EXS 24 Logic Sampler Users Group

Julie Larson wrote:

> Yikes....it's true....I just read it in the manual.  I was planning on
> using nodes to enable me to run VSL.  I figured that I could off load
> the fat VSL tracks to the node.  How are people doing this?  Maybe I
> shouldn't buy VSL for EXS....Can you run Kontact as a plug-in and node
> enable that?  I'd love some input.....

We have VSL for EXS, and use it successfully with several tracks  
(nothing frozen) on a dual 2.0 G5 with 4 GB of ram.  It requires  
using virtual memory because the total size of the samples is much  
larger than the RAM.

It's possible that OS 10.4 Tiger will help, there are overall  
improvements for the users of G4s, and even greater improvements for  
G5 users.  I'm referring to the improvements to the concurrency of  
the kernel of the operating system as detailed in the review below.

However, the limitation is probably having enough RAM to hold the  
short beginnings of the samples, and enough disk speed to load up the  
rest of them on demand.  This might be beyond what the current crop  
of laptops can do without a lot of freezing.  Laptop drives and  
firewire drives are not nearly as fast as the G5's SATA drives (and I  
think the current ones shipping are even faster than mine.)

We use two drives in the G5, one for system, Logic and sounds, the  
other for vocals.  Vocals just aren't very demanding, but I don't  
want it to glitch if we've got a good take.  An interesting  
experiment would be a Firewire 800 external drive for vocals, and  
split the sounds between two SATA drives.  There is an awful lot of  
seeking and reading when getting those samples.

Here's a *very* technical and lengthy review of what's under the hood  
of Tiger:

http://arstechnica.com/reviews/os/macosx-10.4.ars

I use a G4 1.33 powerbook, and we initially tried using Logic on it.   
My hat is off to you who are doing that, it's like building a ship in  
a bottle.  Maybe we'll see G5 Powerbooks this year!

Scott

http://schram.net

Julie Larson wrote:

>  > Yikes....it's true....I just read it in the manual.  I was planning on
>>  using nodes to enable me to run VSL.  I figured that I could off load
>  the fat VSL tracks to the node.

No. Nodes are only for Logic plug-in processing power.

>  How are people doing this?

By installing at least 3.5GB in a G5 , preferably 4.5GB.

>Maybe I
>  > shouldn't buy VSL for EXS....Can you run Kontact as a plug-in and node
>>  enable that?

Nope. And while Kontakt is an excellent sampler and I both use and 
have no desire to dis it, you will be able to run more EXS on one 
machine.

>  I'd love some input.....

EXS works really well, and it's very efficient. I personally think it 
makes the most sense for a Logic user to go with EXS as much as 
possible, simply because of the integration. If you're running OEM NI 
libraries, no problem, but given a choice I'd definitely go with EXS.

From: Scott Schram <scott@...>

>We have VSL for EXS, and use it successfully with several tracks
>(nothing frozen) on a dual 2.0 G5 with 4 GB of ram.

Depending on the VSL instruments - i.e. Performance Legatos have many 
more samples than simple short note programs - you should be able to 
load 50 or more tracks.

>  It requires\ufffd
>using virtual memory because the total size of the samples is much
>larger than the RAM.

...which of course is a good thing, because it means the samples are long.

>It's possible that OS 10.4 Tiger will help, there are overall\ufffd
>improvements for the users of G4s, and even greater improvements for\ufffd
>G5 users.  I'm referring to the improvements to the concurrency of
>the kernel of the operating system as detailed in the review below.

I've heard that Logic 7.1 isn't 64-bit enabled yet, but I'll find out 
as soon as Tiger arrives here.
-- 
Nick Batzdorf - editor
Virtual Instruments magazine
(the world of softsynths and samplers)
www.Virtualinstrumentsmag.com
1-877 VImagzn (846-2496), 818/905-9101, cell 590-9101