KVR Audio

SuitcaseOfLizards · Post by **SuitcaseOfLizards** » Sat Jul 09, 2005 6:15 pm

/rant on

This is stupid. I have a 3GHz. P4/800MHz FSB CPU, 2GB of dual-channel PC3200 SDRAM, and I still can't bloody well get the layers I want without watching my CPU meter spike into the red!

Screw software synths! My Fantom X and Motif ES Rack work all the time every time and sound better than almost every soft synth I have, and I don't have to watch the CPU meter when I stack 4 patches!

I'm going to sell off all my soft synths and spend time making music, not saving up for yet another f**king computer upgrade to try to match the sound of hardware!

Curse! Rant! Swear! Adult situations and content!

/rant off

csl · Post by **csl** » Sat Jul 09, 2005 6:22 pm

my sentiments exactly... well near enough anyway.

you'll never have enough CPU power for soft synths, and that's always been the case. computers are useful, but they're still a jack of all trades... there's nothing like a real synth to touch and play with. erm.

i thought with all the money i'd need to spend to upgrade my computer, it just wasn't worth it, especially as hardware's so affordable these days, what with virus classic, nord lead 2X, dave smith evolver. i'll keep my computer for effects, samples and reaktor - what it's best at IMO.

SuitcaseOfLizards · Post by **SuitcaseOfLizards** » Sat Jul 09, 2005 6:35 pm

Yeah.. I'm going to use my PC for mastering work and burning CDs. I have my Fantom and Motif hooked up to my Delta 44, so once I have all the MIDI sequencing done (the Fantoms sequencer rocks!) I'll bring it all into the PC for EQ, compression, and that sort of thing.

I'm surprised I'm not the only person that feels this way!

griels · Post by **griels** » Sat Jul 09, 2005 6:38 pm

Dump the FPU-deficient P4, get a beefy Athlon 64, and use Reaktor to make sounds hardware synths can only dream of then

Hink · Post by **Hink** » Sat Jul 09, 2005 6:39 pm

I dont use much soft synths besides B4, other then that I use some synth but never in an entire song...because of my workflow (record the midi into FL for each manual from a pcr50)... I never have a problem...but I do record the audio of my qsr sometimes as well...

androidlove · Post by **androidlove** » Sat Jul 09, 2005 6:42 pm

i've managed to pile on many syths, effecs, and audio without a problem. i think it's because i got a magical celeron from wally world for $600

griels · Post by **griels** » Sat Jul 09, 2005 6:44 pm

Same here.... Using an Athlon 64 3500+ on a Socket 939 Asus A8V Deluxe board with 1GB PC3200 Corsair RAM. The main limitation I run into is memory due to the large sample libraries I use... I can pile on Reaktor, Minimonsta and z3ta instances with wild abandon. I wouldn't say the CPU is limitless but its certainly enough to get a very dense sound.

fac · Post by **fac** » Sat Jul 09, 2005 6:46 pm

I still use a 5-year old Pentium 4, 1.4 Ghz, and I tried some of the latest synths (CronoX3, Minimonsta, Cameleon5000, and others). Many of them use around 25%-30% CPU *per instance*. I bought Cameleon just cuz it sounds so gorgeous, but man... I'm glad Sonar 4 supports freezing. No way I'm dumping my hardware synths. I'll keep using them along with the occasional softsynth. I don't need sample accuracy for the music I make, anyway.

McLilith · Post by **McLilith** » Sat Jul 09, 2005 6:58 pm

I run multiple instances of Cameleon 5000, and I love convolution reverbs. I use an Athlon with a CPU which is actually clocked at 1.3 GHz. I'm happy, for the most part.

Maybe part of your issue is your host?

If you want to play live, check out Forte Ensemble, by Brainspawn. It's a rock-solid host which barely uses any CPU, and is designed strictly for playing your synths and effects live. It's the closest thing you'll get to a the stability and feel of a hardware synth, while still using a PC.

take care,
McLilith

--

For some reason, I feel like I'm stuck in a time-warp...

snooky · Post by **snooky** » Sat Jul 09, 2005 7:05 pm

griels wrote:Dump the FPU-deficient P4, get a beefy Athlon 64, and use Reaktor to make sounds hardware synths can only dream of then

yes.

SuitcaseOfLizards · Post by **SuitcaseOfLizards** » Sat Jul 09, 2005 7:12 pm

My issue is I'm a stack whore. I'll typically stack a Rhino2, Cameleon, Vanguard and sometimes either Kubik or Vectrik to get the sound I want to hear. Do this a few times.. ugh.. freezing is mandatory.

Screw that! I don't like interrupting my creative flow to make up for the fact that the software is power-hungry. And I get problems in Tracktion2 and energtXT, the two hosts I use.

I'm glad it works for some people, though. More power to you if it does! Me, as soon as I get confirmation from the various devs, I'll be dumping my entire VSTi collection.

griels · Post by **griels** » Sat Jul 09, 2005 7:17 pm

Thanks for coming.

hello1234 · Post by **hello1234** » Sat Jul 09, 2005 7:24 pm

snooky wrote:
griels wrote:Dump the FPU-deficient P4, get a beefy Athlon 64, and use Reaktor to make sounds hardware synths can only dream of then
yes.

and yes again

I am not sure of the totally exact reason.......but the 939 amds in particular are super efficient, super cool and even though my 4000+/mobo/updated power supply was about 800 bucks, I gained so much cpu headroom.

McLilith · Post by **McLilith** » Sat Jul 09, 2005 7:31 pm

woolyloach wrote:My issue is I'm a stack whore.

That suggests some good vulgar librarian jokes.

woolyloach wrote:I'll typically stack a Rhino2, Cameleon, Vanguard and sometimes either Kubik or Vectrik to get the sound I want to hear. Do this a few times.. ugh.. freezing is mandatory.

Screw that! I don't like interrupting my creative flow to make up for the fact that the software is power-hungry. And I get problems in Tracktion2 and energtXT, the two hosts I use.

I'm glad it works for some people, though. More power to you if it does! Me, as soon as I get confirmation from the various devs, I'll be dumping my entire VSTi collection.

I can understand your frustration, but it isn't totally a fair comparison. Each time you add another keyboard, you are literally adding the equivalent of another computer. If it takes you 4 keyboards or rack modules to get the sounds and flexibility you desire, you might just as easily replace them with 4 modest computers running minimal VST hosts and all connected via MIDI. Depending on the keyboards and rack modules you like best, buying 4 basic computers might even be cheaper! They should also certainly be more powerful and flexible, if setup properly.

Think about it...

You can often get a cheap computer for equal to, or less than, the price of a good keyboard, rack synths, or high-quality effects processor. You don't need an expensive host on each computer. A good freeware host will suffice for many uses. Many good plugins are either free or cheap. It shouldn't be too hard to build a home studio environment with multiple computers replacing multiple hardware synths -- without having to spend a lot of extra money. I admit, it wouldn't be so practical for touring, but you could always network a few laptops together if you wanted to go mobile. It shouldn't be harder to lug around than multiple keyboard synths.

I don't think you need more hardware synths. I just think you need more computers, to feed your "stack fetish".

Take care,
McLilith

--

Librarians sometimes call their archives "stack rooms" or simply "the stack".

Hink · Post by **Hink** » Sat Jul 09, 2005 7:38 pm

I dont want to state the obvious woolyloach but have tried to Optimize XP yet...I figure you have, but it's worth a shot....I also unplug from my modem and shut off my security when I'm working on music...someone once posted a list of proccesses that should be running...I'd like to see that again...

Those soft-synth CPU sucking blues...