Been playing around with different VSTs and seeing which ones affect CPU levels and to what degree. I put a Final Mix on maybe 8 tracks before the CPU hit the red zone. I've got an EMU 0404 card (low end professional card ~100 bux) and it comes with something called Patchmix - an effects processor basically that makes use of hardware. Has effects like reverb, chorus, eq etc. There is a VST interface as well for it and it seems i can put as many of these VST effects in tracktion as i like and it has little to know effect on CPU at all. Several of the effects it appears cant be added more than a few times (reverb for example) but many can be added more - eq etc. - just depends on how much dsp resource they use on the card.
So if you're running into cpu issues, you might consider a card with some decent harware processing on it to leave some of the cpu behind for better things.
steve
Very Low CPU VST
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- KVRist
- 233 posts since 10 Aug, 2004
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- KVRer
- 9 posts since 16 Jul, 2004
Or you can use your favorite heavy weight VST with FX freeze. I'm just try to dicourage people from using EMU. I am a programmer. I think they make crap. Talk to the hand...
Stand up.
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- KVRer
- 9 posts since 16 Jul, 2004
Cool. So why do you think EMU is having all these problems with their hardware? Sure it works for them. Is this a case like the first Layla? If you didn't use it with just the hw echo told you, it would stink? Or is it just dumb users not knowing how to tweak windows and the like? I am asking you this, because you're a programmer, and should know just a wee bit more about hardware design than the average musician.
Stand up.
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- KVRian
- 779 posts since 3 Apr, 2003 from UK
Leaving aside unsubstantiated assertions, I have had a good experience so far with the 0404. I tend to use latency of about 10mS, but having just upgraded from XP2000+ to Socket 754 Sempron 3000+ I'm going to see how low I can get it.
Read the reviews in Sound On Sound - www.soundonsound.com
The DSP effects aren't the greatest, but they are certainly useable. The reverb is a bit grainy. The frequency shifter is useful for creating a chorus-like effect.
Overall, sound quality is fine.
Read the reviews in Sound On Sound - www.soundonsound.com
The DSP effects aren't the greatest, but they are certainly useable. The reverb is a bit grainy. The frequency shifter is useful for creating a chorus-like effect.
Overall, sound quality is fine.
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 233 posts since 10 Aug, 2004
Sound quality on the card is virtually noiseless at all volume levels (i'm using a headphone amp and sennheiser 650s). Sounds infinitely better than a audigy 2 for example.
Its a 100 dollar card and well worth every penny. The effects i'm quite sure aren't all that great, but the fact is - they are pretty much CPU free. If you needed the extra cpu, then this is a fairly cheap way to get some back without going the route of freezing tracks. I could see using these for developing a tune then fine tuning with better quality software effects ones later on. Just if you want to stay responsive at the development stage, this might be a good way for some people with lesser machines.
steve
Its a 100 dollar card and well worth every penny. The effects i'm quite sure aren't all that great, but the fact is - they are pretty much CPU free. If you needed the extra cpu, then this is a fairly cheap way to get some back without going the route of freezing tracks. I could see using these for developing a tune then fine tuning with better quality software effects ones later on. Just if you want to stay responsive at the development stage, this might be a good way for some people with lesser machines.
steve
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 233 posts since 10 Aug, 2004
One more thing, dont expect a stellar interface from the Patchmix tools. Very fundamental really, but workable and certainly good enough for the task.
steve
steve
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- KVRAF
- 10815 posts since 26 Nov, 2004 from UK
I FUC*ING LOVE PATCHMIX!!!!!!rich_h wrote:I'm starting to feel alone in actually *liking* Patchmix - nobody else seems to!
the asio drivers are to unstable ATM so i only use it as my digital mixer
i have a RME with adat outs only, i wash thease through the emu, & any one with patch mix will tell you its quite ruteablei have a 1820m BTW
Subject
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- KVRian
- 779 posts since 3 Apr, 2003 from UK
I'm speaking only for my experience with the 0404, which has been trouble free. It's entirely possible indeed probable that you will get problems on some hardware on a platform as varied as the PC - it could be hardware, software, an interaction between the two. I wouldn't damn an entire company a impugn the entire software department - driver bugs can be notoriously hard to pin down especially with more complicated hardware and throw a multi-tasking operating system with buggy documentation and it's a wonder that anything on Windows works at all!winter wrote:Cool. So why do you think EMU is having all these problems with their hardware? Sure it works for them. Is this a case like the first Layla? If you didn't use it with just the hw echo told you, it would stink? Or is it just dumb users not knowing how to tweak windows and the like? I am asking you this, because you're a programmer, and should know just a wee bit more about hardware design than the average musician.
Bugs happen, some are easy to find, others less so - we could mention a certain dropped first note bug in everyone's favourite sequencer that has been around for a while, which turned out not to be the fault of Tracktion at all!
Certainly I've fixed hardware problems with software workarounds in the past (actually about 24 hours - damn 20 year old hardware!)