Vienna Ensemble Pro 5 Network Issue

[Ziobello]

Hello there,

I setup a new VEPro system today on two computers for the first time and I have an issue. I apologize in advance for the length of the post.

Here are the specs of the computers:

Master: Late 2011 8,2 MacBook Pro, 2.4 GHz Intel Core i7, 16GB RAM, OS 10.8, 480GB OWC Mercury Electra 3G SSD OS Drive;

Slave: 2012 Apple Mac Mini 2.3GHz i7 Quad Core, 16GB RAM, OS 10.8, 480GB OWC Mercury Extreme 6G SSD OS Drive, 960GB OWC Mercury Electra 6G SSD Sample Drive

I use a CAT.6A cable for the Gigabit Ethernet Connection. I use the Screen Sharing over network to control my MacMini from my Laptop. I didn't use any IP address or anything else to get the system going, I just connected the cables, connected with the MacBook to the MacMini server in the "connect to server" from from the "Go" menu in the finder.

I launch Digital Performer, connect my VEPro instance to the server on the MacMini, play the session and everything seems to work fine, until a point with a lot of polyphony and voices playing together, where the system gets overloaded, with cracks and pops.

In my template and in the session I use VSL samples only with VIPro2 hosted inside VEPro.

What's strange is that the RAM, from what I can see from Memory Clean doesn't get overloaded, since on the MacBook there are still 12GB available in that point, and 7GB available on the MacMini.

Is there something I'm doing wrong? 

Thanks in advance for your help!

[Paul]

Hello Ziobello, 

Cracks and pops are mostly occuring with CPU troubles. The more voices you are streaming, the more "work" for the CPU to process and send all this information.

You can: 

1) Check different thread settings in the VE PRO Server Preferences (if nothing else is running on that computer, set it to the highest setting).

2) Increase the soundcard buffer size.

3) Increase the network buffer size for playback (in the VE PRO SERVER INTERFACE plug-in). 

These 3 things will lower the workload. 

Best, 
Paul

[Ziobello]

Thanks a lot Paul!

I'll do that and let you know how it goes.

Best,

Ziobello

[Ziobello]

Thanks so much Paul, it worked perfectly!

I have a couple more questions, I apologize but I'm new to this kind of setup and I'd really appreciate your guidance on how to make the most out of what I currently have;

- In terms of the preload size in the Directory Manager, do you have any suggestions on the one that is best for the system I described above? Currently is set on default.

- For the Audio Engine in VIPro I currently have these settings, do you have any suggestions about setting them differently?

Default Preload: 16384

Streaming Threads: 4

Preallocated Voices: 256

Maximum Voices:4096

Instance Voices: 512

- Do you think it's a good idea to have also a second server with some samples on the Master/DAW Computer, alongside the one on the Slave machine? In the session with a lot of voices that I described I saw that the used RAM in the slave machine went up to 75%, but in the Master only 25% of the available RAM was used. Should I distribute the workload differently?

Thanks so much in advance for your help!!

[Paul]

Hello Ziobello,

If you are using SSD drives, you can set the Preload Size to a very low setting, this woll reduce loading time and RAM consumption dramatically. More info in the Directory Manager Video.

Audio Engine Settings look OK. If you need more voices , change the settings.

Adding a VE PRO Server on your master definitely makes sense to get out more of your setup.

Best,
Paul

[Ziobello]

Great, thanks a lot!