KVR Audio

keiross · Post by **keiross** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 2:06 pm

I make trance and ambient which is heavy on tracks and effects.

Up until now I used my soft synths for everything other than pads primarily because my processor dies if I've got a soft synth playing a pad which is heavy on sustain and release.

My question is, should a PC of the above specs be able to handle pads? Would an extra gig of RAM help or do I need to upgrade my processor?

I've tried setting up a new account on my machine just for Cubase and killing the virus scanner, etc... but it only buys me a little more power.

All help is greatly appreciated.

lharless · Post by **lharless** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 2:13 pm

forgive me for asking, but have you done the usual xp tweaks for pro audio?

if not, let's start there. you can buy a lot of power with a few software settings.

...again, if you've already done this, please forgive. you never know until you ask.

keiross · Post by **keiross** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 2:20 pm

Thanks for your help... I'm a bit of a n00b when it comes to PC production. I was using my Atari ST with Cubase v2 up until about a year ago.

The answer to your question is no I haven't, could you point me in the right direction?

Thanks again.

martian · Post by **martian** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 2:23 pm

http://www.musicxp.net/

keiross · Post by **keiross** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 2:24 pm

Thanks Martian.

BertKoor · Post by **BertKoor** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 2:25 pm

keiross wrote:Up until now I used my soft synths for everything other than pads primarily because my processor dies if I've got a soft synth playing a pad which is heavy on sustain and release.

What synth do you use for pads? Maybe there's a low-CPU alternative available...

keiross · Post by **keiross** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 2:30 pm

BertKoor wrote: What synth do you use for pads? Maybe there's a low-CPU alternative available...

I get the pads from my soft synths, namely Albino II, Vanguard and z3ta+....

BertKoor · Post by **BertKoor** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 2:59 pm

Search for the word "freeze" in your CuBase manual...

keiross · Post by **keiross** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 3:06 pm

BertKoor wrote:Search for the word "freeze" in your CuBase manual...

Seriously? It's not listed, I've only got SE3.

keiross · Post by **keiross** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 7:55 pm

I've done some fiddling, and it looks like it might be a buffer issue.... but I'm not making it any better and there are a shit load of options.

I've got an Emu 0404 E-DSP sound card and have always experienced latency issues.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

BertKoor · Post by **BertKoor** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 8:37 am

Well, let's start with a reasonable buffer size of 512. Should work OK in general. And make sure you don't select the "Simulated ASIO" device, or whatever it's called. There's supposed to be a device called "EMU 0404" in the pick list for output devices. Try that one...

bduffy · Post by **bduffy** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 9:14 am

Make sure you have the latest EMU drivers! Go to their site right now and check; very important. I'm on a P4 2.6ghz with 2G of RAM, and I can play pads fine; but I was using pads back in 2000 on an 800mhz, so something is wrong with your setup. Like Bertkoor says, check the ASIO driver in Devices/VST Multitrack

keiross · Post by **keiross** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 11:21 am

BertKoor wrote:Well, let's start with a reasonable buffer size of 512. Should work OK in general. And make sure you don't select the "Simulated ASIO" device, or whatever it's called. There's supposed to be a device called "EMU 0404" in the pick list for output devices. Try that one...

I did play around with the buffer size to both extremes, and even with a massive buffer it didn't change things for the better, the smaller buffer size did kill it all together though. There are three options in the list, and my soundcard was selected and is the best of the bunch as you've mentioned.

bduffy wrote:Make sure you have the latest EMU drivers! Go to their site right now and check; very important. I'm on a P4 2.6ghz with 2G of RAM, and I can play pads fine; but I was using pads back in 2000 on an 800mhz, so something is wrong with your setup. Like Bertkoor says, check the ASIO driver in Devices/VST Multitrack

It's heartening to hear that I should be able to get this sorted without shelling out a load of cash for a new PC. I did go to the Emu site last night, and the latest drivers seemed to be from around 2005 (about the same date as those already installed). I'll install the ones from the site tonight.

Thanks everyone <3

BertKoor · Post by **BertKoor** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 1:21 pm

A simular thread with some great tips:
http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=2414847

Kitchen Sink · Post by **Kitchen Sink** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 1:30 pm

I've used computers for 25 years and I'd say "2.66 P4 with a gig of RAM" should be able to handle ANYTHING. If it doesn't, something is wrong.

During my years of using Cubase VST and SX, people have always asked the same question. Can my [insert beyond-imagination powerful specs here] computer handle simple sound playback? From year to year, the PC's specs grow exponentially, but the needs stay about the same. Play a reasonable amount of polyphony with reasonably good basic sounds.

Should my 2.66 P4 with a gig of RAM be able to handle pads?