PC plug-in handling...

[zer0_c00l]

Hi, i tried this in another thread but still no answer....

My question is, they said me that who handles the plug-ins it's the PC itself, not the audio interface, so my question is:

How come I use, for example, 6 ampsims/cab emulators or some various other plug-ins when mixing and my Sony ACID Pro 7 just starts crashing all the time?

I tried lots of different DAWs but Sony one was the one who got me more into this and got used to it, I just couldn't understand Cubase and Reaper crashed even more often...

I have a Core2Duo E7500 @ 3 GHz (overclocked a bit to 3.2 GHz) with 4GB RAM (though WinXP only recognises till 3GB), I find that to be odd!
I use a shitty Creative Audigy2 sound card with 6 inputs though...

does anybody have an explanation or suggestions to make my PC handling more plug-ins?

 

[Seth Munson]

What kind of amp sims?

I'm pretty sure if I had 6 instances of podfarm on a duocore my comp wouldn't be happy

 

[zer0_c00l]

I'm talking about ampsims like LePou and KeFIR mostly, SimulAnalog and sometimes i use one or 2 Guitar rigs but not more than that.

Imagine a full mix, Drums Guitars and etc

I use at least an EQ and/or compressor in each drum track, then guitars i use either only an EQ or one of those ampsims etc then put some buses (like Drums, guitars bass etc) and in the master only use iZotope Ozone (wich was one of the best plug-ins that fit in the PC)

and when i least expect the program just crashes or shows a error message, sometimes autosave comes to the rescue but other times I have to do everything all over again... that sucks, does getting a new interface would help with this? (i was thinking about a Tascam US-1641/US-200 or a Alesis MultiMix 16)

 

[onqel]

windows xp 32bit doesn't support anything higher than 3gb ram afaik.

 

[zer0_c00l]

I just instaled cubase 5 and stupidly, i am able to record thing with the minimum latency my card can have (2 or 3 ms) with monitoring active, thing that I just can't do with Sony ACID pro7.

Though there is another horrible problem, I just can't use/configure all the 6 inputs of my sound card, it only allows me to ue 2... wich is stupid -.-'

 

[ahjteam]

Though there is another horrible problem, I just can't use/configure all the 6 inputs of my sound card, it only allows me to ue 2... wich is stupid -.-'

My guess is more on user error than anything else.

 

[zer0_c00l]

I tried lots of things to configure the channels but only 2 of of them were shown as avaiable, the otherappeared, but were unavaiable/inactive.

Well, just tried Reaper and it seems that it is handling some stuff...

 

[laszlozsolt82]

definitely user error

 

[Fama]

I think Reaper shows CPU usage for plugins, you can see if that's the problem with ampsims. Maybe try rendering stems on the drums or something? I sure would have problems with 6 amp sim tracks and Superior Drummer 2 drums, don't know about real drums with EQ/compression...

But yeah, if it's a CPU problem, try using stems on drums/guitars/bass/vocals/anything.

 

[Saculus]

Max out your sample buffer to give your CPU some breathing room.

 

[DigitalMetal]

Go to VST Connections to set up you ins and outs in Cubase
And use a realistic buffer size like 128, 256 or 512,
Total user error.

 

[pipaguapique]

i once had a very unstable system, and i used a lot of CPU power with very little plugins/amp sims/virtual instruments engaged...

...i had my computer full of cracked plugins


...just sayin'

 

[AudioGeekZine]

Are you using the ASIO driver in Cubase/Reaper/etc ?

If you're seeing 3GB of RAM in XP I bet you have 1GB of Video RAM.

Reset your overclocking settings until you get it stable.

Win7 has been much more stable for me than XP was with the same hardware, also much nicer to use.
A real audio interface will help you with stability and latency.

yeah and the cracked plugz thing too.

 

[zer0_c00l]

Well, thanks for the replies but my computer it's been getting along pretty well with reaper, i can monitor and record things at the same time with very low latency now, someday soon i will get a decent interface, just no money right now.

Yes, i'm using a ASIO Driver, my soundcard already brought that, the problem in Cubase is that it recognises that there are more inputs, but shows them as being inactive (and i cant find a way to activate them.
But now I'm using Reaper and it's all fine, somethimes it still crashes because of too much plugins but i can handle it, and I'm pretty more satisfied with it

I use a GeForce 9600 GT for the video, i think it has 1GB of dedicated RAM if i'm not mistaken...

And yes, i use cracked plug-ins, i have no other choice...

 

[DigitalMetal]

And yes, i use cracked plug-ins, i have no other choice...

let the games begin

 

[John_C]

The free and v/ cheap software out there is easily enough to cover the *needs* of a hobbyist.
A professional needs professional tools, and pays for them.

You choose which one you are.