Anyone who knows....please advise.

I am looking to purchase an iMAC (24"; iMAC, Intel 2.16GHZ Core 2 Duo, 500 GB HD, 2GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT 256 MB video) in the next 2 weeks, mostly to run Sibelius, Finale, and VDL:2.  I am wondering if anyone knows anything about the iMAC and running any of these software titles on it.

Being a long time PC user, I a curious about the sound card.  On a PC, usually to get high end sound, you need to invest in a good sound card.  With the iMAC, this really doesn't seem to be an option.  Am I able to run VDL:2 on an iMAC using the standard sound card? 

Any thoughts would be great!

Robby

It works, and your information helps.

1 more question, I thought I had enough RAM in my machine, when I play back this particular file in Finale 2007, it plays fine for the first 10 measures, then once things pick up a little, it starts making a popping buzz, similar to what it was doing when the latency was around 8 ms.  Do you have any advice?  For the instruments that are available, I did load the lite versions.

Robby

[quote author=Flamdragz link=topic=1454.msg6776#msg6776 date=1166642873]
It works, and your information helps.

1 more question, I thought I had enough RAM in my machine, when I play back this particular file in Finale 2007, it plays fine for the first 10 measures, then once things pick up a little, it starts making a popping buzz, similar to what it was doing when the latency was around 8 ms.  Do you have any advice?  For the instruments that are available, I did load the lite versions.

Robby
[/quote]

I assume you're now hosting the AU plugin within Finale, right? If so, I'm not certain there is a way within this host (Finale) to adjust latency or buffer size, which can take some load of the CPU.

One thing that may help is to make sure DFD is not active (in the VDL2 ";options"; window, click so the ";active button is not lit up).

Also, for any instruments in VDL2 that contain a ";release"; knob try reducing the level of this knob which will reduce polyphony if you're playing back particularly dense parts of the score.

Jim,

That really helped out a bunch!  Thanx so much!  Now I just need to figure out to get AU Lab working right. 

Out of curiosity, what kind of computers are many of the demos recorded on?  What is being done to achieve those results?  What system are you using, amount of RAM, etc?  What special software, if any?  I bought this Mac because I thought this was comparable to what many others may have, and it seems I am still not getting results like the Demos on the tapspace page.  If it is unattainable on my machine, I will start saving money to get a machine or software that will produce those kind of results.

Thanx again,
Robby

Various demos on the Tapspace site are produced by various users with various machines. There's probably not one turnkey answer that will satisfy you. It may just be that once you become more familiar with manipulating midi data and controlling your instruments knowing what they're capable of (and what their tendencies are), and understanding how that affects resulting audio, you'll produce better recordings. There are most certainly many ways to skin this proverbial cat.

Most likely the higher-end demos you're hearing were produced using DAW software. This is pretty standard in the music industry. Perhaps if you've mainly focused on Finale or Sibelius (notation programs) you haven't yet taken that next leap into this area, but these programs are definitely what allow you the most control over what you hear. Those programs do come with their own learning curve however, so you may find it beneficial to learn one skill at a time and allow yourself to really absorb the ins and outs. It seems that you've been very good so far about investigating any hurdles, and that nature will probably lead you well.

Remember every system is different, every score is different, and every collection of VDL2 instruments being used varies from person to person, and project to project. So the more familiar you become with your new system, the controllable aspects of the software being used, the instruments you're playing back, and your audio hardware, the more natural you'll find yourself making good decisions to correct any undesireable results.

Personally, I currently use (mostly) a G5 quad with 4GB RAM (though keep in mind one program can only access something like 2GB max). For band/corps stuff, I load all my VDL2 sounds into Kontakt 2 in standalone mode, and send midi out of Sibelius via the IAC driver. If I'm just creating a gritty recording of a chart, I like WireTap Pro. It's about as simple as it gets. If aiming for a more professional sounding recording or writing to picture, I use Logic Pro. Ask someone else, and you'll likely get a different response as there are many great options to working with VIs (virtual instruments).

It helps to have a basic understanding of mixing concepts as well to achieve a more ";realistic"; sound.  MIDI sounds like MIDI when there are very few dynamic changes, and does not sound or feel like someone is actually playing it.  My MIDI compositions are rarely perfectly in time, I'll usually shift the notes around a tiny bit to put them slightly ahead or behind, ususally randomly or with a groove template.  Adjusting the velocity by hand will also help out a ton.

I'll convert the MIDI to audio, then apply any EQ/compression/effects/automation as needed as if I were mixing something for commercial release.

Jim and Tyler (or Justin?),


Thanx so much for your info.  It really helps.  I guess I will just start playing around with it more and more until I get a better handle on it.  I am certainly in the right direction thanx to your help. 

I am also glad you mentioned that info about the RAM, because last night I actually began pricing a Mac Pro with 2 3.0 GHz Dual Core Chips and 16 GB of RAM.....the machine was gonna run around $9,000+, and I was thinking of ways I could start to save this kind of money. 

Thanx again for all the help,
Robby