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DAW's With Lowest CPU Drain When Using VSTs
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| Fledz |
I just thought it was an interesting question after seeing echosystm remark in another thread that Ableton uses up alot of CPU for VSTs.
So what are your experiences with different sequencers. I use Ableton (Live 6) and it does tend to drain a bit. Luckily it's remedied by the really good freeze function which is very fast so it's not too big of a deal.
I also use Cubase (SX 3) and I have to say it's much better. I can load up alot more VSTs and it handles them much better.
What are your experiences and how do other sequencers fare?
Of course it all depends on your computer but if you're using more than one sequencer, share your thoughts :) |
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| Zombie0729 |
i remember sonar being horrible on my p4 so i switched to ableton... maybe you guys are using a ton of polyphony but i don't run into any issues on ableton...
then again 2200x2 AMD 64 x2's :) 2gigs of RAM and a hot girlfriend... |
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| 3F05Q |
| quote: | Originally posted by Zombie0729
...and a hot girlfriend... |
...so that you no longer have to visit porn sites that load your computer up with CPU draining spyware?
...
BRILLIANT!! |
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| Centra Spike |
| I have read that Reaper is the best. |
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| Ray_Chappell |
| I use Ableton on a P4, 2.2 ghz... sux. Maybe I don't have enough RAM, just 1 gig of the old kind, but it really sux. I even wiped Windows out, only installed bare minimum components, and still have trouble. Just bought a new computer that will be here on the 20th. I used other DAW's, but never got far enough into tracks for it to drain resources. So, Ableton's the first one I've done entire tracks on and it's painful to work with on a P4. That said, love the program. |
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| SPAWNmaster |
not really related to the thread prompt but sort of going off what others have been saying...
i have to say that intel macs are truly beasts. I got the lowest end intel macbook (regular macbook not even the pro, and its 1.8ghtz and 1gb of ram). Simply amazing...running around 20 channels, with nothing frozen, half of which are loaded with resource heavy vst's, can playback audio at 85% cpu load without even a stutter (on Ableton that is). I highly recommend Mac's for this sort of thing.
I have Cubase on a PC however so can't really compare how both DAW's run on the macbook unfortunately, but if anyone has any input feel free to comment.
cheers |
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| Lolo |
| quote: | Originally posted by Fledz
I just thought it was an interesting question after seeing echosystm remark in another thread that Ableton uses up alot of CPU for VSTs.
So what are your experiences with different sequencers. I use Ableton (Live 6) and it does tend to drain a bit. Luckily it's remedied by the really good freeze function which is very fast so it's not too big of a deal.
I also use Cubase (SX 3) and I have to say it's much better. I can load up alot more VSTs and it handles them much better.
What are your experiences and how do other sequencers fare?
Of course it all depends on your computer but if you're using more than one sequencer, share your thoughts :) |
Disabling the warp markers when you don't need them (consolidated in-sync audio clips for ex) should help a little bit. This is what causes the cpu usage most of the time. And also, DISABLE the inputs of each audio channel when you don't need them (set from Ext. In to No Input), on a 20 track file it should spare you like 10% cpu usage.
Honestly, it's not a drain at all, just that it tends not to be that 3rd party VST-friendly at all at times. It really depends on which plug-ins. Korg M1/WS, Zebra, for example, are light. Massive, Reaktor, and all NI instruments in general (except for fm8) are a real pain.
I strongly suggest the operator and the sampler options for Live 6. Actually, you can do anything you want with that without having to rely on 3rd party plugins. Sampler imports EXS or even Halion multisamples, which makes it a no-brainer IMHO.
L. |
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| echosystm |
In order of drain:
Ableton
Pro Tools / Sonar (wrapped)
FL
Cubase
Reaper |
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| Lolo |
ah on windows, ok IC. Different indeed. Live Mac runs better apparently?!?
L. |
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| SPAWNmaster |
| well I guess there's a standard perception that Macs are more stable in general, and while this has been my experience, it may not always be the case. it's my understanding however, that Live runs better on my intel mac than on the PC i had it on before. However cubase sx3 runs fine on the other computer so who knows? |
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| DJ RANN |
I had been running in to resource problems with sx2 a while ago and switched to Nuendo 2 - instantly got 20% less proceesor usage for the same tracks/projects. it seems they engineered the audio engine to be more efficient and I think it is the same with versions 3.
Live is a hog, logic is a lot better (in relation to macs).
Mac do seem to cope with high processor usage better than PC but macs are overall no more stable than PC's.
one last thing and I know 3zve posted it before but check out this for squeezing the most out of you DAW - it the main reason I'm still able to use a seriously old PC.....
www.musicxp.net |
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| T-Soma |
I use Ableton Live on a 2ghz Centrino with 1gig ram.
The ram is shared (128mb on-board video carp) but no real problems in terms of resource hogging.
Although I haven't used other sequencers on this computer so it is a bit hard to judge. |
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