Cubase vst-Troubleshooting by - HTML preview

Additional hardware information

Q: Which computer types are compatible with Cubase VST and how do they perform?

Supported CPU types
Cubase VST works with:
• Intel: Pentium, Pentium MMX, Pentium Pro, Pentium II, Pentium III, Celeron, Xeon
• AMD: K5, K6, K6-2 3D, K7
• Cyrix/IBM: 6X86, 6X86MX

When choosing a processor, please be aware that floating point operations are crucial for the audio performance of Cubase VST. Some guidelines:

 

• Intel Pentium CPUs are generally more powerful (in terms of floating point operations) than

AMD and Cyrix/IBM CPUs with similar clock frequencies (one exception is the AMD K7).
• The AMD K6-2 3D offers a performance comparable to Intel Pentium and Pentium MMX
CPUs with similar clock frequency (but is less powerful than an Intel Pentium II).
• Intel Celeron 266 and 300 offer performance slightly above a Pentium MMX 233 or Pentium
Pro 200.
• Intel Celeron 300A, 333 and higher offer a performance comparable to Pentium II CPUs with
similar clock frequency.

P The complete computer configuration has a huge impact on the overall performance. A supposedly slower CPU can provide superior performance in an otherwise good configuration compared to a “bad” configuration with a fast CPU.

Q: Which is the best type of hard disk controller card?

The hard disk controller handles transfer of data from and to the hard disk. A controller card with less CPU intervention leaves more CPU power for audio processing.

• PIO (programmed I/O)
When a controller uses something called PIO (and sometimes FIFO) it means that the CPU itself performs the data transfer from and to the hard disk. This will decrease the time the CPU can spend on audio processing.

• Busmaster
A busmaster controller on the other hand, will perform the data transfer from and to the disk with very little CPU intervention. During the actual data transfer the CPU can still perform audio processing.

Q: What type of hard disk should I use?

E-IDE
E-IDE hard disks are cost effective and offer a high capacity.

Older E-IDE hard disks do not offer the same level of performance as comparable SCSI disks. However, the performance of current SCSI and E-IDE drives are virtually identical.

Some E-IDE controllers use the CPU to perform the data transfer from/to disk (PIO or FIFO), which means that less CPU power is available for Cubase VST's audio processing.

UltraDMA E-IDE controller cards (and some motherboards) contain “busmaster” EIDE controllers. These will relieve the CPU from transferring data, and allow it to spend more time on processing audio.

E-IDE ISA controllers are not recommended.

SCSI
SCSI hard disks are rather expensive but offer high speed and capacity.

Several SCSI disks can operate simultaneously and deliver a higher combined data throughput.

 

SCSI Busmaster controllers (like the Adaptec AHA-2940) are recommended. SCSI PIO controllers (like Adaptec AHA-2920) can be used, but the number of audio channels and EQ/FX will be lower.

 

SCSI ISA controllers (like Adaptec AHA-1520 or AHA-1542) are not recommended.