does zebra only use 1 core?

[AstralExistence]

I'm still on a dual-core from 2008... i'd already be spoiled with a quad-core.

sometimes i forget what i really have. thanx for reminding me people can be spoiled.

[AstralExistence]

I'm still on a dual-core from 2008... i'd already be spoiled with a quad-core.

sometimes i forget what i really have. thanx for reminding me people can become so spoiled.

[xh3rv]

isn't it a general rule that if your DAW deal with multi-core you should turn off the multi-core support of the single vsti anyway?

Have there been cases where certain combinations of DAW and plugin create conflicts? Generally the tools for distributing computation across cores operate closer to the OS and the hardware, the DAW and plugins have similar access to these tools. I think something would have to be a little off for this conflict to occur.

[VitaminD]

Actually, the human brain CAN multi task. But it won't be doing 2 things at the same time, with the same concentration, and dedication, as it would be doing one thing at a time.

Then it is not multi-tasking. It just schedules time between them but even then it isn't multi-tasking, it gives the allusion it is multitasking (since, after all it is processing one thing at a time). Besides, A computer processor (even a single core using context switching) doesn't make additional errors when it has to process multiple items.

The human brain appears to process in a serial fashion consciously. But is, for most people, terrible at context switching which is crucial to even simulated multi-tasking.

In any case, I think my point about serial and parallel processing is still accurate for the topic.

[Urs]

isn't it a general rule that if your DAW deal with multi-core you should turn off the multi-core support of the single vsti anyway?

Have there been cases where certain combinations of DAW and plugin create conflicts? Generally the tools for distributing computation across cores operate closer to the OS and the hardware, the DAW and plugins have similar access to these tools. I think something would have to be a little off for this conflict to occur.

There are conflicts, unfortunately. Diva (as well as ACE/Bazille) leaves the multithreading to the OS. It can be very efficient with little overhead. Some hosts are but too smart to do this. They profile the plugins on the various tracks and the distribute them in an "intelligent" way across threads. This however never takes into account that the operating system might balance the processing load from other threads and processes all by itself. The threads owned by the plug-in are invisible to the host, they're only visible to the OS. And then those hosts cause problems, because they're unaware of the other things that are going on.

Thing is, as long as plug-in formats have no concept of a threading model, there will be conflicts. Plug-ins can't tell hosts, they can only rely on the operating system as a best case scenario. Hosts that try to be smarter than the OS will always work against that.

We therefore think that it's best to leave multithreading to the operating system, not the host.

(or give us a hook to ride with the threading model of the host)

[AstralExistence]

still a bit confused urs. so will my i7 be able to spread out the cpu as more synths are added? laymans terms urs none of this dsp genius mumbo jumbo

[xh3rv]

still a bit confused urs. so will my i7 be able to spread out the cpu as more synths are added? laymans terms urs none of this dsp genius mumbo jumbo

The hardware is fine. Do you know which host? I'm not aware of any that give u-he stuff problems, but I'm sure you could confirm that for a particular DAW.

[Urs]

still a bit confused urs. so will my i7 be able to spread out the cpu as more synths are added? laymans terms urs none of this dsp genius mumbo jumbo

As people say, any i7 is sufficient to run Zebra. Any modern DAW will run instances on whichever core is free. There's no problem running 4 Zebras on 4 cores in parallel

[murnau]

We therefore think that it's best to leave multithreading to the operating system, not the host.

so the general rule is exact the opposite? to turn off multicore support in your host and keep it on for single plugins which support it?

[Urs]

We therefore think that it's best to leave multithreading to the operating system, not the host.

so the general rule is exact the opposite? to turn off multicore support in your host and keep it on for single plugins which support it?

Not necessarily. Some hosts let you switch off their "improved load balancing". That may still mean that they support multiple cores, but it may also mean that they leave the thinking to the OS.

I can't speak on behalf of host manufacturers though. But as the number of plug-ins with built-in multithreading rises, they may have to eventually deal with such problems.

It's either

- hosts offer a multithreading model to plug-ins (not very likely)
- hosts play nicely with multithreaded plug-ins ( )

Quite honestly, we were very surprised as to how well the OS can spread the load across cores evenly. from our perspective I see no reason to try to invent any better load balancing in a host.

[AstralExistence]

still a bit confused urs. so will my i7 be able to spread out the cpu as more synths are added? laymans terms urs none of this dsp genius mumbo jumbo

As people say, any i7 is sufficient to run Zebra. Any modern DAW will run instances on whichever core is free. There's no problem running 4 Zebras on 4 cores in parallel

gotcha.

[LFO8]

My 8-core Mac Pro is often struggling with some of the more expansive Zebra and Diva patches these days. Just when stuff starts to get interresting..

[Urs]

My 8-core Mac Pro is often struggling with some of the more expansive Zebra and Diva patches these days. Just when stuff starts to get interresting..

Which model is it? Our 2008 model is pre-Sandy-Bridge and thus has a weak memory controller. Not a machine for Diva. Our 2010 hexacore on the other hand runs numerous Divas without a hitch.

[LFO8]

It's a 3,1 2008 model

I'm thinking about selling one of my kidney's to upgrade to a second hand 2010 six core