Ableton Live 4.04 vs V-Stack 1.2.0.22 - Kompakt

tbwnm · Post by **tbwnm** » Tue Oct 19, 2004 5:30 am

I have conducted a basic set of performance tests between Ableton Live 4.04 and VStack 1.2.0.22 hosting Kompakt - Stormdrums. I sent both apps the same MIDI data generated from (10) separate MIDI tracks in Digital Performer on a Mac to (10) separate Stormdrum programs (the same sample data in both Ableton Live and V-Stack).

Host PC Specs:

OS: Windows 2000 Professional
Processor: AMD Athelon 1.8Ghtz
CPU Speed 1533 Mhz
FSB 133 Mhz
Memory 1024MB

Ableton Live 4.04

Does not appear capable of hosting Kompakt as a multi-timberal instrument, so it's one instance per MIDI channel (I have another post on the Ableton user group for conformation).

Windows Task Manager > Processes
Memory Usage 615,472k
CPU- Idle (sequence not playing) 40 to 83%
CPU - Sequence running - 99%

V-Stack 1.2.0.22

Windows Task Manager > Processes
Memory Usage 294,108k
CPU- Idle (sequence not playing) 8 to 11%
CPU - Sequence running - 30% to 70%

This confirms what I suspected in that, at present Ableton Live 4.04 is less efficient than V-Stack in terms of both memory and CPU usage when hosting VSTi's such as Kompakt (however, you get MUCH more with Live 4 than just a VSTi host).

Does anyone know if an efficient VSTi host application exists that will run alongside Ableton Live 4 and will pass incoming external MIDI beats and clock data (such as tempo changes) to the plug-in? Presently Ableton Live 4 does pass MIDI beats and clock information to the plug-in, but V-Stack does not. Also, it does not appear that you can run Ableton Live 4 and V-Stack at the same time on the same PC due to audio driver conflicts.

Any assistance is much appreciated

FaX-01 · Post by **FaX-01** » Tue Oct 19, 2004 7:56 am

And a big three cheers for "Who gives a shit" -

milfbait · Post by **milfbait** » Tue Oct 19, 2004 8:06 am

Of course Vstack will use less CPU as it is not a sequencer, only a vst chainer, correct? A more useful comparison would be to compare Live to Cubase, Sonar, etc.

::mic-minimal:: · Post by **::mic-minimal::** » Tue Oct 19, 2004 8:15 am

stop my stomach hurts

seriously though, check out kvr- many host to check out there and good luck

tbwnm · Post by **tbwnm** » Thu Oct 21, 2004 8:53 pm

A helpful soul at Ableton tech support advised how you can set up Live 4 to host Kompakt as a multi-timberal instrument. I ran the same test but this time I only needed (2) instances of Kompakt to run (10) programs in Kompakt triggered by (10) separate MIDI tracks from DP. Results are as follows:

Windows Task Manager > Processes
Memory Usage 300,696k
CPU- Idle (sequence not playing) 7 to 52%
CPU - Sequence running - 75% to 99%

My intention with these tests was not to come up with an apples to oranges comparison of Live 4 against V-Stack as they are totally different programs, but to get an idea of Live's overhead when running VSTI's as compared to V-Stack (I tend to use a lot of VSTI's along with Live 4).

kovacs · Post by **kovacs** » Mon Nov 01, 2004 10:58 pm

tbwnm wrote:A helpful soul at Ableton tech support advised how you can set up Live 4 to host Kompakt as a multi-timberal instrument.

And this was done how?

tbwnm · Post by **tbwnm** » Mon Nov 01, 2004 11:24 pm

I didn't exactly receive a thorough explanation from Albeton but it was enough to point me in the right direction and get this working (copy below). Hopefully this will be enough for you also....

"Yes, you have to route another MIDI track into the Kompakt by assigning MIDI To and MIDI Channel. How to do this is explained in the manual. Please read the manual.

Frank
_________________
Frank Hoffmann
[email protected]"

kovacs · Post by **kovacs** » Mon Nov 01, 2004 11:25 pm

I found the solution. It's on page 159 in the manual.

But what's the deal with the V-Stack. Will it solve the problem with Kompakt not working at all in Live 4.0.4?

kovacs · Post by **kovacs** » Mon Nov 01, 2004 11:27 pm

Or let me rephrase...are you actually getting Kompakt to work in Live 4.0.4? For me it kills all Midi signals. Works fine in 4.0.3, also as a multitimbral.

tbwnm · Post by **tbwnm** » Tue Nov 02, 2004 12:23 am

Kompakt is working fine hosted as a VSTi in Live 4.0.4 on my PC. However, unable to run V-Stack and Live 4 at the same time without crashing and/or driver conflicts.

Windows 2000 Professional Processor: AMD Athelon 1.8Ghtz CPU Speed 1533 Mhz FSB 133 Mhz Memory 1024MB.

kovacs · Post by **kovacs** » Tue Nov 02, 2004 12:36 am

Strange. I can only get Kompakt to work in 4.0.3...