DP6 & Virtual Inst prefs setup

[rtcstudio]

I have just moved from Logic 8.02 to DP 6 because of the film score features and also because I read in several places that it is more efficient now (in 6) with AU Instruments. I wasn't sure if that meant more efficient as compared to earlier versions of DP or if it meant it was more efficient that other DAWS. One review I read (either Sound On Sound or Keyboard, can't remember) definitely sounded like DP 6 was the most efficient DAW in terms of Virtual Instruments and other plugins, and that you could probably run more with DP 6 on your existing system than you could on some other DAW.

So I've had a LOT of fun devouring the manual and going through some of the tutorials. Pretty straightforward and I really like the fact that DP 6 LOOKS a lot like Pro Tools (which is my main audio DAW).

I'm mainly using DP 6 for film scoring and sweetening, string arranging and the like. So I'm not recording any audio with it except for final stems of the score, which I'll then import into Pro Tools for further mastering and manipulation.

I'm almost finished migrating my large Logic 8 composer template into DP and it does seem like I can run more simultaneous instruments at this point.

SO LONG way to ask: If all I'm doing is working with MIDI and Virtual Instruments (AU) like EWQLSO Platinum PLAY, Choir, RA, etc etc. plus some other sample libraries via Kontakt 2, 3 etc PLUS using Rewire for many Bidule hosted VI's in the background WHAT IS THE BEST preference set up for the Pre Rendering features, etc. for DP to get the most instances of VI plugins with no system overloads?

Should I be using my Digidesign 192 interfaces, or does using DAE hamstring DP in any way? (Logic 8 has several deficiencies when using DAE/TDM).

I did do a search here, and found a few refs, but some was with DP 4 & 5.

Thanks!

Mac Pro Quad 2.66, 17 GIG RAM, OS 10.5.7, DP 6.02, M-Audio ProFire 610 interface, Sample libraries all on internal SATA drive, Euphonix MC Control & Mix, EWQLSO Platinum Plus, Choirs, RA, MOR, SD 1, SD 2 Pro, VSL Special Edition complete,Komplete 5, Ivory

[Frodo]

I have just moved from Logic 8.02 to DP 6 because of the film score features and also because I read in several places that it is more efficient now (in 6) with AU Instruments. I wasn't sure if that meant more efficient as compared to earlier versions of DP or if it meant it was more efficient that other DAWS.

My take was that the blurbs were comparing DP6 to earlier versions, at least those blurbs which came directly from MOTU and not other users. On paper, DP6 really is more efficient partially due to its Cocoa graphics updates which helps GUI performance greatly. While some are experiencing some GUI quirks, many are also proclaiming DP6.x to be the most stable version they've ever used. The ration of those with issues and those without is difficult to determine, but it's likely that people go to forums looking for solutions to problems rather than to just praise an app. That means you'll likely see more complaints which would not give a realistic overview of the user base and their experiences.

One review I read (either Sound On Sound or Keyboard, can't remember) definitely sounded like DP 6 was the most efficient DAW in terms of Virtual Instruments and other plugins, and that you could probably run more with DP 6 on your existing system than you could on some other DAW.

I would say that you can probably run more in DP6 than you could in earlier versions of DP because of the pre-rendering feature. Some are finding that running instruments in real-time generally works better, making the potential benefit of pre-rendering VIs a bit of a moot point. Once again, mileage varies from user to user.

Just for the record, 20-30 instances of a VI on a MacPro with 8GB RAM (3G Quad Xeon) is well within limits (pending the amount of sample and MIDI data in use at any given moment.

SO LONG way to ask: If all I'm doing is working with MIDI and Virtual Instruments (AU) like EWQLSO Platinum PLAY, Choir, RA, etc etc. plus some other sample libraries via Kontakt 2, 3 etc PLUS using Rewire for many Bidule hosted VI's in the background WHAT IS THE BEST preference set up for the Pre Rendering features, etc. for DP to get the most instances of VI plugins with no system overloads?

The BEST? Hmm. Not an easy question because, again, some users have found running in real-time to be more reliable. However, running VIs in real time isn't terribly involved other than setting the VIs to run in pre-render mode. You may choose which ones are pre-rendered and which ones are not, or you may go "all or none" with it if you want-- it depends on which works better for your project on your particular system.

Probably the most important thing to consider has nothing to do with DP at all. VI preferences are critical to optimize performance. In PLAY, for example, I have raised my engine level and buffers. I have also distributed my libraries across numerous drives to access more buss bandwidth. In DP, my buffers are generally 256 larger projects, but different interfaces offer DP different options for buss sizes. MOTU interfaces generally go up o 1024. My SSL AlphaLInk is dual-channel (two-way data flow, unlike most others), so my DP buffers top out at 512. The success of this takes a bit of trial and error.

Should I be using my Digidesign 192 interfaces, or does using DAE hamstring DP in any way? (Logic 8 has several deficiencies when using DAE/TDM).

There are also some DAE issues in DP where features native to DP under MAS are not available. Fortunately, the section of the manual on DAE seems pretty well laid out feature-wise. There's also more info at motu.com in the support notes.

the Digidesign 192 is an attractive box, but honestly? I would run DP under MAS to get the most out of it using one of your other interfaces, then port your audio over to ProTools using the Digidesign 192.

I did do a search here, and found a few refs, but some was with DP 4 & 5.

Much of what was written about DP 4 and 5 will also apply to DP6 where DAE is concerned. For those with 2.66 MacPro's or later, much of the info regarding general setup in DP5 will come in handy as well. There will be different reports about DP6 in Tiger and Leopard, however. Inexplicably, some machines seem to like one combo over the other.

BTW-- what are the designations of your RAM sticks that you have 17GB? Since RAM has to be installed in pairs, could it be:

2 x 4GB = 8
2 x 512 = 1
4 x 2GB = 8

If so-- tell me more about your 4GB sticks because I have 4 empty RAM slots.

[rtcstudio]

BTW-- what are the designations of your RAM sticks that you have 17GB? Since RAM has to be installed in pairs, could it be:

2 x 4GB = 8
2 x 512 = 1
4 x 2GB = 8

If so-- tell me more about your 4GB sticks because I have 4 empty RAM slots.

Thanks for your informative reply! I kinda thought it was going to be a little trial and error. The more powerful computer systems get, the more human they seem to be...

My 8 slots are filled like this:
4 Gig
4 Gig
2 Gig
2 Gig
2 Gig
2 Gig
512
512

All DDR2 FB-DIMM 667 MHz

I got the memory at OWC, it was amazingly cheap for guaranteed Mac Pro ready RAM.

[Frodo]

[
All DDR2 FB-DIMM 667 MHz

I got the memory at OWC, it was amazingly cheap for guaranteed Mac Pro ready RAM.

That's great to know. Thanks for the info. I've been wondering about how the 4GB sticks were working. That means I can add 16GB to my 8GB-- or even replace the 8GB with another 16 for a full whack of 32.

Yeah-- you've got to load up some VIs and run a few tests to see how cooperative pre-rendering works. I use EWQLSO on two machines (the other is a G5), so the whole pre-render/real-time conundrum takes on a whole new dimension.

[Armageddon]

I would say that pre-render works really well with PLAY. I can run about five instances of PLAY in a DP 6.x project with between 1-2 instruments loaded on each instance, on a MacBook 2 GHz with 2 GBs RAM, plus several other VIs, and I don't use Bidule or Rewire, it's all inside DP. Granted, the playback is rather jerky in spots, but it works well enough for me for composing purposes. Bouncing those tracks to disk, however, may be its own adventure. In 5.1.3, I was lucky to run two instances of PLAY inside a project before having major playback issues, so there's a definite increase in VI capability in 6.

You may also want to run DP at a lower bit-rate and sampling rate, like 44.1 kHz/16-bit, during the composition phase, and save the higher bit and sampling rate for actual audio rendering.