# PC for Orchestral Music? Advices overall.



## minimaxi (Jan 29, 2017)

Hi, guys.
I am new here, and sorry if I missed forum for my question, you can move my question to right ssection if I did.

Is a computer with 12GB RAM and i3 4th generation processor good enough for all over orchestra.

I want to use:


Orchestral Tools - Metropolis Ark 1 (This one for main things in tracks, as short strings runs, harmony and/or melodies)

Heavyocity - Damage (For all kind of percussion)

Embertone - Violin, Cello and Recorders (As a solo instruments)

Orange Tree Samples - Steel Strings (Guitar strum)
Soundiron - Elysium Harp (For slow, emotional parts with recorders)

Project Sam - Orchestral Tools (Mainly Cymbals and Crashes)

Cinesamples - Viola Da Gamba (Solo)
Now, first thing that is bothering me is that I have heard that Metropolis Ark will cut off all notes if Kontakt 5 buffer size is not set really high or highest at 240kb, otherwise legato and sustain patches will cut off notes.

Can I get smooth work on this PC using Windows 10, using 20 patches from Metropolis Ark 1 (For strings I would open staccato, spicatto, tremolo, sustain, similar for Horns, Trombones and Choir), One from Damage, Embertone Violin, Cello and Recorder, Orange Guitar, Elysium harp, Project Sam percussion Effects and Cinesamples Viola De Gamba all of this loaded in an Orchestral template in FL Studio.

I don't have all libraries bought, but I plan to buy them, and I bought this pc with 8GB ram and I had 4gb more stick, so I put it in.

Also I used Metropolis Ark 1 on laptop with 4GB, and I had many glitches because it easily uses all RAM, and than starts pagging it on HDD, what sucks for workflow and destroys your nervs, motivation and inspiration.

If this will be to much for my PC, and I will not get a smooth work, can you advice me which patches I should load inside template so I get smooth workflow.

Anyone who answer me I will really appreciate.
I am not even good producer, I just started learning, but I need this.

Thanks in advance whoever gives time to help me and answers my question.


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## Mihkel Zilmer (Jan 29, 2017)

minimaxi said:


> Is a computer with 12GB RAM and i3 4th generation processor good enough for all over orchestra.


How many CPU cores and what is the clock speed?
You also definitely don't have enough RAM to load everything that you listed...



minimaxi said:


> Now, first thing that is bothering me is that I have heard that Metropolis Ark will cut off all notes if Kontakt 5 buffer size is not set really high or highest at 240kb, otherwise legato and sustain patches will cut off notes.


If you need to set your buffer this high in order for notes to play properly, then your biggest problem is hard drive speed. For these kinds of modern libraries with multiple mic positions you really want an SSD hard drive. With a regular HDD the number of voices you can play is rather quickly maxed out...



minimaxi said:


> If this will be to much for my PC, and I will not get a smooth work, can you advice me which patches I should load inside template so I get smooth workflow.


The bottom line is this: if you want to work with these libraries at a reasonable latency (DAW buffer size, delay in milliseconds), and also want to use a fair number of audio processing plugins, then you want *at least* an i5 CPU, 4 physical cores and a clock speed of 3,0GHz. Ideally samples should sit on SSD drives, or a compromise can be made by using faster HDDs (7200 RPM) and splitting your libraries between several drives, so each individual drive has less work to do..
For RAM, 32GB should very safely be enough for all your needs and have a bit of room for growth too. 

There are some workarounds of course, like freezing & exporting individual instruments to audio, but these are all compromises. You should invest in a hardware upgrade!


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## JohnG (Jan 29, 2017)

maybe you should tell us if you are a student or young person, or if you are a hobbyist? Or are you wanting to be a professional?

I agree with Mihkel's advice that you will need a powerful computer to run what you describe, maybe even more powerful than he specified.


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## minimaxi (Jan 29, 2017)

Thanks guys.

My CPU is i3 4710 3,7GHz, it is 2 cores, cache is 3mb.

I am just an hobbyist. 
I don't earn by music, I just save money to buy some things for making music, instead traveling or any other hobby. 
I am learning some theory too and I would like to be able to create a good orchestral tracks.

Mihkel, like you said, I can use many patches from Ark 1, and have it to play 240kb, maybe it could work on less, but I am not sure, anyway, I can use many, but than problems occur if I load Embertone Violin, instead of using 0,50gb on 60kb, it uses 2GB RAM, because of 240kb which I had to set in order for Ark 1 to work.

If I don't find any workout for Ark 1, I will have to save for other library which can work on my configuration.

Which you would suggest to use, that is not heavy like Ark 1 but give professional results.

I already played with free and low quality things, and I get nervous if my track is not sounding like Two Steps From Hell.

I like them, and I want to be able to create music like their tracks, is it possible with this PC, and does any other library which will not be too harsh on my PC exist?

I know for Albion ONE, but by demo songs, I think it is not so epic, rather soft sounding orchestra.

Thanks for your answers guys.


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## hendyb (Jan 29, 2017)

SSD is probably quite crucial if you want a painless experience.
The more the merrier for the RAM, however depending which RAM it is, it might be easy to add if you need more anyway
what are you going to use for the audio interface/sound card?


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## bap_la_so_1 (Jan 29, 2017)

Ssd is an absolute must for this set up. The libs you have are not that ram intensive, so you just need ssds to stream your libs


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## JohnG (Jan 29, 2017)

bap_la_so_1 said:


> Ssd is an absolute must for this set up.



Agree with @hendyb and @bap_la_so_1


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## synthpunk (Jan 29, 2017)

I'm asking @Blakus to chime in as he just added a new PC to his system.


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## Zhao Shen (Jan 29, 2017)

minimaxi said:


> My CPU is i3 4710 3,7GHz, it is 2 cores, cache is 3mb.



i7 4700k and 32GB RAM here. Upgrade that CPU ASAP. Mine is a quad core i7 and still bottlenecks my system.


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## leon chevalier (Jan 29, 2017)

Zhao Shen said:


> i7 4700k and 32GB RAM here. Upgrade that CPU ASAP. Mine is a quad core i7 and still bottlenecks my system.


+1
CPU is always the bottleneck ! Should be your top priority. Even more if you plan to use a separate reverb instance for each instrument.


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## minimaxi (Jan 29, 2017)

Thank you all, guys.
I see I will need a new configuration, because of my motherboard.
That will be at summer probably, as I don't have that money now.

Is there any library like Ark 1, and can run well on my configuration, so I can run it until I have enough for i5 or i7 with more RAM?
I have enough money for library maybe, but not as much as i5 or i7 needs with SSD and all other things for now.


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## leon chevalier (Jan 30, 2017)

I think the Project Sam libraries are lighter on CPU/RAM than Orchestral tools ones. Mainly because they do not have a "deep sampling" approach. (but that do not mean they sound less good).
Anyone who own both can confirm ?


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## Lassi Tani (Jan 30, 2017)

In my opinion save the money and invest for a good i7, RAM and SSD, before buying sample libraries.


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## Vanni (Jan 30, 2017)

SSD first, typical value for money choice is a samsung 850 evo. SSD will step change the performance.
Wouldn't spend a penny on libraries before having a decent system to run them on.


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## gjelul (Jan 30, 2017)

Slick Audio. R5000 = monster PC.


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## ZeroZero (Jan 30, 2017)

There are ways of working with most DAWs (you dont say which sequencer), using freeze tracks and purging samples that can reduce your PC's workload.


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## Phillip (Jan 30, 2017)

You may be able to get away without hardware upgrade. I have similar computer and able to create large orchestral mockups with Spitfire, LASS, Cinematic Strings, Orchestral Tools and the like. I use Render MIDI to audio and Freeze in Cubase 8 for cpu intensive instruments. It takes a bit longer that way, but with a bit of experimentation, reading the manual / forums /Youtube you can do a lot with your configuration. Good luck


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