o:o:mad: No wait!!!!!!!!! I meant 2.33 ghz Core2Duo Dual Core, 4 GB RAM, XP Pro (not streamlined), w/ internet, mixing done with Cubase Essential 4.

I think the max number of tracks that I've had is about 20 audio tracks w/ maybe 2-4 VST. I usually have anywhere from 2-4 effects on each track which would include gates, reverbs, delays (I love delay), compressors, maybe a chorus here or there. I've never maxed out my processor. I think the most it's ever been was about 50% on a normal project. Except for the time that I put 7 reverbs on a track and duplicated it until my processor maxed out (just for fun). I don't even remember how many I got up to. Maybe I'll do it again and find out.
 
dastrick said:
Well......

Mine is 2.33 inches.:o:o:mad: No wait!!!!!!!!! I meant 2.33 ghz Core2Duo Dual Core, 4 GB RAM, XP Pro (not streamlined), w/ internet, mixing done with Cubase Essential 4.

I think the max number of tracks that I've had is about 20 audio tracks w/ maybe 2-4 VST. I usually have anywhere from 2-4 effects on each track which would include gates, reverbs, delays (I love delay), compressors, maybe a chorus here or there. I've never maxed out my processor. I think the most it's ever been was about 50% on a normal project. Except for the time that I put 7 reverbs on a track and duplicated it until my processor maxed out (just for fun). I don't even remember how many I got up to. Maybe I'll do it again and find out.
Click to expand...

Delay is the new reverb...I love it as well...I got the nomad liquid bundle last year and the delay in there is excellent...it goes on everything



I record in Live and then mix the stems in Sonar...so compressing what needs it is done before hand...now Ive got 33 audio tracks in this project, all with EQ and some effects, barely pushing 55% on my "real" CPU...yippee...i can totally fuck up the tracks with effects now :D

One good thing is my synth stuff is nearly all done outboard now, and you have to bounce it down to audio or make a note of your settings if closing the project so it makes you really think about the sound before committing it...not exactly tape but does make you care more and work with the audio you've got

seems like dual processors can still get the job done, thank gawd for that ;)
 
kcearl said:
One good thing is my synth stuff is nearly all done outboard now, and you have to bounce it down to audio or make a note of your settings if closing the project so it makes you really think about the sound before committing it...not exactly tape but does make you care more and work with the audio you've got
Click to expand...
With hardware synths, I've gotten into a habit of leading the synth parts with 1 - 2 bar "setup" section where I record nothing but MIDI messages, such as Bank/Patch select, initial MIDI CC settings and such. Depending on the hardware synth this may work rather well especially if it's something multitimbral and you record your MIDI tracks on different MIDI channels (if going to the same instrument). This way, once playback begins, the sequencer will select the right patch/program and the like before actual MIDI playback starts.
 
I just "upgraded" to a freebie dual 1 GHz 1.5 GB RAM Apple G4 PowerPc a few months ago.

I don't use soft synths except for Steven Slate drums for just kick and snare.

For gigs I use a 1.42 GHz 1 GB RAM iBook.

Mostly I use the computer to play a Roland SC-8850, which was the last SoundCanvas. Over this next few years I will probably do away with the module and go to soft synths.

Mine has been an evolving cyber band that's been together (I talk about them as if they are real) for 25+ years now. The bass player and the telecaster player have actual cyber personalities.
 
Looking at this thread makes me feel like I'm a bit guilty of a computer slut, though I'd argue that there are many people put a lot lot more money and time into their computer setups than I have. Still, hopefully doesn't mean I'm trying to compensate for something :p

My current rig is looking a bit dated (3 years old or so now) and up for a major upgrade within a month or two.

Core 2 Quad @ 3.2ghz, 4gb RAM, four 500gb drives, 64gb SSD, two 8600GTS, quad monitors (6400x1080 total desktop area), silent case kitted out with Noctua fans, UAD-1e, Win7 Pro + Vista Business + XP + Ubuntu.

Done a project before (was a bit of an experiment :p) which hit over 120 audio tracks with no issues, though not with all 120 going at once and I'm sure it could have been consolidated down into fewer. Was easier processing-wise just to split it all out into lots of tracks though.

With other projects running fewer tracks but more plugins / virtual instruments / etc, it has run out of steam though and I've found myself having to push buffers up really high, freeze (temporarily bounce for all you non-Sonar users) tracks and instruments, etc.

Next rig is probably going to be much the same but based on a Core i7, 6gb RAM, newer graphics cards, etc.
 
I think all computers in 2010 are garbage, and I wouldn't waste a cent on them.

They all have the same basic flaw - software based operating systems. :mad:

I don't take them seriously... and seriously you're better off money wise buying Neumanns and old K. Zildjians at good prices.

People would be surprised if they saw what computers their favorite songs were done on.
 
I reckon it'll be a while before I max this out....I dont use many effects or soft synths and Im really happy with XP..

Had some problems with Live recently but im looking at the transfer of data through my external HD as being part of the problem..

Thanks for the info noise...Ill maybe give that a go in the future, sounds pretty understandable..perhaps...maybe..OK not at all :)
 
I don't plan on updating mine for a while. My next purchase is a laptop.



Just for fun, I just tried to max out my CPU using a violin track downloaded from the Telefunken website. Here's what I ended up with.

At 256 buffer:
20 tracks at 75% CPU played nicely.

21 tracks at about 83% when it started crackling and popping.


All of the tracks had a compressor, delay, reverb, chorus, and gate.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top