Helpful ReplyPC Question

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ruralrocker2010
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2015/10/07 10:29:03 (permalink)

PC Question

Hey Guys,
 
I have somewhat of a challenging question for me because I'm not sure exactly what the problem is.
 
I have a Inspiron i5 Quad-Core 3.20 with 8GB of memory and two Sata drives. I'm having all sorts of CPU issues once I get past 2 VST's and if I use the pro-channel strip it adds up super quick. All processor, not memory, issues. RME UCX interface, running USB. I start off at 96 samples at 48k, but I just finally dropped to 44.1 and 128 and like I said, it doesn't take long to start clicking & popping, especially if I use Strum Session 2.0 & say, Abbey Road drummer (unusable config). This is obviously pretty problematic.
 
I recently purchase Komplete 10 and was so excited, but it ate my old computers lunch. So, I upgraded and thought, well, hell, that compueter was old...circa 2008, surely anything I buy now will clean house....um, nope. Finally got some routing and multi-proc issues figured out and it was running "ok", but I still can't gas the the thing. Now, I've taken to work flows that don't require having multiple VST's / Instruments running at the same time...but now with Platinum, I'm finding that I'm still dropping out with just a few tracks going. 
 
Two questions;
1. What's the realistic setup my computer "should" be able to handle given a Sonar Platinum setup?
2. What kind of computer can I buy or do I "need" to build one and what should that look like?
 
Please & thank you.
 
post edited by ruralrocker2010 - 2015/10/07 10:38:34

Joshua Barnes
Sonar Platinum / RME UCX / i5 3.2 8 GB Memory (Dell Inspiron) / Komplete 10 / Win 7 Home 64 Bit
#1
tomixornot
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Re: PC Question 2015/10/07 12:38:08 (permalink)
1) An idea setup for DAW - the most basic one is not running WIFI. Download the DPC Latency Checker to test your system :

http://www.thesycon.de/deu/latency_check.shtml
 
Hard disk should be 7200 rpm or above, no green drive (5400 rpm).
 
2) So many possibilities, but something like my setup below or better (i7 4790, etc) would run Platinum fine.

Albert


i7 2600K @ 3.40GHz / MB Intel DP67BG / 16GB Ram
- ADATA 250GB SSD (Boot)
- Samsung Spinpoint F1 1TB HDD (Samples)
Audio interface : Motu 828 MK ii
 
i7 6700K @ 4.00GHz / MB Asrock Z170 / 16GB Ram
- Samsung EVO 850 120GB / 500 GB SSD

Audio interface : Roland Quad Capture
 
Win 10 Pro / Sonar Platinum
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gswitz
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Re: PC Question 2015/10/07 12:55:27 (permalink)
What Tom says.

UCX is awesome! I love mine!

StudioCat > I use Windows 10 and Sonar Platinum. I have a touch screen.
I make some videos. This one shows how to do a physical loopback on the RME UCX to get many more equalizer nodes.
#3
Jim Roseberry
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Re: PC Question 2015/10/07 13:42:06 (permalink)
Get or build a custom PC that has low/consistent DPC Latency.
This will allow you to effectively run heavy loads at small ASIO buffer sizes.
With the right motherboard, the i7-4790k can be locked at 4.4GHz.
At 4.4GHz, the 4790k is fast.  Since you're not over-clocking, the CPU also runs cool/quiet.
Great balance of cost/performance...
16GB of RAM is sufficient for most scenarios.  
If you're making heavy use of virtual instruments, bump that up to 32GB.  
Note that adding unused RAM doesn't increase performance.  
IOW, If your projects only use 10GB, installing 32GB won't increase performance vs. having 16GB.
 

Best Regards,

Jim Roseberry
jim@studiocat.com
www.studiocat.com
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Doktor Avalanche
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Re: PC Question 2015/10/07 14:18:50 (permalink)
And I'd say the opposite of course. Off the shelf PC's offer great value for money, and in most cases as good as a custom built, maybe even better, you just need to spec them correctly and perhaps add a couple of your own customizations. It's all basically the same mass produced components give or take..

Performance has increased hugely over the last five years with PC's but still software demands have hardly gone up at all... My 5 year old Dell PC copes with Komplete just fine.

Everybody owns a super computer nowadays, I would get an i7 if you can though. Look at SSD's and consider 16gb RAM.
post edited by Doktor Avalanche - 2015/10/07 14:37:40

Sonar Platinum(64 bit),Win 8.1(64 bit),Saffire Pro 40(Firewire),Mix Control = 3.6,Firewire=VIA,Dell Studio XPS 8100(Intel Core i7 CPU 2.93 Ghz/16 Gb),2 x 1TB SSD (Samsung EVO 850),GeForce GTX 460,Yamaha DGX-505 keyboard,Roland A-300PRO,Roland SPD-30 V2,FD-8,Triggera Krigg,Shure SM7B,Yamaha HS5. Rap Pro,Maschine Studio+Komplete 9 Ultimate+Kontrol Z1,Addictive Keys,Waves Silver,Izotope Nectar elements,Overloud Bundle,Geist,Acronis True Image 2015.
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Doktor Avalanche
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Re: PC Question 2015/10/07 14:27:09 (permalink)
Btw the clicking and popping issues, Kontakt for instance puts in a load of unnecessary convelution reverbs that's bound to kill CPU. Kill them and you run just fine. I suggest you start another thread, giving us full steps to repro from a new project and telling us what you are experiencing in the Sonar forums, maybe this can be resolved..

You should be looking at tools like latencymon, process monitor and process explorer. Making sure your power management is set up correctly, software drivers are up to date etc..

Sonar Platinum(64 bit),Win 8.1(64 bit),Saffire Pro 40(Firewire),Mix Control = 3.6,Firewire=VIA,Dell Studio XPS 8100(Intel Core i7 CPU 2.93 Ghz/16 Gb),2 x 1TB SSD (Samsung EVO 850),GeForce GTX 460,Yamaha DGX-505 keyboard,Roland A-300PRO,Roland SPD-30 V2,FD-8,Triggera Krigg,Shure SM7B,Yamaha HS5. Rap Pro,Maschine Studio+Komplete 9 Ultimate+Kontrol Z1,Addictive Keys,Waves Silver,Izotope Nectar elements,Overloud Bundle,Geist,Acronis True Image 2015.
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ruralrocker2010
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Re: PC Question 2015/10/07 16:00:08 (permalink)
gswitz
What Tom says.

UCX is awesome! I love mine!

AGREEEEEEEEED A MILLION TIMES! I love it.

Joshua Barnes
Sonar Platinum / RME UCX / i5 3.2 8 GB Memory (Dell Inspiron) / Komplete 10 / Win 7 Home 64 Bit
#7
ruralrocker2010
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Re: PC Question 2015/10/07 16:04:31 (permalink)
OK - so, I think I'm going to take your advice and post a step by step because I feel like this thing pops WAY before it should.
 
So - just for grins I'll see if I can get it to a 15 minute or less screencast. I know I'm asking a lot, but I hope you guys can help.
 
@Doktor - is there any way to globally turn off convolution within Kontakt? Or do you have to do it each time and for every instrument?
 

Joshua Barnes
Sonar Platinum / RME UCX / i5 3.2 8 GB Memory (Dell Inspiron) / Komplete 10 / Win 7 Home 64 Bit
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Jim Roseberry
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Re: PC Question 2015/10/07 17:12:12 (permalink) ☄ Helpfulby tlw 2015/10/09 05:20:09
Doktor Avalanche
And I'd say the opposite of course. Off the shelf PC's offer great value for money, and in most cases as good as a custom built, maybe even better, 

 
When you're comparing an off-the-shelf machine to one where you hand pick literally each component for maximum DAW performance and minimum noise, there's absolutely no way any off-the-shelf machine is equal... let alone superior (not even a Mac Pro).  That's ignoring the obvious fact that off-the-shelf machines are built for general-purpose use and to a specific price point.  
 
The BOD at HP aren't taking "DAW use" into account when spec'ing a typical $800 machine.
 
Whether the OP needs that level of performance is a question only he can answer.
 
BTW, If you have the right machine, there's no need to turn off those Convolution reverbs in Kontakt/etc.
A modern well-configured machine can handle it... even at small ASIO buffer sizes.
 
post edited by Jim Roseberry - 2015/10/07 17:24:00

Best Regards,

Jim Roseberry
jim@studiocat.com
www.studiocat.com
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ruralrocker2010
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Re: PC Question 2015/10/07 17:38:12 (permalink)
Here's the question; are there any posted specs & parts lists to use? I'm not really a PC guy and I don't honestly know the difference between this part and that motherboard, etc.
 
or is there a custom PC configurator?

Joshua Barnes
Sonar Platinum / RME UCX / i5 3.2 8 GB Memory (Dell Inspiron) / Komplete 10 / Win 7 Home 64 Bit
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Bajan Blue
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Re: PC Question 2015/10/07 17:41:52 (permalink)
Well I've tried both Off the shelf and purpose built - if you are a reasonably heavy user there is no doubt in my mind, a purpose built system from someone who knows what they are doing will ALWAYS be the better option.
I have a couple from Jim - best machines I've ever had and worth every penny - oh and both still going strong!!
Nigel
 

Nigel
Check out the first single from our new Album, On Top of the World
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTLVCOeTcTc
 
Check out our latest videos on
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Check out our website
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ruralrocker2010
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Re: PC Question 2015/10/07 17:48:12 (permalink)
@Bajan - Jim, above, built them for you?

Joshua Barnes
Sonar Platinum / RME UCX / i5 3.2 8 GB Memory (Dell Inspiron) / Komplete 10 / Win 7 Home 64 Bit
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Doktor Avalanche
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Re: PC Question 2015/10/07 18:47:35 (permalink)
Jim Roseberry
BTW, If you have the right machine, there's no need to turn off those Convolution reverbs in Kontakt/etc.
A modern well-configured machine can handle it... even at small ASIO buffer sizes.


You can't globally turn off convolution reverb unfortunately,and this statement is entirely missing the point.

Having about 20 Kontakt presets running the same number of convolution reverbs is a crazy waste of CPU. Not only that the convolution reverbs in Kontakt are extremely inefficient. It is quite a common experience even in high power PCs.

If you must use convolution reverb you can send them all down to a single effect via the aux bus in Kontakt 5 or to perhaps a far more efficient reverb in Sonar.

... Or alternatively use a sledgehammer to crack a nut.
post edited by Doktor Avalanche - 2015/10/07 18:59:11

Sonar Platinum(64 bit),Win 8.1(64 bit),Saffire Pro 40(Firewire),Mix Control = 3.6,Firewire=VIA,Dell Studio XPS 8100(Intel Core i7 CPU 2.93 Ghz/16 Gb),2 x 1TB SSD (Samsung EVO 850),GeForce GTX 460,Yamaha DGX-505 keyboard,Roland A-300PRO,Roland SPD-30 V2,FD-8,Triggera Krigg,Shure SM7B,Yamaha HS5. Rap Pro,Maschine Studio+Komplete 9 Ultimate+Kontrol Z1,Addictive Keys,Waves Silver,Izotope Nectar elements,Overloud Bundle,Geist,Acronis True Image 2015.
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Doktor Avalanche
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Re: PC Question 2015/10/07 18:58:46 (permalink)
Jim Roseberry
When you're comparing an off-the-shelf machine to one where you hand pick literally each component for maximum DAW performance and minimum noise, there's absolutely no way any off-the-shelf machine is equal... let alone superior (not even a Mac Pro).  That's ignoring the obvious fact that off-the-shelf machines are built for general-purpose use and to a specific price point.  


To imply though that an off the shelf PC can't run a DAW perfectly well is utter bull. In most cases the specifications far exceed Sonar's minimum requirements, probably the most important component is the audio interface. Of course one is assuming the user will be buying a PC with at least half decent specs.

Most people using DAW's don't need to play counterstrike at the same time...
post edited by Doktor Avalanche - 2015/10/07 19:09:14

Sonar Platinum(64 bit),Win 8.1(64 bit),Saffire Pro 40(Firewire),Mix Control = 3.6,Firewire=VIA,Dell Studio XPS 8100(Intel Core i7 CPU 2.93 Ghz/16 Gb),2 x 1TB SSD (Samsung EVO 850),GeForce GTX 460,Yamaha DGX-505 keyboard,Roland A-300PRO,Roland SPD-30 V2,FD-8,Triggera Krigg,Shure SM7B,Yamaha HS5. Rap Pro,Maschine Studio+Komplete 9 Ultimate+Kontrol Z1,Addictive Keys,Waves Silver,Izotope Nectar elements,Overloud Bundle,Geist,Acronis True Image 2015.
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Doktor Avalanche
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Re: PC Question 2015/10/07 19:16:13 (permalink)
To the OP, if he's new to PC's and spec'ing them out I strongly recommend posting here for advice:
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/

It's also has an extremely useful website if you wish to study reviews and the ins and outs of PC specifications.

I think HP Z workstations are pretty good myself but not sure about budget... Best ask over there anyway for more impartial advice.
post edited by Doktor Avalanche - 2015/10/07 19:25:39

Sonar Platinum(64 bit),Win 8.1(64 bit),Saffire Pro 40(Firewire),Mix Control = 3.6,Firewire=VIA,Dell Studio XPS 8100(Intel Core i7 CPU 2.93 Ghz/16 Gb),2 x 1TB SSD (Samsung EVO 850),GeForce GTX 460,Yamaha DGX-505 keyboard,Roland A-300PRO,Roland SPD-30 V2,FD-8,Triggera Krigg,Shure SM7B,Yamaha HS5. Rap Pro,Maschine Studio+Komplete 9 Ultimate+Kontrol Z1,Addictive Keys,Waves Silver,Izotope Nectar elements,Overloud Bundle,Geist,Acronis True Image 2015.
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Bajan Blue
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Re: PC Question 2015/10/08 17:32:04 (permalink)
@Bajan - Jim, above, built them for you?
 
Hi Joshua
Yes Jim above - all our music and videos are made on Studio Cat Machines - Sonar for Music, Vegas for videos
His website is:-
http://www.studiocat.com/open_cart/
Cheers
Nigel
 

Nigel
Check out the first single from our new Album, On Top of the World
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTLVCOeTcTc
 
Check out our latest videos on
http://www.youtube.com/user/DevineLie/videos
 
Check out our website
www.devinelie.com
 
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tomixornot
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Re: PC Question 2015/10/08 23:20:06 (permalink)
To the OP, have you tried running DPC Latency Checker ? If it's indeed related to WIFI or HDD rpm issue, your existing PC may still run Sonar fine after settling it.

Albert


i7 2600K @ 3.40GHz / MB Intel DP67BG / 16GB Ram
- ADATA 250GB SSD (Boot)
- Samsung Spinpoint F1 1TB HDD (Samples)
Audio interface : Motu 828 MK ii
 
i7 6700K @ 4.00GHz / MB Asrock Z170 / 16GB Ram
- Samsung EVO 850 120GB / 500 GB SSD

Audio interface : Roland Quad Capture
 
Win 10 Pro / Sonar Platinum
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Jim Roseberry
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Re: PC Question 2015/10/09 08:45:33 (permalink) ☄ Helpfulby Mitch_I 2015/10/09 16:43:19
Doc, we've been around and around on this.  
 
For a very niche/specific application, it makes good sense (if you can afford it) to build a machine specific to that particular task.  You take away variables from a "general-purpose" scenario... that would result in compromises for a DAW (noise, lower than maximum possible performance, etc).
 
Again, if you can afford it (not that much more expensive), why live with significant compromises?
In the case of running Kontakt, yes... you could go in and disable Convolution reverbs on every instrument.
You can also freeze all virtual instruments... and all EFX/processing to all audio tracks.
That type of project would run fine on a 500MHz machine.  These are compromises we made 10 years ago.
Lucky for us, with today's speed/technology, we don't have to live with those compromises.
With the right machine, you can run these types of projects in realtime... at low ASIO buffer sizes.
We've got numerous hard-core composers taking this example to the extreme (off the top of my head - Sean Beason, Mike Worth, Evan Jolly, and Joseph Briggs).  Sean is probably the most extreme composer I've encountered.  He's regularly pulling 2000+ simultaneous notes of disk-streaming polyphony.  
Sean is doing this in real-time under tight deadlines.  There's no time for major workarounds or other impediments that kill work-flow.  There's no way any off-the-shelf machine would meet Sean's needs.
While most end-users don't need a machine like Sean's, they benefit from not having to implement work-arounds.
When you've got a great idea in your head... and you're ready to lay down that take, do you really want to switch focus to turning off convolution reverbs, freezing tracks, etc?  
It doesn't cost that much more to have a zero compromise machine.
Over the life of the machine... the cost difference is nothing.
 
Regarding the HP Z series: 
It's important to know that Xeon CPUs bring no benefit for DAW use.
They run at significantly slower clock-speed.
Note: Dual CPU motherboards often have issues with audio hardware (audio interfaces, UAD cards, etc).
For corporate server... sure.
For DAW, you can do significantly better at substantially lower cost.
 
 




Best Regards,

Jim Roseberry
jim@studiocat.com
www.studiocat.com
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Doktor Avalanche
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Re: PC Question 2015/10/09 09:03:15 (permalink)
Jim of course custom PC's have their uses (been here before), and that's generally when you want to run 128 zillion tracks on Reaktor or something..
 
Anyway fair enough Jim, every single off the shelf PC is crap, apart from yours, and none of us know how to spec up requirements. Everybody must have a custom assembled formula 1 car to run a DAW and minesweeper. And adding a separate convolution reverb on every single track the sensible and professional thing to do esp for home users. Intel business management software does not slow down PC's and all latency issues are hardware issues...
I'll leave it at that 

Sonar Platinum(64 bit),Win 8.1(64 bit),Saffire Pro 40(Firewire),Mix Control = 3.6,Firewire=VIA,Dell Studio XPS 8100(Intel Core i7 CPU 2.93 Ghz/16 Gb),2 x 1TB SSD (Samsung EVO 850),GeForce GTX 460,Yamaha DGX-505 keyboard,Roland A-300PRO,Roland SPD-30 V2,FD-8,Triggera Krigg,Shure SM7B,Yamaha HS5. Rap Pro,Maschine Studio+Komplete 9 Ultimate+Kontrol Z1,Addictive Keys,Waves Silver,Izotope Nectar elements,Overloud Bundle,Geist,Acronis True Image 2015.
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gswitz
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Re: PC Question 2015/10/09 09:54:30 (permalink)
Jim didn't say that, doc.

Also, I use one of Jim's computers. I like it.

StudioCat > I use Windows 10 and Sonar Platinum. I have a touch screen.
I make some videos. This one shows how to do a physical loopback on the RME UCX to get many more equalizer nodes.
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musicroom
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Re: PC Question 2015/10/09 10:52:54 (permalink)
I have a 6 year old studocat running at very low latency. My opinion is the beefing up an off the shelf pc would have cost me more in $$ and time spent not recording over that period of time. I've been there and done that with decent off the shelves and also built a couple of decent machines on my own. After living that, a custom daw at the reasonable pricing Jim offered surprised me --- turned out to be a great decision and one that I've recommended to others.

 
Dave
Songs
___________________________________
Desktop: Platinum / RME Multiface II / Purrfect Audio DAW  I7-3770 / 16 GB RAM / Win 10 Pro / Remote Laptop i7 6500U / 12GB RAM /  RME Babyface



 
 
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Doktor Avalanche
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Re: PC Question 2015/10/09 11:54:52 (permalink)
@gswitz I'm sure Jim's PCs are great. Not joking. Of course for those who have serious requirements (like needing to individually mic each member of the LSO, or some experimental synth nut (sadly I'm one of those), he's gonna be a guy worth talking to. I'm all for small business.

He said some of these things, and he tends to leave out the balance implying the rest, as though off shelf are somehow blanketly incapable. Of course that is what every good salesperson should do, and I'm not going to reprimand for doing so, but I hope he does not mind though if I add a little balance ;)
post edited by Doktor Avalanche - 2015/10/09 12:06:30

Sonar Platinum(64 bit),Win 8.1(64 bit),Saffire Pro 40(Firewire),Mix Control = 3.6,Firewire=VIA,Dell Studio XPS 8100(Intel Core i7 CPU 2.93 Ghz/16 Gb),2 x 1TB SSD (Samsung EVO 850),GeForce GTX 460,Yamaha DGX-505 keyboard,Roland A-300PRO,Roland SPD-30 V2,FD-8,Triggera Krigg,Shure SM7B,Yamaha HS5. Rap Pro,Maschine Studio+Komplete 9 Ultimate+Kontrol Z1,Addictive Keys,Waves Silver,Izotope Nectar elements,Overloud Bundle,Geist,Acronis True Image 2015.
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ruralrocker2010
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Re: PC Question 2015/10/09 14:56:53 (permalink)
tomixornot
To the OP, have you tried running DPC Latency Checker ? If it's indeed related to WIFI or HDD rpm issue, your existing PC may still run Sonar fine after settling it.


Yes I have - seems ok when I'm not running any software. So should I be doing the latency check while the software is running?

Joshua Barnes
Sonar Platinum / RME UCX / i5 3.2 8 GB Memory (Dell Inspiron) / Komplete 10 / Win 7 Home 64 Bit
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ruralrocker2010
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Re: PC Question 2015/10/09 15:01:16 (permalink)
My problem is what Jim said. It's CONSTANT, CONSTANT workarounds and interruptions. Nothing just works and then I spend 80% of my time trying to chase a rabbit instead of writing & recording my ideas. 
 
So, I think I got a little lost in the translation - I can use studiocat for my custom machine, or that would be risky? Just need some clarity. Thanks!
 

Joshua Barnes
Sonar Platinum / RME UCX / i5 3.2 8 GB Memory (Dell Inspiron) / Komplete 10 / Win 7 Home 64 Bit
#24
Mesh
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Re: PC Question 2015/10/09 15:20:01 (permalink)
http://www.studiocat.com/open_cart/
 Studiocat is Jim's website for custom built DAW's.......
 
Risky? with all the happy customers in here, I would say it's more like completely risk free. If you're not inclined to build your own, give Jim a call.....he'll help you out whether you buy or not........IMO, a class act.
 
(BTW, I'm not a customer as I built my own, but he did answer a bunch of questions and gave great advice 3-4 years ago).

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ruralrocker2010
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Re: PC Question 2015/10/09 15:32:02 (permalink)
Thank you guys very much!

Joshua Barnes
Sonar Platinum / RME UCX / i5 3.2 8 GB Memory (Dell Inspiron) / Komplete 10 / Win 7 Home 64 Bit
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mgh
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Re: PC Question 2015/10/09 16:42:16 (permalink)
My i5 750 with 8gb works fine with several iterations of Kontakt Rap Pro and other vsti with a pretty dodgy soundcard on win 10 in the echo audiofire. No need for you to upgrade yet!

Memorare debut album 'Philistine' available now http://blackwoodproductio...philistine-digipack-cd
#27
Sycraft
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Re: PC Question 2015/10/09 17:26:48 (permalink)
ruralrocker2010
My problem is what Jim said. It's CONSTANT, CONSTANT workarounds and interruptions. Nothing just works and then I spend 80% of my time trying to chase a rabbit instead of writing & recording my ideas. 
 
So, I think I got a little lost in the translation - I can use studiocat for my custom machine, or that would be risky? Just need some clarity. Thanks!
 


Well, throwing hardware at the problem is a good solution :). In general if you have a high end computer, and you do get something customized such that it is good for audio, you can get to the point where you can just do whatever you want and not care because it'll probably work well. Not the case 100% of the time, sometimes software is crap and causes problems and there's nothing that can be done since it is just written poorly.
 
Studiocat is a good option if you want a custom machine that you didn't build. What they do is buy the same parts you could buy, but put it together, configure it, test it, and support it. So it is a situation if you want support like you get from a major vendor, but control over the parts.
 
Regardless of if you build or buy, there are a number of things to try and get to keep your problems down:
 
1) More processor power is more better. While in general the CPU isn't going to be the limiting factor, it can be sometimes and the more you have the less likely it'll stall out on anything. Stick with Intel and with their high end stuff.
 
2) Throw a good amount of RAM at the problem. At least 16GB, maybe 32GB. You want your system to not have to page stuff out so you want plenty to load all your programs n' samples n' background services and so on.
 
3) SSDs are amazing. If you can afford it, SSDs are what you want for your samples storage. They are so fast that you'll basically never have a dropout due to waiting on disk access, even under heavy sample loads. The Samsung 850 EVOs are great choices for that for not too much money. I like a SSD for your OS, and another for samples. The audio tracks can go on a magnetic drive.
 
4) You can make some OS and UEFI changes to power management to help with latency. Basically you turn off most of the power saving features. You disable C-States, turbo mode, and dynamic voltage for the CPU. You fix it at one frequency and one voltage level. For the GPU, you change it from adaptive mode to max performance, which does the same thing and disables power management. This can double the idle wattage of your system, but helps with latency as there isn't any waiting for these things to spool up and down. This is the stuff that you need a custom system/motherboard for in general. Dell and such don't let you change that in their UEFI, whereas motherboard vendors like ASUS do.
 
5) If you run a virus scanner, make sure you run a good one. I recommend NOD32 from ESET. Also change it so that it does not do scanning on the directories with your samples and audio files in them, and that you exclude scanning of extensions of audio files types (WAV, CWP, NKI, NKM, that kind of thing) so it doesn't mess with that stuff while you are working.
 
6) Use wired network, not wireless. While all networking causes more latency when accessed than you might think, wireless is a lot worse. Also using a good NIC from Intel generally seems to give the best results. You can disable the NIC, of course, but I find it unnecessary.
 
7) Don't run unnecessary background processes. That doesn't mean go all slash n' burn, you can still have stuff running, but if you don't need it, don't have it run all the time.
 
 
If you do all that you will probably have a system that just works and you can do what you want. I never bounce anything, I run all the samplers, all the effects live on my system and it isn't an issue. No dropouts, slowdowns, stutters, etc. Nothing magic, just high end hardware :)
#28
Doktor Avalanche
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Re: PC Question 2015/10/09 18:21:13 (permalink)
Yup as above. I would add optimizing your power settings in windows, removing applications you don't need, checking your startup programs, disabling services you don't need, checking task scheduler for things running when you don't want them to run, keeping your software up to date (Inc windows, drivers, firmware and BIOS), running latencymon,process explorer and process monitor periodically, defragging your hard drives, turning off drivers you don't need.. Etc etc..

If you use wireless just disable it when running Sonar.

And yup this sort of crap can screw up even the most powerful of PC's.

Something everybody should learn to do...
post edited by Doktor Avalanche - 2015/10/09 18:31:50

Sonar Platinum(64 bit),Win 8.1(64 bit),Saffire Pro 40(Firewire),Mix Control = 3.6,Firewire=VIA,Dell Studio XPS 8100(Intel Core i7 CPU 2.93 Ghz/16 Gb),2 x 1TB SSD (Samsung EVO 850),GeForce GTX 460,Yamaha DGX-505 keyboard,Roland A-300PRO,Roland SPD-30 V2,FD-8,Triggera Krigg,Shure SM7B,Yamaha HS5. Rap Pro,Maschine Studio+Komplete 9 Ultimate+Kontrol Z1,Addictive Keys,Waves Silver,Izotope Nectar elements,Overloud Bundle,Geist,Acronis True Image 2015.
#29
tomixornot
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Re: PC Question 2015/10/09 22:39:03 (permalink)
ruralrocker2010
tomixornot
To the OP, have you tried running DPC Latency Checker ? If it's indeed related to WIFI or HDD rpm issue, your existing PC may still run Sonar fine after settling it.


Yes I have - seems ok when I'm not running any software. So should I be doing the latency check while the software is running?




Nope, just run the latency check alone. It will test the condition of your pc and gives you a yes / no if your pc is suitable to run DAW.
 

Albert


i7 2600K @ 3.40GHz / MB Intel DP67BG / 16GB Ram
- ADATA 250GB SSD (Boot)
- Samsung Spinpoint F1 1TB HDD (Samples)
Audio interface : Motu 828 MK ii
 
i7 6700K @ 4.00GHz / MB Asrock Z170 / 16GB Ram
- Samsung EVO 850 120GB / 500 GB SSD

Audio interface : Roland Quad Capture
 
Win 10 Pro / Sonar Platinum
#30
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