future and 64 bit

[Teomi]

Hi all, I've been away from this forum for a long time so, I'm sorry if this has been covered...
Are there thoughts of making SawStudio 64 bit?

Thanks,
Eitan

[Dave Labrecque]

Hi all, I've been away from this forum for a long time so, I'm sorry if this has been covered...
Are there thoughts of making SawStudio 64 bit?

Thanks,
Eitan

Hi Eitan. Hope you're well!

There's been no talk that I can remember. I think Bob will have to answer that one himself.

[spiritman]

I too am interested in this.

[Bob L]

I am looking at the idea of moving both SAWStudio and SAC into the 64 bit format... but this requires a lot of work due to the assembly language involved in the code.

So far, I have seen no real improvement in performance in any of the products that have both versions... the only benefit seems to be the availability of the larger ram capacity.

In my first tests, the code size seemed to increase by about a factor of 4... this does not excite me... but I am still exploring...

Bob L

[Teomi]

Hi Bob and everyone!

I'm just worried since more and more devs are not releasing 32 bit format of plugins anymore.
It's been at least 2 years that I have not used a 32 bit plugin and it's a pain to maintain both 64 and 32 bit versions.

Eitan

[mr_es335]

Eitan,

Without sounding too impertinent, "What is the big deal with 64-bit?"

I do understand about the "seeming need" to move to 64-bit plugins - but is there really any need to go that route?

At the end of the day, will anyone be able to tell the difference in the audio quality output of a 64-bit plugin compared to that of a 32-bit plugin? What about the person who is sitting behind the console?

I have had an audio engineer acquaintance of mine coming by to teach me "audio engineering", and it has been a very interesting time together. It took home about three sessions to really get it into his head that what we were using was in fact, a real audio console "just in software".

Secondly, he prefers to use a parametric equalizer, just to show how an EQ works, especially visually.
Note: Interestingly, and after five sessions, we completely dispensed with the parametric EQ and are now using the "factory" EQ. He is also really coming to prefer the use of Reverberator 32.

Thirdly, and the point to all of this is, is that he is becoming more and more pleased with the audio quality output of the SAC engine - AS IT IS!
Note: Also, and very interestingly, since I made the move to RME, he noticed a difference in the audio output, as I did. And all of this in the 32-bit environment!

In all of the testing that I have done, I have noticed no improvement in the audio output between 32-bt and 64-bit. And if a 32-bit plugin "does the job", why would I ever need to use a 64-bit plugin?
Note: The ONLY advantage that I ever seen the need for 64-bit is when I used Kontakt. Samplers, as we all know, prefer lots of RAM. So, I went to 64-bit, and then used VE Pro to connect the 32-bit world to the 64-bit world. And it was great!

I am not intending this to come off sounding like a "rant", but if SAC and SAW work as well as they do in 32-bit, what real benefit is there in going to 64-bit?

[Dave Labrecque]

...why would I ever need to use a 64-bit plugin?

Dell -- sounds like his most pressing concern is the dwindling availability of newly-developed 32-bit plug-ins.

[mr_es335]

Dave,

Dell -- sounds like his most pressing concern is the dwindling availability of newly-developed 32-bit plug-ins.

...and this is what I "really and truly" do not understand?

If a 32-bit plugin "works" - why the need to move to a 64-bit plugin? If I am coming from this perspective - and I am, then it really does not matter if there is no more development in the 32-bit world.

I guess I can understand it if you have an existing 32-bit plugin that is buggy and the updated unbuggy version is a 64-bit version. I guess at that point - you may be stuck.

Note: This was the situation with me and Scuffham's S-Gear virtual amp sim. However, it was only the installer that required 64-bit, so all you had to do was install it on a 64-bit system and then copy over the 32-bit plugin to a 32-bit system. I wonder if this is a similar situation with other developers? This being said, I did move to a 64-bit OS, due to the load time with Scuffham's S-Gear virtual amp sim - from 22 seconds to 3 seconds. But I am still using the 32-bit versions so SAC and SAW however.

[Dave Labrecque]

Dave,
...and this is what I "really and truly" do not understand?

If a 32-bit plugin "works" - why the need to move to a 64-bit plugin? If I am coming from this perspective - and I am, then it really does not matter if there is no more development in the 32-bit world.

I guess I can understand it if you have an existing 32-bit plugin that is buggy and the updated unbuggy version is a 64-bit version. I guess at that point - you may be stuck.

Note: This was the situation with me and Scuffham's S-Gear virtual amp sim. However, it was only the installer that required 64-bit, so all you had to do was install it on a 64-bit system and then copy over the 32-bit plugin to a 32-bit system. I wonder if this is a similar situation with other developers? This being said, I did move to a 64-bit OS, due to the load time with Scuffham's S-Gear virtual amp sim - from 22 seconds to 3 seconds. But I am still using the 32-bit versions so SAC and SAW however.

If you're content with your existing stuff, then there would be no reason (aside from the RAM thing) to want a 64-bit DAW, I guess. But if you want to continue buying updates and newly-developed plugins into the future, then I can understand the desire. It's a bit like sticking with XP, I suppose. "If it ain't broke..." But many want upward (into the future, that is) mobility with their tools. No doubt some of this (at least for me ) is due to being caught up in the hype of Gear Acquisition Syndrome (or its software correlate), but there are some practical reasons, too, I think. There are improvements of one kind or another along the development life of most programs and plug-ins, I'd think. Many would like to avail themselves of those. Heck, there are plug-ins that haven't even been invented yet -- that will do things not yet done with existing plug-ins. And at some point they'll be 64-bit only (like, now, for some). And then 128-bit...

[mr_es335]

Dave,

I completely forgot about "Gear Acquisition Syndrome" which in acronym form would be "GAS"! (Cute!! The definition of gas is "a fluid, such as hydrogen or air, that has no fixed shape and tends to expand without limit".)

As to GAS's software correlate, would that not be "Plugin Acquisition Syndrome" - and as such, I will PASs on that one!!

My real question is, "Will these plugins, invented or not, really make a significant difference in what we actually hear?"