Does CPU play a role in the DAW you use?
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- KVRist
- 282 posts since 7 Nov, 2009 from DC
Whatever DAW's you've tried, does how well it performs on your computer play a role in you using it? Or do you just sacrifice workarounds to work with it (etc less 3rd party plugins for stock etc)?
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- KVRAF
- 3086 posts since 4 May, 2012
There is a stark difference, depending on the DAWs you compare.
Power consumption does impact on such decisions and why I've found a happy home in Reaper.
Power consumption does impact on such decisions and why I've found a happy home in Reaper.
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- Banned
- 11467 posts since 4 Jan, 2017 from Warsaw, Poland
I tried my DAW without a CPU and the damn thing wouldn't even run 
But more seriously, I don't think CPU constrains drive the choices I make. I grew up with 8-bit computers and started writing music there, so I naturally tend to have more lean projects, using fewer tracks, sounds and effects. When I see people bragging about 100+ track projects it often turns out they've used 5 tracks for crash rides, 20 tracks for intermediate bounces, etc. Also when I watch tutorials on YT I'll notice many people just building super long FX chains to make changes that in reality can't be heard, or rather - that don't matter to anyone but them. That's fine, but I just find it wasteful.
But more seriously, I don't think CPU constrains drive the choices I make. I grew up with 8-bit computers and started writing music there, so I naturally tend to have more lean projects, using fewer tracks, sounds and effects. When I see people bragging about 100+ track projects it often turns out they've used 5 tracks for crash rides, 20 tracks for intermediate bounces, etc. Also when I watch tutorials on YT I'll notice many people just building super long FX chains to make changes that in reality can't be heard, or rather - that don't matter to anyone but them. That's fine, but I just find it wasteful.
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- KVRAF
- 4589 posts since 7 Jun, 2012 from Warsaw
I go for powerful CPU just to be able to ignore its impact on workflow. Better have a plenty of reserve to not get yourself cornered with not enough processing power.
Still, tend to freeze sounds sometimes if I don't play to tweak them later.
Still, tend to freeze sounds sometimes if I don't play to tweak them later.
Blog ------------- YouTube channel
Tricky-Loops wrote: (...)someone like Armin van Buuren who claims to make a track in half an hour and all his songs sound somewhat boring(...)
Tricky-Loops wrote: (...)someone like Armin van Buuren who claims to make a track in half an hour and all his songs sound somewhat boring(...)
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- KVRAF
- 2140 posts since 16 Jan, 2013 from USA
No, workflow and interface first. Work around if you have to.
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Danilo Villanova Danilo Villanova https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=418331
- KVRian
- 1197 posts since 30 Apr, 2018
I work around it by freezing tracks in Studio One. REAPER is amazing in this sense though, no question about it.
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- KVRAF
- 2982 posts since 31 Jan, 2003 from Ghent, Belgium
It wasn't very important for a long time (Hardware synths, older plugins), but I'd like to use more of the newer Arturia plugins on my DAW PC. I'll upgrade it one of these years...
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- KVRist
- 261 posts since 5 Jan, 2018 from Asheville, NC, USA
Sort of, in that i deal with it. But i think how well you click with a particular piece of software is way more important.
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- KVRian
- 1185 posts since 2 Jan, 2004 from England
Tracktion seems way snappier than Logic on my Monterey M1, though it seems to report using more CPU than it actually is (possible a single/multi core thing). I prefer Waveform to Logic too, if I'm honest, though that comes in fits and starts.
(To my joy, Absynth/FM8/Kontakt/MassiveX all seem to run very speedily on it, so whatever Rosetta voodoo is happening behind the scenes I'm not so concerned about M1 native porting as I was pre-purchase)
(To my joy, Absynth/FM8/Kontakt/MassiveX all seem to run very speedily on it, so whatever Rosetta voodoo is happening behind the scenes I'm not so concerned about M1 native porting as I was pre-purchase)
11, 418th in line to the KVR throne
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- Banned
- 4491 posts since 8 Jul, 2008 from UK
Not really, was the other way around, I use Cubase, it became more CPU hungry , I upgraded the CPU.
Will be around V20 by the time I need another now.
Will be around V20 by the time I need another now.
Don't trust those with words of weakness, they are the most aggressive
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- KVRAF
- 1863 posts since 11 Apr, 2008
Cubase is apparently not as great optimized as some other DAWs (it's what the internet says), so it seems that the CPU plays an important role here. With a 12-core 3900x it's not a big deal tbh and anyway, I'm printing everything to audio for archiving purposes, so even in a big project, I don't keep all tracks as midi/VSTi at the same time.
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- KVRAF
- 4589 posts since 7 Jun, 2012 from Warsaw
Okay... yesterday I froze a number of tracks in Ableton to audio... it took a while, so I lost the focus and started doing some other stuff instead. It's important to me to have everything ready and loaded as soon as possible.
Blog ------------- YouTube channel
Tricky-Loops wrote: (...)someone like Armin van Buuren who claims to make a track in half an hour and all his songs sound somewhat boring(...)
Tricky-Loops wrote: (...)someone like Armin van Buuren who claims to make a track in half an hour and all his songs sound somewhat boring(...)
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- KVRAF
- 3506 posts since 12 May, 2011
Still using a i7 4790k @48k sample rate. Since I mostly use sample libraries (EastWest/Kontakt, etc) disk speed and RAM is more/as important.