VSTi vs PC question again, and random crashings
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Posted on Mar 15, 2010 04:13 am
Fragile
Member Since: Sep 30, 2009
This might be the third time i'm asking. but it's really bugging me so i'm hoping someone will have an "ohhh thats an easy fix!!" moment. Probably not. that would involve things going well for me, which doesn't seem to be happening lately:P
Okay, well. I'm on EastWest QL Goliath. Mostly using the big Steinway B piano sample, which i realllly like the sound of. It often "cuts out" abruptly when i start pushing my PC. sometimes i'll get a "clicking" noise, in several pitches different than the note i hit (odd). But here's the annoying thing. My processor is being pushed between a mere 18-25% and it still does this. i can't load the entire sample into my RAM. I imagine it has something to do with the processor. Because often its just one too many instances of Pod Farm or something like that (as soon as i add the third instance of podfarm it does this) Also, changing the buffer in the past hasn't made a bit of difference.
Also, while i'm here. My cubase has been crashing a LOT lately. I think more than it used to before i got my new PC with win 7. it will say something about "C++ runtime errors" or something like that. Really irritating!
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Mar 15, 2010 10:45 am How much RAM do you have? Some of those sample sets are HUGE...perhaps you just need more RAM...try loading a small, simple piano sample set to play the same notes and see what happens.
If the CPU is running so light, I'd suspect it's not that.
Mar 15, 2010 04:28 pm 4 gigs, i think 32 bit operating systems only utilize like 3.2 or some odd number like that. and yaa, maybe i'll just load a GM piano while writing, then disable all plug ins, load the Steinway, freeze it, and then mix everything else. not a bad idea really lol. Still. it just bothers me when my gear doesn't work like it SHOULD. i get myself really worked up over that:P
Also, the sample is being streamed from the disk, its too large to load into RAM, and as default all samples on EWQL goliath are streamed from disk, but you can load them into RAM optionally.
Any idea on the Cubase crashing? anyone else here use cubase and win7? i'm wondering if its just a bug that they won't fix until i upgrade to cubase 5. Gotta love greed, eh? Oh well, i'll probably end up doing that some day. Also, i've been getting the "blue screen" OS crash issue every couple days. I might do some research on that later tonight if i have time. i gotta start school. spent all day in a water filled trench. Not fun lol.
pjkPrince CZAR-mingMember
Since: Apr 08, 2004
Mar 15, 2010 04:52 pm My rig clicks and hesitates on my drum kit, but I know that i'm right at the limit on ram. I have 1g and the combination of 3 programs I use runs my ram to 940m or so, so I know I'm close.
When playing the kit, I have to play the 'bad' spots out of it, meaning I get glitches for awhile until all the samples needed are loaded into memory. After they are (maybe 1 - 2 minutes) then the kit plays great.
I'd say, that you're taxing out your memory (which you know you are) and subsequently hitting the hard drive for some samples. This is where the glitches come from. It's a matter of digital physics: if the sample requested isn't in memory, then the mem controller will call to the HD for it, and cause possible glitching.
Possibly, you could have all your samples on a really fast drive, and keep them separate from Windows/OS drive, if you've not already. Also, keep the windows swap file on ONLY the OS drive, so windows does not try to use the samples drive as a partial swap space.
Otherwise, CTRL-ALT-DEL should give you option to see the performance monitor, so you can watch the ram usage.
I think I remember this thread awhile ago, and I think I said basically the same thing.
Quote:
it just bothers me when my gear doesn't work like it SHOULD.
I'd say that it IS working as it should. But you may be asking something from it that is not readily possible. Like getting 20 gallons of water from a 10 gallon hat.
Hey, where's Loki, that was a pretty good Oklahoma / Texas reference =).
Mar 15, 2010 05:46 pm Hmm. ya. Its ram. Idk why i hadn't realized that sooner... lol. I was actually suspecting it was a harddrive issue (not being too slow, just not super fast). My RAM was around 75%. When i freeze the drums or something, then all clicks go away. good as new. Idk, i guess i just dismissed that as a possibility. Hmm. starting to regret only getting 4 gigs. ah well. some day i'll upgrade it. I've thought about getting a dedicated sample drive. Might end up doing that some day.
Mar 15, 2010 08:10 pm Ok, so since that issue is relatively fixed. Anyone have an idea on whats causing the crashing? its REALLY starting to get on my nerves. Sometimes it gets worse than others. It seems like a few things set it off, like, freezing a drum track sometimes, or changing an instrument in Goliath. It'll then either bring up an error that says soemthing about "please save this under a new name, system unstable" or "Runtime error" or just stop responding without a real message. Also, the menus in my plug ins have been getting funky. weird stuff, like the whole plug in window is blank, white. or some of the buttons are visible but most aren't. or the background skin is all messed up. and it won't be fixed til i restart cubase. or often, my whole computer.
olddogMember
Since: Jul 02, 2003
Mar 15, 2010 08:24 pm Yeah, almost guaranteed you're pushing it with the Ram, I run into the same problems in Sonar at about the same % of use with Superior Drums and Melodyne Editor which are the 2 memory hog's I use.
Dan
