Vienna Symphonic Library Forum
Forum Statistics

180,772 users have contributed to 42,140 threads and 254,363 posts.

In the past 24 hours, we have 1 new thread(s), 13 new post(s) and 60 new user(s).

  • The best possible computer combination for VSL work?

    So... if money were no object, what would be the highest-performing master-slave computer combination that could be bought for VI-intensive/MIR Pro work? Can be Mac or PC. Would love to know whatever is known about this. For the purpose of this thread, I'm talking about a two-computer set-up—one master, one slave. Ideally I'd stay with Mac as the master computer, but even that's up for discussion. My holy grail here would be a huge set of VI libraries plus MIR Pro on my slave computer with lots of individual audio busses travelling back and forth to and from my master computer, along with the ability to run DP on my master computer at a buffer of 128 (or if that's truly not attainable, then totally hiccup-free at 256).

    Does anyone have any hard data on this? Or, failing that, useful hands-on experience?

    Thanks,

    Peter


  • You could max out a system from a custom audio computer builder (e.g., adkproaudio.com - dual Xeon 14-core; 128GB ram and 3TB SSDs in Raid), but that is probably way more than is needed


  • Thanks—looks like a good place to start. Yes, more than I need—but I thought it would be interesting to see what the optimal system would be and work down from there.

    PL


  • last edited
    last edited

    Hi,

    I´d suggest to contact the hardware specialists with this question.

    Best,
    Paul


    Paul Kopf Product Manager VSL
  • Yes, I have a friend who's very happy with his Vision DAW machine. However I've heard that the new "trash can" Macs also do great with VEP—a lot of people are apparently successfully running on one machine. Any comments?

    Peter


  • There is nothing wrong with the new Mac Pros. They are very fast machines. However, I would raise two points:

    1. Due to the lack of internal storage (and other things) you will be hanging a lot of stuff off it, and external drives are more expensive than internal ones.
    2. You are paying a lot of money for a graphics card that is pretty much useless for music applications.

    If you want to stay with OSX there are better options, IMO, but realistically you need to decide on your sequencer and once that is decided various doors could be closed anyway.

    DG


  • last edited
    last edited

    @DG said:

    There is nothing wrong with the new Mac Pros. They are very fast machines. However, I would raise two points:

    1. Due to the lack of internal storage (and other things) you will be hanging a lot of stuff off it, and external drives are more expensive than internal ones.
    2. You are paying a lot of money for a graphics card that is pretty much useless for music applications.

    If you want to stay with OSX there are better options, IMO, but realistically you need to decide on your sequencer and once that is decided various doors could be closed anyway.

    DG

    Thanks. Good point about the graphics card. My sequencer is DP, and has been for over 20 years. Curious for your thoughts about better Mac options, if you don't mind. Thanks.

    Peter


  • Assuming that you want to use a slave machine, you could look into running DP from an iMac or even a Mac mini and then getting a couple of PC slaves to do the sample playback.

    If you want to run everything from one machine, use OSX and not get a Hackintosh, then a Mac Pro is probably your only option. However, do be aware that you are paying well over the odds, but if money is not problem, then that shouldn't worry you, I guess.

    DG


  • Thanks. To be clear, I didn't just win the lottery, and I'm not looking to spend as much money as possible!  It just occurred to me that I had never seen the question asked in the form, "What's the best possible system in theory, regardless of money?," and that that might be an instructive starting place for discussing the implications of various hardware choices. Understandably, the question is virtually always framed as "What system gives you the best value for your money?," which is a great but slightly different question. Here's an example of what I mean, again from the top of the market, but it could apply equally to the high middle of the market. The "trash can" Mac Pro is configurable three ways in terms of processors:

    1. 3.5GHz 6-Core (with Turbo Boost up to 3.9 GHz
    2. 3.0GHz 8-Core
    3. 2.7GHz 12-core

    My priority, as I said, is to work with as low a buffer setting as possible while actually sequencing. So, which is the best choice for working with DP and VEP? With each increase in the number of cores, processor speed drops, so it's not clear which choice would better help me reach my holy grail of working at 128. This is a question that would need to be answered with custom PC's as well.

    PL


  • Unfortunately there is no answer, because everyone's needs are different. However, as a rule of thumb, plugins like more cores, sample streaming likes higher clock speed. However, if you are factoring MIR into the equation I can't really help you there, beuase I don't use it.

    You should also think about SSD as that will help your voice count dramatically. FWIW using VIP I've never had any problems running as many instruments as I like at 128, on my machine, unless I use Dimension Strings.

    DG


  • I've heard the same re cores. Impressive that you've been able to work at 128! I fear that could be a Nuendo vs. DP thing. Sigh...


  • last edited
    last edited

    And a Windows thing. 😉

    DG


  • last edited
    last edited

    Yeah, yeah, rub it in! 😊


  • last edited
    last edited

    @plurye said:

    Yeah, yeah, rub it in! 😊

    Will you use MIR in 5.1 ?

    If you are short with money and in hurry :

    If you can get a second hand 12 core Mac  with a raid of ssd like mine, you can do a lot with it !

    The other solution is to have a Mac Mini to run your DAW only and send Midi and Audio track the second hand 12 core

    It is very important to use ssd 

    If you are not short in money : wait a few month for next generation of MAC and buy 2 x trash can Mac


    MacBook Pro M3 MAX 128 GB 8TB - 2 x 48" screen --- Logic Pro --- Mir Pro 3D --- Most of the VI libs, a few Synch... libs --- Quite a few Kontakt libs --- CS80 fanatic
  • Leon—are you saying that all plug-ins instantiated in series on the same track of a DAW necessarily use the same core? That's useful info if so.

     

    Peter