Why upgrade from 7.24?

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mwalthius
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Why upgrade from 7.24?

Post by mwalthius »

I've been a happy DP user since about 2002, and am currently running 7.24. I runs great on my 3.2 GHz quad core i5 27" iMac.

I am just a "home hobbyist" who sequences and records hardware and software synthesizers (mostly software these days). That's all. I am not exactly a power user of DP.

I have gone through the new feature list of DP8 several times, and cannot find a compelling reason to give MOTU $199 for this upgrade. The plugins don't look like things I'd need or use. And money is tight for me these days.

Frankly, I am not very technical, and don't understand the whole 64-bit vs 32-bit thing. DP8 is 64-bit? Is there a reason why this is important to me, and worth spending $199?

The way things go with MOTU, buying this upgrade won't save me any money when DP9 comes out. Assuming I want/need DP9, it will probably be the same amount of money to upgrade regardless of whether I am upgrading from 7 or 8.

Am I missing anything here?

Thanks.
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MIDI Life Crisis
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Re: Why upgrade from 7.24?

Post by MIDI Life Crisis »

Not missing much IMO. I won't get into the 64 v. 32 bit aspect as I'll get shot down. If you aren't have performance issues then I'd stay on DP7. If you're using large VIs it could be advantageous to go to 64 bit. Then again, it could also require a software "bridge" to use non-64 bit plugs and again, if you're humming along I'd stay put at least until a few more bugs are squashed in DP 8 or DP 9 is released.
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stubbsonic
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Re: Why upgrade from 7.24?

Post by stubbsonic »

I think MLC nailed it.

I'm running the latest DP 8 and have the occasional crash/freeze or where DP just vanishes with no trace (no crash report). There are also lingering scrolling issues (related to the latest Mac OS).

Many of the heavy-weights on this list have moved to DP8 and seem generally happy and productive.

I had trouble-free, smooth operation with 7.24 on Snow Leopard. And when I have those I don't do HUGE sample-based orchestrations, but even if I did, I expect I could work-around any performance hitches by freezing/printing MIDI->VI tracks I know are committed and finished. That requires a bit of careful planning with effects, but it is doable.

Give the type of user you describe yourself as, I think going every other update is practical given your current financial situation. Many people regard 7.24 as the most stable DP.
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MIDI Life Crisis
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Re: Why upgrade from 7.24?

Post by MIDI Life Crisis »

It's not even large templates, but demanding VIs that can bog down older systems. Lots of samples or highly scripted VIs can bring you to your knees. But there's hope for "more recent" systems. - multi-threading!

http://www.motu.com/newsitems/are-you-r ... ow-leopard

Create a new instance of the VI for those nasty complex instruments and place just that ONE instrument in the instance. IOW, each complex instrument has it's own fader. That forces the OS to use a different core for each and the CPU hits will be better distributed and make use of multi threading.

DP 8 has crashed a lot more than DP 7 here as we;;, and I usually get (at least) the option to report the problem to MOTU directly. ALWAYS SAVE before a critical edit. PlugSound Pro crashed me yesterday when trying to adjust the overall volume from the VI window.
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HCMarkus
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Re: Why upgrade from 7.24?

Post by HCMarkus »

DP8 has been the most stable version ever for me. But I have not moved to Mavericks; still on Mountain Lion.
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Re: Why upgrade from 7.24?

Post by MIDI Life Crisis »

HCMarkus wrote:DP8 has been the most stable version ever for me. But I have not moved to Mavericks; still on Mountain Lion.
I bet that's the key. I'm a fool for "shiny."

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bayswater
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Re: Why upgrade from 7.24?

Post by bayswater »

It might not just be the $199.

How much RAM is in your iMac? You're not likely to see any advantage to running DP in 64 bit mode unless you have a lot, like 16G or thereabouts. What plugins and VIs do you use that would require a paid update to get to 64 bit? Do you have any other equipment or add-ons with drivers that cannot be updated to 64 bit. You might lose these things, or have to buy replacements.

Depending on what you use, upgrading to DP 8 could get more expensive.
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mwalthius
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Re: Why upgrade from 7.24?

Post by mwalthius »

bayswater wrote:It might not just be the $199.

How much RAM is in your iMac? You're not likely to see any advantage to running DP in 64 bit mode unless you have a lot, like 16G or thereabouts. What plugins and VIs do you use that would require a paid update to get to 64 bit? Do you have any other equipment or add-ons with drivers that cannot be updated to 64 bit. You might lose these things, or have to buy replacements.

Depending on what you use, upgrading to DP 8 could get more expensive.
I only have 8GB. I was planning to go to 16GB when I bought this new iMac a few months ago, but since everything runs so well as is, I haven't bothered. The ONLY thing that stresses out my system is Diva, but Diva is a well-documented system hog. So I just freeze tracks with it.

I have not investigated whether or not any of my software instruments or effects plugins will run in a 64-bit environment, or if there are any costs associated with upgrading. I could do that, but from what I am hearing here I think I will just stay with 7.24. It is 100% stable for me and does everything I need it to do (and a lot that I don't).

Thanks all for the comments, I appreciate it.

Michael
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Re: Why upgrade from 7.24?

Post by Armageddon »

I have a pretty old, pretty slow system and have been tempted to upgrade from 7.24, but the truth is, I only have one more legit system upgrade (to Lion) or I can "hack" my OS and do a possibly tragic upgrade to Mountain Lion, it's gonna cost me a small fortune to upgrade all my plugs and VIs so that they can run in 64-bit mode and while I won't be able to run an 80-piece virtual orchestra in real time, my machine handles a fairly full 88 kHz/32-bit audio mix at 32-bits with no compromises. Obviously, you should always upgrade if you can, especially since your system is capable of running Mavericks (and whatever comes next), but if you're happy for now with 7.24 and you're on a budget, I'd at least hold out for DP 9. DP 8 is the "big transition" version (as seems to be the case with most of their even-numbered releases -- DP 6 introduced pre-gen, DP 4 was the big move to OS X from Classic) where they incorporated Windoze, 64-bit and VST support, so there may or may not be an inordinate number of kinks they're working out. If MOTU sticks with their usual protocol, DP 9's changes from 8 will likely be minor, but will have the advantage of having all the bugs ironed out. Personally, I'm hoping they focus on the audio end with the next version -- I'm seriously considering snagging ProTools or even a minor secondary DAW with better audio-editing capabilities that I can edit and mix audio with. DP's come a long, long way in that regard, but their audio track editing capabilities are horrific (DISCLAIMER: in my humble opinion only!) and they could stand to tweak a few of their existing audio and mixing features to compete with more audio-friendly DAWs.
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Re: Why upgrade from 7.24?

Post by mikehalloran »

DP 8 in 64 bit better utilizes system resources. I keep 7.24 installed to tweak certain old projects and have opened many in both. As soon as I make an old project 64bit compatible (substituting a newer plug or Trim), I never open it in 7,24 again.

The only time that either version crashes is when I install new AU plugins. I can count on DP crashing during the initial verification process - both 7.24 and 8 do it.. Which plug is making that happen? I haven't a clue but, on reboot, I have no problem. There's an amp plug that is incompatible with Logic so that's my best guess but I don't care unless it becomes an issue.

Both had major issues when I updated Mavericks from 10.9.0 to 10.9.1 but re-installing fixed both. No problems in OS 10.9.4.
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