V-Machine

[VFXAU]

Hello VFXAU

I found all the functions on the V-machine so that works properly.

My VFX-application don't show the Windows menu-bar, no matter what screen resolution I use. It's there on the picture in the quick start guide (page 6) but it's not on the picture on your website so i'm not shure if it supposed to be there.

So the only thing that is missing is options/preferences (when I press the orange button)

Can you please give me a reply about the transpose/detune funtion. Is that gonna be implemented?

I found out most of the freeware pluginns are working but i'm a bit disappointed about the processingpower of the V-machine because a lot pluginns easily exceeds 60% processing power. That don't leave much room to combine vsti's and using effects.

Regards

Hi, Do you mean the normal PC type menu bar? no.. you will not see this, you don't need it for any matter.

In regards to the PC power, it very much depends on the plugin and also some plugins even idle at %60 while not doing anything and combining more plugins does not seem to change it by much, even if you are running at %99... that is ok, as long as the plugin works and your combination works then it is fine as we don't need to worry about any other processes.

The Transpose function will certainly be implemented but a deture is a different issue as it depends on the plugin itself if it can be detuned or not.(transpose we can do over MIDI for any plugin but not detune)

[VFXAU]

ZioKiller, I agree, the VMachine insn't powerful for some plug ins. But if you could upgrade the hardware, that would probably solve the problem...

The Question is: How?

- Which type of memory is used, how can I upgrade?
- Can I upgrade the CPU as well?

RAM is really cheep, and CPU's too, so I want to tune my VMachine, and then,
hopefully it will play Pianoteq and others...

> I still love this machine, and for that money it brings lots of features, but there are many people like me searching for a good piano (mda is good, but not for a classical pianist...)

Forum greetings,
Paulustus

Ram can be updated to 1gig, on the FAQ page you will find the type it uses, it is an SODIMM piece.

CPU, not so simple and not now, maybe Q2 2009.

[ZioKiller]

You can only upgrade the RAM to 1 Gb, but this won't change anything. I don't think the CPU is upgradeable, seems to be soldered on the mainboard.

Today I made some more tests with SampleLord and I found out that you can have a max polyphony of 80 notes with no risks of CPU overload, assuming that you're playing only SampleLord with no other effects or instruments in the same preset. If you wish to add a reverb, a chorus or any other external effect, you should reduce the polyphony to 64 notes, which is still acceptable for most playing styles (my good ole Motif 7 has only 62 voices).

[Nitrofunk]

Can you recommend any hiqh-quality Piano-Samples for Samplelord?
Peter

[VFXAU]

Can you recommend any hiqh-quality Piano-Samples for Samplelord?
Peter

SampleLord can load GIG, SF2, FXP, NKI, EXB, WAV, AIFF files plus import with Exterme Sample Converter other formats.

Some good GIG Pianos exists from what I know,
http://www.bardstownaudio.com/insite/frames/CD-Bos.html

Can't say I personally tested these.

Piano Post used to be a great library for GIGA and then a Swedish comapany called SAMPLETEKK purchased them over. May try for some good piano samples here as well.

http://www.sampletekk.com/products.php?cat=44

[AzureCrystal]

ZioKiller, I agree, the VMachine insn't powerful for some plug ins. But if you could upgrade the hardware, that would probably solve the problem...

The Question is: How?

- Which type of memory is used, how can I upgrade?
- Can I upgrade the CPU as well?

RAM is really cheep, and CPU's too, so I want to tune my VMachine, and then,
hopefully it will play Pianoteq and others...

> I still love this machine, and for that money it brings lots of features, but there are many people like me searching for a good piano (mda is good, but not for a classical pianist...)

Forum greetings,
Paulustus

Honestly, I don't think V-Machine will work well for a realistic piano plugin unless we can upgrade it's ram to at least 2 gigs. I tried some good piano plugs and not only did I run out of voices, but I had a really bad latency problem, it was very noticeable, if I played my controller's(M-Audio ProKeys 88sx) piano patch along with it, you actually heard two attacks, that is a big delay... that would mean a latency of 12-15ms which for a fast player like myself, means I feel like what I hear is the echo of what I played, so for piano alone, it would not work for me in the current configuration...

[AzureCrystal]

Hmm, maybe a piano by IK or Native Instruments, which are very good cpu-wise might work well with V-Machine ??

So far the pianos that come on the V have too high a latency for me to play live with, but each plugin developer has unique ways of dealing with cpu and latency issues, however, latency is usually an issue with the Asio Driver working together with the audio engine, so I am not certain that more ram would remedy the latency, it sure would bring down cpu usage somewhat.

GigaPiano might also work, they have a very efficient sample streaming algorithm, I have a very old version of GigaPiano somewhere, might be worth trying....

[AzureCrystal]

You can only upgrade the RAM to 1 Gb, but this won't change anything. I don't think the CPU is upgradeable, seems to be soldered on the mainboard.

Well there goes my little science project right out the window !!!

You do mean the actual cpu chip ? I doubt any mini pcs allow that puppy to be upgraded, those are very mission specific and tied to the motherboard...

But I hope the RAM is actually upgradeable per the published specs...

[AzureCrystal]

Here are the specs on the site I bought it from:

SM Pro Audio VMachine Features
* 512 MB RAM (expandable)
* Dedicated 1 GHz CPU
* 24bit/192 Hz DAC for pristine audio
* 1 Gig IDE Flash Disk
* Easy to read display screen
* L/R 1/4 inch analog audio outputs
* 3.5mm stereo audio input
* Headphone out
* 12V DC regulated power supply included

As you can see it clearly states a "dedicated" cpu !
1ghz is fine, that should give OK latency and power if I have a very efficient audio engine running with a tight Asio driver, that combination on the V would be interesting to know what they are...

[AzureCrystal]

Ram can be updated to 1gig, on the FAQ page you will find the type it uses, it is an SODIMM piece.

CPU, not so simple and not now, maybe Q2 2009.

Hi Danny;

I checked all over the smpro site and did not find anything on upgrading the ram....

[AzureCrystal]

Oops, I get this error when going to the smpro site:

Bandwidth Limit Exceeded

The server is temporarily unable to service your request due to the site owner reaching his/her bandwidth limit. Please try again later.
Apache/1.3.41 Server at smproaudio.com Port 80

[VFXAU]

Hmm, maybe a piano by IK or Native Instruments, which are very good cpu-wise might work well with V-Machine ??

So far the pianos that come on the V have too high a latency for me to play live with, but each plugin developer has unique ways of dealing with cpu and latency issues, however, latency is usually an issue with the Asio Driver working together with the audio engine, so I am not certain that more ram would remedy the latency, it sure would bring down cpu usage somewhat.

GigaPiano might also work, they have a very efficient sample streaming algorithm, I have a very old version of GigaPiano somewhere, might be worth trying....

\
The IK sample Tank Piano included has too much latency for you? 128 samples?
How do you get 12ms latency??? it is about 3ms

[VFXAU]

Here are the specs on the site I bought it from:

SM Pro Audio VMachine Features
* 512 MB RAM (expandable)
* Dedicated 1 GHz CPU
* 24bit/192 Hz DAC for pristine audio
* 1 Gig IDE Flash Disk
* Easy to read display screen
* L/R 1/4 inch analog audio outputs
* 3.5mm stereo audio input
* Headphone out
* 12V DC regulated power supply included

As you can see it clearly states a "dedicated" cpu !
1ghz is fine, that should give OK latency and power if I have a very efficient audio engine running with a tight Asio driver, that combination on the V would be interesting to know what they are...

It actually has 2 CPU's inside, one is for running th audio application and the other (H8 hitachi) is for Screen, Buttons, USB MIDI etc.

[VFXAU]

Ram can be updated to 1gig, on the FAQ page you will find the type it uses, it is an SODIMM piece.

CPU, not so simple and not now, maybe Q2 2009.

Hi Danny;

I checked all over the smpro site and did not find anything on upgrading the ram....

DDR2 533Mgz (667 may also work), 1.8volt, CL4 (CL5 may also work), unbuffered. 200 pin SODIM

Not easy to get the box opened!!!! be carefull may void your warranty if damaged

[AzureCrystal]

DDR2 533Mgz (667 may also work), 1.8volt, CL4 (CL5 may also work), unbuffered. 200 pin SODIM

Not easy to get the box opened!!!! be carefull may void your warranty if damaged

Grateful thanks !!! Will be super careful, when I get a chance I will try this, which of the two you mentioned is faster/better ?

The IK sample Tank Piano included has too much latency for you? 128 samples?
How do you get 12ms latency??? it is about 3ms

Well(emoting like Ace Ventura Pet Detective...)... I calculated at least 12ms of latency based on the delay I get from hitting the key to when I get a sound, my little rule of thumb is I can hear anything over 12ms and I know more or less how it sounds(or feels, hard to explain), I could be wrong on the IK samples, I noticed that on the 4front ones, to be fair I will give them both a careful test, it was not a thorough run down, I did notice latency when playing piano, but none on some of the synth patches while playing some fast runs.... .....