CPU Performance vs. Real-Time Performance in Digital Audio Workstations

[marcedemus]

This video describes what aspects of computer performance are important for a DAW. Well done Richard Ames!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUsLLEkswzE

Thank you, really cool information.

[benny van de locht]

Earlier in this thread I told I purchased the Marian Seraph 8+ as an alternative to the more expensive RME internal cards.
I tried the Marian a while before on mixing and the performance is excellent, especially in comparison to the AKAI EIE pro i had (which is very ok for an external USB device).

In fact the performance went through the roof as they say.
I tested the performance on VSTi instruments that use large sample libraries in the past week, also the performance is fantastic.
I can say goodbye now to the (noticable) latency between pressing a key and hearing the response of the instrument.
This is what I've always wanted when playing an instrument, before this was never satisfying.

Only one thing is not working, and that is the MIDI extention option I took.
The manufacturer is figuring out what the problem is, and is taking care of it at the moment.
I must say I was a little lazy in trying to solve this, so that's why it took so long to solve the issue. In the meantime I was using my thrusty old Edirol UM-1 Midi to USB device... which is fine for the moment.

What I can say is, I recommend anyone that is in search of a performant card but is on a budget, to certainly take a look at the Marian cards because they are truly excellent I think. They have a lot of solutions for different purposes, and you can link later additional cards trough their WDM connection, so you could always add optical, MADI, analog connections as many as you like.

The Trace series are cheaper, but for a little more you can have the Seraph series that is a lot more modern and performant/audio quality.

I hope someone can use this information, because good gear costs a lot of money and some things that are not very known don't get a lot of attention while they can be as good or maybe even better for the money.

The idea I have is to get my complete system to my taste and then never update ANYTHING ever again, no plugins, no O.S., no browser, no nothing... only when hardware breaks.
I hope it is possible, I feel I'm almost complete anyway...

Benny

[Frank]

The idea I have is to get my complete system to my taste and then never update ANYTHING ever again, no plugins, no O.S., no browser, no nothing... only when hardware breaks.
I hope it is possible, I feel I'm almost complete anyway...

Benny

I feel your pain
had more than i wish update failures and hardware crashes in recent months.


and your wish can be fullfilled!!

Just take care that ever never last longer than three, four months: OK half a year !! Agree?

Regards

Frank

soon we will have Mixbus 4 !! With wonderfull new features !! NO you cannot install that. Half a year is not over yet. And by the way it needs some new libraries, so a little update of the operating system is mandatory.

Imagine : 2013 Mixbus 1. No updates ever !
Sad Benny

Let´s be here on the forum together. share the pain : and share the happyness!!

My wishlist for Mixbus 5

IKIS
...

[benny van de locht]

That is how it works... but it shouldn't need to be that way.
You could perfectly go with whatever works and just replace the computer when it breaks. Clone your system drives and just put them into your future system. Ok, you'll probably have another interface for your harddisk by then... so the medium (the clonded disk) should be made compatible or replaced with another clone before the system dies.

Untill I'm to the point that I get to make any real money producing music, I probably don't NEED to invest in newer and better stuff. In fact, I COULD make money with what I have and do so for a long time. But for now the only limitation is my own capability... and that will remain the same for a very very long time probably. It doesn't need to be the very best all the time to be good, in fact what I have now is so incredibly good that I wonder what else I would need except for musical instruments and knowledge.
After all, to me it's all about the music that matters (making my own) not the gear.

I just came up with another idea, what if I were to buy a few extra spare motherboards for future use... if I wait for a few years I can buy a few second hand for pocket money and be safe for the next 20 years or so...?

[Tassy]

Hi Benny
Great to find someone who is on the same view with me.
I am happy user of Win7/64, Mixbus2.5, all plugs 32bit, and no thought in my head to upgrade to any.
Why change something that works great?

Best
Tassy

[benny van de locht]

Hi Benny
Great to find someone who is on the same view with me.
I am happy user of Win7/64, Mixbus2.5, all plugs 32bit, and no thought in my head to upgrade to any.
Why change something that works great?

Best
Tassy

It's about the music after all...

[Tassy]

Exactly...

[Studio Saturn]

Are you telling me you are still using version 2? How come? V3 is much more superior.

[Frank]

That is how it works... but it shouldn't need to be that way.

We are part of an evolving society. Everything changes in time. And our demands change in time too. Novelties become clumsy and old fashioned.

Music evolves : Look how mach the Beatles changed in time, Or Schoenberg. Coltrane: Frank Zappa.
We are not listening to wax rolls or Phonographs anymore except to hear a curiosity.

You could perfectly go with whatever works and just replace the computer when it breaks. Clone your system drives and just put them into your future system.

But would you want that ? would you ignore a system which loads instantanious, make no noise, has no breakable drives? Does not need drive cloning? and costs much less. Or would you rather go and search for part out of production?

Those who remember the great Atari 1024 which could record 24 tracks, will smile, but nobody will consider it for serious music production.

And my 5$ , 10$, 40$ Rasberry Pi, do out perform dream machines of not so long ago.

Ok, you'll probably have another interface for your harddisk by then... so the medium (the clonded disk) should be made compatible or replaced with another clone before the system dies.

Information technology nightmare. People in their seventies now are called to instruct the mainframes of the past. Because they need the historical data: how fo you switch them on? How to connect them to analogue telephone lines: what about those connection via ISDN ?

Untill I'm to the point that I get to make any real money producing music, I probably don't NEED to invest in newer and better stuff.

You will have to make something special : and suppose you produce something great : and you have not evolved: You bring your fresh burned CD and people wonder : what is that ?
Or will you ask for a dial in line to transfer the data ?

In fact, I COULD make money with what I have and do so for a long time. But for now the only limitation is my own capability... and that will remain the same for a very very long time probably.

Depends what you call a long time. The medium you use a long time is 5 years. We did not have Mixbus 5 years ago.

If you choose paper for music : Yes it can be done, and it is still used . one has to choose the proper ink, and store correctly, before it fades.

It doesn't need to be the very best all the time to be good, in fact what I have now is so incredibly good that I wonder what else I would need except for musical instruments and knowledge.

Knowledge is a very good point! Of what you have and what will come. And yes, you will have to update, your knowledge. And because you know what is around, you will be eager to update.

After all, to me it's all about the music that matters (making my own) not the gear.

Unless you sing a capella, music involves gear. And the gear evolves, be it musical instruments, and the way we reproduce it. Instruments are enhanced, reproduction systems are made better, more exciting.
If you do not update your mind, your hardware, your programs, you will be out of line, not compatible, and on your own.

I just came up with another idea, what if I were to buy a few extra spare motherboards for future use...

and processors? Ram ? Keyboards, mouse, video cards? and you think components lying on a shelve do not age?

And what about the investment loss?
I remember my brother in law proudly told me some time ago that he bought a supercomputer costing 27.000.000 dollars. A Cray. For the company he worked for.
My telephone now outperformes that machine. it was 300 Euro new : and has a colour screen !!

if I wait for a few years I can buy a few second hand for pocket money and be safe for the next 20 years or so...?

I a few years unless you live like a monk isolated from the world, you would not consider it.
Think now: which machine of 20 years ago would you use?
Mechanical musical instruments for sure: electronic machines : will they still work or are the screens fading, most likely one needs an expert for recapping.

In 20 years we will produce sound in 3D , in the successors of Atmos, we will have retina projection. Composition via brain waves. speech input and gestures.

And some of us will remember the clumsiness of Mixbus. Dream of finding a second hand MPC5. Laugh about the fact that we used midi and samples. and we explain what samples were.

regards

[benny van de locht]

Frank,

You are totally right!
But for me it would be a good idea to first master what I have, and like Tassy says, update my equipment when I feel the need for it (for me that will relate mostly to hardware).
I will certainly keep updating Mixbus and my other software, but will also try to spend as little as possible. If my system starts to fail running my software I probably will wait until it breaks, and then invest in newer technology.

Some professional mixers and producers do stick with what they have as long as it works, so why should I not do the same?
People buy a lot of stuff they don't need (me too), it's good for commerce but I'm now actually going to use my stuff before putting more money in it.

Benny