The latest on chipsets/processors

[Jan]

Can anybody tell me what is the latest news on the best processor to buy for a fast GS system? Intel has released it\'s i845 chipset, but the speed of the SDRAM really slows the system down. Alternative is an Athlon, which has a superior FPU, yet on the other hand it makes use of chipsets which are said to manage the memory not as good as the Intel chipsets do, and the Intel chipsets also are more stable and recommended by companies like Tascam.
At the moment having the best FPU performance is not the most essential thing to be focussing on when using GS, yet in future versions of GS more NFX plugins will become available, and then the FPU WILL matter a lot more than it does right now.
Suppose you want to build a system that is ready for what the future has to offer, a system that will not be obsolete in a year\'s time, what would be the best way to go as far as stability and system performance are concerned?

[studioJ]

I\'ve been very confused about this myself. I see lots of people using Athlons (like Soundchaser for instance) but it seems most Athlon motherboards use the Via chipset which I\'ve been warned about. And yes, Tascam recommends Intel chipsets directly on their web site. I\'d love it if someone could shed some light on the subject.

[Synth2k]

The AMD760/761 chipset seems to be very quick and stable. On the latest audio machine that I built, I purposely stayed away from the VIA chipset because of the problems some people have run into when audio work.

Ryan.


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[studioJ]

What motherboards use the AMD chipset? Which one did you use on your last Audio system?

Thanks.

[vudoo]

I just built 2 PC for giga. One using the Pentium III processor ( 1 Ghz ) and the other using a thunderbird 1.4 Ghz.
The Thunderbird machine SCREAMS, cheaper and noticeably faster than the P III. The Via chipset used on the Thunderbird is very stable. I don\'t know why people are having problems with the Via chipset ( this is my 4 th AMD machines using the Via KT-133A and never a problem ).
One thing that i can definitely tell you guys is that the soundcard makes a HUGE difference in performance and stability...and NOT all GSIF sound card perform the same nor the quality of its driver are the same.
I\'ve had a chance to test a whole bunch of them and to be honest, only a few of them are up to par and considered to be \" professional \" quality.

[studioJ]

What\'s your take on the RME cards?

I built a gigaSystem with an Echo Gina24 once and all was good except for a latency of 12-15 ms (this was the drift from note to note). I was hoping to get around 8 or less latency from note-on to audio recorded into my sequencing DAW. Have you had experiences with the Echo cards?

[Robert Kral]

vudoo,

So, which sound card do you use?

[vudoo]

I have tested cards from Maudio/Midiman, Aardvark, Soundscape, Motu, Echo, RME, Frontier Design.
First as far as intergrated midi..the only card that i find fairly tight is the Frontier Design stuff...but to be honest a good seperate midi interface performs better, besides it gives you multiport capabilities...try to stay away from the USB midi interfaces, except for the Emagic Unitor 8, all USB interface we tried sucked ( very unreliable and sloppy ).
Now for the sound card : ALL GSIF drivers made by Motu SUCKED ( we tried the 2408 family and the new 828 ), the Motu interfaces work GREAT within the Mac environment especially with its own software ( Digital Performer ).
The Frontier Design product works fine, though i did not test it fully. The Mixtreme cards by Soundscape and the Aardvark interfaces works very well with Giga.
The RME Hammerfall 9652 performs beautifully and if you have the $ to match it with the ADI-8...VERY nice sounding...this converter sounds as good as my top of the line ProTools interface ( 888/24 ) used in my ProTools Mix+ rig.
The Maudio ( Delta 1010 ) sounds very good and works well also with Giga but its buitl in Midi is not great.
The Echo stuff is not bad but not as tight and reliable as the RME, Mixtreme, Aardvark...the funny thing is, if you use the older ( 20 bit ) Echo interfaces...stick with the older drivers, they perform better than the newer driver they have out now.

[elle]

Thanx Vudoo!!

This is in a nutshell the ONLY comparative giga sound card overview I have ever heard. Wish somebody would do a more lengthly test and classify the cards in what categories they shine ...or not.

[LHong]

vudoo, Which soundcard are you using now? You have any plans to test more cards? Just kidding! I just want to know which one the pick (one of seven). That\'s all!
Regards,
Long

[vudoo]

Hi guys,

Actually, i\'m a Mac guy...who got into this whole PC ordeal out of fustrations. When i tried to put a giga rig together 2 months ago, i ran into some problems and because of the the Nemesys/Tascam transition, it was very hard to get a knowledgeable person to help you. It took me days before i was able to get a hold of a Tascam tech support dude, and his answer to most of my questions was...uh !! i\'ve never heard of that problem !!! or told me to contact the manifacture who made those cards myself, because Tascam aren\'t the one who wrote the GSIF driver for those particular hardware !!!
Anyways, at the studio , we have two giga with the Mixtreme and a third station with the Aardvark. I just recently put together a Thunderbird/Asus rig and i decided to go with the RME 9652...i\'m still undecided wether to use my digital console or get rid of it and buy the ADI-8...because all my mixing is done in ProTools, the digital console is not getting much use.
Good luck with your purchase and remember that most of the stuff i\'ve tested and commented on, are related to my own set up and, of course, is my own personal opinion. This user forum have lots of knowledgeable gear slut. It\'s a great source of information.

[Jan]

Vudoo (or anyone else who can comment on it), while we are on the subject of cards, do you have any experience with the Egosys card that supports 4 X MIDI in-out as far as tight MIDI timing is concerned?

[westlake79]

I\'ve heard really good things about the egosys 4140 but this is just a dedicated midi unit. Their wammirack has mixed reviews, good all in one unit 4 cheap, but if you\'re running a GIGA comp all you\'ll need is 4x4 in/out and a good sound card like the RME 9652, just run ADAT lightpipe into your sequencer.

[seclusion]

P3 1 gig 512 on an Asus cusu whatever board..
I use a maxron whatever video AGP..
I setup this system with a MOTU 2408..MOTU midi timepeice AV..
It rocks, latency is way down.. Generation 2 on giga drivers..
Sorry.. 24 adat, 24 tdif,2 spif.. wordclock.. This system rocks..
Latency is soooo good now with the new drivers that I can go adat out of the giga 2408 assigned through my digi console into my other puter(logic and 2408) and play listening to the logic inputs..
Rock solid and I\'ve pushed it to 24 outs. Absolutely no crashes and even when I push the poly over 160 it still doesn\'t crash..
Giga responds funny when you go over the poly.. That\'s not the soundcards fault..
MOTU drivers again rock..
Brian

[vudoo]

Yes, the gigastudio will most likely crash or freeze up your computer if you go above 160 voices for too long..the odd thing is that Giga96 does not have this problem...only giga160.