I'm currently working on a project which contains quite a lot of Vst's, Z3ta being the main one. I have a shitty soundcard so the CPU is redlining to the max. If i render each individual Vst pattern into a WAV file, is it true that it will save me some CPU? Sorry for the noobie question, i'm still getting the hang of things...

Yes.

By rendering to an audio file, your computer has only to read a simple audio file rather than your CPU having to perform all the calculations to make the sounds your VST instruments and effects are producing. You can also try freezing a track if your DAW software supports it. Track freezing is exactly the same thing as rendering to audio.

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Originally posted by Eric J Yes. By rendering to an audio file, your computer has only to read a simple audio file rather than your CPU having to perform all the calculations to make the sounds your VST instruments and effects are producing. You can also try freezing a track if your DAW software supports it. Track freezing is exactly the same thing as rendering to audio.

Ok, thanks very much Eric!

you also might want to check out http://www.asio4all.com/

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Originally posted by asdfg you also might want to check out http://www.asio4all.com/

ASIO drivers did make a difference, though CPU was still sky high unfortunately

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Originally posted by Alan2008 I have a shitty soundcard so the CPU is redlining to the max.

A better soundcard will give you better sound quality, more inputs/outputs and so on, but won't help your CPU usage at all.

To get better CPU usage, get a better CPU or get some cards (like the UAD or TC Electronics ones) which run plugins off them.

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Originally posted by derail A better soundcard will give you better sound quality, more inputs/outputs and so on, but won't help your CPU usage at all.

?

Yes it will.

ASIO4ALL is far from efficient. At the same latencies, a proper ASIO driver will chew up way less CPU.

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Originally posted by derail A better soundcard will give you better sound quality, more inputs/outputs and so on, but won't help your CPU usage at all.

A better soundcard will get you a lower latency without it using as much CPU time.
So yes, a better soundcard with proper drivers = saving on CPU usage.


To the OP: how come you didn't just try it for yourself? I don't mean to sound like i'm taking a direct stab at you but was it really easier to log onto TA, make a new thread than it was to just press the freeze button and look at the CPU meter?

i tested this theory on fl-8 with both my onboard ac'97 audio and my m-audio fast track pro.... i nearly maxed out my cpu (96%) with a bunch of instances of absynth 4 running chords on a complex atmosphere preset.

the same thing running on my fast track pro was an astonishing 1% lower cpu useage.

its all about cpu power when running vsts. recording audio is a different story



david

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quote:

Originally posted by davidbuhau i tested this theory on fl-8 with both my onboard ac'97 audio and my m-audio fast track pro.... i nearly maxed out my cpu (96%) with a bunch of instances of absynth 4 running chords on a complex atmosphere preset. the same thing running on my fast track pro was an astonishing 1% lower cpu useage. its all about cpu power when running vsts. recording audio is a different story david

I've done a similar test on cubase about a year ago and it made about a 15% improvement.

You're right VST's are going to cane your cpu regardless of soundcard, but it is a factor in overall cpu usage. You computer can only work as fast as the weakest link in the chain.

Rendering will save CPU, but may tax your hard drive more in some cases. Its a tradoff that usually comes out OK for dance producers, since most of the stress is placed on CPU by VST instruments. But if your HD is slow, or your recording a lot (esp. in rock) then you might find it makes for dropouts as your hard disk gets overloaded.

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quote:

Originally posted by T-Soma To the OP: how come you didn't just try it for yourself? I don't mean to sound like i'm taking a direct stab at you but was it really easier to log onto TA, make a new thread than it was to just press the freeze button and look at the CPU meter?

I suppose I could of...

Anyway thanks for the help everyone, much appreciated