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#140293 12/11/11 07:18 AM
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As opposed to two-bit users like me. The should-there-be-64-bit-BIAB thread is very interesting, but one phrase got me thinking -- the reference to its "hardcore fanbase". Which, no doubt, we are.

Not everyone has their system specs in their .sig. So, let's just go for a read on the room, shall we?

Do you use BIAB on a system with a 64-bit processor?
single choice
Votes accepted starting: 12/11/11 07:17 AM
Do you use BIAB on a system with a 64-bit operating system?
single choice
Votes accepted starting: 12/11/11 07:17 AM
How much RAM do you have in your system?
single choice
Votes accepted starting: 12/11/11 07:17 AM

Best,
Tom Smith
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One of the things that had been keeping me away from 64-bit was compatibility (not just XP mode stuff.) For example my (relatively new) HP Laserjet printer is not supported. Once the toner runs out, I guess I'll do the whole machine up. Then again, Maybe I'll wait for Windows 8 .. just around the corner.


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Hi Philly,
Might be alittle Off-topic, but since you mentioned it:
I hope you know, that you can install drivers in 32bit compatibility mode in Win7 64bit.

Sandra


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Well, this is highly interesting. So far, with 24 responses, there are 23 on 64-bit hardware (96%), 21 using a 64-bit OS (88%), and only two with less than 4 GB RAM.

I have no idea what this means, but now I'm thinking what could BIAB and RB do if they could address more system RAM....


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Tom Smith
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Quote:

Hi Philly,
Might be alittle Off-topic, but since you mentioned it:
I hope you know, that you can install drivers in 32bit compatibility mode in Win7 64bit.

Sandra




Sandra is right if you have 64 bit Win 7 Pro as it has a compatibility mode. 64 bit Win 7 Home does not have this compatibility mode, at least on this side of the pond, so it will not run 32 bit software.


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Mario, right click on the executable file or startup icon. Select "Properties", under the compatibility tab, select the OS you want Win 7 Home Premium to use. Not sure if this works in the standard Win 7 Home though.


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I'm running WIN 7 64 Pro so I cannot positively verify if Win 7 Home Premium or Starter has the "run in compatibility" check boxes but HIGHLY suspect they do. As mentioned, use the properties to get to it. Also if you anyone has/uses WIn 7 Pro or Ultimate they allow for/comes with "Win XP mode" a virtual Windows XP 32 bit machine you can run in Win 7 (but if you use Pro/Ultimate you probably already know about "Win XP mode.")

However, contrary to popular opinion here, neither of these solutions are 100% cures for ALL older programs. I have more than a few older programs (e.g., WinFax Pro, Cardfile), plus some actual 16-bit only apps, that will not run at all in ANY "compatibility mode" (e.g., Win 95, Win 98, Win XP SP1, SP2, ...Vista, ...).

Although MOST will run in Win XP Mode (if they don't need HW or some form of direct bus access). While Win XP Mode is probably great for businesses/corporations that need both Win 7 currency as well as backward compatibility (for clients, old files, etc.) it is actually rather a PITA for infrequent use - and just to clarify "Win XP Mode" is only under Win 7 Pro or Win 7 Ultimate and should not to be confused with Win 7 "compatibility mode," which is available to all Win 7 uses (Starter to Ultimate).

Larry


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related but OT from OP

I'd hate to see PG leave non-64 bit users in the dust like Twelve Tones (Cakewalk) did me when they went from CWPA 9 to Sonar XL (aka Sonar 1), which required going from Win 98 to Win XP (which in turn required new HW). I probably hung back for more than a few years because I was in no hurry to have to buy NEW HW, to run the NEW OS, just so I could buy the NEW Sonar.

While I can now fully support 64-bit SW, as well as the latest graphic intense gaming, I for one am in no hurry for PG to jump on 64-bit band wagon (yea I know that leaves 64-bit VST users wanting). And yes, I know time marches on and things change but 64 bit just for 64 bit sake is no reason to jump IMHO.

Actually I'm glad I waited as long as I did to go from Win XP to Win 7 (glad I missed the whole Vista thing for sure). However, now I wished I had waited just a few more months to do Win 8 because someone will start making stuff that ONLY runs under that OS (plus now I'm stuck with this already out of date Sandy Bridge i7-2600K & LGA 1155 socketed MoBo - just think I could have gotten the new Ivy Bridge i7-3770K with the obviously better LGA-2011 MoBo )

my 2 cents

Last edited by Larry Kehl; 12/13/11 09:22 AM.

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If it is run in compatability mode does it allow access to more than 4 gig of ram? I didn't think that it would.

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I honestly do not know, you need an actual OS guru; however, my guess would be no.


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No. Compatibility mode does its best to mimic not only the execution but the addressing, and so it would only use 32-bit addresses.

And, Larry, it looks as if Win8 will in fact retain compatibility, which only makes sense to me given the huge installed XP base. (Pretty much everyone I know who used Vista has either gone on to Win7 or went back to WinXP.)


Best,
Tom Smith
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HI, my name is Scott and I have been reading these posts. My new computer will be
a Dell with 16 gigs ram, and i7, and one 100 mg hard drive. It also will have windows 7 64 bit. I am running Band in a Box 2010.5.

I also need to purchase an external audio/midi interface because my new computer does not have any pci slots, only pcie.

I would appreciate any feedback and suggestions that you may have for using band in a box with my new computer, and which external interface to purchase. The choices appear to be a-audio and tascam, and my budget is $ 100-$200.

I'm sorry to ramble so much.

Thanks,

Scott

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Not rambling at all. Welcome to the forums, and I'm sure that lots of other folks will have suggestions for interfaces.

I'm not up on PCIe sound cards, but I'm using motherboard audio myself right now, and it's doing fine. Creative has a bunch of PCIe cards that should do well for you.

As for an interface, I use M-Audio's Audio Buddy, which is about $70-80 from various sources including Amazon and Sweetwater. It's not USB, but goes directly to your mic/line-in input on the sound card or motherboard, which means there's no USB latency. (I tend to have problems with USB sound drivers. Other people don't, and I'm sure they can help you if you go that route.) It's also a phantom power supply for one or two standard XLR microphones.

Your computer will run BIAB like a dresm, although I think that "100 mg hard drive" has to be a typo -- they haven't made 'em that small since I had my first Amiga.


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Tom Smith
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All this proves what I said elsewhere about 64-bit PCs. They are now the standard and it is even difficult to obtain a 32-bit PC. However, on the question of operating systems, it seems that Microsoft still recommend their 32-bit operating system for MS Office. That mystifies me but suggests that it may not be easy to write 64-bit programs, or perhaps it is a long programming task?

I wish could find out the truth about the benefits of 64-bit computers with 64-bit Operating systems. The programmers I work with just give me a 'knowing' look and say that it probably would not do any harm to write 64-bit programs - unless most of our customers are stuck with 32 Operating systems - which I do not think is the case.

Another problem is that programmers do tend to date rather quickly with their knowledge. Some other programmers I have asked the same question preface their answer with, "Well, I am not really an expert on 64-bit but .........." That's frightening!

Last edited by Graham Martin; 12/13/11 05:18 PM.

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Most office environments are, shall we say, stodgy about upgrading, especially when they've got lots and lots and lots of computers to upgrade at once. The last office I worked in stuck with Win98 until MS dropped support for it. Remember also that most of the people who use computers in offices are neither tech-savvy nor avid users; the computer is for them a tool. And they don't like having to learn all-new tools if they can help it.

The primary benefit for 64-bit OS, as far as BIAB is concerned, is memory addressing. The limit for 32-bit systems is 4 GB. With a 64-bit CPU and 64-bit OS, there is (as far as we're concerned) no limit. Which means we can use much more RAM. This is going to be more and more important, as BIAB and RB use larger and more complex RealTracks, loops, and VST plugins.

We're hardly hosed yet, but there are limits, and for the first time they're just in sight.


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Tom Smith
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