# How many Slave [computers] do you have?



## garyhiebner (Mar 30, 2016)

So I'm sure the VEP slave configuration setup has been discussed quite a bit, so thought I throw the question out there (so please feel free for bragging rights) on how many slaves machines do you guys have setup in your studio. I wonder who has the most?


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## Jimmy Hellfire (Mar 31, 2016)

Love the thread title.

I myself am anti-slavery.


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## Zelorkq (Mar 31, 2016)

A few years back I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon and buy myself one slave, just one (keeping it moderate). But after a while I couldn't trust him anymore.. always had issues, you could say he was a bit unreliable. So I sold him a few months ago; you'd be surprised how easy it was via eBay.
Now I am slave-free and my life has improved a lot, doing everything myself now and it's way more efficient and faster. Less hassle and lower bills. Couldn't be happier and I'm sure the buyers on eBay are also happy with their purchase


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## Saxer (Mar 31, 2016)

I've got one PC slave. But often enough it feels like I'm the slave of the PC.


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## Ryan (Mar 31, 2016)

I have two. Just love the combo! 

Here are more info: http://kaiandersryan.no/?page_id=362&paged=2


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## OleJoergensen (Mar 31, 2016)

Im on an iMac from 2009. 2 years ago I bought a powerful Pc slave, which Im very happy about. Seldom problems. Logic + Ve-Pro. Is there a limit how many "slaves" you can set up with a DAW? I dont like the word either. Maybe a "WorkPC" would be better.


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## Lassi Tani (Mar 31, 2016)

Before this year, I didn't have any slaves, but as many have slaves here, I decided to get one slave to do the dirty work. Things didn't go well with the slave though (communication problems), and now the slave is sitting in the corner alone.


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## Anders Wall (Mar 31, 2016)

Three. Two PC's and one MAC.
One PC for EW orchestra, one for Kontakt, the MAC is mostly a expensive synthesizer sometimes is doubles as a sampleplayer.

DAW on MAC.

Best,
Anders


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## Vin (Mar 31, 2016)

None, I'm a minimal guy


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## milliontown (Mar 31, 2016)

I run one PC slave dedicated to Hollywood Orchestra. It all runs pretty smoothly.


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## muziksculp (Mar 31, 2016)

If you think about it, we are all slaves of Mr. & Mrs. Music. 

Haha.. I have one slave PC, and a Master PC, but trying to use my Master for everything these days.


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## pmountford (Mar 31, 2016)

Three. One for EW, one for VSL, one for Kontakt.


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## Daniel James (Mar 31, 2016)

This thread taken out of context would make for an amazing news headline.

-DJ


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## jononotbono (Mar 31, 2016)

One so far. We all start somewhere...


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## jamwerks (Mar 31, 2016)

currently 1 with a second soon on its way...


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## Flux (Mar 31, 2016)

Just curious for those who don't use slaves- what is your setup?


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## Andreas Moisa (Mar 31, 2016)

None. Cubase let's you deactivate instrument tracks which allows you to build a huge template. In most tracks I only use very few instruments from the template. But everything is there when needed. In the rare case that I run out of resources I would use the freeze function. I don't see a need for slave computers any more except when you're doing only huge orchestral stuff.


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## zeng (Mar 31, 2016)

Guys, are you using Giga Ethernet cable and Giga HUB for this?


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## Jimmy Hellfire (Mar 31, 2016)

Flux said:


> Just curious for those who don't use slaves- what is your setup?



I'm in Cubase and I'm going for the most simple and hassle-free setup possible.

I don't even use MIDI tracks any more. It's all instrument tracks now, and it's become possible thanks to the disable track and visibility features that Cubase has now. I have everything disabled by default. Everything is unloaded from RAM and the template fires up almost instantly. I just toggle things on and off on the fly. Everything is there the moment I need it - I hit a key and it's ready to use.

Of course, If I would try to load the entire template and have several hundreds of tracks play back data simultaneously, the system would freak. But who does that anyway? For most of my work, I end up using 30-60 tracks (all articulations in one track using expression maps, that is) and a single machine can handle that just fine. I could use even more stuff, but what for? It's just not needed for a full-sized orchestra track.


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## Rodney Money (Mar 31, 2016)

I'm the slave in my family, lol, but in computer land none.


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## trumpoz (Mar 31, 2016)

I run one slave for my East West libraries.


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## SymphonicSamples (Mar 31, 2016)

How many slaves do I have ?? Currently one. And when I turn her on she does everything asked of her. Not that I've been using her lately. It's been a while since I've had the need.  My main machine, yeah that's what I call her , A Machine , is PC (Penelope Candis) and she's got enough grunt under the hood to take care of most situations. She's got plenty of SSD's (sexy slender dresses) and enough RAM (really amazing makeup) to take care of most situations. She's overclocked / watercooled , yeah she runs pretty hot most of the time but that's the way I like it


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## garyhiebner (Mar 31, 2016)

So its seems like the consensus is one beefed up machine with SSD's and loads of memory is trumping the slaves?

So you guys with one machine, are you also using VEP to manage your libraries, or are all the instruments handled in the DAW?


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## Ashermusic (Mar 31, 2016)

trumpoz said:


> I run one slave for my East West libraries.



As do I.


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## novaburst (Mar 31, 2016)

I think slave is the way forward and even have a spare PC with lots of ram but have not needed to set up and at least to my ears I am getting a full orchestra sound,

I find librarys made for Kontakt and VSL librarys are very efficient on power consumption, plus converting finished midi files to audio is also another good practice, its a bit more work than just leaving the midi data on but very happy with the way things are working for now.

If I do feel the need for more librarys, I will always check how hungry they are, and always end up going for VSL (no brainer) no fuss in the end,

At first I believed VSL was a bank brake and stay away from but very soon noted they have the best deals in the orchestra market and still leave money in your pocket so glad about that, but it just means its not going to eat to much power on your machine.

It also means I only need to put up with the fan noise of one machine,

Edit no SSD yet but using USB 3.0 external

Cubase user


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## WindcryMusic (Mar 31, 2016)

Flux said:


> Just curious for those who don't use slaves- what is your setup?



No slaves here (for reasons I recently detailed in the following thread http://vi-control.net/community/thr...to-vsl-and-spitfire.52570/page-4#post-3947431). It's too bad, really, because if only VEPro didn't use a copy protection method that I abhor, I have several systems sitting in other rooms and connected via a gigabit network that would make for ideal slaves. I keep hoping that someday they might make a challenge/response version available ... I'd be all over that if they did.

Until then, I use Logic Pro X on a late 2013 iMac (i7 quad 3.5GHz, 32 GB RAM), using lots of individual Kontakt instances (one patch articulation per instance), which seems to distribute the work across the cores better than if I load several sounds into one multi-output Kontakt instance. I don't use pre-configured templates because they take too long to load up for me, and because they waste space on samples that I may not need for a given cue. Instead, I've created a rather large set of Logic library patches with the sample loads and channel configurations for the various orchestral instruments/articulations that I would otherwise have had in such a template, which at least allows me to add whatever instrument/articulation I want as a new track in a couple of seconds, rather than spending a minute or more configuring things each time.


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## A3D2 (Mar 31, 2016)

one slave over here (Mac Pro)


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## rgames (Mar 31, 2016)

garyhiebner said:


> So its seems like the consensus is one beefed up machine with SSD's and loads of memory is trumping the slaves?


Definitely not.

The number of slaves you need depends on the kinds of music you write, what libraries you use and how you like to work. Some people can easily get by with a single machine. Some definitely cannot.

I went from two slaves to one and, temporarily, none. My work flow has suffered and it's a lot more hassle but only for full orchestral tracks. For simple tracks the single machine is perfectly adequate. I anxiously await being able to go back to two slaves - it will greatly simplify my workflow.

The only consensus is "it depends".

rgames


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## stonzthro (Mar 31, 2016)

2 PC slaves, 2 mac mini slaves, iMac master. Works remarkably well!


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## Ashermusic (Mar 31, 2016)

stonzthro said:


> 2 PC slaves, 2 mac mini slaves, iMac master. Works remarkably well!



Wow, you really need 5 computers for what you get hired to write? I am not sure if I envy you or not


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## Jimmy Hellfire (Mar 31, 2016)

rgames said:


> I went from two slaves to one and, temporarily, none. My work flow has suffered and it's a lot more hassle but only for full orchestral tracks.
> 
> I anxiously await being able to go back to two slaves - it will greatly simplify my workflow.



Why is that? The main reason why I prefer working on a single machine is because it's so much more simple, straight-forward and accelerates the workflow.


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## SymphonicSamples (Mar 31, 2016)

I have 4 machines in my setup, 3 in racks and one large tower, but normally only use 2. I tend to offload vst synth's to 1 slave machine and have all my orchestral instruments on my main PC and all hardware synths are on another. But mosty work on my main PC until I need more.


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## AlexanderSchiborr (Mar 31, 2016)

My thoughts: As I have to keep an eye on my business costs I keep running a single machine (which is also effective in power consumption). Electricity is expensive these days ecspecially in germany and so I keep my stuff running on a single 64 GB ram machine which is for my needs actually more than enough. I like rgames statment and I would like to add: It depends also on the way how effective you are able to design your template. There are not less people who in my opinion don´t build up recource effective templates. I see it like the ..was it french orchestration philosophy? As much as needed as little as possible.


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## SymphonicSamples (Mar 31, 2016)

AlexanderSchiborr said:


> As much as needed as little as possible.



Hey Alexander, much like you my main PC has 64 GB ram with a 4930k running at 4.5ghz so more often than not I keep a project to one PC, which for me makes things easier. I only tend to use a slave if I need the resources. In the last 6 months I haven't used more than 1 PC with Cubase. Actually in the last month I haven't even turned my music PC on at all, so that brings me down to zero machines running. The old 9-5's been getting in the way


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## Frederick Russ (Mar 31, 2016)

Mostly in the box here with Mac Pro, but for extra large projects, I have 2 Mac Mini i7 Quads w/SSDs streaming into Logic via VEPRO5. Covers most of what I need across multiple genre and styles. If I ever need more, I'll get another. For now, this works.


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## AlexanderSchiborr (Mar 31, 2016)

SymphonicSamples said:


> Hey Alexander, much like you my main PC has 64 GB ram with a 4930k running at 4.5ghz so more often than not I keep a project to one PC, which for me makes things easier. I only tend to use a slave if I need the resources. In the last 6 months I haven't used more than 1 PC with Cubase. Actually in the last month I haven't even turned my music PC on at all, so that brings me down to zero machines running. The old 9-5's been getting in the way



That´s good. Keeps hopefully the cost for electricity lower also for you.


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## Anders Wall (Mar 31, 2016)

Ashermusic said:


> Wow, you really need 5 computers for what you get hired to write? I am not sure if I envy you or not


?
/Anders


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## garyhiebner (Mar 31, 2016)

So chillbot is leading the pack with 6. How do you have them setup? Specs and how are your libraries distributed amongst them


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## Ryan (Mar 31, 2016)

Flux said:


> Just curious for those who don't use slaves- what is your setup?



EDIT: Didn't see that you wrote "don't" use slaves. But, anyway!

Hi

One I use (this server) for heavy duty work (Spitfire Audio Orchestral stuff).
The other server is basically a synth server with zebra2 and other stuff.
My main DAW is 32gb. On that one I put everything else I miss in my basic setup when needed.

I often write complex, huge stuff. And I like the opportunity to get instant access to the orchestral setup when needed for work.



cenk said:


> Guys, are you using Giga Ethernet cable and Giga HUB for this?



Believe it or not, I have had some great success with 100mb switch. The buffer gets a bit higher, but it's not like I can't compose music. Now I use a gigabit switch. Down to 128 buffer 

Best
Ryan


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## NYC Composer (Mar 31, 2016)

My setup mirrors Fred's, with one less Mini Slave. Mac Pro main machine, one Mac Mini slave, all drives SSD, but with Cubase as my DAW.

The thing I find is that I can often run projects from the main machine, but I have HS and HB Gold in the Mini, as well as some power hungry plugs like Trilian and Omni. I always keep the slave on and available in the background.


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## chillbot (Mar 31, 2016)

garyhiebner said:


> So chillbot is leading the pack with 6. How do you have them setup? Specs and how are your libraries distributed amongst them



My workflow is leftover from a time when there was a lot less memory. Next time I redo or update the studio I'll be getting rid of 2-3 of these. Still, it's nice to have and they play very nicely together.

I can and will go down to 1 giga machine because the new samples are such that I obviously use giga less and less all the time. But I have enough giga samples that I will keep one around for as long as I can. Sure, you could convert them, but why bother. Plus it's 500GB of samples we're talking about. VisionDAW makes a sleek 2-unit rackmount giga machine running XP for about a grand and they tell me it's one of their best sellers, I have two.

So 5 of them are set-it-and-leave-it machines that I spend a huge amount of time setting up and organizing samples and then I never touch them:

2 gigas (4GB each)
1 strings/brass/winds (64GB)
1 drums/guitars/ethnic/choir (24GB)
1 piano/keys/bass (24GB)

All with their own soundcards going out to external mixers.

Then I have 1 that is essentially a blank template running VEPro that I use to load samples and save with the project (64GB).

My main machine is a beast (64GB) but I just keep drum/synth libraries on it, nothing orchestral. Damage, AEON, Arpology, Stylus, Omnisphere, Zebra, Gravity, etc, etc. I like to have them handy.

I'm going to get rid of the tweaker machine, I don't use it very much, and one of the gigas and see if I can't combine 2 of the others. Say what you want but it's nice to work without every having to worry about running out of memory or pushing the limits of any one machine. Oh wait... storage... I tend to run out of storage a lot. Thanks, HZ Piano.

EDIT: oops added memory specs... so 240GB total... I think I can get rid of the two 24GB machines pretty easy.


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## Flux (Mar 31, 2016)

WindcryMusic said:


> No slaves here (for reasons I recently detailed in the following thread http://vi-control.net/community/thr...to-vsl-and-spitfire.52570/page-4#post-3947431). It's too bad, really, because if only VEPro didn't use a copy protection method that I abhor, I have several systems sitting in other rooms and connected via a gigabit network that would make for ideal slaves. I keep hoping that someday they might make a challenge/response version available ... I'd be all over that if they did.
> 
> Until then, I use Logic Pro X on a late 2013 iMac (i7 quad 3.5GHz, 32 GB RAM), using lots of individual Kontakt instances (one patch articulation per instance), which seems to distribute the work across the cores better than if I load several sounds into one multi-output Kontakt instance. I don't use pre-configured templates because they take too long to load up for me, and because they waste space on samples that I may not need for a given cue. Instead, I've created a rather large set of Logic library patches with the sample loads and channel configurations for the various orchestral instruments/articulations that I would otherwise have had in such a template, which at least allows me to add whatever instrument/articulation I want as a new track in a couple of seconds, rather than spending a minute or more configuring things each time.



Excuse my ignorance, I'm still pretty new at this, but couldn't you make a template with all your samples but with everything purged, and then just reset the sample pool for the instruments that you do need? I use Logic as well, and though I don't have enough samples to make me worry about this yet, I have been thinking of ways to solve the issue without a slave.


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## WindcryMusic (Mar 31, 2016)

Flux said:


> Excuse my ignorance, I'm still pretty new at this, but couldn't you make a template with all your samples but with everything purged, and then just reset the sample pool for the instruments that you do need? I use Logic as well, and though I don't have enough samples to make me worry about this yet, I have been thinking of ways to solve the issue without a slave.



That's a thought ... although perhaps not one that I would personally opt to pursue for a few reasons. First, it would require opening up the Kontakt instance each time I want to use a new track (or else tolerating the glitches and such every time I start playing notes that aren't in the sample pool). Second, there's an additional reason I didn't mention about why I don't like templates, which is that they occupy so many tracks that it takes time to scroll around and hunt down what you are looking for. I like my track sets to be as concise as possible, so that I don't have to scroll around.

An interesting thought, though ... it could be worth looking into. Thus far I've only purged samples in order to make finished tracks run better on my laptop with limited RAM, but there may be some additional uses for it.


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## garyhiebner (Mar 31, 2016)

chillbot said:


> My workflow is leftover from a time when there was a lot less memory. Next time I redo or update the studio I'll be getting rid of 2-3 of these. Still, it's nice to have and they play very nicely together.
> 
> I can and will go down to 1 giga machine because the new samples are such that I obviously use giga less and less all the time. But I have enough giga samples that I will keep one around for as long as I can. Sure, you could convert them, but why bother. Plus it's 500GB of samples we're talking about. VisionDAW makes a sleek 2-unit rackmount giga machine running XP for about a grand and they tell me it's one of their best sellers, I have two.
> 
> ...



Wow! That is an insane setup! Nice one


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## muziksculp (Mar 31, 2016)

Andreas Moisa said:


> None. Cubase let's you deactivate instrument tracks which allows you to build a huge template. In most tracks I only use very few instruments from the template. But everything is there when needed. In the rare case that I run out of resources I would use the freeze function. I don't see a need for slave computers any more except when you're doing only huge orchestral stuff.



That's where I'm heading as well. Although I have a Slave PC. (It's mostly on stand-by these days).


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## colony nofi (Mar 31, 2016)

Like others on cubase/nuendo, I've come round to working on a single machine (mac pro trash can) with 128GB ram. 

All samples on an external thunderbolt J4 (4tb of SSD - which for the moment is enough for me.)
How well this machine runs seems to VERY much depend on the sound card used. My old metric halos do not behave nearly as well as my portable interfaces (babyface or even apogee one) and I recently experimented with an external PCIE card in a thunderbolt enclosure which helped remarkably with low latency sessions.

I do a lot of work on the road - so a small, sleek setup is important. Its why I used to use mac mini's as the slaves. I have a complete rig (including small speakers but minus keyboard) and case that fits in 23kg....not much I can't do on it. And I find work arounds when I come up against limits - much is built into the software these days to help with that.

I have 2xmac minis (same setup as others - SSD for samples, i7 cpu's) which I used to use as slaves, and also an older 2009 mac pro with 48GB ram and SSD's - but they are sitting dormant. My old mac pro I'm trying to rebuild to become a machine for an assistant. Just need time.....


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## whinecellar (Mar 31, 2016)

5 slaves here in addition to my main Mac running Logic:

#1 - quad core Skylake PC with 64GB RAM, (3) 1 TB Samsung 850 EVOs for PLAY and heavy Kontakt libraries;
#2 - quad core Mac Mini with 16 GB RAM, 2 internal SSDs for VSL, lighter PLAY libraries, misc. Kontakt
#3 - dual core iMac with 16 GB RAM, internal SSD for misc. Kontakt libraries
#4 - 8 core Mac Pro Xeon with 16 GB RAM, internal SSDs for misc. Kontakt libraries
#5 - dual core MacBook Pro with 8 GB RAM, internal SSDs for orig. Kontakt format EWQLSO orch, choir

All connected to a Cat5 ethernet switch, running VE Pro 5. Loving it


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## rgames (Mar 31, 2016)

Jimmy Hellfire said:


> Why is that? The main reason why I prefer working on a single machine is because it's so much more simple, straight-forward and accelerates the workflow.


It accelerates *your* workflow! Like I said, it depends on your workflow, what kinds of music you write and what libraries you use.

When I use a single machine I often have to bounce tracks. Obviously that's less flexible than working directly with MIDI, so it adds tedium to the production process because when you want to make a change to a bounced track, you have to first bounce something else to free resources for the one you want to edit, then unload that one, then re-load the one you want to edit, etc. It's a major pain. If your music never overloads a single machine then you never have to bounce. I can write about 80% of my music on a single machine but some tracks require slaves (or bouncing).

Also, when you're really pushing a single machine you get occasional errors when doing things like printing stems. You really don't notice them while composing but when doing QC, they show up. I just lived through that last week - it was my first time printing *a lot* of stems since moving to one machine and I got occasional tiny clicks in them. So I had to go back and fix all of them - that was a major pain. That never happens when I use slaves.

Regarding power consumption, it's possible but I'm not sold on that. Two machines working moderately at 150W each pull 300W. A single machine working hard at 350W is pulling 350W.

Even if there is less power consumption with a single machine, let's say it's 50W. And let's say your cost is $0.10/kWh. Let's also say you pull that power 60 hours a week. 50W*60hr = 3 kWhr. That's 30 cents extra per week. I'm thinking that's not going to break the bank or reduce greenhouse gas emissions...

So until I see some measurements, I'm going to put this one in the "non-issue" category. 

rgames


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## Lawson. (Mar 31, 2016)

I have one PC slave (3.5 GHz Xeon E5-1650v3, 128GB RAM, tons of 850 EVOs) and one Mac master (iMac 13,2 with an 3.4GHz i7 and 32GB RAM). Everything works great!


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## trumpoz (Mar 31, 2016)

Lawson. said:


> I have one PC slave (3.5 GHz Xeon E5-1650v3, 128GB RAM, tons of 850 EVOs) and one Mac master (iMac 13,2 with an 3.4GHz i7 and 32GB RAM). Everything works great!


So your slave is powerful enough to run Google........ that is a monster.


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## Lawson. (Mar 31, 2016)

trumpoz said:


> So your slave is powerful enough to run Google........ that is a monster.



Maybe not that much, but it can definitely run a giant (lost count but I'm guessing around 1750 tracks) template, with ~18GB RAM to spare. Thanks for the compliment!

And yes, Rich, I don't run all of the tracks at the same time, and yes, I'm sure if I wanted to run all the tracks my CPU wouldn't be able to handle it.


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## Mystic (Apr 2, 2016)

Sorry if this was explained in this thread but can someone point me in the direction of how to setup a slave as I'm new to the game of slaving a computer for DAW usage.


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## Saxer (Apr 3, 2016)

Mystic said:


> Sorry if this was explained in this thread but can someone point me in the direction of how to setup a slave as I'm new to the game of slaving a computer for DAW usage.


Just have a look at the videos about Vienna Ensemble Pro. It will make things clear.
https://www.vsl.co.at/en/Vienna_Software_Package/Vienna_Ensemble_PRO#!Video_Demos


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## muziksculp (Apr 3, 2016)

Mystic said:


> Sorry if this was explained in this thread but can someone point me in the direction of how to setup a slave as I'm new to the game of slaving a computer for DAW usage.


Hi,

Another good source for learning, and understanding VSL's VE-Pro 5 is the Groove3 Video Tutorials on this topic . It's not Free, but I think it does a better job at explaining VE-Pro 5 than the Free VSL video tutorials.

Here is a link : https://www.groove3.com/Vienna-Symphonic-training-video-tutorials/Vienna-Ensemble-Pro-5-Explained

Cheers,
Muziksculp


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## trumpoz (Apr 3, 2016)

I was in the same boat Mystic. I jumped in and did the following. The instructions are simple and it is an elegant piece of software that works as it should. 

Build a computer.
Install OS and sample libraries
Install VEPro as per the instructions.
Setup a quick template by following instructions. 

Everything worked beautifully from start to finish.


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## Mystic (Apr 3, 2016)

Thanks, guys. I'll give those a look.


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## rap_ferr (Apr 3, 2016)

Can any of the more experientes guys with slaves help me in thr other topic please?

http://vi-control.net/community/threads/slave-strategy.52692/

Dindn't want to post here and hijack the topic!


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## bc3po (Apr 3, 2016)

11 slaves. 9 older server class samplers and 2 Vienna machines.


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## Boberg (Apr 3, 2016)

None, yet.
I'm currently fine without, due to my template not being as well rounded as many of yours. I am forced to use the "Freeze" function in Cubase quite a bit though, when I'm writing larger pieces. This mostly comes in during mixing, as more and more plugs are used, hehe.
Right now, I don't have any large problems with this, but as my template will grow I'm quite sure I'll look to expand my resources too.

Current speccs:
CPU: i7 870 @2.93GHz
RAM: 12GB
SSD: Samsung 840 EVO


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## garyhiebner (Apr 3, 2016)

Wow! 11. What do you run on the older server class samplers. And what Vienne libraries are you running?


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## dgburns (Apr 4, 2016)

if you guys really want to value the metrics of what someone's sound generating capacity is-it should include some kind of intelligent discussion of cpu/memory/drive streaming throuhgput.


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## bc3po (Apr 4, 2016)

garyhiebner said:


> Wow! 11. What do you run on the older server class samplers. And what Vienne libraries are you running?


HZ's orchestral and perc samples. Requires an inane amount of processing. Vienna winds and harp, by two Vienna machines I just meant Vienna Ensemble. They host a bunch of percussion and any some additional orchestra.


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## JohnG (Apr 4, 2016)

dgburns said:


> it should include some kind of intelligent discussion



Intelligent discussion? You've come to the wrong place! 

But really, we're not IT guys, or at least most aren't. We just write music and to me this thread is just so people can get a flavour. Some guys use three computers, some one, some (it appears) more than 10. Who knows how many HZ or JNH or the Newmans use? 

Many people have older machines that there's no point in upgrading (me included) and they work fine for older libraries, but they shouldn't be emulated as a model, so providing specs for those I think is sort of irrelevant.

If you're starting from scratch, suggest you pay attention to Richard Ames' posts on voice count and chimuelo's posts. Those guys are focused on practicality for what we actually do, especially chimuelo, since he plays live and in situations where he can't tolerate any problems with gear.

It's easy to get caught up in details that, on their own, are meaningless. For example, access speed of some new SSD, which we can look up on Tom's Hardware, may not be as decisive if you ignore other issues, like bus speed. Similarly, what capabilities you need vary pretty considerably depending on the kind of music you're writing. If you are doing super-processed stuff with a dozen reverbs and delays and what-not, that means one thing for your setup (high CPU). If it's focused more on emulating an acoustic sound, then speed of drives and bus are probably more dominant.

Put differently, it's easy to provide a lot of very precise specs but still miss the point of why a system works or doesn't work for the kind of music one is writing.

My vote: overkill.


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## Ashermusic (Apr 4, 2016)

Agreed, John.


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## dgburns (Apr 4, 2016)

JohnG said:


> Intelligent discussion? You've come to the wrong place!
> 
> But really, we're not IT guys, or at least most aren't. We just write music and to me this thread is just so people can get a flavour. Some guys use three computers, some one, some (it appears) more than 10. Who knows how many HZ or JNH or the Newmans use?
> 
> ...



Ha! you called me out.But I was just finding it amusing that the number of slaves kinda made no sense.That said,give me 4 semi powerfull recent pc's and I'm good to go.That's what I run now anyway...


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## bc3po (Apr 4, 2016)

I could condense my rig to work with 4 modern PC slaves. But they would be seriously expensive and my system is still running fine.


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## muziksculp (Apr 4, 2016)

Hi,

I think It would be interesting, and useful, if we can also discuss the VE Pro 5 workflow, organization of VE-Pro Projects, Instances, Use of Folder for the projects in the DAW, Number of Outputs per Instance, Use of Preserve, mixing in VE-Pro, MIR, and other related discussions on how we use it, tips, ...etc.

Maybe opening a new topic for this, instead of mixing it here. What do you think ? Worth it ? Good idea ? ... ?

Thanks,
Muziksculp


----------



## dgburns (Apr 4, 2016)

bc3po said:


> I could condense my rig to work with 4 modern PC slaves. But they would be seriously expensive and my system is still running fine.



I still have an old giga machine that gets turned on every once in a while.BTW wasn't making a value statement to your slaves.In fact keeping older units that work fine is just good business and accounting values.And if things work,they work.
No,I was just amused at the idea that the "number" whatever the number was,meant anything at all.

[email protected]#k,I'm seriously procrastinating.see ya'll later got three pc I'm updating to win10.knuckles are white!


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## Patrick de Caumette (Apr 4, 2016)

The slave jokes are tasteless.
One main computer here. Cubase, all instrument tracks, most of them disabled.


----------



## dgburns (Apr 5, 2016)

Patrick de Caumette said:


> The slave jokes are tasteless.
> One main computer here. Cubase, all instrument tracks, most of them disabled.



slave envy I see.

(and if your tasteless comment happened to be pointed at me,I was in fact updating three pc's yeasterday,so no joke there)


----------



## Patrick de Caumette (Apr 5, 2016)

dgburns said:


> slave envy I see.
> 
> (and if your tasteless comment happened to be pointed at me,I was in fact updating three pc's yeasterday,so no joke there)


It wasn't.
I was referring to earlier comments that I felt totally lacked empathy for those of us whose family backgrounds or lives were directly affected by slavery.
Slavery hasn't disappeared from our world. Only yesterday, hundreds of Boko Haram slaves were released and are now having a very hard time reinserting themselves into the world they were abducted from. People are still made slaves everyday.
No problem naming secondary machines slaves, but the jokes about slavery are rude and show a total lack of empathy or concern about the state of our world.


----------



## Ashermusic (Apr 5, 2016)

Patrick de Caumette said:


> It wasn't.
> I was referring to earlier comments that I felt totally lacked empathy for those of us whose family backgrounds or lives were directly affected by slavery.
> Slavery hasn't disappeared from our world. Only yesterday, hundreds of Boko Haram slaves were released and are now having a very hard time reinserting themselves into the world they were abducted from. People are still made slaves everyday.
> No problem naming secondary machines slaves, but the jokes about slavery are rude and show a total lack of empathy or concern about the state of our world.



Well stated, Patrick.


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## dgburns (Apr 5, 2016)

Patrick de Caumette said:


> It wasn't.
> I was referring to earlier comments that I felt totally lacked empathy for those of us whose family backgrounds or lives were directly affected by slavery.
> Slavery hasn't disappeared from our world. Only yesterday, hundreds of Boko Haram slaves were released and are now having a very hard time reinserting themselves into the world they were abducted from. People are still made slaves everyday.
> No problem naming secondary machines slaves, but the jokes about slavery are rude and show a total lack of empathy or concern about the state of our world.



First off,thnx Patrick,you kinda gave me a start this morning,as I was wondering if I came off rude somehow.Kinda saddened me a bit.Your comments are well recieved.

So the challenge now is for us to find a better name for companion pc's that house vi's.(maybe in another thread)


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## givemenoughrope (Apr 5, 2016)

Technically 5 but they are not going all the time. I built 3 pcs in early 2010, fairly middle of the road spec but they are still working fine for basic Kontakt streaming even with no SSDs. I used to run strings on the most powerful of the three but it got tougher as the libraries used more cpu. One of them runs PLAY for EWSO perc and SD2. I'm torn if I should add SSDs (SATA2 connections) or replace the motherboards (and therefore also the ram) as well or just sell them for little and get another mini.

Last year I bought two minis and put two SSDs each in them, mostly for strings and demanding stuff. My host machine is a laptop w 2 SSDs. It is great to have portable machines w SSDs but it's all very fast and convenient but somehow it still seems like the pcs (all things being equal power-wise) handle the loading and unloading better. I have to use that Memory clear program for the macs.

Can't complain. Spreading out streaming/cpu over machines WAS the way to do it a few years ago...still works ok. Doing a full orch plus heavy synths mockup isn't a problem but I still prefer to render and edit/mix from audio. (Also, I'm recording more real instruments these days.) Plus, I can send audio tracks back to the slaves via VE Pro and use compression/limiting (too cpu heavy for my laptop on every track) and then render the stems.


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## gsilbers (Apr 5, 2016)

I got 1 pc with 128gb of ram. 5820k and 5 ssd drives. asrock mobo.


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## jononotbono (Apr 5, 2016)

Patrick de Caumette said:


> It wasn't.
> I was referring to earlier comments that I felt totally lacked empathy for those of us whose family backgrounds or lives were directly affected by slavery.
> Slavery hasn't disappeared from our world. Only yesterday, hundreds of Boko Haram slaves were released and are now having a very hard time reinserting themselves into the world they were abducted from. People are still made slaves everyday.
> No problem naming secondary machines slaves, but the jokes about slavery are rude and show a total lack of empathy or concern about the state of our world.



Sorry if I caused offense by anything I had written about "Working my slave to the bone". It's impossible to know how sensitive anyone is on the Internet. It was just a comment that I meant no offense by. I apologise.

On another note, I am very aware of the state of our World and I wonder what I can do about any of it? I once, in a different life, even joined the British Army thinking I could make a difference - helping people in different countries without the freedoms that many of us are so fortunate to enjoy. Needless to say, I left after 4 years. But still, at least I tried doing something. Now I just try to write Music.


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## Patrick de Caumette (Apr 5, 2016)

jononotbono said:


> Sorry if I caused offense by anything I had written about "Working my slave to the bone". It's impossible to know how sensitive anyone is on the Internet. It was just a comment that I meant no offense by. I apologise.
> 
> On another note, I am very aware of the state of our World and I wonder what I can do about any of it? I once, in a different life, even joined the British Army thinking I could make a difference - helping people in different countries without the freedoms that many of us are so fortunate to enjoy. Needless to say, I left after 4 years. But still, at least I tried doing something. Now I just try to write Music.


Thanks for your post
We all sometimes say things that are potentially hurtful to others.
When in doubt, best to steer away from such sensitive issues...


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## Patrick de Caumette (Apr 5, 2016)

And Jono, congratulations on your reconversion from the military to music!
Music is a great healer!


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## C.R. Rivera (Apr 5, 2016)

Pardon for being late to this thread:

"So the challenge now is for us to find a better name for companion pc's that house vi's.(maybe in another thread)"

Would that not entail telling the ENTIRE technological and music industries to modify the terminology? For instance when you have more than one EIDE HDD in a system, isn't one always a "master"?


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## JohnG (Apr 5, 2016)

Perhaps. However, I don't find it amusing at all to joke about slavery. I am with Patrick. If you stop for just a few seconds and consider that maybe 100 million people in the USA alone lived their entire lives under it, it is arguably the greatest crime in history. And, as Patrick points out, it is still going on.


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## jononotbono (Apr 5, 2016)

Patrick de Caumette said:


> And Jono, congratulations on your reconversion from the military to music!
> Music is a great healer!



Pain Poises the Pen! Yes, I will never be going back that's for sure!


----------



## Patrick de Caumette (Apr 5, 2016)

C.R. Rivera said:


> Pardon for being late to this thread:
> 
> "So the challenge now is for us to find a better name for companion pc's that house vi's.(maybe in another thread)"
> 
> Would that not entail telling the ENTIRE technological and music industries to modify the terminology? For instance when you have more than one EIDE HDD in a system, isn't one always a "master"?


Why not?
Many other words could be used.
But like John said, that wasn't the issue in this thread.
As time goes by, even computers may deserve more respect than this.
As much as I hate them at times, it also helps me tremendously with the work load.
No matter how you look at it, the word SLAVE is too painful for it to be used lightly, or made fun of.
I'm done preaching...


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## Gabriel Oliveira (Apr 5, 2016)

Patrick de Caumette said:


> As time goes by, even computers may deserve more respect than this.



Haha, no. Just machines, man


----------



## Patrick de Caumette (Apr 5, 2016)

Gabriel Oliveira said:


> Haha, no. Just machines, man


 if you are young enough, you may reconsider in 50 years


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## Scrianinoff (Apr 5, 2016)

Patrick de Caumette said:


> Why not?
> Many other words could be used.
> But like John said, that wasn't the issue in this thread.
> As time goes by, even computers may deserve more respect than this.
> ...


I sincerely think it is noble and admirable to fight for this cause.
And although you fall short of being a sl*ve to it, at least you are PC.


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## Patrick de Caumette (Apr 5, 2016)

Scrianinoff said:


> I sincerely think it is noble and admirable to fight for this cause.
> And although you fall short of being a sl*ve to it, at least you are PC.


PdC actually...


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## geoffreyvernon (Apr 6, 2016)

None for me! I used to have 2 sample slaves. Now I'm on a 8-core 2012 Mac Pro with maximum RAM. Since I write in Cubase my film score temp of 400+ tracks loads with all of the tracks disabled and out of RAM. When I need a track all I do is enable it and I'm ready to go!


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## givemenoughrope (Apr 6, 2016)

^So, you are using instrument tracks? How does that work if you have 16+ in kontakt? Thry always seemed glitchy to me.


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## Maxime Luft (Apr 9, 2016)

1 slave. I'd like to know if most of you are using VEPro as I don't think there's any kind of advantage to be doing so (CPU). 

I only send MIDI to standalone instances of Kontakt and am adjusting the volumes via master effect automations.


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## zeng (Apr 9, 2016)

whinecellar said:


> 5 slaves here in addition to my main Mac running Logic:
> 
> #1 - quad core Skylake PC with 64GB RAM, (3) 1 TB Samsung 850 EVOs for PLAY and heavy Kontakt libraries;
> #2 - quad core Mac Mini with 16 GB RAM, 2 internal SSDs for VSL, lighter PLAY libraries, misc. Kontakt
> ...


Can you see and control all slaves with one monitor, keyboard and mouse via VE Pro?


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## jononotbono (Apr 9, 2016)

zeng said:


> Can you see and control all slaves with one monitor, keyboard and mouse via VE Pro?



Yes. Just use Microsoft Remote Desktop which is free. I have it on my Master Mac and can access both Mac and PC from same screen, mouse and Keyboard at the touch of a button. It's great.


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## zeng (Apr 9, 2016)

Oh I know that, because all computers on the same network hub, right? That's nice.


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## jononotbono (Apr 9, 2016)

zeng said:


> Oh I know that, because all computers on the same network hub, right? That's nice.



Yeah exactly. It's very nice.


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## Ashermusic (Apr 9, 2016)

jononotbono said:


> Yes. Just use Microsoft Remote Desktop which is free. I have it on my Master Mac and can access both Mac and PC from same screen, mouse and Keyboard at the touch of a button. It's great.



Since the latest Mac OS update though, it keeps unexpectedly quitting. Only a mild inconvenience, but annoying.


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## jononotbono (Apr 9, 2016)

Oh really? I haven't experienced that (yet).


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## prodigalson (Apr 10, 2016)

Are you guys using Microsoft Remote Desktop via wifi or Ethernet?


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## jononotbono (Apr 10, 2016)

Via Ethernet. I had a spare Router after updating my internet so I plug my computers into the Router so VEPro works on It's private network away from Internet. Also use Cat 6 Ethernet Cables...


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## procreative (Apr 11, 2016)

zeng said:


> Can you see and control all slaves with one monitor, keyboard and mouse via VE Pro?



I use switch box I think they are called KVM, that shares mouse keyboard and monitor between up to 4 devices. Because I have the room I have a smaller monitor and keyboard shared between my 2 VEP PCs (trying to avoid the S word) as I find using a Mac keyboard on a PC awkward.

But once you have your VEP template set up you should only need to flick over once in a while to check things have loaded up right. Still trying to find the optimum way to have a large template loaded up in Logic, whether to have the server connections set to disconnected and only connect when needed or have them always on...


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## chillbot (Apr 11, 2016)

Not making jokes about slaves: good. Avoiding the "s-word" completely: makes no sense. Hard drives have been in master/slave configurations since I built my first computer 30 years ago. I don't see the issue.

KVM boxes can be such a shouldn't-be-this-complicated drag to set up depending on your OS, various display resolutions, and mouse/keyboard inputs. And the cables.... oh the cables.... especially if your computers are far away and depending on the number of computers you have. I have a KVM switchbox hardwired but I can't wait to get rid of it. I have literally not touched it in, say... 2-3 years? Next time I update the studio it's out. I am going to keep a spare keyboard/mouse and monitor in the machine room as a precaution, just to plug in as needed. I don't know if this works for you, just a thought.


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## givemenoughrope (Apr 11, 2016)

^i just switched to Teamviewer for the pcs. Easy.


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## dannthr (Apr 11, 2016)

I only have one computer, it is an ex-slave. After emancipation, I couldn't go back--64-bit processing freed us all!

My computer has 8 Drives on it though.


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## procreative (Apr 12, 2016)

Well the KVM Box I have is by Belkin and no drivers needed. Has one long cable (about 2m) with connectors at each end for Monitor, Keyboard and Mouse (both USB and PS2 variants). And all you have to do to switch is press a big button on the front (it has LEDS so you know which is active).

But if I had just one Slave I would just use a second monitor/keyboard. The main reason I got it was that I have a D8B Mixer which also needs a monitor/keyboard (although I rarely use it now).


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## higgs (Apr 28, 2016)

jononotbono said:


> Via Ethernet. I had a spare Router after updating my internet so I plug my computers into the Router so VEPro works on It's private network away from Internet. Also use Cat 6 Ethernet Cables...


Jono, did you find that Cat-5 or 5e cables were insufficient or did you default to the fastest spec'd available option? I took the dive into VE Pro yesterday thinking that my Mackbook Pro, a 2012 quad-core Mini, and a 8 port gigabit ethernet switch might serve me well. I do have a device with Dante connectivity that I'd like to bring into the fold with ethernet as well. Is there anything that you or other folks can think of off the top of your heads that I should address before I begin beating my head against the wall?


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## jononotbono (Apr 28, 2016)

higgs said:


> Jono, did you find that Cat-5 or 5e cables were insufficient or did you default to the fastest spec'd available option? I took the dive into VE Pro yesterday thinking that my Mackbook Pro, a 2012 quad-core Mini, and a 8 port gigabit ethernet switch might serve me well. I do have a device with Dante connectivity that I'd like to bring into the fold with ethernet as well. Is there anything that you or other folks can think of off the top of your heads that I should address before I begin beating my head against the wall?



Well, Cat 6 Cables are the fastest and they don't cost a lot more (in the UK) so I don't see the point in spending so much Money on so much gear and at the last hurdle, use slow Ethernet Leads! To be honest, I don't even need to use the Router as I have 2 Ethernet ports in the Mac Pro which means I could just connect 1 cable from the Mac to the PC and then use the Second Ethernet Port on the Mac Pro to connect to an Internet Hub but I like the idea of not having the PC connected to the internet unless it's just purely to update Libraries and Plugins etc. I also know that I will get a third computer at some point so having it all on a dedicated Audio Network is fine by me (start as you mean to go on etc)...


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## higgs (Apr 28, 2016)

jononotbono said:


> Well, Cat 6 Cables are the fastest and they don't cost a lot more (in the UK) so I don't see the point in spending so much Money on so much gear and at the last hurdle, use slow Ethernet Leads! To be honest, I don't even need to use the Router as I have 2 Ethernet ports in the Mac Pro which means I could just connect 1 cable from the Mac to the PC and then use the Second Ethernet Port on the Mac Pro to connect to an Internet Hub but I like the idea of not having the PC connected to the internet unless it's just purely to update Libraries and Plugins etc. I also know that I will get a third computer at some point so having it all on a dedicated Audio Network is fine by me (start as you mean to go on etc)...


I forgot that there are _two_ ethernet ports on the Cylinder. That said I may still need to experiment with the gigabit switch to see how nicely the two little contributing computers play with Dante in the house. I'll report back in the next couple of days on that one.


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## germancomponist (Apr 28, 2016)

No slave here .... .


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## higgs (Apr 28, 2016)

germancomponist said:


> No slave here .... .


Good point, mister, but I'm thinking that I've got these relatively unemployed hard-workers available... Why not bing them to the party?!


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## 5Lives (Apr 28, 2016)

Running everything off of a single Macbook Pro with 16GB RAM and external SSDs. Don't have a huge template, but all Kontakt instances are purged. The SSDs make the samples available basically instantaneously when needed (without needing to enable any tracks), but I take up only a fraction of the RAM of the full patches.


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## garyhiebner (Apr 29, 2016)

5Lives said:


> Running everything off of a single Macbook Pro with 16GB RAM and external SSDs. Don't have a huge template, but all Kontakt instances are purged. The SSDs make the samples available basically instantaneously when needed (without needing to enable any tracks), but I take up only a fraction of the RAM of the full patches.



Does Your Macbook also have an SSD or only the Externals?


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## 5Lives (Apr 29, 2016)

garyhiebner said:


> Does Your Macbook also have an SSD or only the Externals?



It has a 1TB SSD. I don't run any samples off of it though.


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## JohnG (Apr 29, 2016)

jononotbono said:


> I like the idea of not having the PC connected to the internet unless it's just purely to update Libraries and Plugins etc.



This seems smart to me too. Also, I wear my tinfoil hat any time I'm outside. Just. In. Case.


----------



## jonathanwright (Apr 29, 2016)

I've used 1 slave for the last 5 years or so.

Recently it occurred to me that as I'd upgraded my main machine last year it might be worth seeing how it behaved running a project or two on its own. I attempted the single computer route and was surprised to find it performed perfectly well (in both Cubase and Logic), even running hungry instruments like Hollywood Strings Diamond.

I really only _need_ the slave if I'm going to use my everything-but-the-kitchen-sink template, which I'm beginning wonder is more of a hinderance than a help.


----------



## Ashermusic (Apr 29, 2016)

jonathanwright said:


> I've used 1 slave for the last 5 years or so.
> 
> Recently it occurred to me that as I'd upgraded my main machine last year it might be worth seeing how it behaved running a project or two on its own. I attempted the single computer route and was surprised to find it performed perfectly well (in both Cubase and Logic), even running hungry instruments like Hollywood Strings Diamond.
> 
> I really only _need_ the slave if I'm going to use my everything-but-the-kitchen-sink template, which I'm beginning wonder is more of a hinderance than a help.



Jonathan, but don't you find that if you only use the main machine, that HS eats up your RAM really quickly as the patches seem to require more RAM on a Mac than on a PC?


----------



## jonathanwright (Apr 29, 2016)

Hey Jay,

Yes, HS definitely eats up more RAM on my Mac than on the slave PC, my way around that was to trim the amount of basic articulations loaded initially, then load extras as and when I need them.

I'm running my libraries off a thunderbolt drive.

Looking back over recent projects I realised I used maybe 30% of my template at any one time, so I'm streamlining a bit. Of course I may find I still need the slave when it comes to it, but it's worth a try as I'm getting to the point where I need to consider upgrading my slave as it's getting rather old.


----------



## Ashermusic (Apr 29, 2016)

jonathanwright said:


> Hey Jay,
> 
> Yes, HS definitely eats up more RAM on my Mac than on the slave PC, my way around that was to trim the amount of basic articulations loaded initially, then load extras as and when I need them.
> 
> ...



Even with smaller projects, personally I still prefer to let my slave handle the H.O.

A guy who can lift 300 lbs lifts 100 lbs does so more effortlessly than the guy who can only lift 100 lbs.


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## jonathanwright (Apr 29, 2016)

Ashermusic said:


> Even with smaller projects, personally I still prefer to let my slave handle the H.O.
> 
> A guy who can lift 300 lbs lifts 100 lbs does so more effortlessly than the guy who can only lift 100 lbs.



True, unfortunately my slave is a 50 lbs pensioner, which is half the problem.


----------



## jononotbono (Apr 29, 2016)

JohnG said:


> This seems smart to me too. Also, I wear my tinfoil hat any time I'm outside. Just. In. Case.




Well, do please let me know if Tin Foil stops any Viruses. I've just had Flu for over two weeks so perhaps I should have known this sooner.


----------



## Waywyn (Apr 29, 2016)

same here, no slaves! .. but a template with almost every instrument I will ever use ... from orchestra, to electronic, to movie/ethnic percussions, to rock, to choirs! Since Cubase (or any other sequencer) introduced "deactivate instruments" (and again, not talking freezing or bypassing or rendering to stems ... really meaning deactivating the instrument which unloads the RAM and bypasses plugins) monstrous sessions shouldn't be a problem anymore!


----------



## Andrew Aversa (Apr 29, 2016)

For those who have slaves, what's the oldest CPU that is still useful? 

I'm considering a NUC based slave machine which would have 16gb RAM, M2 SSD, and ultra-low power draw. The processor is mobile i5-based and roughly equivalent to the i5-750 or so (2009).


----------



## Gabriel Oliveira (Apr 29, 2016)

jononotbono said:


> Well, do please let me know if Tin Foil stops any Viruses. I've just had Flu for over two weeks so perhaps I should have known this sooner.



flu is a reptilian virus, tin foil stops it for sure


----------



## jononotbono (Apr 29, 2016)

I do actually live on the Isle of Wight so I should just go and knock on David Icke's door and settle this! Gotta be sure.


----------



## prodigalson (Apr 29, 2016)

Waywyn said:


> Since Cubase (or any other sequencer) introduced "deactivate instruments" (and again, not talking freezing or bypassing or rendering to stems ... really meaning deactivating the instrument which unloads the RAM and bypasses plugins) monstrous sessions shouldn't be a problem anymore!



So I have a question about this. It seems you're a Cubase user but does anyone know if deactivating tracks in Logic actually does anything beyond bypassing plugs? Ive recently been moving to a slave setup as it just seemed like switching on and off tracks in Logic wasn't actually doing much to ease RAM usage or taking that much heat off my processor. I couldnt find much info but I had an inkling that switching on and off tracks wasn't actually doing what i thought it was.

I'm pondering switching to DP9 when they release their new update where they supposedly rebuilt their engine from the ground up so that it will allegedly be 4 times more efficient than even the most efficient DAW currently available. If that is the case that's the only scenario in which I could see myself running the template I want on my current machine, in which case I'll jump ship.

Another question related to VEPro and networking a master to a slave. I'm not very informed on LANs and networking but don't you need a router to connect the two as they need to be given their own IPs? 

If I have one ethernet port on my main iMac and an ethernet port on my slave and plan to use wifi on my main machine for internet when necessary is it sufficient to simply connect the iMac to the slave via ethernet cable bypassing a router? In that case, how does one assign IPs for remote desktop and VEPro etc.?? Apologies if that's a dumb question but I'm new to LANs and wired networking.


----------



## JohnG (Apr 29, 2016)

jononotbono said:


> do please let me know if Tin Foil stops any Viruses



I don't think it works on viruses, but it does interfere with the NSA's Brain Scan programming.

And I think it keeps the black helicopters away from our house.


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## 5Lives (Apr 29, 2016)

prodigalson said:


> So I have a question about this. It seems you're a Cubase user but does anyone know if deactivating tracks in Logic actually does anything beyond bypassing plugs?



No, that's all Logic does. PT and Cubase are the only DAWs that I've seen that have proper deactivate (though Cubase 8.5 has a bug with multi-timbral instruments and associated midi tracks which makes it useless, hence me using purged samples).


----------



## jononotbono (Apr 29, 2016)

JohnG said:


> I don't think it works on viruses, but it does interfere with the NSA's Brain Scan programming.
> 
> And I think it keeps the black helicopters away from our house.



It certainly turns my eyes Red!






Sorry, back to Computers...


----------



## Gabriel Oliveira (Apr 29, 2016)

5Lives said:


> No, that's all Logic does. PT and Cubase are the only DAWs that I've seen that have proper deactivate (though Cubase 8.5 has a bug with multi-timbral instruments and associated midi tracks which makes it useless, hence me using purged samples).



Reaper does it too


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## Waywyn (Apr 30, 2016)

Gabriel Oliveira said:


> Reaper does it too


Does it really? As far as I know it does just bypass the track and unload the used fx CPU?! Does it also unload the RAM from a e.g. a Kontakt instrument track?


----------



## Baron Greuner (Apr 30, 2016)

17


----------



## Gabriel Oliveira (Apr 30, 2016)

Waywyn said:


> Does it really? As far as I know it does just bypass the track and unload the used fx CPU?! Does it also unload the RAM from a e.g. a Kontakt instrument track?



Really. It's called "Offline FX": bypasses plugin, unload it from ram and cpu processing.


----------



## dgburns (Apr 30, 2016)

Baron Greuner said:


> 17



as always the enigma that is Baron.


----------



## Steve Steele (Apr 30, 2016)

5Lives said:


> No, that's all Logic does. PT and Cubase are the only DAWs that I've seen that have proper deactivate (though Cubase 8.5 has a bug with multi-timbral instruments and associated midi tracks which makes it useless, hence me using purged samples).



Wrong! Digital Performer has PERFECT deactivation of Instrument, Audio and Aux tracks. DP also has dynamic resource allocation on plugins. DP is perfect for huge templates. And it's always in multi-timbral mode. DP was made for Vienna Ensemble and slave computers if you choose, or for a simple one computer no VEP setup. With VRacks, Chunks, Track disable, Dynamic plugin allocation, Freezing of tracks, off line and on line bouncing, etc etc, DP has it covered. It's very powerful, stable and efficient.


----------



## lux (May 1, 2016)

No slaves here But i tend to keep away from libraries which are too demanding as memory and cpu.


----------



## novaburst (May 1, 2016)

I am in deep thought about the sale on Vienna EN pro, because of there 20% discount. I have just built up a PC from spare parts Duo 3 Gig htz

With 8 gig of ram gigabite MB

I am thinking of joining the ranks of them that use slave PC, or workstations to do there productions.

So the new build from spare parts will have noting on it apart from windows 7 ultimate. what should my next step be or is this a matter of going to the Vienna website

Edit : if I have a project going on would I need to complete the project or will the project safely load up with the slave PC and V En Pro,


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## JohnG (May 1, 2016)

You buy the license from Vienna or a vendor (ILIO here) and then follow step by step.

With RAM so cheap now I would get a lot more memory.


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## novaburst (May 1, 2016)

JohnG said:


> You buy the license from Vienna or a vendor (ILIO here) and then follow step by step.
> 
> With RAM so cheap now I would get a lot more memory.



I was afraid you was going to say that, I just hope its not big head bang, What about on going projects will they be effected or should I finish projects, I am using cubase 5 for tracking, will the set up and automation be effected, and so on .


----------



## JohnG (May 1, 2016)

Alas, there will be some things to work out, but you have plenty of people here who can help you and maybe point to a youtube video or something that might make it less agonising.


----------



## Hat_Tricky (May 1, 2016)

Hi all, dont mean to hijack, but a couple question regarding a slave path...

My heaviest stuff is big typical trailer cues, film/game stuff, so I can easily fill up that 64GB (once I get more libraries)

Currently running Reaper on

*i5 3570k 3.4Ghz*
*16GB DDR3* samsung 1600 RAM
approx. *2TB of EVO/Intel/Crucial SSD* storage across 4 drives (1TB EVO, 480GB Intel, 2x 256 Crucials)
*7990 GPU *(running 2 old monitors)

Thinking about upgrading the RAM in this machine to 32GB (max my chip allows) for about $130-140 dollars (gskill, crucial, corsair quad kits). It will GREATLY help me out for a while until....

I build a new main machine. Then I can use my old machine as a slave (since that DDR3 RAM will be useless in a new machine, and the SSDs just can be split between 2 machines anyways)

My new machine i'm leaning towards 64GB RAM since 128GB seems REALLY expensive atm. It will be a windows box, even though I'd LOVE to switch to a Mac Pro and Logic.

THoughts on reporposing the old machine to a 32GB slave, and just going with 64GB in a new main machine? Or should I just sell my left kidney and go 128GB?


I am just getting started (only have been at it for about 5 months) and am getting geared up to start finaliazing things, making demo reels, and looking for work now that I feel somewhat competent with the software and my writing. And by somewhat I mean I still know I have no idea what I'm doing, but I'm just going to GET GOING.


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## JohnG (May 1, 2016)

You might get answers here but I suggest you start a new thread.


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## novaburst (May 8, 2016)

Hi all I am in the process of rigging up my slave workstation PC. a small issue is I have 3 elicenser dongle (USB and I am not wanting to purchase another.

My question is is there a way to transfer license codes to another dongle to free up a dongle to use on my slave PC.

Hope this not another thread but just looking for users with this experience to point the correct way and this is the closes thread about slave PC workstations


Thanks in advance


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## prodigalson (May 8, 2016)

That's what the elicenser control software is for.


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## novaburst (May 8, 2016)

prodigalson said:


> That's what the elicenser control software is for.



Yes thanks just discovered you can drag and drop..... very handy


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## 5Lives (May 8, 2016)

I'm re-thinking my single MBP setup after seeing Cubase completely breakdown when I tried to record more than a few tracks of my newly created template (lots of Kontakt instances, all purged). Unfortunately, Cubase's disable track feature doesn't work with multi-timbral instruments.

This comes out this week and looks like it could be a killer slave http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/nuc/change-the-game-with-nuc.html


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## higgs (May 8, 2016)

5Lives said:


> This comes out this week and looks like it could be a killer slave


Nice. If that box is priced right I might consider repeatedly beating my head against the Windows again. It's been years.


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## 5Lives (May 8, 2016)

higgs said:


> Nice. If that box is priced right I might consider repeatedly beating my head against the Windows again. It's been years.


Looks like it will be $634, but you need to provide the HD, the memory, and the OS.


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## Treppenwitz (May 8, 2016)

I call my "slave" machine the "sample server" machine. VEP already uses client/server terminology (in fact they use different redundant names for lots of things which drives me nuts). Client/Server computing is a fine paradigm for this.


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## passsacaglia (May 9, 2016)

For those of you who currently running your setup with 1+ slaves, was this something you planned from the beginning or did it "happen" after a while?
Just curious if your first setup you thought would be a strong machine wasn't enough and you Had to get a slave?


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## trumpoz (May 9, 2016)

The new NUC's look awesome. Kit it out with 32GB ram and 2 x .M2 drives for a powerful and portable setup.


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## robharvey (May 9, 2016)

I'm thinking once I start getting some bigger composing jobs it will be worth setting up my old macbooks and imacs as slaves. They've all got some sounds I crave from years ago on them. is VEpro the best way to do this?


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## jononotbono (May 9, 2016)

I only got a second computer when I needed to. A lot of people seem to talk about getting multiple machines and incredible amounts of RAM and then they say that they are just starting out and it makes me wonder why they don't just upgrade their current computer as and when they need to. Still, where's any fun in that. Right?


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## passsacaglia (May 9, 2016)

jononotbono said:


> I only got a second computer when I needed to. A lot of people seem to talk about getting multiple machines and incredible amounts of RAM and then they say that they are just starting out and it makes me wonder why they don't just upgrade their current computer as and when they need to. Still, where's any fun in that. Right?



Great one man! 
ps found the info I was looking for, so we're cool  Cheers J!


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## robharvey (May 9, 2016)

jononotbono said:


> I only got a second computer when I needed to. A lot of people seem to talk about getting multiple machines and incredible amounts of RAM and then they say that they are just starting out and it makes me wonder why they don't just upgrade their current computer as and when they need to. Still, where's any fun in that. Right?




I think financially it makes more sense to use older machines you have lying around than upgrade your main machine. Personally mines about as pumped up as it will go and still having some problems with projects... It means it probably won't have to do any freezing which makes me happy.


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## Andrew Aversa (May 9, 2016)

I'm very interested in the NUC angle, but the processors are very weak compared to typical desktop processors. That's why I was curious as to what the OLDEST usable slave anyone is using? The NUCs have a processor that is roughly like the 2nd gen Core 2 Quads.


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## 5Lives (May 9, 2016)

NUC or Mac Mini?


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## Whatisvalis (May 9, 2016)

^^

I'm thinking the same, an older quad core mini or a Nuc for my portable setup?


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## jononotbono (May 9, 2016)

robharvey said:


> I think financially it makes more sense to use older machines you have lying around than upgrade your main machine. Personally mines about as pumped up as it will go and still having some problems with projects... It means it probably won't have to do any freezing which makes me happy.



I guess that really depends on how much Electricity they all use up and what's actually in them. My PC has a 2600k i7 in it and it's a great CPU. Especially for it's age. My cMP is a dual quadcore but the clock speed is only 2.06ghz so I am going to upgrade it to 2 x 5690s when I can and max the ram to 128gb and then it will eventually be another slave computer. But only after I have rinsed it till I require more horsepower. I'll probably then just use an iMac as my main (or if I can find a secondhand affordable trashcan) master computer but can't imagine needing anything more for years. Till I buy that next library (of course) haha!


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## prodigalson (May 9, 2016)

trumpoz said:


> The new NUC's look awesome. Kit it out with 32GB ram and 2 x .M2 drives for a powerful and portable setup.



I dunno, if you're going to go with a brand new slave, I think one might be limited with a 32GB cap and only 2 drives with no capacity to add drives or RAM. With to money you'd pay for this NUC plus the RAM, OS, drives etc you could get a much more flexible and upgradeable long term solution.


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## Andrew Aversa (May 9, 2016)

Nice thing about NUCs is they have ridiculously lower power consumption, less than 20w. Potentially saves at least $100 a year depending on your electricity costs. Plus, almost no heat or footprint, and highly portable. You could realistically bring one or even two slaves with you in a single laptop case.


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## novaburst (May 9, 2016)

jononotbono said:


> I only got a second computer when I needed to. A lot of people seem to talk about getting multiple machines and incredible amounts of RAM and then they say that they are just starting out and it makes me wonder why they don't just upgrade their current computer as and when they need to. Still, where's any fun in that. Right?



There are many reasons why one would opt for slave workstation, one of the biggest reasons is using as much orchestra as possibly can be used. Come on do I need to tell you.

Some are very fast learners and can foresee they will run into problems with out a slave PC. Some just like big, you know of I want to hear what a 500 piece orhcestra sounds like, 
In my case I am out growing my project and wished I had a slave PC long ago, now I'm head banging.

I would say if you are I to heavy orchestra its the way to go but must say I did not think that about a month ago, I was just happy go happy with what I had. But now I want more.

I am exploring now but probably will only stick with one slave pc , but some one will tell you a lot of other reasons why they want a slave PC. 

We have many paths to what we do and would question why did they do it that way, or why did they not do it my way, why is it there reasoning like my reasoning, 

Bottom line we are all individuals and in most cases approach things differently when it comes down to art, 

So in essence a beginner my start out with a cheap guitar to learn to play, another beginner my start out with a very expensive guitar, shall we then go to the one with the expensive guitar and say " put that down you want learn nothing with that guitar you should use the cheap one.

Likewise if a beginner starts out with a slave PC will it stop them from learning more,


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## jononotbono (May 9, 2016)

novaburst said:


> Come on do I need to tell you.



No but thank you for your message.


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## 5Lives (May 9, 2016)

The nice thing about NUC and Mac Mini is the small size. In terms of drives, you can have external TB or USB-C enclosures. The question is will a new NUC be better than just 2 used Mac Mini Servers? NUC requires you to buy the RAM, OS, and internal HD, which can add up.


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## novaburst (May 9, 2016)

jononotbono said:


> No but thank you for your message.


Lol


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## novaburst (May 9, 2016)

Just another layman question I do understand V E P 5 comes with 3 liceses.

When VEP5 has been installed on my slave PC will all the library's I want to use with the slave PC need to be installed also, or are they some how magically routed to the slave, 

Thanks for your help,


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## Ashermusic (May 10, 2016)

novaburst said:


> Just another layman question I do understand V E P 5 comes with 3 liceses.
> 
> When VEP5 has been installed on my slave PC will all the library's I want to use with the slave PC need to be installed also, or are they some how magically routed to the slave,
> 
> Thanks for your help,



No, of course you have to install them on any computer on which you wish to run them from.


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## novaburst (May 10, 2016)

Ashermusic said:


> No, of course you have to install them on any computer on which you wish to run them from.



I kind of maybe not wanting to here that, but I guess it's the root that I have chosen, its a bit of a nightmare, yep I guess this is the long and difficult road to set up slave PC. 
Thanks for the feed back I guess it's preperation time to choose what goes to the slave PC and what stays on the master, then there are licenses to sort with that. It's not an easy ride is it


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## Ashermusic (May 10, 2016)

novaburst said:


> I kind of maybe not wanting to here that, but I guess it's the root that I have chosen, its a bit of a nightmare, yep I guess this is the long and difficult road to set up slave PC.
> Thanks for the feed back I guess it's preperation time to choose what goes to the slave PC and what stays on the master, then there are licenses to sort with that. It's not an easy ride is it



For me, it's a way of life


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## ChristopherDoucet (May 10, 2016)

To chime into the original question....I use 6 slaves, each with 64gbs of RAM, but that's less about having everything at my disposal and more about the fact that I compose in 5.1 and with all the surround mics, it eats up slave resources quicker than I expected. 

I am upgrading my main tower to a VisionDaw soon and so I'm taking my main DAW now and converting it into a Slave backup in case any of them go out. 6 Slaves and no tech department = .....nevermind, knock on wood. hahah


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## colony nofi (May 10, 2016)

ChristopherDoucet said:


> To chime into the original question....I use 6 slaves, each with 64gbs of RAM, but that's less about having everything at my disposal and more about the fact that I compose in 5.1 and with all the surround mics, it eats up slave resources quicker than I expected.
> 
> I am upgrading my main tower to a VisionDaw soon and so I'm taking my main DAW now and converting it into a Slave backup in case any of them go out. 6 Slaves and no tech department = .....nevermind, knock on wood. hahah



Interesting. 
Just as a workflow question - whenever I've done this, i've tended to work in 4.0 and then at the end looked at sub specifics. If the re-recording mixer needs a bit of center, they've derrived this from the L & R. That has seemed to work well - but I'm very curious about other workflows. Are you putting everything into a 5.1 space - panning the mics into 5.1 busses, and using 5.1 reverbs? I've always wondered about this, but never had the time/energy/project to explore it further.

Cheers, Brendan.


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## novaburst (May 10, 2016)

Ashermusic said:


> For me, it's a way of life



Well I guess I can now say I am working with 1 slave PC now, Should have listen to my gut feel, still alot of work to do but just messing around with Epic orchestra the free bundle and yes another Appassionata string library, oh come on VSL you can do better, but at least it has thrown in some percussion and one or two wind instruments.


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## eqcollector (May 14, 2016)

Hey guys!

I'm having one question with the computer slave option.
Is latency noticeably bigger than having everything on one machine or is it the other way around?

Thank you!


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## novaburst (May 14, 2016)

eqcollector said:


> Hey guys!
> 
> I'm having one question with the computer slave option.
> Is latency noticeably bigger than having everything on one machine or is it the other way around?
> ...



No and no again this is what i was thinking, it is as instant as instant can be, it just like working on your master.
I am at 0.23 seconds and it just want lag.

Just recently rigged up a slave PC and what a joy.

Would say Slave PC is the way to go and give you a wide role of options.


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## 5Lives (Jun 13, 2016)

For those that have a single slave PC, how do you split your sample libraries and plugins between the master machine and the slave machine? I'm contemplating getting a single PC slave and dumping all my sample libraries on that and only running Cubase and plugins on my Macbook Pro master.


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## A3D2 (Jun 14, 2016)

5Lives said:


> For those that have a single slave PC, how do you split your sample libraries and plugins between the master machine and the slave machine? I'm contemplating getting a single PC slave and dumping all my sample libraries on that and only running Cubase and plugins on my Macbook Pro master.


I personally put the most demanding orchestral libraries on my slave computer and use my main computer (running my DAW) for the less intensive sample libraries, it makes rendering to audio easier for my CPU.


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## novaburst (Jun 14, 2016)

5Lives said:


> For those that have a single slave PC, how do you split your sample libraries and plugins between the master machine and the slave machine? I'm contemplating getting a single PC slave and dumping all my sample libraries on that and only running Cubase and plugins on my Macbook Pro master.



Firstly a Slave/Server PC or Mac will be the best thing you ever invested in for music production with Vienna Ensemble Pro 5 make no mistake,, you will find you can shuffle library's around any way you want.

As @A3D2 said all the heavy ones should be put on the slave, once you get going you will find you will Taylor master and server to your needs the way you want things to run.

The best thing is buying a library and installing it on the server and using it inside your Daw and master with more options than if it was just put on you master.



Also remember you don't need to have the server on at all times when you want to work on your production,


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## Ashermusic (Jun 14, 2016)

Simple for me: my slave runs the Hollywood Orchestra and my Mac runs everything else (Kontakt orchestral stuff in VE Pro on the Mac.)


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## JPShooter (Jun 14, 2016)

I have a question for those that are using Mac Mini's as a slave.

How important is memory in the slave since the Mini's are limited to 16gb? 

Was a mini used as a first choice in your application, or was it used because it was on hand?

Thanks


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## givemenoughrope (Jun 14, 2016)

JPShooter said:


> I have a question for those that are using Mac Mini's as a slave.
> 
> How important is memory in the slave since the Mini's are limited to 16gb?
> 
> ...


For me bc of the size really. 
I would fill up the ram bc you'll run out fast. my template is sort of pre-preloaded. I have all of my kontakt multis saved and in a folder and I drag them over as needed. I use Memory Clear to clear out some ram here and there. 
If they make something as small as the mini on the pc side I would go for that this time around.


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## 5Lives (Jun 14, 2016)

As a related question, if I was running just Kontakt sample libraries on the slave, more RAM would be more important than a better CPU right? Thinking of going with an i5 instead of an i7.


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## jononotbono (Jun 14, 2016)

5Lives said:


> As a related question, if I was running just Kontakt sample libraries on the slave, more RAM would be more important than a better CPU right? Thinking of going with an i5 instead of an i7.



Not really. The more RAM you have and use means you will need and use more CPU Cores. It's a catch 22 and both are equally important the more demanding your set up (and wallet) is or becomes.


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## givemenoughrope (Jun 14, 2016)

I wouldn't bother with the i5. I'd get the 2012 i7 quad, fill the ram and install two SSDs with the OWC data doubler kit.


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## whinecellar (Jun 15, 2016)

5Lives said:


> For those that have a single slave PC, how do you split your sample libraries and plugins between the master machine and the slave machine? I'm contemplating getting a single PC slave and dumping all my sample libraries on that and only running Cubase and plugins on my Macbook Pro master.



My main machine is a top-spec MB Pro running Logic and my largest template is around 900 tracks, almost all of which are hosted on slaves running VE Pro. My main slave is a PC with 64 GB RAM, but I also have 3 other Macs running older Kontakt libraries, or less demanding ones. 

More to your point, almost all of my Logic template is VE Pro plugins, a good handful of EXS24s, and then any per-cue instruments like Nexus, Omnisphere, Stylus RMX, etc. And I do almost all of my audio processing in Logic as well, so that can get pretty deep. It all runs like a hot knife through butter


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## Ashermusic (Jun 15, 2016)

Hey Jim, just curious. Which EXS24 libraries do you still run?


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## whinecellar (Jun 15, 2016)

Ashermusic said:


> Hey Jim, just curious. Which EXS24 libraries do you still run?



Oh my word - TONS. I have about 60 GB worth of older libraries I converted from Roland/AKAI format over the years, a bunch of synth hardware I sampled before selling it, and a handful of other custom stuff. A friend of mine here in Nashville sampled his Yamaha C7 and it is one of my all-time favorite pianos - that one's permanently in my template 

I also had an intern resample a bunch of perc bed libraries from other formats so I can quickly audition them in EXS24 or use them as scratch tracks for writing inspiration... you know how fast & efficient EXS is!


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## Ashermusic (Jun 15, 2016)

whinecellar said:


> Oh my word - TONS. I have about 60 GB worth of older libraries I converted from Roland/AKAI format over the years, a bunch of synth hardware I sampled before selling it, and a handful of other custom stuff. A friend of mine here in Nashville sampled his Yamaha C7 and it is one of my all-time favorite pianos - that one's permanently in my template
> 
> I also had an intern resample a bunch of perc bed libraries from other formats so I can quickly audition them in EXS24 or use them as scratch tracks for writing inspiration... you know how fast & efficient EXS is!



I had a lot of the old Akai stuff but eventually deleted it because I never used it anymore, so interesting that you still find uses for it.


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## whinecellar (Jun 15, 2016)

Ashermusic said:


> I had a lot of the old Akai stuff but eventually deleted it because I never used it anymore, so interesting that you still find uses for it.



Oh man, I still use a lot of stuff that would be considered ancient - specialty drums/perc, synth pads, ethnic instruments, even a lot of the old Roland stuff Eric Persing did. Still hard to beat the 700 series strings (with the right processing) for quick, lightweight sketching - especially when traveling without iLok keys for my high-end stuff. As I mentioned, I also have a lot of custom stuff that still sounds phenomenal.

I guess I come from the Charlie Clouser school of fandom when it comes to EXS24 - nothing touches it for speed and efficiency


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## Ashermusic (Jun 15, 2016)

Gimme that custom stuff right now!


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## whinecellar (Jun 15, 2016)

Ashermusic said:


> Gimme that custom stuff right now!



Haha - we are so overdue for an adult beverage on an upcoming L.A. visit - and perhaps a sharing of said custom stuff


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## Ashermusic (Jun 15, 2016)

whinecellar said:


> Haha - we are so overdue for an adult beverage on an upcoming L.A. visit - and perhaps a sharing of said custom stuff



You are on, my friend.


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