Reason 8 and CPU (getting a new system)

[Skullture]

So I'm about to buy myself a new system. I'm thinking of getting a new quad-core skylake i7 based system. I was wondering how the in-program DSP's perform with the new Skylake generation of processors. I want to produce music without being worried of the DSP meter all the time. Any experience/suggestions for systems? I prefer laptops for portability, obviously building your own desktop is better for performance. But I'm a lot on the road.

[lijewski]

I just built an i7 6700K system and it is great. Old songs I could barely run on my dual core i5 only show 1 or 2 DSP bars. just be warned. the top end Skylake CUP is just slightly faster then the old devils canyon CPU and the new architecture is a bit more expensive because of the DDR4 ram requirement.

[joeyluck]

I've been a Mac user forever, and I too prefer laptops and have been open to other options. I'm still using my 2008 MacBook Pro.

When it comes to laptops for production, I say MacBook Pros all the way. I came to this final conclusion recently.
It's hard to match the experience of a MacBook Pro with the multi-touch trackpad and quality build. Plus the blazing fast PCIe-based flash storage that is standard.

The current MacBooks however are still on Broadwell processors. The Skylake MacBooks should be announced/maybe released around March...?

Desktops however is a different story if you don't have a preference of OS.

[Skullture]

I've been a Mac user forever, and I too prefer laptops and have been open to other options. I'm still using my 2008 MacBook Pro.

When it comes to laptops for production, I say MacBook Pros all the way. I came to this final conclusion recently.
It's hard to match the experience of a MacBook Pro with the multi-touch trackpad and quality build. Plus the blazing fast PCIe-based flash storage that is standard.

The current MacBooks however are still on Broadwell processors. The Skylake MacBooks should be announced/maybe released around March...?

Desktops however is a different story if you don't have a preference of OS.

I know the build of a macbook is considered the best, but you pay almost double the amount of a normal manufacturer laptop for a mac. Also I really didn't like the OS after working on it for 2 years. Tho the trackpad is amazing.

I saw that the skylake 6700HQ i7 CPU based systems still utilizes the DDR3 architecture. Clocks at 2.6ghz and turbo to 3.5. Sounds good enough for R8?

[joeyluck]

I've been a Mac user forever, and I too prefer laptops and have been open to other options. I'm still using my 2008 MacBook Pro.

When it comes to laptops for production, I say MacBook Pros all the way. I came to this final conclusion recently.
It's hard to match the experience of a MacBook Pro with the multi-touch trackpad and quality build. Plus the blazing fast PCIe-based flash storage that is standard.

The current MacBooks however are still on Broadwell processors. The Skylake MacBooks should be announced/maybe released around March...?

Desktops however is a different story if you don't have a preference of OS.

I know the build of a macbook is considered the best, but you pay almost double the amount of a normal manufacturer laptop for a mac. Also I really didn't like the OS after working on it for 2 years. Tho the trackpad is amazing.

I saw that the skylake 6700HQ i7 CPU based systems still utilizes the DDR3 architecture. Clocks at 2.6ghz and turbo to 3.5. Sounds good enough for R8?

In another thread, I was asking for help finding a comparable Windows laptop for similar price. I was hard pressed to find anything. I have some specifics I need in a laptop. The main things aside from a great processor is a nice multi-touch trackpad and PCIe-based flash storage. The prices for comparable Windows laptops were so close, that I figured I might as well pay a tiny bit extra for a Mac again next time I upgrade. I also get an education discount through Apple via work.

Let me find that thread so you can have a look at the suggested laptops. They might be suitable for you.

[EDIT] Here is that thread beginning with my inquiry: http://www.reasontalk.com/viewtopic.php ... 36#p233736
There are some options for Windows laptops given following this (maybe prior as well)

[joeyluck]

And I'm still doing pretty ok with my 2.4G GHz Core 2 Duo and 4 GB RAM with Reason 8.3
I had some issues with a few Rack Extensions. But for the most part, I don't have to think about it.
If you get anything made recently, you should be leaps and bounds beyond my performance.

[Hydrosonic]

Skullture,

My PC is a Laptop, my old desktop gave up in summer... and I couldn't be bothered to resurrect it. So I got a secondhand i7 4810m laptop quad 3.2ghz, self turbo clocks to 3.9ghz, +4 hyperthreads , windows 8.1, 16gb ram, 480gb ultra high spec, and Gefore GTX780m 4gb graphics card, £700. Show me anything for £700 ($1000) that comes close to my specs in Apple Mac....
Joey I am sorry but Mac have taken a huge backstep in the CPU range they offer. Yes any macbook 2015/16 would own your 2008 macbook, but so would a budget PC with a half decent sound Interface.
Do some research upon the laptop manufacturer Clevo, they are one of the best available, and have spares and upgrades if you desire at a later date.

[joeyluck]

Skullture,

My PC is a Laptop, my old desktop gave up in summer... and I couldn't be bothered to resurrect it. So I got a secondhand i7 4810m laptop quad 3.2ghz, self turbo clocks to 3.9ghz, +4 hyperthreads , windows 8.1, 16gb ram, 480gb ultra high spec, and Gefore GTX780m 4gb graphics card, £700. Show me anything for £700 ($1000) that comes close to my specs in Apple Mac....
Joey I am sorry but Mac have taken a huge backstep in the CPU range they offer. Yes any macbook 2015/16 would own your 2008 macbook, but so would a budget PC with a half decent sound Interface.
Do some research upon the laptop manufacturer Clevo, they are one of the best available, and have spares and upgrades if you desire at a later date.

If it's got a nice multi-touch trackpad, PCIe-based flash storage, and a high resolution display, I'm interested!
Do you have a link?

[EnochLight]

I was wondering how the in-program DSP's perform with the new Skylake generation of processors. I want to produce music without being worried of the DSP meter all the time.

If by "in-program DSP's" you mean stock Reason devices, then you'll be fine. With the exception of Pulveriser, Alligator, and The Echo (which are all proto-Rack Extensions), all stock Reason devices are exceptionally efficient.

[4filegate]

the letter k CPU enabled free setting clock multiplier OC mode - for success, need a motherboard that fits

[Skullture]

I was wondering how the in-program DSP's perform with the new Skylake generation of processors. I want to produce music without being worried of the DSP meter all the time.

If by "in-program DSP's" you mean stock Reason devices, then you'll be fine. With the exception of Pulveriser, Alligator, and The Echo (which are all proto-Rack Extensions), all stock Reason devices are exceptionally efficient.

Woops, "in-program DSP's" shouldn't be plural, sorry .

What i meant is, whenever I run R8 on my current system. When the DSP maxes my CPU runs at 60%. But that seems a bit restricted, why can't I push my CPU to 70% or 80% for that matter. I mailed to Props but I never got a clear answer on this topic.

Nevertheless, I need a better and stronger processor, Reason has become a lot more demanding with it's RE's.

[Skullture]

Skullture,

My PC is a Laptop, my old desktop gave up in summer... and I couldn't be bothered to resurrect it. So I got a secondhand i7 4810m laptop quad 3.2ghz, self turbo clocks to 3.9ghz, +4 hyperthreads , windows 8.1, 16gb ram, 480gb ultra high spec, and Gefore GTX780m 4gb graphics card, £700. Show me anything for £700 ($1000) that comes close to my specs in Apple Mac....
Joey I am sorry but Mac have taken a huge backstep in the CPU range they offer. Yes any macbook 2015/16 would own your 2008 macbook, but so would a budget PC with a half decent sound Interface.
Do some research upon the laptop manufacturer Clevo, they are one of the best available, and have spares and upgrades if you desire at a later date.

My question is, how is your DSP performance in Reason?

[4filegate]

buddy came with MSI GT72S-6QE

Sorry for Killer DoubleShot Pro LAN feature - interested ESS SABRE HiFi Audio DAC – Evolve Details You Hear

alternative
apogee groove

not so expensive
schiit fulla

[phasys]

buddy came with MSI GT72S-6QE

That's a gaming laptop.

[4filegate]

buddy came with MSI GT72S-6QE

That's a gaming laptop.

also preferred workstation format - they come soon - that does ♫ too CPU stress test

[EnochLight]

I was wondering how the in-program DSP's perform with the new Skylake generation of processors. I want to produce music without being worried of the DSP meter all the time.

If by "in-program DSP's" you mean stock Reason devices, then you'll be fine. With the exception of Pulveriser, Alligator, and The Echo (which are all proto-Rack Extensions), all stock Reason devices are exceptionally efficient.

Woops, "in-program DSP's" shouldn't be plural, sorry .

What i meant is, whenever I run R8 on my current system. When the DSP maxes my CPU runs at 60%. But that seems a bit restricted, why can't I push my CPU to 70% or 80% for that matter. I mailed to Props but I never got a clear answer on this topic.

Nevertheless, I need a better and stronger processor, Reason has become a lot more demanding with it's RE's.

The Windows Task Manager CPU usage number shows the percentage of "real time" Windows considers a processor core working rather than idle. 100% CPU usage on a core signifies that Windows thinks that core is sustaining execution without pause. Reason's DSP meter measures the percentage of "real time" left between deliveries of audio to/from the interface driver.

If it shows 0%, almost no time is spent in Reason to deliver audio to/from the interface driver.
If it shows 100%, the interface driver wants more audio before Reason has finished rendering the previous batch.

[johnnyM]

I'm about to get a new Windows laptop. Any spec suggestions on what should run smoothly with Reason 8? Minimal cpu/ memory/ etc. Thanks

[Hydrosonic]

Skullture,

My PC is a Laptop, my old desktop gave up in summer... and I couldn't be bothered to resurrect it. So I got a secondhand i7 4810m laptop quad 3.2ghz, self turbo clocks to 3.9ghz, +4 hyperthreads , windows 8.1, 16gb ram, 480gb ultra high spec, and Gefore GTX780m 4gb graphics card, £700. Show me anything for £700 ($1000) that comes close to my specs in Apple Mac....
Joey I am sorry but Mac have taken a huge backstep in the CPU range they offer. Yes any macbook 2015/16 would own your 2008 macbook, but so would a budget PC with a half decent sound Interface.
Do some research upon the laptop manufacturer Clevo, they are one of the best available, and have spares and upgrades if you desire at a later date.

My question is, how is your DSP performance in Reason?

I can't find a stress test file to show on reason 7.1
but you are probably best reading this thread http://www.reasontalk.com/viewtopic.php ... E&start=75

That should provide more answers about how well macs perform.

[4filegate]

I'm about to get a new Windows laptop. Any spec suggestions on what should run smoothly with Reason 8? Minimal cpu/ memory/ etc. Thanks

system requirements for Reason 8 or Laptop for using Reason Live

[Viscor]

Today I was working on some drums and my Phenom II X4 965 was already struggling with all the REs I was using. Therefore, I think it's time to upgrade my system.

Now here is my question:
Do you guys think I should go for the Intel Core i7-6700K or the Intel Core i7-5820K?

On the hand I know the 5820K has a better overall performance because of its 6 cores. On the other hand the 6700K has a way better single core performance which seems quite important when you use tons of REs like I do.

Furthermore, how can a better GPU, faster RAM and an expensive mainboard influence Reason's performance? I am not necessarily talking about speed, but more in terms of how many REs I could use at the same time.

[EnochLight]

Today I was working on some drums and my Phenom II X4 965 was already struggling with all the REs I was using. Therefore, I think it's time to upgrade my system.

Now here is my question:
Do you guys think I should go for the Intel Core i7-6700K or the Intel Core i7-5820K?

On the hand I know the 5820K has a better overall performance because of its 6 cores. On the other hand the 6700K has a way better single core performance which seems quite important when you use tons of REs like I do.

Furthermore, how can a better GPU, faster RAM and an expensive mainboard influence Reason's performance? I am not necessarily talking about speed, but more in terms of how many REs I could use at the same time.

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu ... Hz&id=2565

versus...

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu ... Hz&id=2340

Furthermore, how can a better GPU, faster RAM and an expensive mainboard influence Reason's performance? I am not necessarily talking about speed, but more in terms of how many REs I could use at the same time.

Reason is most affected by CPU speed. Period. That said, the sum of your parts can have an effect on how your entire system performs, and how it behaves with the audio interface you are using.

[Emian]

Hi,

i bought a "Devil's Canyon" 4790K last year (edit; summer 2014; still forget we're 2016 now :p ).
Never overclocked it; 16Gb RAM & an 250 Gb SSD harddrive.

Performance :

i have, & love to use a lot of RE's; & so far i haven't hard any problems.
Yes, all my projects show at least 3 DSP-bars when nearing finishing; but i haven't had any problems so far !

& any way, when planning to upgrade, i think it's better to upgrade good, instead of to a medium new built, i bought the 4790K just after release, because it was the fastest i7 4-core processor of the moment (the 6-cores were a bit too pricey tough)

Hope this helps !

[tronam]

If it's got a nice multi-touch trackpad, PCIe-based flash storage, and a high resolution display, I'm interested!
Do you have a link?

Yeah, the whole package should be considered in those types of comparisons. Beyond the top notch build quality there's the retina display, gesture-rich multitouch trackpad and high performance SSD among other things. The latest flash controllers Apple have been designing are amazing. My read/write performance sits at 2.2 gigabytes/sec. System and application responsiveness is lightning fast and computer boots up in 6sec. I'd wait a few months though as the latest Skylake mobile chips are finally at high enough production yield to accommodate a MBP refresh.

[AJTIV]

Im currently using a mid-2010 Macbook Pro; top of the line when I bought it. I can't handle more than 3 instance of Antidote without the DSP going into the red and making my audio click and pop beyond anything musical at all. I will be building a new PC for myself for around $1700 (not including a 4k monitor, which will bump up my overall expense to around $2,200).

I was initially going to buy the 27 inch top of the line iMac at $3200 plus tax ($3450 total), but I've decided to go back to DIY PC because I can get a similar, or perhaps, even better system, for much, much less than any decent apple computer.

Sure, Macs come with a fancy 'retina' display, but thats completely useless when you factor in the overall price for a decent mac, and no ability to upgrade yourself due to custom made slots and parts use in all macs. So, when that computer with a retina display starts dying on you, its completely useless, unless you bought a separate monitor that can actually be hooked up to a new computer, but they charge you up the ass for that, just for that reason. Apple is overcharging and taking advantage of people who are scared of computers. PC is cheaper and in my opinion, better.

Once you open your mac and try and customize it yourself without paying a huge fee to apple, they consider your warranty void ad will not help you with anything if there is a problem (they will, but they will charge you up the ass as a punishment/way to squeeze more money out of you.

So, with a DIY PC, you can get absolutely amazing components for relatively dirt cheap as compared to apple products.

Reason is also native to PC, and runs smoother on PC than on Mac. I just tested Reason and all of my really DSP hungry RE's, on a quad core i7 machine with 16gb RAM, and I could have 10 instances each of Antidote, Zero Hybrid, Quad, Vecto, all playing something, and tons of effects and compression running on each channel (RE effects), plus a full mastering chain made up of all RE's, and I only made it up to 3 DSP bars at that point. That is about max I'd use in one track.

[EnochLight]

Reason is also native to PC, and runs smoother on PC than on Mac. .

Sorry, come again? Reason isn't "native" to the Windows; it's developed on both Mac OSX as well as Windows. As for running smoother on PC than Mac, how did you arrive to this test result? Did you test on the exact same hardware configuration (a Mac running Windows in Bootcamp)? Did you test two exact spec'd machines, one running OSX and one running Windows? Which versions of Windows/OSX did you test on? Can you be more specific when you state "smoother"?

I'm just really curious, because I've never heard of Reason running better on either OS versus one another. If anything, I've always found performance to be slightly in OSX's favor - especially when using built-in audio interfaces...

I'm all ears though!