Mac/cubase issues

[ratherdashing]

If the OP's experience is anything like mine, recording to an external drive instead of the main drive will probably solve all the problems.

When you're recording to the same drive your OS and programs are on, you're forcing the audio to share a data channel with those things. This may not be a problem if you are just doing playback with no plug-ins, but once you start piling things on, the software is going to rely on the system drive more and more. This means your audio gets interrupted by system tasks. By putting the audio on its own physical drive, you ensure it doesn't get interrupted.

As for RAM, 2 GB is quite a lot, even for the amount of plug-ins we're talking about here. Extra RAM wouldn't hurt, but I would try using an external drive first.

Even one of those small USB drives would work fine (they're not ideal, but they're better than recording to the system drive).

On the software side, committing your plug-ins (another way of saying mix down) when you're satisfied with how they sound is always a good idea.

[innerdreamrecords.co]

If the OP's experience is anything like mine, recording to an external drive instead of the main drive will probably solve all the problems.

He has a problem with the number of plugins, the throughput doesn't appear to be an issue because if he removes the revalver plugins I'll bet he doesn't have an issue with the audio files. So that leaves CPU and RAM issues. That plugin as well as the drum plugin use a lot of both.

[James Rock]

Amp plugins use alot of CPU more RAM probably may not solve it especially as more then 3gB doesn't make a huge difference especially on a 32-bit system (not sure how this works with Mac's as I'm a PC user) 4gb may help but I doubt 8gb would make much of a difference. I take it revalver doesn't have a low quality mode or anything?. Your just gonna need to bounce some of those guitar tracks (you can still have 5 tracks but not 5 tracks that are being processed by Revalver). it also depends on what your computer has running in the background (internet or networks, virus protection software etc).

[innerdreamrecords.co]

Amp plugins use alot of CPU more RAM probably may not solve it

You're right, I was wrong on more RAM. There are a lot of articles about Revalver being a CPU hog, just did a search.

[ratherdashing]

Originally Posted by innerdreamrecords.co

This is the last I'll say on this. He has a problem with the number of plugins, the throughput doesn't appear to be an issue because if he removes the revalver plugins I'll bet he doesn't have an issue with the audio files. So that leaves CPU and RAM issues. That plugin as well as the drum plugin use a lot of both.

You're guessing as to the source of the problem. Guessing is pointless. Assumptions are pointless.

I troubleshoot software for a living. You start with what you know, and go from there.

What I know is he has 2 GB of RAM (which, despite what you believe, is more than sufficient to do what he's trying to do) and one hard drive. I also know from experience that recording to the system drive is a severe impediment to DAW performance. I have already explained why.

A really cheap test would be to buy a little 1 GB USB drive and try recording to that. If the situation does not improve, you move on to the next likely cause.

Telling someone to go out and buy 2 or more GB of RAM before you even know the true cause of the problem is reckless. Hardware upgrades should be the last resort.

[innerdreamrecords.co]

I made an educated guess from what he described. Having a computer recording setup(s) for probably 15 plus years I do know a little about the subject. I was wrong about the RAM and said so.

[ratherdashing]

Originally Posted by innerdreamrecords.co

I made an educated guess from what he described. Having a computer recording setup(s) for probably 15 plus years I do know a little about the subject. I was wrong about the RAM and said so.

I missed the part about the RAM because it was posted while I was writing my response. Sorry about that.

[innerdreamrecords.co]

Originally Posted by ratherdashing

I missed the part about the RAM because it was posted while I was writing my response. Sorry about that.

No problem. As an example from the Addictive Drums web site:
Does AD stream samples from the harddrive?
Samples are initially streamed from disk until they are fully loaded and reside safely in RAM. This may put a little more strain on your harddrive when you switch presets, but after a few seconds the pressure eases and the drive is entirely free to serve your audio tracks.

And:
How much memory does a complete AD-kit need?
A full kit takes about 350 Megs of RAM(*), but you should get yourself at least 1 or 1.5 GB of RAM. Even though Addictive Drums works fine by itself with only 512 MB, the OS, host application and other plug-ins usually require a few hundred megabytes as well. * This is true for the kits that are included in the original Addictive Drums sound library, but the Modern Jazz ADpaks (Sticks and Brushes), for example, use more samples per velocity layer and take almost 700 megabytes of RAM for a full kit.
(up)

He mentioned he had a drum VST plugin as well. In my experience there are plugins that use a lot of ram, sample based plugins in particular.

[Uk Ant]

Cheers for the myriad of opinions.
Hard drive has been scrubbed and I'm going to try working out of my external drive to see if that helps.
Bouncing tracks down is a plan but I can't commit to the guitar sounds until I hear them together... which is a problem if I can't play them.
Obviously a faster processor and more RAM would be lovely but I've just not got the funds for a new computer atm and my RAM is maxed out anyway.

[Uk Ant]

Ok, I'm now working from my external drive and the good news is that it doesn't work any worse, bad news is it doesn't work any better.
I have, however, taken out the power amp modules I was using in Revalver which has helped matters no end. It still has the odd jump but at least I can now operate in real time without messing about bouncing stuff down while I'm essentially playing with stuff.

[Rich_T]

CPU it is then. Bummer, not much you can do about that one. Still, at least you have some kind of workable solution.

[Uk Ant]

Originally Posted by Rich_T

CPU it is then. Bummer, not much you can do about that one. Still, at least you have some kind of workable solution.

Yup, need a faster Mac with more ram, darn it.

Nice Icon by the way

[innerdreamrecords.co]

Yup, need a faster Mac with more ram, darn it.

Be happy, those new Macs are sweet!

Post some Revalver clips when you can.

[Uk Ant]

Originally Posted by innerdreamrecords.co

Be happy, those new Macs are sweet!

Post some Revalver clips when you can.

Will do, was hoping to have one track finished today but instead spent the day reorganising hard drives... which meant leaving it churning along to itself for several hours.

Hopefully new tracks will be available next week.

I would so love a new mac, but they are so darn expensive. I got this one second hand just over a year ago (replacing an old emac) and it's only cubase that causes it to even slightly flinch.

For the moment I can work round the issues, but it just makes the process that bit more of a pain in the neck.

[innerdreamrecords.co]

I had a UAD card in my PC, it ran all my reverbs and heavy effects. I highly recommend them as a good way to get more horsepower out of your computer. I am not sure if they have one for your machine though. It may not solve your particular problem either.

[Uk Ant]

Originally Posted by innerdreamrecords.co

I had a UAD card in my PC, it ran all my reverbs and heavy effects. I highly recommend them as a good way to get more horsepower out of your computer. I am not sure if they have one for your machine though. It may not solve your particular problem either.

Ok, just had a quick read up on these things, getting a little techy for this time on a friday night, but there does seem to be one available that slots in a mac.
Not cheap mind, but much cheaper than a new machine.

Also made me realise my Mac has a slot for another internal hard drive, which is a slightly more affordable way of improving my old machine.

[innerdreamrecords.co]

Keep in mind those UAD cards only run their own effects, it won't run Revalver for example.

[Uk Ant]

Originally Posted by innerdreamrecords.co

Keep in mind those UAD cards only run their own effects, it won't run Revalver for example.

Ah, so probably not a solution then

[Uk Ant]

Ok, as I'm investigating an extra internal drive, how would having a dedicated drive help?