BBCSO PRO RAM requirement. [Solved]
I notice there is a recommended min RAM for BBCSO Core but not Pro on Windows. Is 16GB going to be enough. It's OK for Discover and Abbey Road One.
Best Answers
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The BBC SO Pro manual recommends 16GB. https://d1t3zg51rvnesz.cloudfront.net/p/files/product-manuals/3459/1610479556/BBCSOPro_Manual_v1.7.pdf
Having more than 16GB is a good idea especially if you're planning on using the extra mic positions offered in Pro - the RAM usage can add up if you use a lot of the extra mics and a lot of articulations. But if adding more RAM isn't possible for you at this time, I think 16GB can certainly work if you keep your project files streamlined and manage your articulations and mic positions well. I have 32 GB, but even in the most complicated piece I've written so far, the BBC Pro memory footprint is only ~8GB with 32 BBC tracks (only the articulations I need are loaded into memory,) though Cubase itself uses another 7GB on top of that!
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It'll depend a lot on how much you intend to have loaded at once. I've got Core rather than Pro, and with all articulations loaded the RAM usage is sat at 28GB. I'm sure you'll get a more definitive answer from one of the Spitfire team but if it were me I'd probably be looking at a RAM upgrade.
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As everyone said "depends on how you use templates and how many articulations you're used to loading at one time".
TLDR: Get 32GB minimum, maybe even a lil future proof at 64GB. (I got 2x32GB DDR4 3200 C16 for $315 last week)
Broken down: Full orchestral Core template of only sustains, legatos, stac/spic was around 12GB for me. Check your computer's RAM usage in a task manager or Mac's monitoring thing NOT in your DAW or plugin. I added Spitfire Solo Strings to each section, a random solo trumpet, and the $2 french horn from OrchestralTools and that brought me to around 15GB of RAM while everything was enabled. All that to say, you can easily get to 16GB by being RAM hungry and inefficient on Core.
I (as of last week) future proof upgraded to 64GB of RAM. This is future proofing because before I get more, I'll need a new motherboard, processor, SSD, and all that jazz before I need more RAM. If/When I get a new sample library, I'll be able to add it into my fully enabled template without worrying about RAM usage. PLUS, I can have Chrome running in the background now (Chrome eats up anywhere from 2-4GB of RAM).
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Hi Ralph
Just a thought.
My Dell PC had 16 GB RAM installed (2 x 8GB). The specs said that it supported 8, 16, 24, 32 and 64GB. I had a look on a few forums to see if 48GB would work. That way I could keep the existing RAM and add 2 x 16GB modules. It works! I think that I had to move the 2 x 8GB modules into the 2 "unused" slots and put the new 2 x 16GB modules into the original slots.
Maybe worth considering?
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Hi @Ralph,
A full load of BBC SO Core (and BBC SO Pro with Mix 1 only selected) uses roughly 13GB of RAM. Depending on how much RAM your DAW uses (typically this can be anything from 2GB-7GB) you may surpass 16GB of RAM.
That said, it depends how big your template is. As mentioned, 13GB is a full load of BBC SO (all Techniques and Instruments on Mix 1), so it might be that you would use a reduced template- and this is certainly possible in terms of reducing the amount of techniques loaded, as seen here:
If however, you wish to use a full template, and have all the techniques available (for Keyswitching purposes), you may want to consider upgrading to 32GB of RAM for Core, and 64GB for Pro.
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So when you load an instrument in Core, you should see every articulation the instrument has. This means that Core has loaded every visible articulation so you can switch from legato to longs to shorts, etc. To unload these articulations, you have to click on the pencil tool and "x" out the ones you don't want. A lot of people load one articulation PER TRACK and then disable each TRACK they aren't using for easier access (so you don't have to pull up the plugin or keyswitch to switch articulations).
Unload the articulation = open plugin and remove it from the articulation list for this instance
Disable the track = look at your track list, right click the track, and click "disable" so that way the track is not active
Both of these methods open up space in your RAM. One is inside the instance of the plugin; the other is from the DAW's perspective.
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Correct, yes- any plugin that has Techniques loaded (even if they are not used via Keyswitch) will be loaded into RAM.
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Answers
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Thank you to everyone for your helpful comments. Looks like I need to get another 16GB RAM soon. I have also asked for a quote for 64GB which should cover everything I'm likely to attempt!
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it doesn't stream voices from disk?
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Hi Steve. I asked the Dell Rep about that and she told me they should all be the same. I was going to buy 2 x 8GB to go with the 2 already installed. Did you get yours from Dell?
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Hi Ralph
I got my extra RAM from MrMemory. Enter your Dell model number and they guarantee supplying 100% compatible memory modules. For my PC it said different sized modules (in pairs) would work. So I got 2 x 16GB to add to my 2 x 8GB.
Check it out and see what is compatible for your PC.
Regards
Steve
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Hi Steve.
I checked out Mr Memory and it looks like I will be able to do as you have done. Just waiting for confirmation on this and quote from Dell before getting upgraded. I got BBCSO Core yesterday and have made a template with 50 tracks. It takes a while load and close so I will need more RAM v soon.
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Hi Steve.
I've just ordered 2 x16GB from Mr Memory after confirming with dell that I can keep 2 x 8GB so I will have 48GB in total. Thanks for the tip.
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Hi Ralph
Excellent! You might (like me) have to put your new 2 x 16GB modules into the slots (1 and 3) currently used by your existing memory and move the 2 x 8GB modules to the other 2 slots. Not sure why, but it didn't see 48GB the other way round! Perhaps the larger capacity modules have to be in slots 1 and 3?
Cheers
Steve
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Hmmm. Now had an email from Dell referring to the user guide which seems to say that if you want 32GB you have to use 4 x 8GB. To use 16GB cards you can have either 1 or 4 so 16 or 64GB which doesn't seem right. I will know better when I get the cards installed in a day or so.
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H Angus.
Thanks for the info. I have only had Coe for a couple of days so I'm still v new with lots to learn. I will try disabling unused techniques which will be all but one as I'm using one track for those that I will be using. So for violas I have just 3 tracks for example. But from what you are saying, even though I'm not playing all techniques, the un-played ones are using up RAM. Is that right?
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Hi again Angus.
I now have 48GB RAM so should be OK for Core. I notice that it takes about 2 minutes to load my current project into Cubase Artist 11 i.e. when the green cpu light stops flashing. It takes a while to shut down too. Is that normal for Core or maybe just for large Cubase projects?
Best regards
Ralph
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Hi Ralph
It's me again 😉
I've got more or less the same setup as you. 48GB RAM, BBCSO Core, ARO, Cubase 11 Artist!
The @Alex Watson template https://www.spitfireaudiothepage.com/posts/core-templates for BBCSO loads instantly as all tracks in Cubase are disabled in the template when it loads.
Some of my projects have maybe 30-40 tracks enabled and they load in perhaps 30 seconds max. Saving and closing them is very quick.
Are your libraries on SSDs or HDDs?
Cheers
Steve
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Hi Steve. We have discussed some of this elsewhere but my files are on an SSD. I'll be trying a template for my next project.
Ralph
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