I think we've discussed that BIAB and perhaps RB make use of multi-core processors. I think, but perhaps I'm wrong, that the consensus was that BIAB does take advantage of multi-core capabilities.
Here's what I'm wondering: it seems that newer processors are constantly upping the number of cores and threads, is BIAB and RB keeping up with this and do they take advantage of this? If I go from a 4 core processor to a 6 core, 12 thread processor would I expect to see and difference?
I have been experimenting with few animation programs. It is scary how much you can spend that is actually useful for processing video.
$2500 for a video card, $2500 for a processor, $1000 for a motherboard. AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X 32-Core, 64-Thread Unlocked Desktop Processor...$2600 WOW
8K plus for a machine ready to go. Then of course you need the latest iPhone to go with it. The new phone is actually useful.
The only good news is that Blender software is free and can do almost everything that Maya can. The industry standard is called Maya and costs a mere $1700 a year...lol
It is totally amazing to me the quality of animation that one can create in a home studio.
Well, in the scope of things I guess it is pretty easy to spend 10K on a good piano. So everything is relative I guess.
Billy
New location, new environment, new music coming soon
Seize the moo-ment If you feel like you’ve herd all these cow puns before, you probably have deja-moo
To answer Jeff's question, yes. I saw speed of use increase with the new i9 computer I built. I have no idea if BIAB is using all the cores. Things load faster and render faster as far as I can tell.
But... whatever performance increase I got with the i9 over the old i7 4770 was not all that useful for BIAB.
If my old i7 computer would have not started to give me issues I would not have built a new one. If I was forced to build a new one again I would still buy an i9 because the price difference between the i7 and the i9 is not much.
I also just finished building a new i5 machine. BIAB runs on it faster than I can think...lol
All these more complex CPU/GPU devices make a large difference with video. With the type of audio stuff that most of us are using everything ran fine on XP with i7 processors. If BIAB was my only consideration, buying really faster CPU's does not buy you a lot.
Billy
New location, new environment, new music coming soon
Seize the moo-ment If you feel like you’ve herd all these cow puns before, you probably have deja-moo
Since graphics cards were mentioned, it has always been the case that this is at the bottom of the list for BIAB hardware. Now, I don’t use any of the video functions BIAB introduced a few years ago. Not much is discussed here about that. But for audio and BIAB, that’s the last place I would spend any money; instead I would upgrade to an SSD then the CPU then RAM.
Billy, there are some hardware-monitoring utilities that show the activity of each core while running a program. Give it a try on your best CPU and let us know if all are being used.
BIAB 2024 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 6.5 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6; Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Roland Integra-7, Presonus Studio 192, Presonus Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors
I think we've discussed that BIAB and perhaps RB make use of multi-core processors. I think, but perhaps I'm wrong, that the consensus was that BIAB does take advantage of multi-core capabilities.
Here's what I'm wondering: it seems that newer processors are constantly upping the number of cores and threads, is BIAB and RB keeping up with this and do they take advantage of this? If I go from a 4 core processor to a 6 core, 12 thread processor would I expect to see and difference?
Jeff
I've used BIAB on an 8-core machine, and IIRC it did use all the cores available. Honestly, I've tried BIAB on slow dual-core laptops, my 6-core gaming machine, and my old 8-core monster, and never noticed much difference in speed. Yes, I can measure a difference (sometimes a significant difference), but seeing or feeling the difference? Not much. If you want to upgrade, try putting in a nice NVMe SSD, that will likely give you the most noticeable difference.
Originally Posted By: Planobilly
Well, in the scope of things I guess it is pretty easy to spend 10K on a good piano. So everything is relative I guess.
It's also easy to spend $10k on a not very good piano as well. I've played a few in the $10-20k range that I didn't particularly care for.
That said, I've also played one that was $150k, and was much happier with the one across the room from it that was $25k. Whatever floats your boat I suppose
Originally Posted By: Matt Finley
Billy, there are some hardware-monitoring utilities that show the activity of each core while running a program. Give it a try on your best CPU and let us know if all are being used.
There's one built into Windows - the Resource Monitor. It can give you a graph of what each CPU is doing - see my screenshot.
Last edited by Simon - PG Music; 09/07/2112:05 PM.
Task Manager doesn't, but Resource Monitor does and costs just as much (nothing). Some systems seem to have it, some seem to need to have it installed (download from M$ via SysInternals), but it is an excellent tool for troubleshooting and other fun stuff, as Simon showed.
Sometimes, once installed, Resource Monitor actually shows up inside Task Manager as a button to launch it. Sometimes you need to make a separate shortcut, never bothered to learn whatever trick makes it appear, maybe it's simply OS dependent.
*Edit- I see you found Resource Monitor (I assume, though you said Manager, which is for servers), great. This post may help others know how to find it so I'll leave it for now.
Last edited by rharv; 09/07/2112:34 PM.
Make your sound your own! .. I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
Billy - most likely your CPU's are too powerful, and only need to exert 2% of the power to get the job done. BIAB typically starts playing before the entire song is generated, so it likely is programmed to not use 100% when it's not necessary.
Realistically, there is likely something else bottlenecking BIAB. It could be a power management setting, could be storage speed, who knows. I personally don't often see BIAB using absolutely 100%, usually topping out at 50% on my ancient computer.
Rharv - I've always seen the Resource Monitor linked from the Task Manager, so I didn't know that there was the possibility of it not being there. Maybe it's not automatically installed with Windows 10 Home - every computer I personally use with Windows 10 is running the Pro version.
Resource Monitor is at the bottom of the performance tab in task manager on my system. I just did not see it at first and went to the control panel to find it.
The Radeon RX 570 GPU is the only thing on this system that gives me any issues. I have had to reload the driver after an update a couple of times.
Billy
New location, new environment, new music coming soon
Seize the moo-ment If you feel like you’ve herd all these cow puns before, you probably have deja-moo
I thought Task Manager would show the cores but I don't know how to make it do that.
Billy,
Task Manager does show the cores. See my screenshots. Highlight the Performance Tab, choose CPU, right click on the graph and choose Change Graph to-->Logical processors.
A few excerpts:
"The Tracks view is possibly the single most powerful addition in 2024 and opens up a new way to edit and generate accompaniments. Combined with the new MultiPicker Library Window, it makes BIAB nearly perfect as an 'intelligent' composer/arranger program."
"MIDI SuperTracks partial generation showing six variations – each time the section is generated it can be instantly auditioned, re-generated or backed out to a previous generation – and you can do this with any track type. This is MAJOR! This takes musical experimentation and honing an arrangement to a new level, and faster than ever."
"Band in a Box continues to be an expansive musical tool-set for both novice and experienced musicians to experiment, compose, arrange and mix songs, as well as an extensive educational resource. It is huge, with hundreds of functions, more than any one person is likely to ever use. Yet, so is any DAW that I have used. BIAB can do some things that no DAW does, and this year BIAB has more DAW-like functions than ever."
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Video: Enhanced Melodists in Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows®!
We've enhanced the Melodists feature included in Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows!
Access the Melodist feature by pressing F7 in the program to open the new MultiPicker Library and locate the [Melodist] tab.
You can now generate a melody on any track in the program - very handy! Plus, you select how much of the melody you want generated - specify a range, or apply it to the whole track.
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