This has been a long tough install......over 70 apps freshly installed.....authorizations took forever.
Computer: 8Core MacPro, 5GB RAM, 4 hard drives
My new IntelMac DP template orchestral session setup:
Aggregate Device
-MH Labs Mobile IO
-2 x 2408mkIII (6 ADAT optical cables into the two 2408s from outside pcs)
DP Buffer 512 (Multiplier of 1)
244 MIDI tracks
27 stereo auxes
6 stereo audio tracks
1 Master
4 Kontakt 2 instances--pretty well loaded
1 Stylus RMX--several Parts active
3 Altiverbs--Disney Hall, Philips Auditorium, Concertgebouw (all Altiverbs are on Auxes)
3 MOTU MW EQs
3 Waves SSL Eqs
2 Waves L2s
This setup is virtually identical to my setup on the Dual 2.5gHz G5. Basically the main difference is that I replaced two instances of Mach5 with two instances of K2 since Mach5 isn't Intel-compatible.
This template on the G5 used to take 50% sitting idle. When I would hit play with a moderate sequence, the processor would jump to 80+%...especially when the choir in MachFive would get going. Frequently, the G5 would suffer at 100% with red spikes.
On the Intel, the same setup takes 25% while sitting idle. Initially, I was kinda bummed that it wasn't lower, but once I finally got everything setup (transferring patches from MachFive into K2) I was pleasantly surprised when I actually started pounding on it. When I hit play and have lots of stuff playing---choir in K2, perc hits in K2, Orch stuff in K2, several RMX parts, many many MIDI notes triggering on pcs and coming in the Auxes, etc---the DP Processor bar never goes above 33%....! This is VERY cool in my book. I am very pleased with this performance. This sequence would easily have had the G5 100% slammed and peaking. So, I'd say there's quite a bit of real and usable horsepower under the hood.
Here's a pic with the template fully loaded and sitting idle:
Here's a pic while it's playing lots of stuff:
Now that being said, I also tried the VI torture test that Aramis asked me to do......and the 8 core didn't seem to do so well.......I could only get 11 instances cleanly at buffer 1024. Any more and there was clicks and pops and stuttered playback and crashing......Oddly, the DP meter was slamming and suffering....but Activity Monitor showed the 8 cores barely being tapped.....Here's a pic while playing:
Anyway, under normal work, like the template described above, (not crazy testing) DP seems generally stable overall. I'm guessing that I have 2-3 times more horsepower than on the dual 2.5 G5 as far as my orchestral template is concerned in real playback.....I'll try to push it harder soon with real-world tasks.
Other Notes:
-The 8 Core is QUIET....it has never changed fan speed in 5 days of running......it's REALLY quiet---and I have 4 drives in there.
-DP Intel on the 8core boots FAST. I have all of Waves plugs, Sony, Altiverb, a bunch of VIs, etc....that used to take almost three minutes to launch on the G5. Waves launches differently in AU I guess....the initial AU scan takes FOREVER, but after that, I think DP boots in hardly 30 seconds now.....very cool
-Waves in general seems fine. Tune was the only plug that didn't pass the AU scan from Waves stuff.
-Kontakt2 runs very nicely---I'm digging it on the Intel.
-RMX seems fine
-MAKE SURE YOU REPAIR PERMISSIONS AS YOU INSTALL STUFF!!! I had problems I couldn't explain that disappeared after repairing permissions.
-If you have EWQLSO Gold and got it right when it came out, the installer is OS 9 only and will not run on the Intel. After MUCH time spent with tech support, it turns out that NI has an OSX installer on their website.......wish I didn't blow two hours finding that out.....Remember, you have to install all the EW Kompakt stuff even though it will only run through K2.....it has to do with the authorization scheme.....you need to boot the stand alone version once of whatever Kompakt VI you had to complete the authorization process....otherwise you can't open the patches in K2.
Oddities:
-After playing the sequence, the DP processor bar slowly goes up and over 50% while sitting idle, but the moment you start playing sound again, the processor bar drops back to 30% and stays there.....weird. What's going on in the pic below?? The sequence is idle after having played.....the processor bar just creeps up to here:
-On the G5, I always found that the DP processor bar and the Activity Monitor gauges were pretty similar. If the DP bar showed 70%, the Activity Monitor showing both processors was around there too. On the 8 core, this is not the case. The DP monitor shows lots of usage and the 8 cores just seem to be hanging out not stressed at all in Activity Monitor. (ie, the Modulo test)
-Infrequently, the 8 core Mac loses connection sometimes with the Mobile IO....seems to happen if I crash DP (the Modulo test crashes dp)...not sure what causes it...I must reboot computer to get the Mobile IO back.....still figuring that one out.....
-I'm also having a warm reboot issue......the computer can't seem to warm reboot.....it logs out ok and turns the monitor off, but when it comes time for the chime and reboot, the drive starts into a rhythmic click.....I hold the power button to shut it off and then reboot from cold.....it always comes back 100% fine, but something's up........haven't figured that out yet either.
-The Intel Mac does not see my MIDI interfaces when booting sometimes......can't figure that one out at all yet......MOTU thought it could be an old USB chip in the MTP AV, but it's happening on the MIDI Express 128 too......still figuring that out. It requires unplugging the USB cable at the interface end to get the recognition back. Once they connect, they stay connected until next boot.
-AudioMidi Setup is flaky......it's crashed several times on me. And on my first setup, when I went into DP to check it out, there was THREE devices listed for every actual device....weird. I made a new setup and it was fine......hehe (weeeeeeeird)
Ok.....I hope this was more helpful than my silly Altiverb thing.......(The Modulo test is just plain confusing to me)
Cheers.
-gabe
