Boy this thread moved fast. Too much to read!
elektrik_muz wrote:DJ Hellfire wrote:When your shit starts popping an clicking, that's just your computer being pushed. But that's a limitation of the computer hardware, not a problem with the latency of the music hardware or software.
How do you know that for sure without trying it against a different system/OS?
Wait, what?

The very purpose of being able to increase the hardware buffer setting is to ease the load on your system to prevent pops and clicks at the expense of added latency. This is a known common characteristic of software music recording and production. The more powerful your system, the more stuff you can run at a lower buffer. For example in my studio, I run an overclocked quad Q6600 at 3.4Ghz with 16GB ram and can't get the thing to hiccup at 64MB buffer unless I'm mixing a 60+ track in Pro Tools. And in my living room I have a Dell with a Q8500 at 2.6GHz and only 4GB of ram and can get that one to hiccup under a decent load before having to raise the buffer, but it still performs great. Even my 13" Macbook performs great. And so did the other 2 laptops I've owned as well as the various other computers I've built and help friends setup. However, when I tried running my old Pentium 4 starting out, I couldn't get shit done!
I don't know what you're really asking, but anyone with any music software experience knows that when you load on the plugins, it hammers your system. Doesn't even have to be with production software. You could be mixing a huge record with a load of plugins and some look ahead limiters and compressors and such and your shit will start popping like popcorn, or crashing and giving buffer errors. This happens in ALL music software and it's dependent on your hardware resources.
Computers are so powerful today that you don't really need some stripped down, bare bones OS to do music. Shit, I run my internet browser, itunes, and a shitload of other background crap without a problem. There are tons of professionals out there using software without problems, even on stage, especially using apps with 64 bit capability and multicore support. It also helps to set the app to a decent resolution. There is no way to make music with a resolution higher than 48kHz. Even 44kHz is fine. Then when you're ready to actually track and mix, you can bump up the buffer and the resolution. It helps.
I'll state this AGAIN as no one has yet responded to this, but there is NO WAY that even a $100,000 grand piano with HUNDREDS of moving parts that have to actually MOVE before any sound is made when you press a key, will be more responsive than a properly functioning software production app. ESPECIALLY as that grand piano starts to wear!
elektrik_muz wrote:Iif you are running in single-app mode, you would need a program with all the functions you need so you don't need to run 20 apps at once with a bunch of buffering between them. Simple as that. After all, we're going for efficency here.
Well, I doubt there will ever be a "do it all" program that has all the functions of the best production app + all the functions of a DAW app + a dedicated hardware controller. So the demand to run multiple apps is going to be around, even if we do get this magic OS. For example, Maschine, I personally only like using it in standalone mode while making beats and only using it inside Pro Tools to track. But other people like using it as a VST in Logic, Ableton, or Pro Tools while they are composing. To me, I think this may be where a lot of people probably run into issues with resources. But even still, a beastly computer can handle it if set up properly! I mean, people are doing it. I'm not making this shit up!
