My 64 bit Rant

[MIke_M]

NEWS FLASH! WAKE UP AND SMELL THE 64 BIT COFFEE!!

The year is 2010 and 64 bit OS has been around for 5 years now.

So why are these updates for Jupiter, Prophet V, Mood Modular, etc. still is 32 bit? Komplete 6 is all 64 bit. Sonar 8.5 and all the included VSTs are 64 bit. New laptops and desktops are shipping with Windows 7 64 only (no 32 bit versions).  So when is Arturia going get with the times?


I happen use Sonar 8.5 and when I am working with 32 bit VSTs, I cannot use the ACT system with them. I either have to use Jbridge (ACT will work using jbridge but crahses will happen) or I have to use midi cc on the 32 bit and then switch to use ACT on the 64 bit ones.

Companies that I own software from like Arturia, DiscoDSP, Gforce and Waldorf better start to produce some 64 bit versions, or they are going to end up the way my T.C.Electronic did: SOLD!

[mblayney]

I run Vista 64 bit - so do I need to do something special with my computer in order to be able to run Jupiter 8v 2.0 on that machine?  Thanks.

[MIke_M]

I run Vista 64 bit - so do I need to do something special with my computer in order to be able to run Jupiter 8v 2.0 on that machine?  Thanks.

It will run on Vista/Windows7 64 bit. However, it will run in 32 bit and you will reap none of the benefits of your operating system being 64 bit, which happens to be my major complaint. If you run a DAW software in 64 bit, you may run into problems. You can use a program called jbridge which may or may not help if you have problem. It is not free either; it is about $15.00 U.S.

I am using Sonar 8.5.3 PE and I am forced to run it in 32 bit mode because Arturia and many other software developers do not think that coming up with a 64 bit version of their software is very important. If it was they would have done it someitme in the past five years, seeing that 64 bit operating systems have been out that long.

If I do venture into running Sonar in 64 bit then I cannot access the ACT function unless I use jbridge. Jupiter 8 2.0 becomes unstable under jbridge and starts to act funny, even crashing Sonar.


Hope this helps.

[mblayney]

Yes, this is very helpful, thanks very much.   I have Sonar Home Studio, and my plan was to (i) upgrade to a newer version of Sonar, and (ii) use the Jupiter-8v in conjunction with Sonar and an Axiom controller to create sequenced patterns for live performance.  I assume that will work.  Is the transition from 64-bit mode to 32-bit mode done automatically by the software, or do I need to change Control Panel settings? 

[poropat]

+1
we need 64bits versions.
It's not so efficient to bridge a VST (even with Jbridge which is working fine).
I think many VST authors consider bridging as something to be used forever,
but it's not. We pay it with CPU overhead.

[MIke_M]

Yes, this is very helpful, thanks very much.   I have Sonar Home Studio, and my plan was to (i) upgrade to a newer version of Sonar, and (ii) use the Jupiter-8v in conjunction with Sonar and an Axiom controller to create sequenced patterns for live performance.  I assume that will work.  Is the transition from 64-bit mode to 32-bit mode done automatically by the software, or do I need to change Control Panel settings? 

Yep that should work fine, I actually had an Axiom before my Edirol and everything worked fine. 
You can run 32 bit software on a 64 bit machine and it should work fine without any setting changes at all.  When you upgrade your version of Sonar you can actually put both copies on your machine.  Their EULA allows you to have both 32 and 64 Bit version on your machine.  This is their way of helping us out becuase of LAZY and CHEAP software developers who wants everbody else to do their work for them.

[MIke_M]

+1
we need 64bits versions.
It's not so efficient to bridge a VST (even with Jbridge which is working fine).
I think many VST authors consider bridging as something to be used forever,
but it's not. We pay it with CPU overhead.

And a +1 right back.

While I love JBridge and for all he has done (and for so little), I sometimes wish he had not made it. The same goes for BitBridge and whatever Cubase has (cannot remember the name) because maybe then these companies would put more effort into getting 64 bit out there. It seems sales are the only thng that gets these guys attention so if they suddenly found themselves losing sales because of incompatability, they would soon rectify it.

 Sadly, I do not think that most of these companies are very serious about doing 64 bit and that is why I am directing my purchases to companies who support 64 bit. I have bought over $600.00 worth of Native Instruments software in the past 2 months  while compnies like Arturia, Gforce, DiscoDSP Waldorf , etc. have gotten ZERO dollars and will continue to get nothing but negativity from me until the pony up with some 64 bit versions.

If they wait too long, I will just phase their software out of my rig and replace it with companies like NI and LinnPlug who suppport me .

[crabber338]

Does anybody here know anything about what 64-bit actually means? I can easily take source for a VST and turn it into a 64-bit by simply doubling bit information.

A 32-bit VST can sound just as a good as a 64-bit VST – Or even better! That’s why the shift from 32-bit to 64-bit has been so slow going. The performance gains are really negligible for the most part, unless you really require more than 2^32 step resolution.

My recommendation is for people to trust their ears and eyes over needless specs. Too many people get caught up in the 48,96,192khz sampling debate just the same, never realizing that one can record at 48khz with a high quality DAC and blow away crappy 192khz DACs any day.

In any case… Saying that Arturia VSTs simply don’t make the cut because they don’t run at 64-bit is completely unwarranted. Many 64-bit OS’s still run a lot of 32-bit code in the background without the end user even knowing it.

[MIke_M]

Well if it so easy to do then why does Arturia do it? Most likely because it is not revenue generating. The manpower spent on working on a free update could be spent developing new products to make money. What I find so baffling is that if like you say, it is soooo easy to do, then how come it was not implemented with the V2 versions??? I have no idea why Arturia and other companies openly resist going to 64 bit other than for the cost. What else can it be?

As far as the benefits from using 64 bit,  it is you who needs to understand what 64 bit means. Running 64 bit removes the limitations on memory which means studios will be able to run more, faster. In fact all comuptations and data transfer that the computer does will be twice as fast.  It has NOTHING to do with the sound.

Also, 64 bit is soon going to be the norm, it certainly is in my studio. And as we all know in the professional music industy, time is money so if you can do it faster, then it will be cheaper and will mean more profit.

If Kontakt 4 was not 64 bit, I would have a great deal of difficulty using it as I would quickly run out of memory. J bridge is nice but ACT does not work through it and I do not wish to have to run some controls under midi cc and not the more advanced automation because the company who made their software is unwilling to do a simple update...after all you yourself stated it was very easy.

So to run the Arturia stuff I would have to go to 32 bit and then I could not run Kontakt to the fullest. I chose Kontakt and the future.  The Arturia stuff now sits collecting dust until I either find a 64 bit replacement or Arturia gets with the times and goes 64 bit. I have already bought some of the 64 bit LinnPLug stuff and it I might be replacing Arturia soon because this LinnPlug stuff looks quite good. Too bad because the Arturia stuff is quite good sounding, it is just not compatible with the new standard yet.