Jim Roseberry

No loss there.

When it comes to low-latency audio performance, Rocket Lake's more latent architecture made it a step backward (vs 10th Gen).

Thankfully, this was solved in 12th and 13th Gen CPUs.

1 hour ago, Last Call said:

Quad Cortex Mk II?

FWIW, They still have a lot of work to finish on the QC mk1   ?

1 hour ago, TheSteven said:

So switching banks, etc. only work with current capture?  

No... I meant that you can't load a Amp/Cab Capture... and long a second Boost/Drive pedal Capture (simultaneously).

Different patches use different Captures.

36 minutes ago, bluzdog said:

I don't see a way to use more than one capture at a time i.e. a dirt pedal and an amp. It sounds great but I don't see it competing in the same space as the all in one units i.e. Quad Cortex, etc.

I think it was mentioned that ToneX would be updated to allow loading a second Capture for Boost/Drive pedal. 

That really needs to be there.

I know there are work-arounds (Amplitube, using another plugin prior to ToneX, using a real boost/drive pedal before ToneX pedal), but this is part of the appeal.

Nobody wants to run a Tubescreamer without an amp.  ?

25 minutes ago, ALC said:

How does Apple Silicon M1/M2 stack up?

M1 is nowhere in the ballpark of the 13900k.

Haven't tested the M2 (yet).

Looking at Cinebench R23 scores, M2's multi-core score is nowhere close to 40k.

13900k is a workstation CPU (requiring massive cooling).

The Apple M1 and M2 chips are not (and Apple doesn't market them as such)

16 hours ago, locrian said:

Have you encountered any issues with the E-cores / P-cores architecture?  Specifically that slower E-cores could create a bottleneck and/or degrade core load balancing, or result in lower performance due to their lower thread count?  And what about the 13900's lower total thread count vs that of the 7950x?

I've read several posts about these types of issues and so am a bit hesitant to stay with Intel at this point.

I've tested the 7950x and 13900k/s extensively. 

13900k's Efficient cores don't bottleneck/degrade performance. 

Keep in mind they're running at 4.3-4.4GHz. 

7950x's base clock speed is 4.5GHz

13900k bests the 7950x in both single-core and multi-core performance.  

13900k and 7950x can both run IK's ToneX plugin at 96k using a 16-sample ASIO buffer size (~0.5ms total round-trip latency).

Both the 7950x and 13900k have 32 processing threads.

1 hour ago, antler said:

Don't know if the situation is still the same, but I seem to remember @Jim Roseberry saying that AMDs can be faster, but only for parallel processing, e.g. rendering video. Intel still rules for more single threaded uses like pushing audio through with low latencies. I also seem to remember Jim saying that Intel chips were easier to keep cool, compared to a similar model from AMD.

The last couple of generations, AMD and Intel have been leap-frogging each other (performance wise).

ie:  When the 7950x was released, it leap-frogged the 12900k/s (performance wise).  Then, Intel released the 13900k/s... which is faster than the 7950x.

With the Ryzen 5xxx series, AMD finally got their ultra low latency audio performance together.

Prior Threadripper and Ryzen CPUs were not a good choice for ultra low latency DAW applications.

Flash forward to current generation:

• AMD 7950x
• Intel i9-13900k/s

I've extensively tested both the 7950x and 13900k/s.

Both are excellent ultra low latency performers.

Both run on the hotter side... requiring top-tier liquid cooling (to keep CPU cool/quiet).

13900k/s is currently the fastest DAW CPU.  (Scores over 40k in Cinebench R23 multi-core test)

7950x and 13900k can both run IK's ToneX plugin (similar to Kemper) at 96k using a 16-sample ASIO buffer size.  That's 0.5ms total round-trip latency!

In real-world use, there's not a huge difference between the two.

Top-tier motherboards for both (X670e and Z790) offer similar features (including Thunderbolt-4).

https://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/tonexpedal/#info

I don't think $400 is a bad price for what ToneX delivers.

The Captures are better than Kemper or Quad Cortex (both of which are $1800+).

I'm not crazy about the ToneX plugin UI... but it's slowly evolving and the integration with Amplitube 5 adds many useful features.

I think this is going to be huge for IK.

Add a H90 and maybe a couple of your favorite boosts/drives... and you've got a great sounding versatile gig/rehearsal rig.

Small form-factor for easy cartage

FWIW, I wouldn't want to blanketly apply de-essing across an entire vocal track... and definitely not across a vocal bus.

You're going to lose too much intelligibility/articulation in the vocal.

Isolate each offending S (or sibilant) as a separate audio clip.

You can then use your favorite De-Essing plugin to reduce the sibilant (individually) for each offending clip.

You can tailor the "reduction" of each sibilant.

This leaves the rest of the vocal completely in-tact. 

13 hours ago, craigb said:

Not around here!  Sure, the prices got very stupid, but there literally weren't any cards available at any price for awhile.  When I was doing IT Consulting, we had customers that needed high-end cards (they would map how smoke flows through a building among other cool projects), but we couldn't find cards at all.  One day I was at Best Buy around 2pm and there was a crowd lining a wall outside as if waiting for concert tickets to go on sale.  When I asked what they were doing, I was told they were camping out to be first in line for some cards that were coming in the next morning!  Crazy! ?

It was the same at the local Micro Center.

Mostly younger folks (looked a bit like a homeless camp with sleeping bags/tents)... waiting in line for a *chance* to get the next day's shipment of RTX-3xxx video cards.

You had to use an ID at purchase.  You could only purchase one RTX card per month.

Kids were waiting in line, getting their allotted RTX video card, then scalping it on eBay.

At one point, there were almost riots.  That's when they went to a "Lottery" style draw.   No more camping.

Crazy!

Now, it's not nearly that bad. 

ie: When the RTX-4xxx series runs out, there's usually a shipment in one to two weeks.

Prices just haven't come down as low as we'd expected.

16 hours ago, craigb said:

Hey!  It's a Jim sighting! ?

 

Hey Jim, is the availability of video cards suitable for gaming and other high-end usage gotten any better?

Supply is certainly more consistent.

Pricing has stabilized (as in not insanely high).

RTX-4090 is available this instant... (~$1800-$2200) ?

FWIW, I've had much more difficulty getting custom laptop shells (Taiwan) than Z690, Z790, and X670E motherboards.

Built many original Athlons... then Athlon-II

When the Pentium 4 came out, Intel started pummeling AMD in Floating Point performance.

Didn't build many AMD machines after that... until Ryzen 5xxx series.

Now, we have AMD and Intel leap-frogging each other with each release.

After so many builds, you encounter a certain percentage (small) of bad components.

I've had a PS that (when first powered-up) gave a loud POP and was immediately toast.  Rare exception.

Occasionally, I'll see a bad motherboard or more often a bad stick of RAM.

I've worked on so many machines over the years, the anxiety about parts/build is long gone.

I guess it's like the musician who's played live for 50 years.  He/she just doesn't get nervous the same way.

2 hours ago, husker said:

That's a great pice.   Still looking for a Moog One 16 Voice at $849.....

?

I'm still waiting for Moog to fix my Moog One 16-voice.

It's been in Ashville since Dec 21st.  Hasn't even been cracked open.

If they can get the thing to consistently play in-tune (no 1/4 step out of tune notes), it'll be worth it.

Bigger/fatter sounding than the Prophet 10 and OB-X8

On 2/12/2023 at 8:17 PM, kitekrazy said:

Don't most of the boards these days protect against static shock?

I live in the desert and always worry since humidity is all or none.

Motherboards have protective coatings.

This coating technically doesn't prevent ESD damage.

Modern components are a bit more resilient... but not immune to ESD.

I've worked on hundreds of machines over the past 30 years.

Never had an issue with ESD.

It's been leaked that IK will release a ToneX in pedal form.

Rumor has it priced at ~$500

If true, they will fly off shelves.

Pulled out some songs I'd written ~25 years ago.

Don't have any of the MIDI gear I used back then (01/W FD being one major piece).

Got Modo Bass as part of IK's Total Studio Bundle (crazy low upgrade price), figured it would be a quick/easy way to cover any electric bass parts.

Opened Modo Bass, selected a 70s Jazz Bass, added a fifth string, and moved the pluck position a bit towards the bridge.

What a great sound/response!  Far more realistic than I was expecting.

Lots of physical models sound close... but often have traits that sound a bit "fake".

To my ears, that's not the case with Modo Bass.

Took almost no effort to get a bass tone that worked perfectly with the rest of the track.

Sounds significantly better than the original bass sound from the 01/W.  ?

Just like with the Kemper,  ToneX "Captures" vary radically (in quality).

If you're talking about accuracy, ToneX does a better job than Kemper or Quad Cortex.

I'd rank them in this order (owned/used all of them)

1. ToneX
2. Quad Cortex
3. Kemper

In order to make a proper Capture, you need an audio interface with re-amp features... or an external re-amp box.

Some folks are making Captures using nothing but the I/O on a $100 audio interface.  That's not going to sound accurate.

As a quick test, I captured the Friedman BE-100 model from Line-6 Helix.

Extremely close in sound/response

My recent obsession has been keyboard/synths (not guitars/amps).

I have a 20th Ecstasy and Tri-Amp mk3 (and numerous boost/drive pedals) acquired specifically for making Captures.

Just need to find the time to actually make them.

My advice is to grab both ToneX and Amplitube 5.

You can then use ToneX within Amplitube 5 (much more capability/flexibility).

On 2/6/2023 at 12:52 PM, Jack Stoner said:

This time of year in the cold climates static electricity can be an issue.

Even in warm Florida, where I live, Murphy's Law applies and I wear a grounded wrist strap when working with computer "innards".

On the first build I ever did, I used a grounded wrist-stap.

For the hundreds of builds since then, I've never used one.

Unless you're walking on wool carpet in sock-feet and touching ICs, you'll be OK.  ?

You can discharge yourself as you're working.

Helix Native is great.

If you haven't checked it out, IKMM's ToneX is also amazing.

6 minutes ago, Starship Krupa said:

BTW, for the "latest and greatest" crew, Intel have announced that Gen. 14 is due before the end of the year. Make room in your dustbins.

Tight competition between AMD/Intel is really going to drive performance. 

17 hours ago, Starship Krupa said:

I guess it was tl/dr, but I said in my first post I reseated the CPU. While it was out, I checked for bent pins and found none. I also reseated all power connections, multiple times. Including fans.

Sorry, I missed those details.

If you've already reseated the CPU and all power connections, the only reason loosening the heatsink mount could cause things to "start working" is cold/bad solder joint/s or problem with circuit trace/s.

If you have reasonable expectations, you probably won't be disappointed running Cakewalk on something like a SurfacePro.

The issue with tablets is the same as with laptops (but more extreme).  Thermal management (heat) is tough in a super tight enclosure.

There's no space for large heatsink/fan... so CPU clock-speed has to be kept low (to keep heat in-check).

There's also power-management (performance throttling) to ensure longer battery life.

If you're doing general-purpose tasks (Surfing Internet, Email, Word docs, etc), you won't notice the low clock-speed.

Running a DAW application at low latency with lots of realtime processing (virtual-instruments and effects), low clock-speed is going to be limiting.

ie: The $2400 Surface Pro 9's CPU is running at 1.7GHz.  By comparison, the 13900ks (13th Gen desktop CPU) is running at 6GHz.

If you have much in the way of high performance expectations, a tablet is not the right choice.

33 minutes ago, Jack Stoner said:

13th gen is out.

 

Yes.  13th gen has been out for several months.

13900k performance is amazing (scores over 40k with Cinebench R23 multi-core).

Requires robust cooling (as in large AIO)