Horsepower

For discussion of the Voltage Modular synthesis ecosystem.
Post Reply
ColinP
Posts: 940
Joined: Mon Aug 03, 2020 7:46 pm

Horsepower

Post by ColinP »

Perhaps this is a boring subject for many but please indulge me.

I'm trying to get a feel for what hardware your average VM enthusiast is using.

As a developer I'm hoping to launch an integrated suite of pretty "hungry" modules in a couple of month's time and am aware that the utility of these modules and how I should address tutorial material and marketing is very much dependent on how much computing power you the target audience have available.

I'm not wanting to start a my computer is faster than yours competition, I am genuinely interested in what kind of kit people are using in practice and also what you might upgrade to in the next year or so.

One of the key benefits of software over hardware modular is the price - with software being a lot cheaper and having the obvious advantage that multiple copies of modules are effectively free. But the downside is the cost of the computer - and there is huge difference between entry level and something that costs two or three month's pay. So it's difficult to know what kind of computing power is "typical".
schoekah
Posts: 206
Joined: Wed Oct 16, 2019 3:24 am

Re: Horsepower

Post by schoekah »

I've spent most of the last 2 years in Voltage Modular just learning basic synthesis, which means it's not demanding at all because you're working on basic ideas with just a few modules. One great thing about VM is that everything I was doing, and at least half the preset patches, would work on a celeron chip, $179 laptop. Quite a huge variety of amazing things can be done with that dual core n2830. With my interest in FM synthesis, I outgrew it and am using a laptop with a 9th gen i5, 9300H. I'm not an apple guy that's willing to spend more than $800 bucks on a computer. There is a price point somewhere that virtual modular could cross where it wouldn't be a practical obsession any more, and would be closer to alternative obsessions. If upgrade costs and VM costs approach the cost of a new deepmind 12 plus my current computer, then I'll have to do a gut check.
dasmode
Posts: 27
Joined: Sun Jun 16, 2019 5:52 am

Re: Horsepower

Post by dasmode »

    Last edited by dasmode on Thu Jan 21, 2021 8:37 am, edited 2 times in total.
    jmatos
    Posts: 26
    Joined: Mon Mar 30, 2020 5:30 pm

    Re: Horsepower

    Post by jmatos »

    unnamed.png
    unnamed.png (7.07 KiB) Viewed 3818 times
    User avatar
    xuoham
    Posts: 200
    Joined: Tue Sep 03, 2019 10:30 am
    Location: Okinawa, Japan / Paris, France

    Re: Horsepower

    Post by xuoham »

    Nice post.

    VM runs fine here with sometimes complex patches, even the cpu hungry PSP modules, on a
    Lenovo Thinkpad L540, i5 4300M CPU@ 2.60 GHz, 8GB memory, Windows 10 pro 64 bit.

    Cherry Audio made a fantastic job since the release of V2. Upon release it started very cpu hungry and after a few updates
    now runs incredibly smoothly.

    Looking forward to your modules suite ! :D
    martb
    Posts: 184
    Joined: Thu Aug 30, 2018 11:46 am

    Re: Horsepower

    Post by martb »

    system_spec.jpg
    system_spec.jpg (7.68 KiB) Viewed 3804 times
    VM runs comfortably on this system
    User avatar
    honki-bobo
    Posts: 305
    Joined: Sat Nov 09, 2019 1:18 pm

    Re: Horsepower

    Post by honki-bobo »

    acer aspire.png
    acer aspire.png (10.87 KiB) Viewed 3803 times
    Image
    Monkey Business Audio
    Modules - Music - Twitter - YouTube
    JackOats
    Posts: 130
    Joined: Sun May 12, 2019 4:09 pm
    Location: KENT, UK.

    Re: Horsepower

    Post by JackOats »

    Specs.Screenshot 2020-10-08 at 17.01.29.PNG
    Specs.Screenshot 2020-10-08 at 17.01.29.PNG (80.7 KiB) Viewed 3782 times
    iMac 27/Catalina/3.5 GBh Intel Core i7/16 GB Ram/3 TB HD
    The masculine includes the feminine (Guys)
    Google: 'JackOats' to see my Soundcloud page, 'Brian Watterson - Vimeo' for my Videos.
    silden
    Posts: 41
    Joined: Sun Sep 13, 2020 8:06 pm

    Re: Horsepower

    Post by silden »

    2x Asus i7 3610QM 2.3GHz both overclocked to 3.0GHz
    8Gb ram in one 12Gb ram in the other.

    They run most VM patches with no issues. I've even had 6 instances with different modules running in Reaper with no problems.

    However some complex patches especially pads and many of AmperSonic's patches, like ambient glitch from volume 1, do not run well at all. Lots of pops, crackles and buzzes! Even in a single native instance.
    elamid
    Posts: 13
    Joined: Sat Apr 04, 2020 11:44 am

    Re: Horsepower

    Post by elamid »

    CPU_config.PNG
    CPU_config.PNG (6.72 KiB) Viewed 3761 times
    Post Reply

    Return to “Voltage Modular”