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Old 08-25-2022, 08:33 AM   #1
BITT
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Default PRAISE for Reaper, MacMini and Presonus Quantums

Hi all,
please excuse the long reading time ;-)

just had to share my current setup, as it has proved over time to be rock-solid, crazy fast, and doesn´t seem to stop at anything I throw at it. AND it makes it possible to not follow the ugly trend of running to the store and buy new and faster computers all the time - that also have a tendency of NOT working as expected, with all new OS´s and fancy shit that most of us do not need at all when making music.

First, Reaper (6.65):I have been working night and day for the last 6 weeks finishing a new solo-album. Not ONCE has Reaper crashed, stalled, been acting strange or presented any kind of problem! I can say the same about the past years, actually..never any issues.
If I was a king or a president, I would most certainly grant the developers several Medals Of Honour. Thank you all for both your coding skills, how you conduct your business model, and your treating of us users by way of the never ending updates.
And not least honours to Kenny Gioia! What I have learned from you, sir!


I am/have been using a Presonus Quantum 1 (called "the fastest TB-interface on the planet" by SOS some years ago)in combination with a Focusrite Clarett Octopre (input to Quantum via adat-ports) for the last couple of years, and a few days ago luckily I found a used Quantum 4848 to stack with the other, for directly patching in all my hardware synths.
So now I have 16 Mic inputs and at the same time 32 line inputs. There are also 4 adat in and 4 out ports on the quantums combined, available in addition to the other inputs...In 3 rack units. Cant imagine ever needing more in my humble working space ;-)
Did I mention the at least 50 analog outputs also available? If ever needed..a 4 metre high stack of compressors, perhaps..
Anyway...

Connection between the Quantums are via thunderbolt2, so I initially got a little nervous when I understood I still had to create an aggregate device (Mac-type) of the two.
But not to worry: it works, it is rock solid, AND with NO added latency!! Clocking is via bnc wordclock, NOT drift correction!
Since the two are connected to each other via their own ThB2-ports, something is definitely different from the aggregate processes I have tried before.
The roundtrip reported in Reaper (and most importantly: the hands-on feeling of directness when playing my hardware instruments, or drums/percussion (which are my main instruments) is the very same for the Quantums aggregated as it is when using one Quantum alone!


So, to some real world examples:
I can actually - with Reaper - use a buffer size of 16 (!!) and have a reported roundtrip latency of 1,1ms (48kHz) when the session is not heavy, for instance when recording a good amount of my hardware synths, it actually works!

I just tested one of my current session with 68 tracks (although not all playing at the same time) which combined use 92 plugins (a lot of fabfilter eq 3´s in "zero latency mode), several Lexicon Native reverbs, Liquidsonics, InaGRM,Soundtoys...I have not been careful at ALL, check the list of effects in the enclosed screengrab), and it does actually run flawless with no dropouts at 32buffer (roundtrip 1.8ms 48kHz)...

I am deeply impressed!

System:
Mac Mini 2018 (8.1)(3,2 gHz i7, 32 Gb RAM, smallest internal SSD) running OS Mojave 10.14.6
External 1TB Lexar SSD (usb3) for recording/playback duties
Apple Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 adapter. Both Quantums have two ThuB2 ports: 4848 into Quantum 1, which is in turn connected to the computer with this adapter. Important! Do not use third party adapters for this! Will not work!)
Graphics is taken care of by a Sonnet Breakaway Puck, Radeon RX560 4Gb..PCIe bus via ThB3 port) this is driving a LG 4K 24 inch screen) Without this eGPU, there would be NO SUCH performance, if any at all! We are talking night and day here.

My friend has a certified Dolby Atmos 9.1.4 (ProTools)studio, using the same computer as me, and he could not even open a quite normal 96kHz session with a few surround-reverbs and an upmixer..with this graphichs-card hooked up (took two seconds, no drivers needed): Bingo! The cpu metre that was before blood red, was now showing around 30% use.....Could even add a couple more Liquidsonics atmos reverbs!!
Bottom line: Apples built in graphics in the Mini are utterly useless, and will destroy the computers abilities for audiowork (which in fact are GREAT, when ditching the graphic-duty), and hence your workflow!

So, if you´re looking for an advanced and crazy fast system with lots of I/O?
Used also quite cheap, probably..



best regards

Audun K
Norway
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Last edited by BITT; 08-25-2022 at 08:53 AM.
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Old 08-30-2022, 07:21 AM   #2
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I wonder whether the M1 Mac Mini would provide the same stability and performance. From what I've seen, it's a beast of a machine.
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Old 09-02-2022, 12:10 PM   #3
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I wonder whether the M1 Mac Mini would provide the same stability and performance. From what I've seen, it's a beast of a machine.
It will!
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Old 09-02-2022, 02:00 PM   #4
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It will!
Also, your pod is amazing! Love it.
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Old 09-02-2022, 02:10 PM   #5
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Yes the 2018 Mini graphics are notoriously poor. Never thought of using a GPU over TB, very clever!
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Old 09-03-2022, 11:11 AM   #6
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Also, your pod is amazing! Love it.
Kul att höra!
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Old 09-03-2022, 01:35 PM   #7
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Kul att höra!
Upptäckte den ganska nyligen men har sträcklyssnat igenom alla avsnitt. Topklass.
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