Hi All. Perhaps someone can answer these questions... Does Logic run it's own virtual Instruments at 16 bit when I turn off 24 bit recording? Will I save CPU cycles by running Logic in 16 bit - mainly for playing instruments live from a keyboard in a band setting. I'm just trying to squeeze the last bits of performance from my 1GHZ 12" Powerbook. Thanks in advance ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Paul Najar Jaminajar Music Production www.jaminajar.com

On 06.11.2006, at 06:42, Paul Najar wrote: > Does Logic run it's own virtual Instruments at 16 bit when I turn off > 24 bit recording? I don't think so. Logic does not even relaunch the audio engine when you switch 24 bit recording off. I guess that is really only for recording. Isn't Logic supposed to work at 32 bit floating point internally? But that has probably nothing to do with instruments, don't know. > I'm just trying to squeeze the last bits of performance from my 1GHZ > 12" Powerbook. I experimented a bit with that some time ago. Muting unused channels did not help (much) regardless wether I muted the track or the strip. What always works is disabling every plugin which is not in use. Instead of only muting an unused channel you can take a SysEx button and disable every effect and the instrument at once. That can be triggered from a controller and is much more reliable than messing with those performances in the channel strip settings. You can't tame big animals like Rapture. But they can bring you rather quick to your limit if you don't disable them. Click on every high/low quality button you see (ArtsAcoustic Reverb for example). Work with the half sample rate in Space Designer (click the "preserve length" button). Whenever possible use mono instead of stereo. I think few open windows helps also. You can't do much for instruments like Sculpture. I've seen that i.e. the EQ needs a lot of CPU but that can depend on the setting and I think you would not like to play without the EQ in Sculpture. EXS uses less CPU if you reduce the polyphony but that is of course also limited by the instrument and the playing style. Generally I believe the only way is to mute all unused plugins and explore the selected settings of the bigger instruments. Maybe there are some powerhungry parameters which are barely audible on stage. Long reverbs use always much CPU. If you want a "sound cloud" you might consider an external reverb like the MX200. ___ Peter Ostry

On 06.11.2006, at 06:42, Paul Najar wrote: > Does Logic run it's own virtual Instruments at 16 bit when I turn off > 24 bit recording? > I don't think so, Logics audio engine works in 32 bit float and I would imagine that the instruments work on that level too. You may (!!!) get a little (very little) better performance by storing the samples in 32 bit float format, but personally I don't think it's worth the hassle! Cheers Hans

On 06/11/2006, at 7:27 PM, Hans Hafner wrote: > > On 06.11.2006, at 06:42, Paul Najar wrote: >> Does Logic run it's own virtual Instruments at 16 bit when I turn off >> 24 bit recording? >> > > I don't think so, Logics audio engine works in 32 bit float and I > would imagine that the instruments work on that level too. > > You may (!!!) get a little (very little) better performance by > storing the samples in 32 bit float format, but personally I don't > think it's worth the hassle! Thanks Hans. What you say seems right. Guess I was just day dreaming.. Regards PN

>> Does Logic run it's own virtual Instruments at 16 bit when I turn >> off 24 bit recording? > > I don't think so, Logics audio engine works in 32 bit float and I > would imagine that the instruments work on that level too. > > You may (!!!) get a little (very little) better performance by > storing the samples in 32 bit float format, but personally I don't > think it's worth the hassle! >Thanks Hans. What you say seems right. Guess I was just day >dreaming.. Hey Paul I think you'll find it takes more "grunt" to convert from 32bit FPU to 16 bit than just leaving it. Cheers Clive Young Studio 12 www.studiotwelve.com.au Studio +61 (0)3 9808 1909 Home +61 (0)3 9808 4390 Mob/Cell +61 (0)419 530 873 Fax +61 (0)3 9808 1909

Paul, not exactly related, but you may be able to save quite some CPU cycles by using the EXS in 32bit float mode. That's the only noticeable bit-related functioniality you may be able to optimize. Regarding "pure" audio processing, I'm not sure whether 16bit reveals any noticeable improvements over 24bit. I'd say not all that much, if at all. Regards Sascha

On 06/11/2006, at 9:46 PM, Clive Young wrote: > >>> Does Logic run it's own virtual Instruments at 16 bit when I turn >>> off 24 bit recording? >> >> I don't think so, Logics audio engine works in 32 bit float and I >> would imagine that the instruments work on that level too. >> >> You may (!!!) get a little (very little) better performance by >> storing the samples in 32 bit float format, but personally I don't >> think it's worth the hassle! > >> Thanks Hans. What you say seems right. Guess I was just day >> >dreaming.. > > > > Hey Paul > I think you'll find it takes more "grunt" to convert from 32bit FPU to > 16 bit than just leaving it. You're absolutely right Clive and thanks to all who replied. I actually don't use many samples, it's really about some of the modelling synths like EVB3 which I find is the single most CPU intensive of Logic's instruments. The thing is I can play it live without clicks or pops at 128 sample buffer using internal audio outs but plug in any Firewire audio interface and clicks and pops and hung notes occur... I was hoping to get a few CPU cycles back if the 16 bit thing was possible so I could actually use my Presonus Firebox for live performances. As it stands I use the internal audio outs and run it into the Firebox in standalone mode to get a volume knob and to balance the audio outputs... It actually sounds pretty decent but overall seems a shame to have to do it this way. Kind regards ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Paul Najar Jaminajar Music Production www.jaminajar.com

On 06/11/2006, at 11:14 PM, Sascha Franck wrote: > Paul, not exactly related, but you may be able to save quite some > CPU cycles > by using the EXS in 32bit float mode. That's the only noticeable > bit-related > functioniality you may be able to optimize. > > Regarding "pure" audio processing, I'm not sure whether 16bit > reveals any > noticeable improvements over 24bit. I'd say not all that much, if > at all. Thanks Sascha. I knew it was a bit of a long shot.... Kind regards ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Paul Najar Jaminajar Music Production www.jaminajar.com

> > In these days, low latency performance (by sheer numbers) seems > to be > > possible on a lot of more or less recent systems, so I think it's > > about time > > that hardware companies should actually release the real latency > > figures. > > Honesty in capitalistic pursuit? It's hardly ever likely. A bit too > environmentally sound perhaps... > > > Ok, maybe they won't, for business reasons, but at least magazines > > should do > > real-life performance tests, rather than writing something such as > > "performs > > well with 64 samples buffer size" - which indeed doesn't seem to > mean > > anything. > > The magazines - to a fair extent only exist because the companies > building the products advertise their wares and so are tarred with > the same brush as well... Thanks for the info, Sascha. Does anyone have experience with the RME FireFace and/or a MOTU 828/Traveler and a MacBook(Pro) or a MacPro? Is 64 samples usable with a moderate processor load? If so, I might be tempted to swap one of my G5's for a MacPro, or even a Macbook Pro. Although I shudder at the thought of upgrading to a new machine again, after a year. All the stupid updates/new bugs and especially the authorisation troubles. In my experience, this will take weeks/ sometimes months to get sorted out. I just upgraded my NI Absynth to 4 and FM7 to 8, and wasted a complete Sunday afternoon trying to get the NI Service Center authorisation mess to work. How about a new Intel macMini and small buffers? The video performance is not great, and one would need an USB drive to record on, but as high track counts are not a priority for me, this wouldn't be a problem. My experiences with M-audio interfaces and Macs were horrible, BTW. So much, that I know think M-audio = crap. Drivers are/were below par, MIDI unusable, sound uninspiring to put it mildly. Best, Zip