denormalization?
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- KVRer
- 4 posts since 17 Aug, 2004 from Indianapolis
ok i'm an old guy that wants to try his hand at some multi-track recording. just simple stuff with my keyboards, guitars, etc. i've spent months & months reading about various sequencer programs & keep coming back to the idea of using tracktion to jump in. (seems like it might be a bit less intimidating than many of the others.) ok so now i want to get a new computer to dedicate to music making, and i'm all set to get a hp or compaq with a p4 when i see in FAQ's that "the intel p4 suffers from a problem called denormalization that causes unexpected and rather severe cpu performance dropouts. the mda plugins that ship w/tracktion seem to be quite problematic in this regard"... does this mean that if i intend to use tracktion i should get a amd athlon equipped model instead of the pentium?... any advice would be greatly appreciated. thanks. tom
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- KVRer
- 20 posts since 24 Oct, 2003
No, not necessarily. AMD suffers from denormalization as well, although not as bad as the P4. I use a P4 w Tracktion and most of the more modern plugins out there have been updated to deal with denormals. The mda plugs are kinda old now and are not under active development anymore from what I can gather, but you can still use them.
Try using the Normalizer or KT Audiohealer plugin and place it before the offending mda plugin and it should eliminate the CPU spikes.
Try using the Normalizer or KT Audiohealer plugin and place it before the offending mda plugin and it should eliminate the CPU spikes.
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- KVRAF
- 4644 posts since 28 Nov, 2002 from Chicago
some newer P4 chips have a less harsh denormalization threshold than the earlier P4s too.
If you are making a choice between AMD and Intel, do it purely on a price performance ratio (typically AMD will win out, but not always). The number of plugs that are likely to cause denormalization is now vanishingly small and frankly the plugin market is so huge that few plugs are irreplacable either.
The Kjaerhaus Classic range will provide you with a number of high quality bread and butter effects that look and feel like the hardware you are most likely familiar with. They are freeware too, so you can't really ask for more.
If you are making a choice between AMD and Intel, do it purely on a price performance ratio (typically AMD will win out, but not always). The number of plugs that are likely to cause denormalization is now vanishingly small and frankly the plugin market is so huge that few plugs are irreplacable either.
The Kjaerhaus Classic range will provide you with a number of high quality bread and butter effects that look and feel like the hardware you are most likely familiar with. They are freeware too, so you can't really ask for more.
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