Multi PC DAW Configuration?

I can't contribute (yet) but I want to throw in that you might want to add some of your hardware constraints (i.e. what you own/intend to use) as there are probably hundreds of ways, each with their own pitfalls ...
 
Do you want to just connect via MIDI and convert audio several times? Or do you envision some sort of digital connection, which is not trivial considering interfaces, clock sync etc ...
 
I will listen in on this thread, hopefully those who use mulitple DAW configs can share their experiences

Hey thanks!  I'm really not sure how I want to connect them, but it will definitely have to be by more than midi since VST's will be producing audio on the remote machine, probably over ethernet or Firewire?  I guess Firewire would be best.
 
The thing with a single fast pc is that I will probably run out of CPU eventually like I have with my i7-950 (at 4Ghz).  So instead of building a new $1200+ pc, I figured it would be better to just pick up a used core i5 / i7 every now and then.  I see them on sale pretty often for $200 - $250.  Added costs would then be I don't know what...  FX-Teleport is free, but old and 32-bit only I think.
 
This is what I have at present:
 
core i7-950 @ 4Ghz
16Gb RAM
Focusrite Saffire Pro 14 (firewire interface)
Sonar Platinum
tons of VSTs
 
The "Vienna Ensemble PRO" JonD suggested looks like a pretty good option....
 
 

I'm currently using one fast PC, but I'm about to add at least one, and maybe two additional machines. I've run a bunch of different machine configurations over the years, from single machine to Master plus GigaStudio slave (for those that remember Giga) to single machine using VEPro to host Kontakt to Master plus Audio+MIDI slave using Lightpipe and MidiOverLan to Master plus Audio+MIDI slave using VEPro... well, you get the idea<G>.
While FXTransport, MIDIOverLAN, Dante, and other such tools work, VEPro simplifies things so much that I recommend just starting there. It will still require some work,
 
The hardware requirements for a secondary machine depend on what you plan to host there. It doesn't need to be a fire-breathing dragon, but it still needs to be reasonably fast, and you may be limited to CPU/Motherboard choices by your memory requirements.

I have a Q6600 based system (my previous DAW) which is limited to 8GB of memory. I will use this to host a bunch of synthesizers, and since it still has "real" PCI slots I've loaded it up with a Frontier Dakota/Montana/Sierra giving me 32 audio inputs for my (hardware) synth rack, and 32 CV outputs for my analog synths, and an 8x8 MIDI interface, also for the hardware synths. All of which will use VEPro to get back and forth.

Then, when I've recovered from that adventure I will need to build a machine to host Kontakt and Vienna Instruments. Currently 64 GB seems to be the practical (affordable) limit, and that's my target. I'm also concerned that just because a machine can host 64GB (approx) of instruments doesn't mean it can stream them all. There  could be other bottlenecks. So it's always a game of optimization, and 64GB seems to be optimal at the moment.
 
So the only thing I can say definitively is start with VEPro and save yourself some aggravation<G>!
 
That's what I know at the moment... good luck and please share your results so the rest of us can piggyback off your hard work<G>!

I can try...
 
Machine Specs:
> CPU: Intel i7-4790k @ 4GHz
> Motherboard: ASRock Z97 Extreme4
> BIOS: AMI P1.30 (05/23/2014)
> Power supply: Corsair CX600M 600 Watt ATX Modular
> Operating system: Windows 10
> Amount & type of RAM: 32GB - Crucial Ballistix Sport XT 32GB DDR3-1600 (PC3-12800) CL9
> Graphics card/driver: none currently, using on-chip GPU
> Hard-Drives:
• Drive #1 (OS/Apps)- Crucial CT256MX100SSD1 256GB SATA III SSD
• Drive #2 (samples)- SAMSUNG 840 EVO MZ-7TE1T0BW 1TB SATA III MLC SSD
• Drive #3 (data) - Seagate ST1000DM003 Barracuda 7200 1TB SATA III HDD
• Drive #4 (content) - Hitachi HDS721010CLA332 1000GB, 7200rpm, SATA II HDD
• Optical Drive: LG 24X Internal DVD ReWritable Drive SATA
> Audio Interface: UA Apollo Twin USB, Presonus 1818VSL
> MIDI Interface: Alyseum AL88C
> DSP: UA UAD2/Quad

No such thing as a "typical" project, but one recent project that gave me fits included:

• 14 stereo audio tracks - 24 bits, 96 kHz, each has a compressor and equalizer, typically UAD stuff)
• 474 virtual instrument audio tracks - little or no insert processing on these
• 464 Virtual instrument MIDI tracks
• 12 Reverb Auxes (mostly algorithmic, and mostly UAD, 3 instances of Reverberate)
• 16 Delay Auxes
• 1 instance of VSS2

 
Virtual  Instruments (all hosted in VEPro):

• 5 instances of Kontakt5 for strings
• 4 instances of Kontakt5 for winds
• 4 instances of Kontakt5 for brass
• 2 instances of Kontakt5 for percussion
• 3 instances of Kontakt5 for tuned percussion
• 2 instances of Kontakt5 for ensemble instruments
• 6 instances of Kontakt5 for keyboards & miscellaneous instruments
• 6 instances of VIPro (all of the Special Editions Volume 1 loaded)
• 2 instances of Toontrack Superior 2
• 32 synth tracks

Now obviously I do not use every single track, and with background loading ALL of the Kontakt stuff is loaded fully purged, so I am only using the memory that I absolutely need. And not every instance has 16 instruments loaded - I try to divide by instrument family to make things a little more organized.
 
There are times where I'm above 30GB of memory in use, and the machine does start to complain at that point.
 
Why work that way? Well that's personal preference I guess - I do not have all my Kontakt libraries at my fingertips, but I do have the majority of my strings, brass, winds, percussion and keyboards ready, and I have some of the specialty stuff that I (over?) use ready as well. A couple of the "miscellaneous" instances of Kontakt are reserved for stuff I might want to add on the fly.
 
Oh yeah, settings - mine are almost identical to yours, which makes sense since  I spent a great deal of time tweaking them when I put the 1818VSL into service, and I never bothered to test again when I added the Apollo Twin.
 
I use 24 bit word length for everything.
 
I was using 48 kHz for live audio, but recently I've been experimenting with 96 kHz for love audio and 48 kHz for virtual instruments (love that  I can mix and match). Not that  most sample libraries provide choices of sample rate<G>!
 
For tracking I keep the ASIO Buffer Size at 64, or even 32 if I can get away with it. For mixing I'll bump up the buffer size to at least 128, and sometimes 256 if I am running into problems. Record/Playback I/O Buffers are set to 512k.
 
Do you see anything obviously wrong?
 
I definitely want to re-purpose the old DAW (Q6600) as an audio/MIDI interface for the hardware synths using VEPro. Doesn't cost me anything but a little time and probably some hair pulling.

I'd love to skip over a third machine for Kontakt if I can. Not that I'm cheap or anything<G>...

Freezing and bouncing certainly free up resources, but I haven't needed to do that, yet. For the most part when  I run into problems with playback it is a stutter or a click and bumping up the latency gets me back on track.

As far as workflow goes - I'd give my right... turn signal for an orchestral library that occupied one track per instrument, and included all the articulations in each track, accessible via CCs. That would reduce my template to what, 35-40 MIDI tracks and 35-40 audio tracks for the orchestra. Pretty significant savings!
 
But library developers don't ask me<G>!

So the choices are:
1) build on the fly and load only those instruments and articulations you need
2) work with a template
 
As libraries increase is capabilities (and size) and until there is a uniform way to handle multiple articulations per track I think the template wins because loading on the fly is a real concentration breaker. At least for me.

Second (and third, and so on) machine is the easiest way to manage the load today. Not entirely true, I suspect a single machine with 64 GB  would do the  trick too, but I don't feel like building a new primary DAW right now.
 
Thanks,
 
Bill

@wst3 - Thanks for the layout.  I don't presently use that much stuff because I can't - I am at 24 / 48 and going to 96khz and 192khz puts me past the cpu limits.
 
I wish I had a clearer understanding of how RAM is used, but at my 16GB limit, if that gets maxed out which is soooo easy using Kontakt libraries and such, then the cpu has to start trying to swap stuff out from hard disk to RAM.  I just OC'ed my RAM for a 12-15% boost, and it is slightly noticeable, but it won't be enough for long. I'll max out my RAM soon, then I can load more libraries, then I'm out of machine power again :)  Most of this at 48khz is not so bad UNTIL I start trying to track a bass or guitar through VSTs with little latency.
 
Time for VEPro and slave machines I guess.
 
@Siluroo - I have been thinking about going dual cpu for my next board, and on those boards you can get RAM slots for days.  The caveat being that you end up trading thread count for clock count.  Still thinking about it.

Hammerhole
@wst3 - Thanks for the layout.  I don't presently use that much stuff because I can't - I am at 24 / 48 and going to 96khz and 192khz puts me past the cpu limits.
 
I wish I had a clearer understanding of how RAM is used, but at my 16GB limit, if that gets maxed out which is soooo easy using Kontakt libraries and such, then the cpu has to start trying to swap stuff out from hard disk to RAM.  I just OC'ed my RAM for a 12-15% boost, and it is slightly noticeable, but it won't be enough for long. I'll max out my RAM soon, then I can load more libraries, then I'm out of machine power again :)  Most of this at 48khz is not so bad UNTIL I start trying to track a bass or guitar through VSTs with little latency.
 
Time for VEPro and slave machines I guess.
 
@Siluroo - I have been thinking about going dual cpu for my next board, and on those boards you can get RAM slots for days.  The caveat being that you end up trading thread count for clock count.  Still thinking about it.

There's the problem. 

My orchestral template (EWQLSO) is fully loaded and consists of approx 135 tracks
 
In the vast majority of cases, each instrument, say 1st violins, take up 3 tracks - Audio, Midi & another Midi for keyswitching.
The keyswitch tracks are actually drum maps which I view "stacked" in the PRV with the Note midi track underneath the drum map.
 
The whole thing takes up about 9Gb of RAM