Hi.
I want to know if there is a guide or rules which can guide me in
installing a new computer system for music production? (I'm Using Cubase 5)
I have a lot of plugins - most of them are Kontakt based but the others are from different engines and some are really quite old.
I wish to know:
1) How to install them?
I have one 120GB SSD (Drive C) and two 3 TB HDD'S (regular).
Should I put the Kontakt Engine \ other Engines in the SSD and it's library in the other HDD? or in some other way?
Some libraries put its stuff in C without the option to change it,
Where should I create the VST plugin directory? Is there a need to
create 2 VST folders - one in the SSD and one in the other HDD?
2) In which folder structure should I install them?
I want to be able to access them from Cubase in a quick way -
In Cubase if I want to choose a VSTI I get an ugly long list of the plugins names; is there a way to order this list to categories? like: bass , Strings
etc. (Does this list effected by the folder structure on the drive?)
3) Backup - Till now I backup my computer using Norton Ghost.
I saw a lot of people using "Paragon Partition Manager 12 Professional" for backup which software to choose?
BTW, in Ghost I create complete HD image and burn copy them to my external
drive - is this good? (I saw there are more features in the software and I think I'm not using it properly - meaning there is more to the software than just mirror your HD).
What about maintenance like Defrag and so? when to do? which software to use?
4) Which OS to install? WIN 8 64B OR WIN 7 64B?
I saw at some reviews that the I/O speed of WIN 8 is better then 7 - any suggestions?
Thank you very much (sorry for my English).
Installing VST insturments & Effects to a new computer
-
- KVRAF
- 15265 posts since 8 Mar, 2005 from Utrecht, Holland
Some rules of thumb:
* Find out where your host by default stores the plugins. Use that location for anything but large sample libraries. Consider for the latter a dedicated harddisk, and consider using an SSD drive for the primary disk. (I see you already did)
* Often it is sufficient to just copy over the .dll files and other associated resources. With copy protected plugins you might need reactivation. Do some research on these specific plugins. Sometimes it's best to use the original installer.
* You have a basic backup plan, which is good. You can restore a complete disk image in case of troubles. But try to find out weather you can also restore just individual folders with the current software.
* Once you switch to a SSD drive, that doesn't need to be defragged. But also for regular harddisks I have some doubts about weather things really improve. For instance, if you record multiple audio tracks. Without defragging the parts belonging to the same point in time are stored phiysically very close together. After defragging they will be stored far apart, causing an increase of head movements when reading them.
* The choice of Win7 or 8: imho the choice is more about the user interface. Win8 is nice for tablets, but imho it sucks for regular desktops.
Good luck!!
* Find out where your host by default stores the plugins. Use that location for anything but large sample libraries. Consider for the latter a dedicated harddisk, and consider using an SSD drive for the primary disk. (I see you already did)
* Often it is sufficient to just copy over the .dll files and other associated resources. With copy protected plugins you might need reactivation. Do some research on these specific plugins. Sometimes it's best to use the original installer.
* You have a basic backup plan, which is good. You can restore a complete disk image in case of troubles. But try to find out weather you can also restore just individual folders with the current software.
* Once you switch to a SSD drive, that doesn't need to be defragged. But also for regular harddisks I have some doubts about weather things really improve. For instance, if you record multiple audio tracks. Without defragging the parts belonging to the same point in time are stored phiysically very close together. After defragging they will be stored far apart, causing an increase of head movements when reading them.
* The choice of Win7 or 8: imho the choice is more about the user interface. Win8 is nice for tablets, but imho it sucks for regular desktops.
Good luck!!
We are the KVR collective. Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated. 
My MusicCalc is served over https!!
My MusicCalc is served over https!!
-
- KVRAF
- 4431 posts since 15 Nov, 2006 from Hell
i usually just copy over the dlls and do a rescan. then go through the list and reinstall/activate those needing it (e.g. IKMM CSR, S-Gear 2).
most sane hosts can give you a choice of where to put plugins (with REAPER you can have unlimited paths, other hosts can manage a few paths as well) so no worries about where to store them - put them wherever you feel like it. one thing i would suggest is separating x86 from x64 plugins, and put every plugin into its own folder (e.g. D:\VST\x64\Amplitube). just keeps it clean.
as for defragging, get yourself a good amount of RAM and your DAW won't need to go to your HDD to look for your recorded stuff every time. at least REAPER doesn't. load up a project and there you go, you can even spin down the hard drive.
Win7 vs Win8, i've read about a benchmark done by Sonar guys that showed that Win8 is a bit faster than Win7 when it comes to audio, but for me not being able to buy and install a full Windows 8 on a clean PC (wtf is this "upgrade only"?!) is a show stopper, so i put Win7 on my very new PC.
most sane hosts can give you a choice of where to put plugins (with REAPER you can have unlimited paths, other hosts can manage a few paths as well) so no worries about where to store them - put them wherever you feel like it. one thing i would suggest is separating x86 from x64 plugins, and put every plugin into its own folder (e.g. D:\VST\x64\Amplitube). just keeps it clean.
as for defragging, get yourself a good amount of RAM and your DAW won't need to go to your HDD to look for your recorded stuff every time. at least REAPER doesn't. load up a project and there you go, you can even spin down the hard drive.
Win7 vs Win8, i've read about a benchmark done by Sonar guys that showed that Win8 is a bit faster than Win7 when it comes to audio, but for me not being able to buy and install a full Windows 8 on a clean PC (wtf is this "upgrade only"?!) is a show stopper, so i put Win7 on my very new PC.
I don't know what to write here that won't be censored, as I can only speak in profanity.
