Max plugin count???

[fatcat]

Hey guys, I am about to purchase a new pc rig and sx 3 with a RME 96/52... The pc has an AMD64/ Athlon 4000, Gigibyte kn8v m/b, 2 gigs of 3200 ram, 2 160gig drives that are raid 0, an MSI 64meg dual head graphics card, and XP pro. From ADK computers.

I also had a UAD-1 card put in(studio pak).

About how many channels can I expect to run with the stock EQ, Comp, Gate working hard?

And then if I start inserting VST or Waves plugins like C1, Magneto, RenEQ, how many til it gets dangerous?

I am asking now so if I need to move up to the new dual core chip for more power, than I will wait a few weeks to have it built.

Thanks.

[manning1]

cat...
your asking a question that everyone will have difficulty answering.
because every user set up/work method is different.
the only true way is to run tests with the way you want to work.
the only thing i can tell you is...thats a hefty system.
and i dont know much that will beat it. so - if it doesnt keep you happy ....
i have no idea what to suggest given todays technology.
if you anticipate running huge numbers of tracks - if were me - you might consider using midi for backing tracks as the load is less.
just an idea. i reckon raw tracks...probably good for 80 tracks is my guess.

[fatcat]

Thanks for the reply. I'm pretty sure that I will be able to play back plenty of tracks from the raid 0 array with an AMD 4000. What I am looking for is some info about how many stock eqs and comps I will be able to use at once. I anticipate recording about 40 audio tracks and 8-12 midi tracks playing vsti's. I'd like to use 6-8 1176's or LA2A's from the UA card and use the stock eq's and comp's on the rest, with some tape saturation plugins on drum tracks, guitars , and bass also. Or maybe use some better eq's here and there instead of the stock sx 3 stuff. Add to that a few quality reverbs and delays on the aux's and of course some insert effects on a few tracks.

Is my new system going to be powerful enough? Do I just need another UA card?
The ADk guy says I should be O.K., but I want some other opinions.

[Henchman]

I woudl get another UAD project pak. I started with 1, now I have 4.
You should be able to do what you want to do. I have doen similar sessions. It will deend on which VSTi's. Some of those can be real pigs.

[jcschild]

Hey Fatcat,
great avatar! kinda looks like me in the morning...

just want to point something out. UAD effects have little to do with the CPU power. they will basically run the same number of plugs in an intel 2.4G as in the system you spec'ed.

the only way to get more UAD plug-ins is by adding more UADs.

now software effects such as what comes with Cubase, or waves etc is directly linked to the power of the CPU. the faster the CPU the more effects.

this is also true of VSTi, which is also dependant upon memory.

Scott
ADK