Berlin Modular (ancient thread)

[HanafiH]

It's a nice idea. But it's murder on the CPU.

[Urs]

It's a nice idea. But it's murder on the CPU.

It is! The win version might become quite a tad faster though... a function that gcc inlines properly on Mac wasn't inlined by the MS compiler. This costs probably 20% extra cpu on Windows.

Urs

[HanafiH]

This costs probably 20% extra cpu on Windows.
Urs

I don't think 20% would make much difference on my old pilacrap!

It reminds me of the Roland 100m. It has a very nice balance of simplicity in the modules coupled with flexibility and complexity through the patching. Many creative possibilites. And it sounds very, very good. Thanks Urs.

[todd_r]

...win version might become quite a tad faster though...

Nice

Really love this by the way URS, best new synth to come along in ages

[Urs]

It reminds me of the Roland 100m.

That was the first modular synth I ever touched. It must have left quite an impression

[HanafiH]

It reminds me of the Roland 100m.

That was the first modular synth I ever touched. It must have left quite an impression

Those stubby little sliders did. On my fingers.

[pgvpgv333]

Have you had time to fix the "roaming files" problem. Not trying to push you.

[Urs]

Have you had time to fix the "roaming files" problem. Not trying to push you.

Nope, no time yet. Working day and night on all construction areas...

(You could of course just switch off UAC mode... if you surf carefully...)

[autodafe]

It reminds me of the Roland 100m.

That was the first modular synth I ever touched. It must have left quite an impression

for me too...

[lagavulin16]

Any chance we can beta test it?

[Urs]

Any chance we can beta test it?

You mean Bazille? Go to page 6 and scroll down to the bottom

[lagavulin16]

As this is modular, is it possible to run each OSC through separate cores, as well as any particularly CPU intensive filters?

[Urs]

As this is modular, is it possible to run each OSC through separate cores, as well as any particularly CPU intensive filters?

Not at all. The point about the modularity is that everything can be patched into everything else. The freedom of connectivity is the actual problem. It requires that all modules have a minimal latency towards each other (which is a fraction of a sample). That means, everything is bound to be computed in perfect sync.

Running things on multiple cores is great when things can be calculated at arbitrary intervals (google for the "thread race" example), which only works if various tasks are either totally independent, or do not need to be calculated in tight sync.

Thus, as paradox as it may seem, maximum modularity in a synth plugin does not lend itself to independence.

Urs

[lagavulin16]

As this is modular, is it possible to run each OSC through separate cores, as well as any particularly CPU intensive filters?

Not at all. The point about the modularity is that everything can be patched into everything else. The freedom of connectivity is the actual problem. It requires that all modules have a minimal latency towards each other (which is a fraction of a sample). That means, everything is bound to be computed in perfect sync.

Running things on multiple cores is great when things can be calculated at arbitrary intervals (google for the "thread race" example), which only works if various tasks are either totally independent, or do not need to be calculated in tight sync.

Thus, as paradox as it may seem, maximum modularity in a synth plugin does not lend itself to independence.

Urs

Do you see any areas where an audio plugin can run across multiple cores, or is it simply going to require the ability for multiple cores to process in unison at the same (or close) latency as seen going through a single core?

[Urs]

Do you see any areas where an audio plugin can run across multiple cores, or is it simply going to require the ability for multiple cores to process in unison at the same (or close) latency as seen going through a single core?

Well, some plugins technically run on multiple cores, e.g. UAD ones or stuff that uses the GPU. This however always involves latency to buffer up timing issues.

It doesn't really make sense to multithread the process of a single plugin. The overhead would not justify the gain. Instead, a host can run separate tracks and chains of plugins on separate cores. That makes much more sense.