Free Sample CD-Set for a Solution

[Hans Adamson]

I offer a free sample CD-set of \"Malmsjö Acoustic Grand\" to whoever can solve my problems with low polyphony and clicks in GigaStudio.

After a week of Nemesys\' support I have only gotten the advice to disable a second sound card and disable USB. These measures do not change anything.

My problem:

GigaStudio 160 will only give a maximum of 64 voices (exactly). At this point it starts to click like I never heard with GigaSampler.

Nemesys recommends to reboot after setting polyphony to max. to achieve full polyphony. For me, GigaStudio will always default to 64 voices after reboot. Is this normal? When resetting it to a value higher than 64 the problems remain the same - clicking and max 64 voices.

Maybe I have missed something trivial...
Take a shot at it and earn a sample CD plus my eternal gratitude.

My IDE-controller is only ATA33, but I have seen on this Forum that it is possible to achieve full polyphony with this.

Other people have had the same symptoms as I describe, but managed to overcome them.

My setup:

Pentium III, 1GHz
512Mb Ram, Toshiba ECC CAS2 2x256, Lifetime warranty
Aark 20/20+ (latest driver with GSIF)
IWILL DBL100 dual processor motherboard with two IDE-channels ATA33 + Double SCSI Ultra2/Wide
Maxtor 7200rpm hard drives
AWARD BIOS
Plextor CD-writer
Windows98

I feel like I bought a Ferrari that should make 150mph, but was delivered a Fiat that barely is doing 45, coughing.

Hans Adamson
Art Vista Productions

http://www.artvista.net/ (\"http://www.artvista.net/\")


[This message has been edited by Hans Adamson (edited 03-16-2001).]

[This message has been edited by Hans Adamson (edited 03-16-2001).]

[This message has been edited by Hans Adamson (edited 03-16-2001).]

[This message has been edited by Hans Adamson (edited 03-16-2001).]

[Danny Lux]

I have seen this problem a couple of times. The only way I was able to get rid of it was to uninstall GS (you might have to get directions from Nemesys to manually remove hidden files), then re-install windows before you reinstall GS. Believe or not you might have to do this twice. I have no idea why this can get stuck at 64 voices, but identical machines have shown that one can get the problem while the other does not...who knows? Good luck.

[Simon Ravn]

OK the problem doesn\'t seem to be one of you not be able to SET GS to 160 voices, but you could still try to set the registry to 160 voices manually and see if it makes any difference. Before you run GS, try selecting RUN from the START-menu in Windows, then type \'regedit\'. Search for \'Nemesys\' until you get to a reg.key that says \'Polyphony\' (or you could search for POLYPHONY instead of Nemesys), and try changing it to 160 (hex: a0).

[midirat1255]

You have the Diamond Plus hard drives but the ATA33 IDE bus is just too slow. Spend $50 and buy the Maxtor PCI ATA 100 card. Will allow drives to run at the capacity they were intended (ATA 100).

[Hans Adamson]

Danny,

Thanks for helping out, I fear that in the end I will have to follow your advice. Before that, I will try the simpler remedies that are dropping in.


Doc,

Very good detailed instructions. I am going to check it out. Thanks.


Simon,

I will definitely try it. Thanks.


Midirat,

I am going to hold on with that one until I have tried all other options. I would like to avoid putting GigaStudio on the PCI-bus if possible. Thanks.

I will try out every suggestion over the weekend, or on monday, and let you all know the results.

I am also open to further suggestions if anybody else has any other \"fix\".

I would like to add that I am not running any sequencer simultaneously, but I do use the computer for other programs, booting from the same partition, when I am not using GigaStudio.

I do not use SCSI for any hard drives, only for my Plextor CD-writer. If the problem turns out to be with ATA33, I will consider getting a SCSI drive for .gigs.

Thanks again, everybody!

Hans

[clueless]

I have a test that you can run to determine if something in you hardware/software is slowing down disk access. Download a copy of Echo Reporter Installer.EXE from http://www.echoaudio.com/. (\"http://www.echoaudio.com/.\")

The tests that this software runs is not as timing critical as GigaStudio but it will discover whether you have a gross bottleneck in the hard drive/PCI pathway.

You should see well over 230 tracks of simultaneous record and over 70 tracks of playback.

What do others get?

Clueless

[Doc]

Something else to check is to see if you have multiple hidden devices in Windows device manager. 1. reboot in windows safe mode (I think its the F8 key, but not for sure) 2. double click the \"My Computer\" icon on the desktop 3. double click the \"Control Panel\" icon in the MY Computer Window 4. double click the \"System\" icon in the Control Panel Window 5. select the \"device manager\" tab by clicking on it in the System window 6. you will now see a listing of configured devices in Windows, double click on each catagory i.e. CDROM and see if you have multiple entries for the same piece of hardware, if you do, highlight that extra entry and at the bottom of the System window you will see a \"remove\" button to click and thereby remove the extra entry. I had some of these ghost devices and when I removed them, the computer performed better. For some reason, these ghost/extra devices only show up and can be removed when in Windows \"Safe Mode\". I\'m sure that you have also been looking at your computer Bios at startup, with the Nemesys tech. Make sure that your hard drives are configured right in the Bios (their configuration flashes quickly on the spash screen on startup). One tip is to hit your \"pause/break key\" on your keyboard to freeze that spash screen to see that windows is recognizing all the hardware/memory/drives correctly. Just press the \"enter\" key to unfreeze and continue with loading Windows. I know it sucks that Giga users have to get into this level of intamacy with their computer\'s hardware and operating system just to get a product to work as advertised. Best of luck with optimizing your system, also check some of the past posted threads in the hardware and software sections on this site to pick up other optimization tips. . . . Doc

[Doc]

A couple of other things I though of looking over your posted setup. With that Cas2 ram you should be able to set \"4-way memory interleave\" in the Bios for better performance. Also, if you are not using any SCSI devices, then disable that also in the Bios (you didn\'t say if your CDwriter was Ide or SCSI). Doc

[Hans Adamson]

Simon,

I have checked the register with Regedit.exe.
I have the correct 160 voice polyphony value.

Hans

[Hans Adamson]

Doc,

My AWARD BIOS ver.4.51 PG has rather extensive setting options, but not the one you mention. I have my memory timing controlled by SPD. (info chip on memory)

Hans

[abi]

1. Hans, what\'s your harddrive configuration on the IDE controller?
2. How many are there?
3. Are they masters?
4. Are they the only drive on 1 controller?

I\'ve had my gig harddrive connected to a controller with my CDROM drive as a slave and the polyphony was only < 64. Removing the CDROM gave me around 130+ stable polyphony. I ended up putting my CDROM drive on a 3rd party ATA controller card and having my drives master of their own controllers.

[Hans Adamson]

Abi,

My IDE configuration:

Dual channel. ATA33-controller.

1st channel:
Master: 1st physical drive; 27gig Maxtor 7200rpm:
C: Win98
E: Applications
F: Waves+ .gigs

Slave: 2nd physical drive; 30gig Maxtor 7200rpm:
G: Gigs

2nd channel:
Master: 3rd physical drive; 17gig Maxtor ?rpm:
D: 2nd bootup partition for win98
H: Backup

Slave: CD-rom drive

Thanks,
Hans

[Hans Adamson]

Doc,

I have followed your advice and removed Ghost devices in Safe Mode. - No improvement though.

My hard drives are automatically configured by AWARD 4.51 PG BIOS.

By the way, I didn\'t know there was such a thing as going over your BIOS with a Nemesys tech... A joke?

Thanks, Hans

[Doc]

Hans, yes that crack about tech support was an early april fools joke. After reading your hard drive config I thought of a couple things. First try switching your Primary IDE Slave drive (gigs) with your Secondary IDE Master (backup). Maybe you\'ll get lucky and have enough room and be able to just switch connectors and jumper settings on the drives without physically having to switch drives around in the case. Second, in the device manager, check to see if DMA is enabled (checked), you will also be wanting Microsoft\'s DMA version, the one that comes with windows, over the Intel DMA version, the one that ships with many motherboard setup CD\'s. Third, check to see if your CDROM is DMA enabled, some CDROMs will be capable of DMA but run slower and mess with hardrive output with DMA checked. In my computer I ended up unchecking DMA on my CDROM and CDburner, for better performance (just trial and error). As far as the best Bios settings and other tweaks to boost the system check an overclockers website tweak3d.net for lots of tips. Make sure the jumpers on all your drives and CDROMs are correctly set to \"Master \" or \"Slave\", dont trust the \"Cable Select\" jumper setting. Lastly, check your Bios to see that Ultra DMA is enabled or in the automatic mode. Having fun yet?

[Doc]

If the above doesn\'t do anything you may want to try this configuration Primary IDE Master - operating system drive; Primary IDE Slave - CDROM; Secondary IDE Master - gigs drive; Secondary IDE Slave - backup drive

[Chadwick]

I\'d agree with all the tweaking advice if we were talking about generally low polyphony, but Hans is getting EXACTLY 64 voices, which makes me think Danny\'s right about the install problem.

It seems much more like Giga hasn\'t been told that it\'s allowed to open up to 160, rather than that there are some software conflicts minimising its number of voices.

[Hans Adamson]

Clueless,

I downloaded the Echo Reporter. I was excited over this as a diagnostic tool. After making a series of tests with it, I think it is appropriate for determining if you can use a Echo sound card by indicating a \'ballpark\' range of performance. It will not by one single test tell you your performance capacity.

My Tests:

1. Initial tests (5) on 30 Gig hard drive, almost full.
Results: 73,68,69,72,71 (Playback)

2. Tests after removing 15Gb of waves from the same hard drive.
Results: 96,89,94,102 (Playback)

3. Tests after removing additional 10Gb of waves and defragmenting drive:
Results: 60,68,46,46 (Playback)

I guess the conclusion could be that an average value, considering my tests under different conditions, woul be approximately 70 (playback).

Hans

[gigaDiga]

Hans,

I had exactly the same problem and solved it through the following method...

A) Install GigaStudio.
B) Start it up and in the settings window change the polyphony from 64 to 160, and steal notes to what ever you want.
C) Then Install GigaStudio right over the top of your old one (no need to uninstall)

The new install just reads in your changed values as if they were the correct ones...

voila (hopefully)

[Hans Adamson]

Hehe, funny guy, Doc...

Thanks for the tips. I am going to hold off moving around the drives though, (I hate doing it, and the CD-drive supposedly have a degrading effect on the hard drives on the same channel).

My drives are properly configured as masters/slaves. I disabled DMA on the CD-rom drive - no effect.

My bus master controller is Intel:
\"Intel 82371AB/EB PCI Bus Master IDE Controller\"

My primary and secondary IDE-controllers are Microsoft:
\"ESDI_506.pdr
File Size: 24406 (0x5F56)
File Date: 5/11/1998 8:1 AM
Company Name: Microsoft Corporation
File Version: 4.10.1998

I am always having fun - just got a beer...

Chadwick,

I am inclined to agree with you because the \"peak\" polyphony is always 64.


GigaDiga,

I have installed and reinstalled. Next time I reinstall I will follow your tip and just do the installation over the old one.

I also still haven\'t tried creating a new partition with a new win98 installation from CD. I save the most intrusive and time consuming remedies to last.

The big price is still not taken...

Thanks again,

Hans

[clueless]

After I set up my current motherboard, GigaStudio only maxed out at 64 -- exactly. I thought the problem was a registration problem or an improper set up file because the value was exactlt 64. After much fooling around, I turned off USB in the set up. The polyphony shot to 160.

Since you said that your USB is disabled, that must not be your problem. There may, however, be other PCI conflicts that are causing trouble. Remember, all of your IDE hard drives go through ther buss even if the controller hardware is built into the motherboard.

I guess my point is that just because the poly fixes at precisely 64 it doesn\'t necessarily rule out bus-related interferences.

Clueless

[seclusion]

I pulled my cdrom/cdr\'s out of my computer..
So there is a dedicated ide cable for my primary drive and one for the the gig files..
Problem solved.
You should be able to boot the computer with no cd drives..
Just unplug the ide cable from them leave them installed/powered...
Just as a test..
I\'ve left my cover off my computer untill I was done fiddling...
It works great..
I\'m afraid to install the cdrom drive back in..
I think I\'m just gonna leave a cdr plugged in cause I can read from it too..
Brian

[seclusion]

Sorry I replugged the cdr on the primary ide chain..
The SECONDARY MASTER HAS THE DRIVE WITH GIGA STUFF ON IT ONLY...Nothing else is plugged in the ide chain with that drive..

[Hans Adamson]

Seclusion,

I pulled out the IDE cable from my IDE CD-rom drive. No improvement.

Thanks,

Hans

[Hans Adamson]

I have some new developments, that seems to indicate that it might be a bottleneck problem after all. Samples that are thoroughly multisampled gets max 64 voices, but instruments from the Connexant library that came with GigaSampler will give a variety of results. Each instrument there has its own max. The best result so far is 73 voices.

I would be interested in hearing from anyone that is using ATA33 and get a full polyphony. Will you get full polyphony with any instrument? I have seen on this forum that some users have ATA33 and achieve this. Nemesys recommends \"Ultra Wide IDE\". What does this mean? ATA33?

Hans

[Hans Adamson]

Here\'s my results:

My Gigs are on H:, Win98 on C:, Programs on E:


PitCrew System Details
Your Computer Your Hardware | Your Software

Data items shaded yellow or red in the tables below indicate potential problem areas. Click on the tip links for more information and solutions for the issues we\'ve detected.


Tips
• Increase free space (Drive D)
• Unusually low performance (Drive D)

AutoFixes
The following AutoFixes have been used on this PC:

Disk Cleanup
Aureate ADVERT.DLL Removal
IE Restricted Sites Zone
For a complete list of AutoFixes available, see our AutoFix page.

Main Board
Brand/Model
Type Desktop
Serial Number Not available
BIOS Award Software International, Inc. 4.51 PG 07/30/99
System Buses PCI,ISA

Processor
Brand/Model Intel Pentium III
Nominal Clock Speed 962 MHz
Measured Clock Speed 1002 MHz
External Clock Speed 100 MHz
CPUID Information 0x0686 0x383F9FF
CPU Load 1%
Speed Rating 2902 (104%)

Memory Configuration
RAM installed 511 MB
Windows RAM 511 MB
Chipset Intel 82443BX
Speed Rating 2255 MB/s (120%)
Related Information
PC Pitstop Mechanic\'s Lesson:
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Upgrading RAM, when to upgrade, where to go for upgrades.



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Disk Drive Letters
These are drive letters associated with hard disk drives. This list does not include drive letters for floppy disks or other removable media such as CD-ROM, DVD, Zip or Jaz drives.
Drive C Drive D Drive E Drive F Drive G Drive H
Partition format FAT32 FAT32 FAT32 FAT32 FAT32 FAT32
Drive Label WINDOWS 98 BACKUP APPLICATION RECORDING DISK 3 GIGS
Size 1096 MB 641 MB 3750 MB 20816 MB 15814 MB 29283 MB
Free space 450 MB (41%) 1 MB (0%) 1110 MB (30%) 1873 MB (9%) 5259 MB (33%) 25542 MB (87%)
Drive health OK OK OK OK OK OK
Last scan Wed Mar 21 2001 Wed Mar 21 2001 Wed Mar 21 2001 Wed Mar 21 2001 Wed Mar 21 2001 Wed Mar 21 2001
Data Fragmentation 2% 10% 3% 0% 12% 0%
File Fragmentation 1% 0% 2% 0% 0% 0%
Last defrag Tue Mar 20 2001 Tue Mar 20 2001 Tue Mar 20 2001 Tue Mar 20 2001 Tue Mar 20 2001 Tue Mar 20 2001
Junk files 1 MB (0%) 0 MB (0%) 0 MB (0%) 0 MB (0%) 0 MB (0%) 0 MB (0%)
Cached speed 132.21 MB/s (89%) 132.31 MB/s (89%) 134.07 MB/s (90%) 136.7 MB/s (92%) 135.65 MB/s (91%) 135.46 MB/s (91%)
Uncached speed 3.27 MB/s (138%) 0 MB/s (0%) 4.48 MB/s (189%) 4.85 MB/s (205%) 3.71 MB/s (157%) 6.07 MB/s (256%)

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Disk Drives
Here are the physical disk drives that we have detected on your system:
Drive 0 Drive 1 Drive 2
Drive letters CEF DG H
Removable media No No No
Brand/Model Maxtor 53073U6 GENERIC IDE DISK TYPE80 Maxtor 53073U6
Serial number K6044H9C
Revision level DA620CQ DA62


Disk Controllers
Here are the hard disk controllers that we have detected on your system:
Vendor Product
(Standard hard disk drivers) Primary IDE controller (dual fifo)
(Standard hard disk drivers) Secondary IDE controller (dual fifo)
Intel Intel 82371AB/EB PCI Bus Master IDE Controller
Adaptec Adaptec AHA-2940U2/AHA-2940U2W PCI SCSI Controller
Iomega Iomega Parallel Port Zip Interface
Maxtor Win95-98 Maxtor Ultra ATA 100 IDE Controller


CD/DVD Drives
Here are the CD and DVD drives that we have detected on your system:
Model Type Max Read Speed Max Write Speed
PLEXTOR CD-R PX-W124TS CD-RW 5645 KB/s (32X) 2117 KB/s (12X)


Video Board
Brand/Model ATI Rage 128 GL SD AGP 2X (English)
Resolution 1024x768 pixels
Colors 65,636
DirectX version 4.07.00.0700
OpenGL version 4.00
Acceleration options Enabled
Performance 88.56 MP/s (100%)

PC Pitstop\'s video performance performs a basic test of your system\'s graphics capabilities and reports the result in millions of pixels displayed per second (MP/s). The percentage indicates the performance of this system compared to systems with similar processor and clock speed. For example, a score of 50% would indicate this system had half the performance of comparable systems; 200% would indicate twice the performance. Determining \"normal\" performance can be difficult, there can be wide differences due to video drivers even on the same video board.

Monitors
Monitor Plug and Play Monitor
Max. Horizontal Resolution 1600 pixels
Max. Vertical Resolution 1200 pixels
Horizontal Size 36 cm
Vertical Size 27 cm
Viewable Diagonal Size 17.72 inch
Manufacture Year 1998
Manufacture Week 50
Serial Number 0

Internet Configuration
Bandwidth Down 1126 Kbits/sec
Bandwidth Up 275 Kbits/sec
Average Ping 30 ms
Ping Loss 0%
TCP Receive Window (default)
Browser MSIE 5.5
IE current cache 0 MB
IE max cache 50 MB

The Bandwidth measurement is, in simple terms, the transmission speed or throughput of your connection to the Internet. However, measuring bandwidth can be tricky, since the lowest bandwidth point between your computer and the site you\'re looking at determines the effective transmission speed at any moment. Our tests measure the Internet bandwidth between your computer and PC Pitstop\'s servers.

In general, if your bandwidth result is roughly 85% of the rated connection speed for your modem or device, you\'re receiving acceptable throughput (though shared connections may affect this, too). However, since Internet performance can be erratic and you can\'t expect to get nominal bandwidth every time you test, you should test several times, and at different times of the day, to get the most accurate rating. To repeat only our Bandwidth test and get more information, plus tips for improving performance, click here.

Average Ping measures the round-trip time in milliseconds for a packet to travel from the PC being tested to PC Pitstop\'s web site and back; lower numbers indicate better performance. Ping Loss indicates what percent of the packets sent did not return; ideally this should be zero, indicating that all the packets were returned.

Ping times and losses can vary greatly depending on the speed and quality of your Internet connection, congestion on the Internet, and the load being handled by the PC Pitstop server. In general, ping times under 100ms are typical of T1, DSL, or cable modems. Consistent ping times of more than 500ms should only be seen in connections that span continents (e.g., USA to Europe) and/or are linked by satellite. Ping losses usually indicate Internet congestion.

For additional testing of your browser configuration and Internet connection, we recommend BrowserTune.

Windows Configuration
Common Name Windows 98
Full Version Windows 98 4.10.1998
First Install Mon Dec 6 1999
Free Resources 84%
Fonts Installed 218
Windows Scripting Version 5.0.531.7
CPU Load 1%
MaxPhysPage Limit No Limit
Min File Cache None
Max File Cache None
Swap File Status Enabled
Min Swap File None
Max Swap File None

The MaxPhysPage, file cache, and swap file values are generally used only by advanced users but are shown here for reference.

Running Programs
These are the programs running at the time this computer was tested. Click on a file name to see more information about it.
Description Application File Name
KbdTray - Tray icons show status of Caps, Num, Scroll lock keys Unknown C:\\LOGITECH\\MOUSE\\SYSTEM\\KBDTRAY.EXE
WOOWEB Internet Application Unknown C:\\PROGRA~1\\PROSUM\\WOOWEB.EXE
Keyboard Language Indicator Applet Unknown C:\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM\\internat.exe
Control Center Unknown c:\\LOGITECH\\MOUSE\\SYSTEM\\EM_EXEC.EXE
Still Image Devices Monitor Windows C:\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM\\STIMON.EXE
Task Monitor Windows C:\\WINDOWS\\TASKMON.EXE
Task Scheduler Engine Windows C:\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM\\mstask.exe
Internet Explorer Windows C:\\PROGRA~1\\INTERN~1\\IEXPLORE.EXE
Windows Explorer Windows C:\\WINDOWS\\EXPLORER.EXE
Win32 Kernel core component Windows C:\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM\\KERNEL32.DLL
Multimedia background task support module Windows C:\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM\\MMTASK.TSK
WIN32 Network Interface Service Process Windows C:\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM\\MPREXE.EXE
Conexant WaveStream Message Server Winmodem C:\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM\\MSG32.EXE
Windows 32-bit VxD Message Server Windows C:\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM\\MSGSRV32.EXE
System Tray Applet Windows C:\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM\\SysTray.Exe


Security Configuration
ActiveX Security Issues None
IE Restricted Zone Permissions None

Performance Analysis
Your PC seems to be a recent model, so it probably makes more sense to upgrade it (if necessary) than to buy a new one.
The table below summarizes the major areas of your desktop PC and how they compare to our recommended levels for performance and features for a new PC. You can use this information when shopping for upgrades or a new PC. See below for information on how we calculate the database percentile. If you do consider a new system, please see our tips for upgrading.

Area Your PC Database
Percentile Our Recommended
Minimum Overall
Rating
System Intel Pentium III, 962MHz 96 500 MHz Processor
Memory 511 MB 98 128 MB
Disk 69.73 GB 96 10 GB
Video Resolution 1024 x 768, 16-bit N/A 800x600, 16-bit


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[This message has been edited by Hans Adamson (edited 03-23-2001).]

[rr]

Hello Hans. I am just wondering, are you running a dual processor motherboard with only one processor? And if so, could this be a problem?

[Hans Adamson]

Update:

I have installed ATA66 now, and it does not improve the performance. So, it was not the ATA33 that limited the polyphony.

I have tested my computer at the two test sites below with good results. Check it out. Maybe we can then all compare performance.
http://www.pcpitstop.com/ (\"http://www.pcpitstop.com/\")
http://wintune.winmag.com/?ls=wmnavwt (\"http://wintune.winmag.com/?ls=wmnavwt\")

Hans

[clueless]

Thanks for the pointer to PCPITSTOP.

Here are data for my drives:

Drive C
Size 6161 MB
Free space 662 MB (11%)
Data Fragmentation 15%
Cached speed 123.18 MB/s (106%)
Uncached speed 2.7 MB/s (76%)

Drive D
Size 17193 MB
Free space 1500 MB (9%)
Data Fragmentation 0%
Cached speed 124.54 MB/s (107%)
Uncached speed 3.73 MB/s (105%)

I also used Echo Reporter on my GigaStudio system:
DRIVE D:
Read 7222 KB/sec
Write 13624 KB/sec
Playback 83 sim. tracks
Record 158 sim. tracks

What I noticed is that your PCPITSTOP results showed faster disk access than mine but your Echo Reporter results were less. Yours should have been better.

It looks like there is an interference on the buss in your system. Have you followed your board manufacturer\'s suggestions for card placement based on the IRQ PCI shared slots?

Have you experimented by removing all \"unnecessary\" PCI and ISA boards and testing GigaStudio polyphony?

Clueless

[Hans Adamson]

Clueless,

How many voices do you get with a multisampled piano?

My results from PCPitstop were from after installing a ATA66 controller card. Only my Gig drive (H :) is currently on that controller. I have made a new test with Echo Reporter. This time testing drive H: ATA66. My results:

Playback: 98 voices or,
Record: 286 voices or,
Playback 97 and record 2 voices simultaneously.

I have received some fresh advice over the weekend. I am going to try yours, and the rest tomorrow.

RR,

As far as I can understand from the manual, the possibility of dual operation is optional, and a single processor should work as well in either slot. But there might be something to it..

Thanks,
Hans

[This message has been edited by Hans Adamson (edited 03-25-2001).]

[This message has been edited by Hans Adamson (edited 03-25-2001).]

[This message has been edited by Hans Adamson (edited 03-25-2001).]

[This message has been edited by Hans Adamson (edited 03-25-2001).]

[This message has been edited by Hans Adamson (edited 03-25-2001).]

[Chadwick]

FWIW, on a PIII833, 256mb ram, and gigs disk which is an ATA66 30gb IBM drive (master), I\'m getting an absolute max of 120 voices polyphony before I notice latency and \'clustering\' of chords, echoreporter says:

.............Play Tks....Rec Tks...Play&Rec
1st run........114........293......114&2
2nd run........128........295......127&2
3rd run........116........285......115&2
4th run........115........289......114&2

My Giga PC\'s not networked, so I can\'t run PC Pitstop, but I\'ll run Wintune and pass along the reults.


[This message has been edited by Chadwick (edited 03-26-2001).]

[Chadwick]

Wintunes results for my PIII833\'s hard disk.
MY Giga performance is mentioned above.

Installed RAM (MB): 256
Free RAM (MB): 120 (GEE, Win98 doesn\'t leave much of the 256 does it!)
Memory used (%): 31

Disk Info ( I have no idea which disk was checked, but they\'re all IBMs, just not the same size and not all masters)
Summary
120±1.3(1.1%) cached disk MB/s
5.8±0.075(1.3%) uncached disk MB/s

Disk Details

Disk Last Scanned: 12:00:00 AM
Disk Last Optimized: 12:00:00 AM

Cached Disk, 128 blocks
Open file time (s): 0.00032
Sequential write time (s): 0.0042
Sequential read time (s): 0.032
Random write time (s): 0.00048
Random read time (s): 0.0025
Close file time (s): 0.00068
Open file bytes: 1024
Sequential write bytes: 524288
Sequential read bytes: 4194304
Random write bytes: 65536
Random read bytes: 262144
Close file bytes: 1024
Open file MB/s: 3
Sequential write MB/s: 119
Sequential read MB/s: 125
Random write MB/s: 131
Random read MB/s: 101
Close file MB/s: 1.4

Uncached Disk, 2048 blocks
Open file time (s): 0.00034
Sequential write time (s): 0.57
Sequential read time (s): 0.41
Random write time (s): 0.81
Random read time (s): 1.3
Close file time (s): 0.0014
Open file bytes: 1024
Sequential write bytes: 8388608
Sequential read bytes: 8388608
Random write bytes: 1048576
Random read bytes: 1048576
Close file bytes: 1024
Open file MB/s: 2.9
Sequential write MB/s: 13
Sequential read MB/s: 19
Random write MB/s: 1.2
Random read MB/s: 0.77
Close file MB/s: 0.72Random read MB/s: 0.7

[clueless]

I get 160 with the piano that ships with Gigastudio.

BTW, I am using a Gina (20) card. My motherboard has an ATA/66 controller built-in. It is an ASUS P3V4X. When I tried to use a Promise card (ATA/66 controller) on the PCI buss in addition to the built-in controller, things got strange and it would not see the card.

My video is a simple 8Mb AGP card. I have heard that a video card can interfere sometimes.

I was careful to place the cards in the PCI slots so as not to share interrupts.

I also set the computer\'s file system performance to server.

Clueless

[Hans Adamson]

Today I have finally achieved 160 voices!

What did it was creating a new boot partition and installing Windows98 from CD-ROM. Then installing GigaStudio and upgrading to 2.01.36 without opening the first version.

I had tried to do this already last week, but I encountered so many problems then, that I kept trying every other remedy possible.

Danny Lux suggested in the very first reply I got, that a new installaton of Windows was necessary, so First Price goes to Danny.

I will also take the names (or pseudonyms) of everybody else that has pitched in, put them in a hat and draw another winner of the sample CD-ROM. I will include those who have posted suggestions on sonic control and Nemesys\' mailing list.

Thanks again everybody,

Hans