Are There Benefits to Increasing RAM??

[zuul-studios]

Hello -

I have a stable, yet aging, Mac Pro. (See signature line for specs.) My templets involve using VSL's VEPro 7 with MOTU's DP 10. It's a relatively stable combination, I'm happy to report. However, since upgrading to VEPro 7, I'm noticing an increase in CPU usage when using the same templets created in VEPro 6. Because of this, I increased the Buffer Size to 256 from 128. Also, since upgrading to my current operating system, macOS High Sierra, I'm noticing a general increase in RAM usage. It seems that I only have 1GB of spare RAM left when using my largest VI band & orchestral templets. I'm tempted to increase the RAM in my happy, yet aging, Mac Pro, from its current 32 GBs. I noticed that I can purchase 128 GBs of RAM from OWC (as I've done in the past) for a relatively reasonable price. Would an increase in RAM, especially to 128 GBs, be significantly beneficial?? For example, would I be able to decrease the Buffer Size back down to 128 (or even lower)??

Besides using the VEPro 7/DP 10 for my modest composing and arranging projects, I also edit video. Lately, I've been editing HD video using either Adobe's Premiere Pro (current version) or Apple's Final Cut Pro X. Would increasing the RAM to the Max of 128 GBs be beneficial when editing video??

Eventually, I'll be needing to replace my stable, yet aging, Mac Pro. I'm willing to invest a certain amount of $$$, like purchasing additional RAM, but not if there isn't significant, longer-lasting benefits associated with the investment.

Thank you in advance for your time and thoughtful input.

Ted

[MIDI Life Crisis]

Do you put large VI instruments in their own instance of your VIs, or are multiple instruments (large or highly scripted instruments, in particular) sharing multiple channels in a single instance?

Splitting them up will allow multi threading and send each thread to a separate core of your system. In a 12 core system, I would expect that this wold bring your CPU usage down by a lot. I have 32GB of RAM and never even approach a CPU overload except the usual DP spikes that have been part of the system for a very long time. Turn off the the pref to stop those alerts and that problem is usually solved unless you still hear clipping, etc. but I digress.

More RAM is never a bad thing but there are points of limited returns. I haven't run into that situation, so maybe others can offer observations in that regard.

I'm not seeing any CPU issues when editing video in FCPX.

Every so often, it's a good idea to restart in safe boot (single user?) mode. Hold down the shift key at startup, log in, then restart normally. I also reset the PRAM at the same time (requiring another reboot process which you probably know). The safe boot will clear out a lot of caches which often can solve a host of problems.

New Macs are expected relatively soon, so a bunch of very capable machines (trash cans) will be available. You might consider farming your VIs to a second machine. The trashcans are quiet and take up little space. The newer macs will be cheese graters (AFAIK) and will require much more space. I'll stay put, but still have a 3,1 (2008) cheese grater in storage just in case...

[zuul-studios]

In housing the VI in VEPro 7, I have one instrument per channel for a total of 50+ instruments and (50+) corresponding channels. This is true whether using Kontakt 5, using VSL's VI Pro, or using any other software program that houses virtual instruments. However, I separate and categorize the instruments between three Instances within VEPro 7: 1) "Rhythm Section" (a variety of pianos, keyboards, basses, guitars, drum-set configurations, etc.), 2) "Brass & Woodwinds" (saxes, trumpets, trombones, and orchestral brass & woodwinds, etc.), and 3) "Strings, Orchestral Percussion and Misc Instruments" (solo and grouped strings, additional percussion and that "odd-ball instrument" or synth). On the DP 10 side, the V-Rack holds the Instances that correspond to VEPro 7, and everything else (the individual MIDI channels, and the individual AUX audio channels to each instrument) is housed on the track/mixing board side. I also have three different reverberation channels housed on the mixing board side. I know that there are a number of ways to configure a "VEPro 7 and DP10" set-up. But this particular type of set-up offers me the greatest control in terms of choice of instrument, panning, level of reverberation (for each instrument), etc. It is probably not the best way to conserve CPU and RAM usage.

As for CPU issues for FCPX, like your experience, my happy computer seems to edit 1080p HD video without a hiccup, even if I'm using a 2-camera (A & B) set-up. However, when using Adobe's Premiere Pro, using the SAME 2-camera (A & B) set-up, the edited video stutters. (I'm seriously thinking about giving up the Adobe subscription thing. But that's another story for another topic, for another forum, on another day.)

I didn't know that it was helpful to restart into Safe Boot, every so often. I might give that a try to see if overall performance is improved.

Thank you for your time and thoughtful input, MLC. You and your professional friends, here, give great advice and insight into using DP, and music-making in general.

Ted

[mikehalloran]

Along those lines...

Plugins like more RAM. Graphics apps such as Photoshop work better with a lot of it, too.

VIs like cores and each instance uses only one core. If you give each instrument its own instance of the VI Player (such as Kontakt etc.) this helps balance the load.

A 12 core 6.1 Mac Pro with 32GB RAM can handle 150 instances in Logic with a convo reverb and another plugin on each one while a 10 core iMac Pro can handle double that load. The new, New 7.1 Mac Pro was demonstrated last month with a thousand VI tracks (no specs on number of cores or RAM). DP has been traditionally better at handling resources than Logic.

Heavy use of VEP may benefit from a slave machine.

In general, editing video tends to use more of the CPU while effects and graphics tend to rely more heavily on the GPU. Increasingly, both FCPx and Premiere rely on the GPU for more and more tasks. Also, the greater the VRAM, the better the GPU performance. On MacRumors, those crying about RAM issues tend to have less than 32GB (b.b,but Apple s,s,says only 8GB is required...)... Editing and plugins are smoother with more RAM but 32GB is considered OK for most. There will be a new version or major update to accompany the 7.1 in September — Apple's not saying which but that 1K version of Logic was released a few weeks ago.

Memory leaks are a fact of life with web sites, browser plugins, FCP & audio plugins being the chief culprits.

Although High Sierra and Mojave manage memory better, one should reboot daily to optimize the system. You already have 32GB. 48GB is one of your choices if you feel the need to buy more to get a bit of a cushion.

[MIDI Life Crisis]

My only response to that is: don't use Adobe! lol Easier said than done, I know. When did they last update the version you are using? I stopped buying their stuff when they went to a subscription model.

[zuul-studios]

mikehalloran - I'm eyeing an 8-core iMac Pro, which is being sold at a "reasonable" price by places like BHPhotoVideo and Best Buy. If I go this route, I'd consider beefing up its RAM which can be done via OWC. (Apparently, such upgrades are difficult to do (but not impossible), and can't or shouldn't be done at home.) But, honestly?? My aging Mac Pro is working just fine for now (and hopefully for another year or so to come).

MLC - I do use Photoshop rather extensively, unfortunately. Also, I have important video projects that were edited by Premiere Pro. It would be painful to give it up for just those two reasons. But, I do really dislike their subscription model. (However, I'm becoming more comfortable video-editing with FCPX and Motion.)

Again, thank you for your generous time and thoughtful comments.

Ted

[MIDI Life Crisis]

I'm still using PShop CS5 and some CS6 stuff, as well as Acrobat Pro X. They're working fine, but I'm anticipating the day when I update my OS and they don't work, and I can run the installer I have on the new OS. Therefore, staying firmly in Sierra for the foreseeable future. I have pretty much everything i need for the next few years. Well, except for enough money... lol

[mikehalloran]

mikehalloran - I'm eyeing an 8-core iMac Pro, which is being sold at a "reasonable" price by places like BHPhotoVideo and Best Buy. If I go this route, I'd consider beefing up its RAM which can be done via OWC

The RAM is certainly less expensive but it is not a job for the faint of heart. The power supply is exposed and unshielded — a slip can short out the screen & motherboard. For that reason, techs who are certified on the iMP are few although OWC is one such shop that offers a turnkey replacement.
https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/turnkey/imac-pro-2017
The RAM is 4 lanes so you can't add 32G to the base—you replace it with 64/128/256.

You should look at the Refurb Store. Very few are actually refurbished. Apple needs to keep a quantity moving through the BTO store and the savings on BTO (build to order) can be pretty nice.
https://www.apple.com/shop/refurbished/mac/imac-pro

They are never out of stock on the base model at $4,249 (for over a year now). At the moment there are 6 variations RAM/SSD/GPU on the 8 Core. There's one right now for $4,759 — the base model with 2TB. The base with 64GB RAM only is usually the same price when they get it in. If you're not in a hurry, that's over $200 less than the 4 sticks.

I was about to pull the trigger on one identical to this 10 core 64GB, 2TB, Vega 64 for $6,249, an $1,100 savings over BTO (The BTO I was pricing had the Vega 56 so there was only a $550 savings but still...).
https://www.apple.com/shop/product/G0UR ... 6b4d7d45ff
Add AppleCare ($169) and CA Sales Tax, I was looking at $7,011.67 ... about to pull the trigger when I found a used one 4 months old with AppleCare for $7,000 with 128GB RAM/2TB/V64 ... Wasn't going to argue about that.

[MIDI Life Crisis]

Which begs the question: why?