HELP! I want to upgrade to DP!

[brightscreamer]

Hello all! I currently have a 1.33 GHz Powerbook G4 with 1.25 GB of RAM. Is my laptop going to be powerful enough to run DP 5.0? I'm thinking of making the switch from Cubase SE to DP, but I know that once I open 5.0, I won't be able to return it. I don't usually use more than 10 tracks of audio and 5 tracks of MIDI, although I do use VSTis. Purchasing 5.0 isn't entirely necessary, although I do prefer the lates and greatest version of DP. If 5.0 wouldn't run well, would 4.6 do? What are the pros and cons?

Sorry for asking so much! I'm sure you all understand that recording can be expensive. I just want to make sure I make the right decision.

KD

[kwiz]

Being that 5 hasn't been released yet it's hard to say.
I would max out the ram especially if you are using VI's.
5 MIDI tracks + 10 mono audio tracks should be fine, but if they are stereo tracks it will definitely run slower. If DP5 runs more efficiently than DP 4.6 you might be okay. I would just keep checking this board once DP5 is out, and see what members report regarding DP5.

[dweiss]

DP 5 is not released yet so it's impossible to say how that will run at this point. 10 audio tracks and a few MIDI tracks should run just fine in 4.6 on your machine but the vsti's are a wildcard. Whether you'd have enough processing power would depend on how processor intensive the instruments are and/or if you're willing to freeze the tracks. Softsynths tend to crush anything that's not a dual processor.

[emulatorloo]

I'm thinking of making the switch from Cubase SE to DP, but I know that once I open 5.0, I won't be able to return it.

Make sure you take advantage of MOTU's competitive crossgrade policy when you do switch -- available either directly from motu or from the usual online dealers -- example here:

http://www.zzounds.com/item--MTUDPERFMAC


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[roccoc]

Hello all! I currently have a 1.33 GHz Powerbook G4 with 1.25 GB of RAM. Is my laptop going to be powerful enough to run DP 5.0? I'm thinking of making the switch from Cubase SE to DP, but I know that once I open 5.0, I won't be able to return it. I don't usually use more than 10 tracks of audio and 5 tracks of MIDI, although I do use VSTis. Purchasing 5.0 isn't entirely necessary, although I do prefer the lates and greatest version of DP. If 5.0 wouldn't run well, would 4.6 do? What are the pros and cons?

Sorry for asking so much! I'm sure you all understand that recording can be expensive. I just want to make sure I make the right decision.

KD

i think you should be alright with your setup although everyone is right about DP not being released but i would wait to get it. Anyways i run DP with kontakt and reason on a 1.67 book with 1.5Gig RAM.... yeah things get a little strange sometimes but you can always just print you vsynths. I would suggest getting an external harddrive to record audio to. That will be your best bet in terms of performance boost.

Good Luck

[brightscreamer]

Thanks for all the feedback. What a great forum!

KD

[mikebeckmotu]

I have a 1.33 Powerbook, recording to external firewire drives. Audio is not a problem. As others have said, you have to keep an eye on the synths. It has helped to max my ram to 2gb - I used to have 1gb. I use BFD, which calls for some production planning, since that's probably the CPU-hungriest VI I use, but I am getting work done with this configuration.

[dweiss]

BTW, you'd need to use a VST wrapper in DP as it doesn't host them natively.