PROTOOLS 8 w/ WINDOWS 7, 32 OR 64??? lil help here...

[griff71177]

Hello, I've been recording with protools for a long time but when it comes to the OS side of things, I'm a little lost on what I think I need vs what I DO need. I'm thinking of upgrading to win 7, 64 bit, but I don't understand why it would be better than 32...could someone please explain?

I have a decent cpu with an AMD Phenom 9850 quad core 2.50 Ghz processor with 4 gigs of ram with protools 8 and if I upgrade to the 64 bit version, why would it be better than the 32 bit version with protools?

Thanks...

[griff71177]

Anyone?

[jeremiah1981]

Originally Posted by griff71177

if I upgrade to the 64 bit version, why would it be better than the 32 bit version with protools

I don't use protools, but my best guess would be ram. The max you can use with 32bit OS is 4gb. With 64bit you can use up to 128gb

[Alndln]

Unless you run virtual instruments with large samples simultaneously I'd stick with XP.

[jcschild]

Win7 64 absolutely no reason not to.
PT9 works flawlessly with it and gives you access to more ram should you need it. now or later. dont castrate your potential

and XP is the last thing i would use...


Scott
ADK

[RonT]

I have had problems with ProTools 8 and Windows 7 64bit. I had to go back to XP SP3 32 with ProTools 8.

However, ProTools 9 works great with Windows 7 64bit.

[FLYINGJAY]

Originally Posted by Alndln

Unless you run virtual instruments with large samples simultaneously I'd stick with XP.

Yuper,but I went went with win7 32 bit 64 bit just not ready yet

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[loopy]

Since Protools is 32 bit and limited to 4G or so of memory, what advantage does running Windows x64 offer the Protools user?

The only one I can see is if you run say Reaper x64 or Vienna and load up your Vi under one of those and then Rewire to it.

Am I missing something here wrt Protools and x64?

[MACH4]

Originally Posted by jeremiah1981

With 64bit you can use up to 128gb

Not sure where you heard this but this info is impossible, the math doesn't work out to only 128, it's more like millions.

[RTR]

Originally Posted by jcschild

Win7 64 absolutely no reason not to.
PT9 works flawlessly with it and gives you access to more ram should you need it. now or later. dont castrate your potential

and XP is the last thing i would use...


Scott
ADK

+1.. 7 64bit is running great with PT 9, half the stuff I use is only 32bit but the few things I do run that are 64 bit make it worth it!

[mdoelger]

Guys, the thread title clearly states PT 8.

To the OP:

Is there anything you are missing while working with you current setup?

If yes, then do the necessary changes.

If no, just keep on rocking. Never change a working computer setup.

[sscannon]

I am using PTHD 8 on Win 7 Pro 32 bit. Works absolutely perfectly. Also have a PTLE 8 setup on Win XP, also works perfectly.

[blacklion]

With 64bit Windows 7, you still get to use more ram even if the DAW is 32bit, assuming you have more than 4gb in there.

Instead of sharing the 4gb with the OS and DAW stuff, the OS will take a couple and PT can have the rest.

Also, you'd be increasing the useable life span of your setup should PT ever go 64bit. If I were you, I'd either stay with XP or go 64bit if moving to W7. There isn't any downside to choosing 64bit vs. 32bit. Just make sure the drivers for all your hardware have W764bit versions.

[Finnish]

I have PT M-Powered 7.4 running under Win7 64bit, and I see no reason to get rid of it.. But, I use PT only now and then, I use Reaper as my main DAW

[FLYINGJAY]

Originally Posted by loopy

Since Protools is 32 bit and limited to 4G or so of memory, what advantage does running Windows x64 offer the Protools user?

The only one I can see is if you run say Reaper x64 or Vienna and load up your Vi under one of those and then Rewire to it.

Am I missing something here wrt Protools and x64?

Nope your not missing anything....unless your doing filmscores for major films,you don't need 64 bit.people love wasting money.

The down side to 64 bit is that's there's so many Plugins that still don't work in 64 bit mode,even a 32 but bridge.
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[blacklion]

Originally Posted by FLYINGJAY

Nope your not missing anything....unless your doing filmscores for major films,you don't need 64 bit.people love wasting money.

The down side to 64 bit is that's there's so many Plugins that still don't work in 64 bit mode,even a 32 but bridge.
Sent from my PC36100 using Gearslutz.com App

(1) Anyone who uses kontakt, omnisphere, BFD, etc. can understand the advantage of a 64bit OS and DAW.

(2) What percentage of widely used 32bit plugins don't work with jbridge or the DAW bridge? All of mine work fine and that seems to be the case for others as well.

For the OP, if he works solely in PT, there's not much to be gained in upgrading right now. However, if he did, it should be to W7 64bit.

[FLYINGJAY]

Originally Posted by blacklion

(1) Anyone who uses kontakt, omnisphere, BFD, etc. can understand the advantage of a 64bit OS and DAW.

(2) What percentage of widely used 32bit plugins don't work with jbridge or the DAW bridge? All of mine work fine and that seems to be the case for others as well.

For the OP, if he works solely in PT, there's not much to be gained in upgrading right now. However, if he did, it should be to W7 64bit.

I use kontakt 4,but half of komplete 7 goes missing under 64 bits
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[blacklion]

Originally Posted by FLYINGJAY

I use kontakt 4,but half of komplete 7 goes missing under 64 bits
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Which part of komplete isn't 64bit? I thought Reaktor 64bit being release last month or so was the last and final piece?

Maybe I'm wrong?

[FLYINGJAY]

Originally Posted by blacklion

Which part of komplete isn't 64bit? I thought Reaktor 64bit being release last month or so was the last and final piece?

Maybe I'm wrong?

In that case then your right I'm talking 6 month ago,I went back to cubase 32 bit.hey is waves 64 bit yet?

O BTW I'm running win7 64 bit cubase 32 bit....

So its save to run cubase 64 huh ill try it thank dude,though I don't see why streaming from disk is so bad?

[loopy]

Originally Posted by blacklion

(1) Anyone who uses kontakt, omnisphere, BFD, etc. can understand the advantage of a 64bit OS and DAW.

(2) What percentage of widely used 32bit plugins don't work with jbridge or the DAW bridge? All of mine work fine and that seems to be the case for others as well.

For the OP, if he works solely in PT, there's not much to be gained in upgrading right now. However, if he did, it should be to W7 64bit.

That's kind of what I thought, from a PT perspective.

Now getting into the other stuff like Kontakt etc that's a different kettle of fish.

If building a new system from scratch or mostly scratch I would go 64 bit because it makes sense to plan for the future.
That's assuming PT8 works with Windows 7 x64.
I don't know that.

[blacklion]

Originally Posted by loopy

That's kind of what I thought, from a PT perspective.

Now getting into the other stuff like Kontakt etc that's a different kettle of fish.

If building a new system from scratch or mostly scratch I would go 64 bit because it makes sense to plan for the future.
That's assuming PT8 works with Windows 7 x64.
I don't know that.

I had PT8.0.5 setup on W7 x64 up until last month and it ran just fine. Though, I'm sure you know better than I that PT is a little picky about what works and what doesn't.

I didn't notice any performance issues with PT when I moved from XP a few months back.

[griff71177]

I guess my main concern is that 64bit vs 32bit win7 won't make PT8 run any better/worse for processing power. Does win7 64 bit vs 32 bit let/make the processor run better so i can record at 128, buffer size, for all 48 tracks instead of having to jump to 256 buffer size after I get up to around 30+ tracks? Or is that a ram issue or something different all together?

As of now, I run a gate plugin thru my PT i/o setup to cancel out room noise (booth being built very soon) when I record and I know that's eating up some of my processing power, but will win7 64 bit let me do that without having to switch my buffer to 256 mid session, i.e. more processing power? Or does that have nothing to do with the buffer issues I'm experiencing?

My CPU has a amd 2.5Ghz quadcore phenom processor with 4g of ram, soon to be upgraded to 8g.

Any knowledge would be greatly appreciated...thanks.


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[blacklion]

Well, performance at low buffers has more to do with your interface (usb 1.1/2.0/Firewire/PCI), it's drivers (how efficiently they're written) and how well optimized your computer is for audio (hard drive speed, OS tweaks, etc) as well as your cpu.

The processing you're doing probably adds to the performance issues. With that said, you should be mixing at higher buffers and only tracking at low buffers, unless you have a newer i7 machine and don't have large track counts. The low buffers are only needed when you need close to real-time performance - like tracking. Other than that, you're unnecessarily taxing your cpu and giving yourself less headroom for mixing.

Under XP, you have 4gb ram max. The OS takes 1.7gb (i think) and the rest are left for other programs.

In a 64bit OS, you can add a lot more. The OS will take about 2gb and the rest is left for whatever else. If you use a lot of sampler synths, the extra ram helps you have more going on before you need to start bouncing tracks, etc. Multi-tasking is improved as well.

Finally, don't add more ram unless your planning on upgrading to W7 64bit. XP and W7x32 won't see the extra ram since they are 32bit OS's and are limited to 4gb.

[griff71177]

Yeah, ive been using protools for about 8+ years and the buffers i understand, but the computer side was foggy and I never really wanted to know about it but it started being an issue recently and I had to find out wtf the problem was.

As far as mixing is concerned, I have the buffer as high as it goes for more processing and was only using 128 and 256 when recording live vocals. But yeah, I may have to upgrade to 64bit win7 for the extra ram usage. Sounds good. Other than that, I might upgrade my mbox interface to one with FireWire 800 if possible. But i appreciate the feedback. Thanks for the help!


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[Artful Dodger]

Dear All, On no accounts read the AVID Protools website where full and precise advice is given about which OS you can safely use with which versions of PT!

It is a waste of time, and will only get you to work efficiently and without wasting time. And we all have much time to waste........

This is a English humour.......Turrarr!

[griff71177]

I got a mac now, screw windows!