New GPO User Requesting Advice

[Riker96]

Hello Everyone:

I want to say TIA for your help. I've been reading through these forums all day, and was finally convinced (mostly by the overwhelming support of the Garritan team to its users) to purchase GPO (its on the way).

I am a little concerned, considering what most of you seem to be using, that my setup may not be good enough to really handle GPO. I would really appreaciate your advice. My setup is:

Intel Pentium 2.4 CPU
1 G RAM
XP -SP 1
SB Audigy 2 Platinum Ex
CuBasis VST 4.0 (Creative Edition)
Halion 1.0
Finale 2003 (which I don't necessarily need to use for mock-ups)

Also I have the following software..I still need to learn these:

Logic Pro Audio Platinum 5.01
Sample Tank XL 1.0

I have heard some great compositions, and have been truly impressed by the richness of the orchestral sounds. I'm only hoping that I will be able to acheive the same quality...What do you think? Do I need new software?

My most sincere thanks,

Paul Riker
BA/MA Composition/Theory -New York

[Joseph Burrell]

Your computer should more than handle GPO. It's not far off from what I'm using. The only thing that I'd say is that the Audigy may prove to be problematic.

[Riker96]

Thanks,

I would only ask...What cards would you recommend? (Cost is an issue)

MAudio?

Also, for a full orchestral run, does cubasis support a high enough number of voices?

Thanks again.

Paul

[Joseph Burrell]

For cost, yes, M-Audio will do fine. I'm not sure why I said that about the Audigy, its just that the latency isn't all that great for some people. Anyway, the voices shouldn't be an issue with Cubasis, since that is computer dependent, the issue will be how many instances of the VST you can have in the version of Cubasis you are wanting to use (assuming it is the VST 4.0 you mentioned.) I don't know anything about that version so I cannot say how many instances you can have at once, but the work around for everyone so far has been to use GPO Studio, which can be found on Garritans site. With 1 gig of ram you may be able load an entire orchestra (depending on what kind of programs are running in the background on your computer.) You may want to get another 512 MB of ram, or just wait and see how your setup works. I don't see any glaring issues with your current setup and I think you will be pleased with what you'll be able to do with GPO.

[loogoo]

As far as the Cubasis VST that comes with GPO, the program (Cubasis VST) is limited to 48 mono audio tracks on the mixer - or 24 stereo pairs. That means that if you want to use instances of GPO as your VST instrument you will only be able to load 3 instances (3x8 instruments to make 24) as the output from GPO is in stereo. You might want to look into upgrading to Cubasis - there is an SE version I believe which is more budget-conscious and will give you more tracks to work with.

Hope this helps.

[Joseph Burrell]

I think the SE version of Cubasis has the same limitation. 48 mono audio tracks.

[Riker96]

Thank you both for your help.

I think I may bite the bullet and get cubase sx. Then I can focus my
worries on RAM.

Thanks again,

Paul Riker

[Houston Haynes]

I know that Gary mentioned an update to GPO that will include a new version of Cubase (perhaps an SE version) that might have higher, more modern requirements. Check with Garritan on that. Also, with the new streaming features in GPO, you'll get a lot more instruments - and as strong as it is "now" with certain configs, it will be even stronger in short order. I use streaming with GPO sounds in Kontakt and it ROCKS.

Check out ESI sound cards as their audio quality is tops and their drivers are unasailable. I've had a WaMiRack 24 from them for years (and they're no longer produced) and I just shot them an email on Thursday of last week and got a personal call back on Friday with different options to try and rememdy the situation. Except for my move to a TASCAM FW-1884 console/interface, I'm an ESI customer for life.

[tgfoo]

Also I have the following software..I still need to learn these:

Logic Pro Audio Platinum 5.01

Does this version of logic not support VSTs? Cause if it does why would there be a need to get cubase sx or any other sequencer if you already have one?

[Shazbot]

Using the latest version (1.2) of GPOStudio (which is still in beta), you can use that with Cubasis and have up to 64 instruments (if your system can handle that many). I have a tutorial for using GPOStudio with Cubasis available here.