should i up grade my ram from 8gb to 16gb

[Dr.Cane]

ok i have a dell inspiron ultra book plus i got
A gig in a couple of weeks and i need my live set running properly
here's my problem.
i have ableton live 8 64 bit.
Most of my tracks is midi because i use to program on the mpc 1000
so i just set up a drum rack to the same drum program as my mpc 1000.etc.
i recorded my performance from the box into live pretty good.
i also have some keyboard performances in my live set.
i have 3 midi fill tracks
and 2 lead tracks. (but only one lead track im using in this set.)
but when i play the sence my cpu meter shows that im using
79%-102% of cpu usage
causing it to drop out my audio and slow down the audio play back performance.
idk what to do ist just one problem right after the next with this program.
'im thinking on buying 16gb for my dell ultra book inspiron
yes thas right im using dell.
can someone help us please.

[beats me]

More RAM can’t hurt, but also make sure your HD isn’t close to full. I think 10% of your drive available at a minimum is the standard.

[trevox]

8Gb of RAM is the same as I have and I can get quite a lot running at far lower CPU usage. What processor does your machine have and what version of windows are you on? Do you have tons of plugins and audio tracks running or are you using any software instruments? Midi uses very little CPU unless it is to trigger soft synths or if it is going through some complex M4L devices or something.

By the sounds of things, I really do not think more RAM will help unless you have zero HDD space left as mentioned and/or are using huge sample banks. Sounds like a deeper issue with your machine or OS.

[moonpie]

ok i have a dell inspiron ultra book plus i got
A gig in a couple of weeks and i need my live set running properly
here's my problem.
i have ableton live 8 64 bit.
Most of my tracks is midi because i use to program on the mpc 1000
so i just set up a drum rack to the same drum program as my mpc 1000.etc.
i recorded my performance from the box into live pretty good.
i also have some keyboard performances in my live set.
i have 3 midi fill tracks
and 2 lead tracks. (but only one lead track im using in this set.)
but when i play the sence my cpu meter shows that im using
79%-102% of cpu usage
causing it to drop out my audio and slow down the audio play back performance.
idk what to do ist just one problem right after the next with this program.
'im thinking on buying 16gb for my dell ultra book inspiron
yes thas right im using dell.
can someone help us please.

RAM will not help your cpu use. This is really important to understand. Midi/synths are cpu intensive. You only need extra ram IF you are using alot of samples and sampled instruments.

The best advice I can give you is - in general, from my experience and reading about many touring musicians, (from radiohead to fourtet to caribou) most of the time they arent running live vst synths - theyve sampled their original synths. This a) hugely cuts down on processor usage and b) actually helps live stabilty with less points in your set it can fail.

So - your choices for sampling are - Simpler (for single sounds), Sampler - to sample a whole synth, Kontakt (same), The FREE Beat Zampler http://www.zampler.de/, and using audio clips in live.

You need to start converting as much of your set to audio as possible. Get aggressive with finding out which synths are using all your power. Try running the set at a higher buffer rate (256- 512 - although 512 is laggy live)

Now - you can do a mix of both samples and live instruments. Keep background pads and fx audio, and have your lead instruments live synths. Theres really no other way around it without buying a 2nd laptop or offloading delays/reverbs to a hardware mixer.


One thing I know - RAM will not help your situation at all from the sounds of it. 8 GBs is alot already - well enough to play sampled piano etc.

[Dr.Cane]

ok i have a dell inspiron ultra book plus i got
A gig in a couple of weeks and i need my live set running properly
here's my problem.
i have ableton live 8 64 bit.
Most of my tracks is midi because i use to program on the mpc 1000
so i just set up a drum rack to the same drum program as my mpc 1000.etc.
i recorded my performance from the box into live pretty good.
i also have some keyboard performances in my live set.
i have 3 midi fill tracks
and 2 lead tracks. (but only one lead track im using in this set.)
but when i play the sence my cpu meter shows that im using
79%-102% of cpu usage
causing it to drop out my audio and slow down the audio play back performance.
idk what to do ist just one problem right after the next with this program.
'im thinking on buying 16gb for my dell ultra book inspiron
yes thas right im using dell.
can someone help us please.

RAM will not help your cpu use. This is really important to understand. Midi/synths are cpu intensive. You only need extra ram IF you are using alot of samples and sampled instruments.

The best advice I can give you is - in general, from my experience and reading about many touring musicians, (from radiohead to fourtet to caribou) most of the time they arent running live vst synths - theyve sampled their original synths. This a) hugely cuts down on processor usage and b) actually helps live stabilty with less points in your set it can fail.

So - your choices for sampling are - Simpler (for single sounds), Sampler - to sample a whole synth, Kontakt (same), The FREE Beat Zampler http://www.zampler.de/, and using audio clips in live.

You need to start converting as much of your set to audio as possible. Get aggressive with finding out which synths are using all your power. Try running the set at a higher buffer rate (256- 512 - although 512 is laggy live)

Now - you can do a mix of both samples and live instruments. Keep background pads and fx audio, and have your lead instruments live synths. Theres really no other way around it without buying a 2nd laptop or offloading delays/reverbs to a hardware mixer.


One thing I know - RAM will not help your situation at all from the sounds of it. 8 GBs is alot already - well enough to play sampled piano etc.

ok thank you for your advice
so you think i should use the original sample
and not the presets
i will try it see how it works out for me in my set
also when you said i should buy a new laptop which do you think is best for this situation
please be very specific with me cus i want to buy the right one this time
thanks again.

[trevox]

RAM will not help your cpu use. This is really important to understand. Midi/synths are cpu intensive. You only need extra ram IF you are using alot of samples and sampled instruments.

The best advice I can give you is - in general, from my experience and reading about many touring musicians, (from radiohead to fourtet to caribou) most of the time they arent running live vst synths - theyve sampled their original synths. This a) hugely cuts down on processor usage and b) actually helps live stabilty with less points in your set it can fail.

So - your choices for sampling are - Simpler (for single sounds), Sampler - to sample a whole synth, Kontakt (same), The FREE Beat Zampler http://www.zampler.de/, and using audio clips in live.

You need to start converting as much of your set to audio as possible. Get aggressive with finding out which synths are using all your power. Try running the set at a higher buffer rate (256- 512 - although 512 is laggy live)

Now - you can do a mix of both samples and live instruments. Keep background pads and fx audio, and have your lead instruments live synths. Theres really no other way around it without buying a 2nd laptop or offloading delays/reverbs to a hardware mixer.


One thing I know - RAM will not help your situation at all from the sounds of it. 8 GBs is alot already - well enough to play sampled piano etc.

Without more information, this advice is overkill. If there are not too many soft synths/drum racks involved and the CPU is half way decent, I think it is a deeper issue and this advice is papering over the cracks of the real issue. And you do not want real issues of any sort leading in to playing a gig, even if you've mitigated against them. Having said that, if the CPU is poor, well then there may be little options available.

[moonpie]

ok i have a dell inspiron ultra book plus i got
A gig in a couple of weeks and i need my live set running properly
here's my problem.
i have ableton live 8 64 bit.
Most of my tracks is midi because i use to program on the mpc 1000
so i just set up a drum rack to the same drum program as my mpc 1000.etc.
i recorded my performance from the box into live pretty good.
i also have some keyboard performances in my live set.
i have 3 midi fill tracks
and 2 lead tracks. (but only one lead track im using in this set.)
but when i play the sence my cpu meter shows that im using
79%-102% of cpu usage
causing it to drop out my audio and slow down the audio play back performance.
idk what to do ist just one problem right after the next with this program.
'im thinking on buying 16gb for my dell ultra book inspiron
yes thas right im using dell.
can someone help us please.

RAM will not help your cpu use. This is really important to understand. Midi/synths are cpu intensive. You only need extra ram IF you are using alot of samples and sampled instruments.

The best advice I can give you is - in general, from my experience and reading about many touring musicians, (from radiohead to fourtet to caribou) most of the time they arent running live vst synths - theyve sampled their original synths. This a) hugely cuts down on processor usage and b) actually helps live stabilty with less points in your set it can fail.

So - your choices for sampling are - Simpler (for single sounds), Sampler - to sample a whole synth, Kontakt (same), The FREE Beat Zampler http://www.zampler.de/, and using audio clips in live.

You need to start converting as much of your set to audio as possible. Get aggressive with finding out which synths are using all your power. Try running the set at a higher buffer rate (256- 512 - although 512 is laggy live)

Now - you can do a mix of both samples and live instruments. Keep background pads and fx audio, and have your lead instruments live synths. Theres really no other way around it without buying a 2nd laptop or offloading delays/reverbs to a hardware mixer.


One thing I know - RAM will not help your situation at all from the sounds of it. 8 GBs is alot already - well enough to play sampled piano etc.

ok thank you for your advice
so you think i should use the original sample
and not the presets
i will try it see how it works out for me in my set
also when you said i should buy a new laptop which do you think is best for this situation
please be very specific with me cus i want to buy the right one this time
thanks again.

Hi, whats the exact specs of your current processor - and can you list all the instruments and effects in your set? Just to double check it is a problem with the amount of vsts.

Also - whats your samplerate and buffer currently set at? Do you have an audio interface?

After a quick google, correct me if Im wrong but I think you have a intel i5, which is really good for a laptop. Better than my own. Anyways - the more info you give us the better we can help.

[Dr.Cane]

ok i have Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-3317U CPU @ 1.70GHz 1.70GHz Processor

i Also so have Five Drums tracks what i mean is Five tracks in the the Drum Category.
So... in one track i have
1.Hi-Hats
2. Kicks
3.Snare
4.Procussions
5.Snare 1 - (Simpler Rack)
All Mdid tracks and all being triggered from my mpc 1000 and recorded in live 8 for the midi performance.

Ok and now for VST instruments. tracks i have 8 Tracks With different VST. this is want i have.
1.Bass
2.Strings
3.Guitar
4.Midi Fill 1
5.Midi fill 2
6.Midi Fill 3
7.Lead 1
8.Lead 2
The same as the drums tracks All Midi tracks and all being triggered from my mpc 1000 and recorded in live 8 for the midi performance.

Also so i have 7 Audio tracks but i don't use all 7 i only using 3 for now This is how their are setup.
1.(Backup Vocals),1. Alto,2.Tenor,3.Suprano,4.Lead Vocals
5.Riddim
6.Fills
7.Drive
All Audio Clips Recorded from my mpc 1000

The thing is with my interface is that i cant change the hardware setup from
64 samples to 512 samples why
because it keeps going back to 64 Samples like if it was stuck their as default or something. idk
my interface is lambda.
so what i did to get around this is i download asio4all.
so i can be able to change the hardware setup to 512 and it was successful. praise the load Jesus Christ!!!!!!!!!

so yeah that;s it basically..
Hit me Up

[moonpie]

ok i have Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-3317U CPU @ 1.70GHz 1.70GHz Processor

i Also so have Five Drums tracks what i mean is Five tracks in the the Drum Category.
So... in one track i have
1.Hi-Hats
2. Kicks
3.Snare
4.Procussions
5.Snare 1 - (Simpler Rack)
All Mdid tracks and all being triggered from my mpc 1000 and recorded in live 8 for the midi performance.

Ok and now for VST instruments. tracks i have 8 Tracks With different VST. this is want i have.
1.Bass
2.Strings
3.Guitar
4.Midi Fill 1
5.Midi fill 2
6.Midi Fill 3
7.Lead 1
8.Lead 2
The same as the drums tracks All Midi tracks and all being triggered from my mpc 1000 and recorded in live 8 for the midi performance.

Also so i have 7 Audio tracks but i don't use all 7 i only using 3 for now This is how their are setup.
1.(Backup Vocals),1. Alto,2.Tenor,3.Suprano,4.Lead Vocals
5.Riddim
6.Fills
7.Drive
All Audio Clips Recorded from my mpc 1000

The thing is with my interface is that i cant change the hardware setup from
64 samples to 512 samples why
because it keeps going back to 64 Samples like if it was stuck their as default or something. idk
my interface is lambda.
so what i did to get around this is i download asio4all.
so i can be able to change the hardware setup to 512 and it was successful. praise the load Jesus Christ!!!!!!!!!

so yeah that;s it basically..
Hit me Up

Ah, the 64samples explains alot. That would definitely cause a cpu bottleneck. Your computer is a fast laptop by most comparisons.
I did a very quick search on the manual for your interface
Page 32 tells you how to change the buffer size for cubase - http://www.lexiconpro.com/system/docume ... 1331323539 Not sure if youre getting the same dialog using ableton. Just make sure Lambda Asio is what is selected as input/output. There might be an icon in windows control panel to modify your interface in a similar way.

The drivers built in Lambda Asio would be preferable to asio4all. (as asio4all is an asio emulation). Just use the latest drivers and youll probably get a lower latency with it.


Just be aware that at 512, theres increased latency - so keep trying to lower the buffer settings until you have a nice balance of latency/cpu. 64samples a sec is very taxing on cpu - even 128 I find little problems if the set is moderately cpu heavy.

[Dr.Cane]

Thanks alot i freeze up most of my midi track vst tracks and it working perfect for me now thanks you very guy make it big in the music business