Old 11-14-2006, 10:45 AM   #1
LixiSoft
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Default Do UAD-1 DSP cards work

Title says it all.....anyone have UAD cards and Reaper working?
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Old 11-16-2006, 06:52 AM   #2
billybk1
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Two of them working here, in REAPER v1.38, using the latest 4.5 VST plugins. There were a few specific REAPER "Preferences" tweaks that I had to figure out, to make it work with my UAD-1's & E6300 Duo Core DAW optimally. UAD-1's do seem to work much better now than in earlier REAPER versions. Might be that I now have a much faster DAW too. There are however, a number of caveats to consider. At least, on my system:

1) Native CPU munching is very prevalent at higher latencies. I have found that if you mix at very low latencies (128 samples/2.9msec or less) the chronic native CPU munching is non-existant. Since I use a E6300 Core Duo I can mix 20+ audio tracks (including a VSTi) and 12-18 DSP heavy UAD-1 plugins (80% or more DSP on 2 cards) and I rarely ever get out of the single digits (peaking in the low teens), in native CPU. Disabling/re-enabling the PPI's from the PM hardly budges the native CPU usage! If I raise the DAW latency to 1024 (23.2msec), due to the inevitable native CPU munching the CPU use jumps up to 30%-35% playing back the same project. So when using REAPER and UAD-1's it is actully less native CPU intensive to use extremely low latencies. Go figure!

2) When using multi-out VSTi's (like my EZdrummer) with UAD-1 plugins and routing those tracks to another track (bus) you get distorted audio when using the solo/mute functions. You have to stop and re-start playback to get rid of it.

3) When rendering/exporting, the REAPER Render Buffer Size must be the same size, as the REAPER/UAD-1 project latency. In my case, it is 128 samples (2.9msec). I think it defaults to 256, at initial install. Otherwise, your rendered audio will not export correctly and can be distorted.

4) Occaisionally, I will get a spike in the native CPU usage when I first press play. Then after a few seconds it settles back down to normal levels.

5) Occaisionally, I will experience a brief crackling in the audio when I first start playback, even though the native CPU usage is only in the single digits or teens.

Once I changed a few REAPER specific Preferences, from their defaults to UAD-1 friendly ones, lowered my project latency to 128 samples (2.9msec) and avoided soloing/muting VSTi multi-out tracks (those with UAD-1 plugins) everything has been pretty much hunky dory. No showstopping gotchas!
When heavily using UAD-1 plugins, project looping, editing (moving, slip-ediitng, fading tracks/clips) opening/closing/editing UAD-1 plugins is flawless and gapfree.
Overall, I am quite pleased with how my UAD-1's work with a $40 audio host like REAPER. Much better in fact than most DAW's costing ten or twenty times that amount!

If Justin could fix the solo/mute buga boo when using multi-out VSTi's with plugins requiring PDC annd the occaisional native CPU spike/crackle it would be pretty much perfect for me. I don't think Justin has a UAD-1 so I am not sure how much better it can get than it is now without some actual UAD-1 testing by the programmer himself though.

Cheers,

Billy Buck

Last edited by billybk1; 11-16-2006 at 11:29 AM.
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Old 11-21-2006, 05:29 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by billybk1 View Post
If Justin could fix the solo/mute buga boo when using multi-out VSTi's with plugins requiring PDC.

Hmmmmm........it appears that solo/mute issue with VSTi's & buses has kinda worked itself out with the latest v1.41 update. There is a new parameter "Solo in-place" in REAPER's Preferences that is enabled by default. For the hell of it I unchecked/disabled this feature and lo and behold I am not getting the crackled distorted audio when I solo/mute now from my EZdrummer VSTi multi-out's & buses that have UAD-1 plugins.


Optimizing guide for using UAD-1 with REAPER (v1.41 and above):

http://216.77.188.54/coDataImages/p/...withREAPER.jpg

EDIT: "Solo in-place" is not enabled by default, in Preferences. It should be left disabled though when using DSP plugins like the UAD-1.

Last edited by billybk1; 11-21-2006 at 01:40 PM.
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Old 11-21-2006, 12:45 PM   #4
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hmm, solo in place isnt on by default...
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Old 11-21-2006, 01:36 PM   #5
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Quote:
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hmm, solo in place isnt on by default...

Oops! My mistake, of course you are right. When I installed v1.41 I immediately enabled the "Solo in Place" and checked to see if it made a difference when soloing tracks & buses that have UAD-1 plugins, during playback, but they still crackled & distorted, so I went and unchecked that option and forgot about it. When I happened to check the solo again I got no more crackle or distorted audio. When I then enabled "Solo in-place" back came the crackling & distorted audio. So now I just keep it off. Whatever you did to the "Solo in-place" had the side effect of curing the solo problem with PDC type plugins like the UAD-1 when it is disabled.
The only time I get the same distorted/crackling audio now, during playback, is when I disable/enable (uncheck/check) UAD-1 plugins from the FX Plugin Chain window. It is something I rarely do so that is not as probematic as not being able to solo/unsolo from the track view and mixer.

Cheers,

Billy Buck

Last edited by billybk1; 11-21-2006 at 01:38 PM.
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Old 11-21-2006, 01:55 PM   #6
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You can also uncheck the option "Do not run muted tracks", which should help get rid of solo related bugs...
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Old 11-21-2006, 07:04 PM   #7
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You can also uncheck the option "Do not run muted tracks", which should help get rid of solo related bugs...
Yes, that does cure the crackling/distortion when you disable/enable (uncheck/check) UAD-1 plugins from the FX Plugin Chain window. But, the crackling/distortion problem returns again when using the solo functions on the track & mixer views. I would rather have the track & mixer solo buttons crackle/distortion free. I use those a lot more often and not having that working would make REAPER unusable, for me otherwise.

There is a viable workaround though. Just avoid disabling/re-enabling plugins, from the FX Chain, during playback.

Cheers,

Billy Buck

Last edited by billybk1; 11-21-2006 at 07:19 PM.
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Old 11-27-2006, 07:19 AM   #8
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Hey, Billybk1, I followed your advice on the UAD-1 setup (I have one card at the moment.) It seems to have worked pretty well. I can
still get the system to freeze when I do serious stress tests, but overall,it seems much more stable than my Vegas setup! Thanks alot for your help!

And to Justin, thank you for making such a great app! I will be purchasing this very soon. It is amazing!
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Old 11-28-2006, 04:31 AM   #9
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Billy,

I can't get any kind of good performance out of my 2ghz single processor P4. My Uad-1 and Pcore work quite well with new reaper versions, but have never been 100% happy and i think it is probably due to the speed of my system in the first place.

Could you give me a rough idea as to just how much faster a new system such as the E6300 Duo is. Can you mix with a good amount of plugins and tracks at 96k? (i tend to work with acoustic instruments in nice acoustics, and 96k does sound better to me).

Many thanks for any advice,

g.
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Old 11-28-2006, 07:24 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by griz lee View Post
Billy,

I can't get any kind of good performance out of my 2ghz single processor P4. My Uad-1 and Pcore work quite well with new reaper versions, but have never been 100% happy and i think it is probably due to the speed of my system in the first place.

Could you give me a rough idea as to just how much faster a new system such as the E6300 Duo is. Can you mix with a good amount of plugins and tracks at 96k? (i tend to work with acoustic instruments in nice acoustics, and 96k does sound better to me).

Many thanks for any advice,

g.
I do all my work @ 24/44. So I can't really say much about working @ 96K. What I can say though, using a E6300 or higher Duo Core will give you a huge performance boost (compared to a P4 2.0 single CPU) @ whatever sample rate you are using.

Cheers,

Billy Buck
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Old 11-28-2006, 07:31 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mikeroephonics View Post
Hey, Billybk1, I followed your advice on the UAD-1 setup (I have one card at the moment.) It seems to have worked pretty well. I can still get the system to freeze when I do serious stress tests, but overall,it seems much more stable than my Vegas setup! Thanks alot for your help!

And to Justin, thank you for making such a great app! I will be purchasing this very soon. It is amazing!

Yes, once I figured out how to properly configure REAPER (mostly through trial & error) to UAD-1 use, I was quite amazed at how well the DSP cards worked, as well. You do need to do some UAD-1 specific tweaking in REAPER's "Preferences". Out of the box, REAPER will not perform, as well, at certain default settings.
Yeah, I ended up getting a REAPER license too!
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