KVR Audio

Michael Allan Cumming · Sat Jun 04, 2005 1:25 pm

When I get a bunch of VSTis going (especially bad boys like Tassman and Absynth) Cubase SX 2.0 pretty much grinds to a halt.

Do "lighter" programs like Tracktion or Sonar have this same problem ?

Is is the VSTis or the host that are to blame ?

rbet · Post by **rbet** » Sat Jun 04, 2005 1:35 pm

what's your DAW config? I don't think a particular host handles VSTis better than some other.

Stairsteps · Post by **Stairsteps** » Sat Jun 04, 2005 1:38 pm

Its true Sonar 4 has a very low cpu overhead but Vsti is native to Steinberg which is a Cubase product.

1 thing you can try is to set your system memory swap file to 512 , and in memory usage make sure you set it to System cache instead of programs.

Also try to upgrade the ram you have to at least 1 gig.

I will check to see how much resources drain me when using the products mentioned with Sonar 4, and post my specs and results for you to compare.

Stairsteps · Post by **Stairsteps** » Sat Jun 04, 2005 1:56 pm

Ok my specs are not the best but I know how to configure my DAW to get the most out of it.
ASUS motherboard
AMD XP 2000 chip
Geforce 3 card
Cable modem
Kingston PC 2100 ram 1 gig
Twin WD 80 gig HDs in Raid set up
Creative Audigy Sound card with break out box going thru optical in/outs with XLR mic preamp. 24/96
Sonar 4 running in 48Khz/24bit
Latency is 2 running on WDM drivers
I have Absynth 2 opened twice and tassman 4 opened once with the preset Bowed Pad

results: ((CPU meter usage is hovering at 48%}) not too bad I would say, judgeing that im not even using a industry standard audio card, just a combo card so I can play my RPGs and play my music with decent results. "shame on me I know" but im too cheap to upgrade hehe im trying to squezze at least 5 years outta this DAW, mabey more, going on 4 already

Tassman4 I would say is better on the CPU than 3 or 2 was. Running 2 Absynths im at 8%, running 1 Tassman alone im at 20 to 38% depending on the preset.

Hope that helps a little

Michael Allan Cumming · Sat Jun 04, 2005 4:05 pm

rbet wrote:what's your DAW config? I don't think a particular host handles VSTis better than some other.

I have a Toshiba Satellite A70 notebook:

- 3.06 Mobile P4
- 1GB Kingston 2700DDR
- 60GB 4200rpm HD
- Mobile ATI Radeon 9000 (64mb Shared)
- M-Audio Firewire Solo

I've killed every background service but I've yet to try some of the tweaks suggest on musicxp.net. I'll have to experiment this weekend to see if this situation can be salvaged.

Moe Shinola · Post by **Moe Shinola** » Sun Jun 05, 2005 1:09 am

I have Sonar 3 and when I try to record I always have to turn off a lot of effects plugins, otherwise Sonar grids to a halt. I have other problems with my setup but a forum post on the Cakewalk website makes me think that if I download the latest Delta 44 drivers it may fix a lot of it.

Jaeson Merrill · Post by **Jaeson Merrill** » Sun Jun 05, 2005 1:15 am

FLstudio is a dream with vstis.

biggrime · Post by **biggrime** » Sun Jun 05, 2005 1:27 am

I have cakewalk sonar 4 and have been using cakewalk since pro 9(right before sonar was born) Sonar does have a problem with some VSTs. Sonar will crash. I know its not that my computer is too weak cause i can run those same vst as a stand alone and run sonar at the same time it runs fine. i just use my patchmix internal mixer on my emu 0404 card to record the stand alone without having to run cables from my computer to my mixer and back into my computer. So you might want to use some of those VST as stand alone if its available.

CC4 · Post by **CC4** » Sun Jun 05, 2005 2:20 am

i think with something like Absynth, you could probably grind any host to a halt. it can do some pretty complex things...

djguido · Post by **djguido** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 6:55 pm

I agree, FL studio is a dream to work with when using VSTi but I still like to record the VSTi to a track. but I have used 3 Absynths and Z3ta and no problem.

zircon · Post by **zircon** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 7:27 pm

Another vote for FLStudio. Some of my projects use upwards of 20 VSTis, like Pro-53, fm7, Reaktor 5, impOSCar, Absynth 3, etc. VST effects are heavy too, often going above 80 in number (sometimes more like 110-120). Even with all this stuff, I can still work on my projects fine.

jplanet · Post by **jplanet** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 7:46 pm

I have noticed that big ROMplers like The Grand and Elektrik Piano take only a fraction of the time to load when used in Tracktion as opposed to Nuendo. And being that Tracktion itself is easier on the CPU, there is some difference there.

Debutante · Post by **Debutante** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 8:09 pm

...no problems with FL yet...beta versions or whatever...

hello1234 · Post by **hello1234** » Tue Jun 07, 2005 6:47 am

Jaeson Merrill wrote:FLstudio is a dream with vstis.

It's really good.......much better than sonar.

hello1234 · Post by **hello1234** » Tue Jun 07, 2005 6:49 am

jplanet wrote:I have noticed that big ROMplers like The Grand and Elektrik Piano take only a fraction of the time to load when used in Tracktion as opposed to Nuendo. And being that Tracktion itself is easier on the CPU, there is some difference there.

Tracktion isn't the pro aplication that nuendo/protools/etc is.....but it's very very very stable and a super way to "get things done"

Are certain hosts better for VSTi usage ?