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  • Mac Pro quad core 2.66 GHz for VE Pro and omnisphere?

    I currently have a 2 computer setup both running VE Pro. 

    How good would a first-gen mac pro be if added to this setup as a second slave? How many omnisphere instances can I run in it before dropouts? It has 10 GB RAM and runs OS X Lion. 


  • That is a very open question as omnisphere can either drop out because of RAM or CPU (or both) depending on how you are using it, and unfortunately 2.66GHz isn't much CPU power, and 10GB isn't much RAM.

    For example, I can load a single omnisphere multi (where its playing 8 patches at once + all the FX etc in stack Mode) and at a buffer size of 256 in cubase I can bring my current 3.33ghz 12-core to its knees. Whats weird is my CPU meter shows me with tons of headroom, but Cubase's Real-time peak meter is maxing out. I'm guess this has something to do with a single instrument being loaded on a single CPU, and once you max out that CPU you are done. But if I load each of these parts in their own omnisphere and even when I play them all at the same time, the Cubase's meter is no where near maxing out. So first of all, if you are loading full omnispheres on your system now, try splitting them up across multiple instances and see if that fixes your current issues BEFORE spending money on another machine.

    That being said, I LOVE my PC slave and could not write the music I write without it: http://www.aeonsatori.com/

    If this is just for an omnisphere slave you should try to get the highest CPU computer you can buy (and I would actually recommend a PC as you can get more CPU power for much less money). But if you plan on using this slave as a sample slave, that computer should do the job if you add more RAM. Though even in this instance I recommend a PC slave, as the old Mac Pro archetecture does not support 6gb/s Hard drive speeds, where most modern PC motherboards do, so you get faster thruput for your samples (assuming you are running a fast HD) which means more voice counts before dropping out. This is especially true if you are using SSD, as the mac pro will never be able to reach the full speed of the drive using its internal bays. 

    I see from your sig you are a PC guy, so I'm confused as to why you would be looking into a mac pro? My advice would be to get the fastest single processor windows PC as your slave and max it out with Ram and forget about the Mac Pro - and this is comming from a mac pro user! 


  • Thanks for your input! The only reason I was considering this Mac Pro was it is cheap @ $200. Not that I needed it.

    Your findings on Omnisphere is interesting. You're saying with 8 SEPERATE omni instances within the same VE Pro instance you're getting much better performance instead of 1 SINGLE omni instance in VEP? If true, that's a fascinating discovery and will influence my future templates.

    Right now I have 2 omni instances per VE instance. I keep adding instances if I need more. I was of the impression that making multi-timbral use was the best way to conserve CPU. I'll be glad to be proven wrong!


  • For $200 I would do it! Whats cool about those old mac pro's is you can upgrade the CPU in them. My Mac pro was a 2009 4,1 8 core when I bought it, and just this year I switched out the CPU's and made it a 5,1 12-core. Its still running great and if I had to get a new DAW computer today, it would be another mac pro. As for sample slaves, I personally feel there is better value in PC's, but I don't know if you could get a similar PC at $200! 

    As for my test, I'm sorry but my test was specifically using Cubase. I haven't done a specific VE pro test, but in my "real world work" I find that its better to have more instances of plugins (i.e. more omnisphere instances inside VE pro) than fewer - but again it depends on if everything is playing back at the same time or not. I have also done tests in the past where I would load 8 VE pro instances vs 1 VE pro with 8 ports, and found that in general they ran exactly the same, so it just comes down to workflow. But I do know that I can load way more instruments inside VE pro on the same machine than just in Cubase alone, and try to add as many mix plugins & instruments as possible in VE pro instead of my DAW. 


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    @JT3_Jon said:

    For $200 I would do it! Whats cool about those old mac pro's is you can upgrade the CPU in them. My Mac pro was a 2009 4,1 8 core when I bought it, and just this year I switched out the CPU's and made it a 5,1 12-core. Its still running great and if I had to get a new DAW computer today, it would be another mac pro. As for sample slaves, I personally feel there is better value in PC's, but I don't know if you could get a similar PC at $200! 

    As for my test, I'm sorry but my test was specifically using Cubase. I haven't done a specific VE pro test, but in my "real world work" I find that its better to have more instances of plugins (i.e. more omnisphere instances inside VE pro) than fewer - but again it depends on if everything is playing back at the same time or not. I have also done tests in the past where I would load 8 VE pro instances vs 1 VE pro with 8 ports, and found that in general they ran exactly the same, so it just comes down to workflow. But I do know that I can load way more instruments inside VE pro on the same machine than just in Cubase alone, and try to add as many mix plugins & instruments as possible in VE pro instead of my DAW. 

     

    Thanks Jon. It's $100 actually but I'm still on the fence. It runs snow leopard. Does that mean I can run VE Pro 64-bit and have omnisphere 64-bit as well? That's probably going to be the sole use of this machine.