Windows 7 x64 is gonna ROCK for audio!!

[mdb]

Decided its time to move on from XP and start adopting the wave of the future. A 64 Bit OS. XP is just old technology and its had a good run, but it cannont even come close to comparing with Windows 7 - RC edition AT THAT! I will explain

Loaded up Windows 7 64 bit edition on my Home box here thats running a couple year old hardware, but not too shabby..
A AMD Windsor Dual Core at 2.4ghz, some standard 2gb ddr2 RAM from Patriot. Decided i wanted to put it through the ringer while playing some audio, to see what would happen with pops and clicks and just test it out.

So i got a large netwrok file transfer going - Check
I extracted 3 large rar files at once - Check
Loaded up a 40 track session in reaperwith 27 plugins - Check
Mobo Sound Card (Realtek) - Check
ASIO4ALL - Check
Audio buffer @ 512 - Check
CPU @ 100% - CHECK!!

Unfuckingbelievable.. The audio played back without a glitch with all that shit runnning... ON A POS Realtek mobo sound card with vista 64 drivers @ 44k 24bit.


Whatever they did with the audio on windows 7, they did it right.. because using the default soundcard to play back that many tracks at that buffer was impossible on the same setup in XP. I suggest you start thinking about switching in the near future and setting up a test bos and getting used to it.. This is your Next DAW OS windows users.

[realsurreal]

Ive been considering doing this myself. So I'm going to dual boot and test it out thanks too your post.

My biggest concern is my damn maudio 410 card they have a public beta now for x64 but well see. Ill report my experience as well.

what about live how does it perform?

[mdb]

Live is kickin ass and takin names as well.. The thing i notice most is that, the cpu is not as spiking as much in windows 7, it seems they heave dealt with the way windows uses memory as well. Havent had one BSOD and ive been hammering this thing hard. I havent even done any tweaks to it and its running in aero mode with all the fancy gfx stuff.

Im ready to purchase right now, thats how sold i am.. Im not even going into all the workflow improvements they made to it.. youll find out soon enough when you dive in.

I just didnt post a screeny with live because i had this session in 64 bit reaper that was all setup and ready to go.. just convience. But its running awesome on live as well..

[MathematiK I]

...been using it since beta... am not even considering going back to XP...

[realsurreal]

well it's downloaded so I'm pretty excited about trying it out , I'll dive in tomorrow.

[baseinstinct]

I hope win 7 64bit does not require updates of all VST(i). Can anyone confirm?

[importedearthman]

VSTi upgrades are going to be needed when you want them to perform at 64bit processing instead of 32. Live is still a 32 bit application running in a 64bit OS (in the case of windows 7 64bit)

I've been reading that MOST of the VSTi progs out there are working in windows 7.

I'm currently installing and getting windows 7 up to speed. I'll post any findings I have trouble with, or shortcuts I've found. For instance I've heard Creative Labs Live cards aren't detected and don't work in Win7 however people claim that a Dell driver DOES in fact make it work. I'll find out when I get home from work tonight.

[ethios4]

Very good to hear! I never can get myself to pay double for a Mac, so this is very encouraging to know things are moving ahead over at MS.

[dysanfel]

It looks nice and the hype is strong, but will it deliver the goods? I hope so. Competition is a good thing and OSX is kicking the living shit out of the MS products right now. MS really needs to deliver.

[MOSQUITOMAN]

but live do not support x64 or?

[leedsquietman]

Although I use windows at home (as opposed to mac osx at work), I can honestly say that windows 7 brings nothing new to the table in terms of audio performance and the biggest factor to your performance is going to be the quality of the drivers written by the vendors (or asio4all). It's main advantage is that the 64 bit system will allow huge amounts of RAM to be addressed, very good for high track counts, or for many sampler tracks loaded into ram etc. When Apple release Snow Leopard, this advantage will also be hugely reduced and possibly eclipsed.

Also the MIDI side of things has not been updated either since windows 98. MME midi and DirectMIDI (especially emulated direct MIDI) are both lagging behind OSX's COREMIDI, and ultra low latency in Vista and windows 7 is just not what it is in Win XP or Mac OSX - take a look at RME's new Fireface UC MIDI interface - that can run as low as 14 samples latency under Mac OSX, but the best Vista performance is 48 samples - this is still unbelievably low, but shows how much better Mac OSX is as an audio . On a very powerful computer setup, unless you are running many CPU intensive plugins, 512 sample latency is not rally that impressive at all.

As already mentioned - Live 8 does not (yet) support 64 bit systems anyway, probably have to wait for Live 9 for that. But Sonar 7 and 8, Cubase 4.5 and 5, Reaper etc do support 64 bit in windows.

[mdb]

Your smokin glue son, and you talk too much... "Step away from the forums..."

Windows 7 brings nothing but positives to the world of audio performance. Im experienceing it right now.. So i dont know where the fuck you came up with that opinion based FUD about it bringing nothing new. I think you just like to see yourself talk. It makes you feel important.

Also, Live 8 totally works in Windows 7 x64, you just arent running in 64 bit until they update the software.. So stop stop spreading wrong information. The only thing thats happening is that you cant run 64bit VST's in a 32 bit Ableton.. Everything that isnt 64 bit just runs in 32 and everything stays the same. So stop spreading Misinformation just to hear yourself talk. My screenshots and own experience prove you wrong on so many levels.. And who can really take your opinion seriously as an Audio guy.. Your running a god damn Dell, you homo... Go build a real DAW and then start talkin Tech, you big ol fruit cup

Windows 7 Haters, just fuckin leave and start your own thread about how great you are, and how everything else in this world sucks.. Remember, YOUR THE GREATEST!!

[adventurepants_]

Lolz.

is this the start of a whole new breed of PC fanboys?

I think Leeds is generalising Vista with 7. It doesnt sound like hes had any hands on with it as yet.

[leedsquietman]

Takes a homo to know a homo eh MDB. What an intelligent post, there were even some words with more than 2 syllables ....

Your screen shots prove 'dick on a stick' - I work with audio every day at home and at work. Almost all the drivers in W7 are the same as in Vista.

Your screenshots only show that your particular hardware/software combination works OK. Anyone knows that 512 samples is not low latency, which if you are tracking real instruments is too high. If you were getting those results at 128 samples or less, that would be impressive. So what if I run Dell computers, the machines I have are actually fine for audio work. If you believe that building a DAW makes you have a bigger penis then bully for you, I ain't getting in a pissing competition about this, because the vast majority of people running a windows DAW are running a Dell, or a SOny, Toshiba, HP, Lenovo etc. SO if Windows 7 doesn't run well on the standard big box machines, it will be deemed a fail, regardless of your frigging 'super DAW'. And you call me 'unserious' about audio when you are running your audio through a realtek audio card !!!

I have 22 years audio experience, done music technology and mastering courses and worked in studios for a while and still am involved on a daily basis in this line of work. What are your credentials to judge me ?

I also run Macs and Windows (XP and Vista). Does Windows 7 have a new audio protocol - NO. Does Windows 7 have a new MIDI protocol - No. Vista had WaveRT which nobody supports.

I will try Windows 7 when it's out of beta phase. In the meantime, I have read very mixed reviews about it, including those super engineers with their own custom build DAWS.

I am neither a fanboy of Windows or Mac OSX. I see pros and cons in both systems. To be so hot under the collar about an operating system indicates to me a need to get a life....

[mdb]

I was at 512 samples because its a god damn REALTEK onboard soundcard running 40 tracks with 27 plugins while theres THREE fuckin iso's being unrared, 36 gigs of shit uploading on the LAN, and running on a test box with 2 year old hardware... YES, THATS IMPRESSIVE!! I could have probably dropped it down to 256 too, but i didnt even try.. 512 samples at the mixing stage.. is pretty standard mr 22 years experience.. You should know that with all of your years of precious experience working that Audio powerhouse Dell system your on..

And no one cares what youve done in the world of audio for how many years... It doesnt matter when your judging your opinions off of mixed user reviews youve read all over the web.. Do you know what ive done in Audio? No, You have no clue, and you'd probably be shocked to know that im probably on some of your CD jackets at home.. But who cares, im not here to inflate myself or prove anything to anyone.. Could care less..

Just happy to share my experience with other who are excited as well about the future of windows 7 for recording audio... so if your not excited dick head.. Just fuckin leave.. and start your "hater" thread , and all you miserables clowns can discuss how your the greatest, all the hardware you own is the greatest, everyone elses sucks, and how your system is the best, and everyones else's sucks.. Go ahead.. the "New Thread" button is right there.... you know you want to do it!