Does anyone know how to set up multiple PC's, where 1 master pc running Sonar is networked with several other "slaves" which will run RAM & CPU hog VSTi's (such as EWQL Play)?  

Ideally, the audio would all come back to sonar, as though the VSTis were running locally...
How does Sonar interact with plugin instruments over a network, and make the appropriate latency compensations?

What do you do on the remote systems; run the VSTi's in "stand alone" mode?

Is there a way to get the VSTi screens to show up on the master PC (to edit params etc without using a KVM switch) but have the program and sample libraries run off board on other pcs?

Is there a way to accomplish this via ethernet rather than via midi & audio connections?


Any knowledge is appreciated!

Thanks,
Joe

I don't know why one would do that. I run an i7 with 12GB and never had a hiccup... but my board supports 24GB. I've had 12 or so vsts running with no hiccups just because I was being silly (and didn't freeze them).


I'm not seeing the benefit as more hardware would costs $$$$$

Check out Vienna Ensemble Pro. I've been using this for a couple years for hosting large orchestral sample libraries on remote computers. It works well and keeps getting better.

For remote access to the machines I'm using Radmin.

Wow. That has to be an insane amount of instruments/resources!

I appreciate the help.  

I find it so funny (and almost predictable in the forum) when people say things like, "why are you doing that.  you don't need to."  I wish it were true.  But I am running a 3.3 GHz Core i7 with 32 GB on Windows 7 x64 and the work I am doing swamps it.   Lots of samples, soft synths, lots of processing, video running, all kinds of digital mayhem.  When you've got a full orchestra in 24 bits with tons of articulations and you're mixing multiple mic positions on most instruments, along with all kinds of synths and effects, resources go impressively fast...  So please, don't just sit there and say "don't do that any more, you don't need to."  Let me choose my pain!  And feel free to offer knowledge, other than the fact that you think I'm stupid or crazy.  :)

I'll look into Vienna Ensemble Pro and Radmin.  Thanks.  Others?

FWIW, I run EWQLSO Platinum Plus on my system.

My Orchestral Template consists of 136 tracks and I have every single keyswitched articulation loaded & ready to go.

I'm currently working on an orchestral piece which is about 15 minutes long - at this moment in time it's all midi.

This thing consumes approx 9Gb of RAM, so with the utmost respect, I suggest you start looking to see why your system is bogging down doing this sort of work & mine is not.

I don't think you're stupid or crazy but the solution may be a lot closer to hand than trying to offload some of the work to networked pc's (all of which will introduce their own problems)

> I find it so funny (and almost predictable in the forum) when people say things like, "why are you doing that. you don't need to."

That's generally down to not giving background scenario on the first post. People poke holes and this forces the original poster to state their full scenario rather than just their technical demands, as what has happened in your situation, and this is quite legit in my view. It's always useful to know what you are doing (as we found out later).

*Raising My Hand* I was THAT guy.

But, to be fair, a lot of folks come on here saying a few instances of a vst is bogging them down when it is a software/config problem. Then they think throwing ludicrous amounts of hardware resources will change that.

I apologize and will not try to be THAT GUY in the future.

Bristol_Jonesey


This thing consumes approx 9Gb of RAM, so with the utmost respect, I suggest you start looking to see why your system is bogging down doing this sort of work & mine is not.

Thanks for a very important message! Your system specs seemed very similar to mine and the processing load did also. I am using the same sample library (EWQLSO Plat+) the same way, with a few other  libraries (EWQL Symphonic Choirs, Voices of Passion, etc.) and a few synths. Based on your message, I thought there is no way that my system should need to "outsource work" to other PC's... So, I did some snooping around... I was shocked to find that I was only running on 8GB of RAM. Somehow I didn't notice that. It turns out that one of my kids "borrowed" 3 of the RAM modules about a week ago (for his gaming system) around the time I set up the template for my current project, and I've been unwittingly limping along with a crippled machine. Thanks for the inspiration to investigate... I certainly feel like an idiot now!


BJ: As a benchmark, I'm curious as to how long it takes your template to load, what are the specs of the drive you have the EWQLSO samples on, and what is the interface (eSATA, SATA, or other)? Thanks!


Incidentally, I looked into the Vienna Ensemble Pro offering and it does look like an excellent way to set up multiple PC's. With today's system performance it seems this type of thing may go the way of the buggy whip.


And hockeyjx, your initial gut reaction was spot on.


Thanks all!

If you have the money and need more performance from your streaming sample libraries, I would suggest in investing in some SSD drives. They are excellent for streaming samples.

Scott

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