Tracktion Software

spoontechnique · Post by **spoontechnique** » Sat Dec 12, 2020 7:01 pm

Waveform has a barebones set of system requirements. But what does a recommended system look like for the current version? I'm thinking Windows, but I'm sure non-specific info would help out Mac/Linux users.

I'm trying to parse where to put the money in a desktop system for using Waveform. It seems like Intel does better on Waveform than AMD, but I'm not sure how much additional cores would benefit. The benchmark probably most applicable to DAWs generally is this, but how well that translates to Waveform is beyond me. I also can't tell how much a strong GPU would benefit WF.

How close are general music production builds like these to getting strong performance out of Waveform?

Steve Bolivar · Post by **Steve Bolivar** » Tue Dec 15, 2020 2:00 am

I've not heard Waveform is very picky about the computer hardware it's run on. You are right that Intel is considered the safe standard CPU for DAWs. I'd say those systems look fine but are probably overdoing it with the more powerful gaming video cards. I would go with Radeon over Nvidia. There are plenty of reports of DPC latency issues with Nvidia cards. What audio interface are you using? That can sometimes play a role in picking the motherboard.
Probably a good idea to post this over at the
Computer Setup and System Configuration forum too.
viewforum.php?f=16

spoontechnique · Post by **spoontechnique** » Tue Dec 15, 2020 3:15 am

Makes sense to me with the video cards. I'd probably not get a video card until I need one for video editing. Didn't know about DPC issues, I'll look into that. I'm using IK's Axe I/O interface, it's USB 2.0. Thanks for the link to the forum, that will help a ton!

Kott · Post by **Kott** » Tue Dec 15, 2020 3:25 am

what is the DPC issue?

Steve Bolivar · Post by **Steve Bolivar** » Tue Dec 15, 2020 4:19 am

There's some info here on it.
viewtopic.php?f=16&t=503585

jabe · Post by **jabe** » Tue Dec 15, 2020 10:58 am

As I recall, the preference isn't for a multicore processor, because there's little parallel processing going on. The need is more for sequential processing speed.

If you're going with Windows 10, check out the Windows 10 de-bloat videos on YouTube. There are links from thre to scripts. It's on my to-do list for the next few weeks.

I'm also intending (and don't hold your breath because I was intending to do this for Windows 7 and haven't) to create a script to close down unnecessary services in Windows 10 before using Tor W. A reboot should restart these services afterwards.This will be during 2021, I hope.

spoontechnique · Post by **spoontechnique** » Tue Dec 15, 2020 3:36 pm

My understanding is that single-core speed is more important for dealing with a single chain with lots of plugins, whereas multi-core is more important for dealing with many chains/tracks. But I'm not 100% sure on that, or how good Waveform's multi-core support is.

Steve Bolivar · Post by **Steve Bolivar** » Wed Dec 16, 2020 3:36 am

I think every DAW handles multicore processing of tracks in the same manner. A single track must be processed by a single core and it cannot be spread across multiple cores. Multiple single tracks can be processed by a single core. It just isn't possible to split the processing of a single track across multiple cores and reassemble it sequentially/in the correct order for proper playback.

What price range are you looking at for your build and or CPU? What is your current setup and how does that handle your Waveform projects? You can go to a site like http://cpuboss.com/
and compare your current CPU with another to get a rough idea of the performance boost you'd get.

Kott · Post by **Kott** » Wed Dec 16, 2020 5:35 am

Steve Bolivar wrote: Tue Dec 15, 2020 4:19 am There's some info here on it.
viewtopic.php?f=16&t=503585

Interesting. Don't know how it related to non-Windows platforms.

Steve Bolivar · Post by **Steve Bolivar** » Wed Dec 16, 2020 7:15 am

Kott wrote: Wed Dec 16, 2020 5:35 am
Steve Bolivar wrote: Tue Dec 15, 2020 4:19 am There's some info here on it.
viewtopic.php?f=16&t=503585
Interesting. Don't know how it related to non-Windows platforms.

NVIDIA/GeForce drivers for Windows are probably not related to non-Windows platforms. OP said they were thinking of building a Windows system.

spoontechnique · Post by **spoontechnique** » Wed Dec 16, 2020 5:42 pm

Currently I have a 5yo laptop with an Intel i7-6700HQ. Moving to any current desktop looks like a leap in performance. My budget is flexible, I think 1-2k, but I would prefer to put the money towards things that actually matter (CPU instead of graphics, etc.).

I know AMD CPUs in the past have dealt with bottlenecks for audio performance. But with the current gen it looks like they have very strong single-thread performance even compared to pricier Intel CPUs. The Ryzen 5000 series in particular seems to be above every other CPU in that regard. I know common wisdom says stick with Intel for audio, but it's a tempting proposition.

Tracktion Software

KVR Audio

Recommended Waveform System