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I'm primarily a film and TV composer. I make records too, but I primarily use DP for scoring.

I'm on the cusp of buying a G5 dual 2.7 which I'm going to run along with my G4 dual-800. I've been planning on relegating the G4 to either MachFive or as much EWQLSO channels as I can manage (or both as needed), but it occured to me...

Why not keep using the G4 for audio tracks and use the G5 exclusively for VIs? I'm using a PoCo card in the G4 already, which I rely on for its really cool reverbs. My main CPU drain on the G4 has been VIs anyway... Stylus, EWQLSO Gold, Absynth, Unity, MachFive, plus I want the MOTU SI, Atmosphere, Trilogy, on and on.... Wouldn't these be happy living in the G5 (with its 8GB or RAM) and not have to share the CPU with reverbs, EQs, and compressors?

I could even buy a UAD-1 for the G4 to offload more EQ and compression from the G4's CPU. They're having a promotion now where you get a free LA-2A when you buy the cheapest bundle. BTW... I'm outfitting the G4 with a Raptor 10k rpm drive and a SATA card. That should help relieve the CPU too.

Any thoughts here? Have I forgotten something? Help would be appreciated... G5 arrives within a week. It's already ordered. Should I use the G5 solely for VIs?

PS... since both computers are up and running I could try different configurations to see which suits me best. Just "fishing" for commentary here...

<small>[ August 02, 2005, 02:45 PM: Message edited by: dtobocman ]</small>

Sounds like a great idea ! I've got a dual 1.25 and am thinking about the same thing... i'd like to know how it works out for you

Trust me. use the G5 as your main computer and the 800 G4 for softsynths. I used to have a G4 Dual 800, G3 350 (for my Korg oasys card that needs OS 9) and a G5 dual 2.0. I used to run the G4 exclusively for softsynths. Then I figured out the G5 had more than enough firepower to handle everything. Needless to say, I got rid of the G4. I would've gotten rid of the G3 as well, but I need a computer that can run OS 9 for the Korg card. I also have a powercore card as well. I put everything into my G5 and haven't looked back. Plus if you sync computers to each other, you have to use low sample buffers like 256 on all of them, or the latency is too much. If you have it all on one computer, you can use sample buffers of 1024, and not have to worry about latency. Even now, if I want to use my G3 in time with the G5, I have to knock it down to 256. Keep in mind, I'm completely virtual now. I used to have 6 outboard synths. Needless to say, I don't need them anymore.

<small>[ August 02, 2005, 10:17 PM: Message edited by: DrewNichols ]</small>

Drew... thanks a bunch for that insight.

How do you play your VIs if you keep your G5 buffer so high all the time? Don't you have wicked latency while you play them?

Are YOU high all the time?

Funny, I have a similar setup -- a Dual 800 G4 and a new G5 2.7 with 2 1/2 gigs of ram (DP 4.52 on OSX 10.4). I keep my buffer at 128 so the latency on input is barely detectable. I have not yet hooked up the two machines together, but get this -- Playing back a three-track MIDI sequence with one instance of BFD, Trilogy and Kompakt (only PMI Old Lady piano loaded) pushes the limits of my G5!!

Originally posted by Allan Planchard:
Funny, I have a similar setup -- a Dual 800 G4 and a new G5 2.7 with 2 1/2 gigs of ram (DP 4.52 on OSX 10.4). I keep my buffer at 128 so the latency on input is barely detectable. I have not yet hooked up the two machines together, but get this -- Playing back a three-track MIDI sequence with one instance of BFD, Trilogy and Kompakt (only PMI Old Lady piano loaded) pushes the limits of my G5!!

I know what you mean. I recently sold my dual 800 which I ran with a dual 1.8 G5 and got another dual 1.8 G5. I've been having good results with running VI's on both machines which are synched together via a MTP AV and a Fastlane. My second G5 sends audio via firewire using a firewire card in my DM-24 console. This allows me to have 24 channels of i/o through one firewire cable. So far it works like a charm. I tried synching the 2 computers via Tigers new network function but it was way to unstable.

Originally posted by Allan Planchard:
BFD, Trilogy and Kompakt (only PMI Old Lady piano loaded) pushes the limits of my G5!!

I was having the same problem with an extremely similar config. BFD is an extraordinary resource hog, as is Kontakt. I helps on some softsamplers, especially if you are using more than one kind, to put the intended samples on separate drives or even separate busses (ie SCSI, IDE, Firwire, SATA)