Which DAW handles lots of tracks, instruments, effects and plugins with lowest footprint at the same time? Using Windows 7 Home, 16 Gb RAM DD3, i7.

 

reaper and cubase, but with 16 Gb You shoud have no problems in almost any daw ?
...except for the case where You would use a lot of virtual instruments.

 

i agree with @Rhodes, unless you're going to work with big scoring templates, you'll be fine with 16 gigs any day
get an ssd if you don't have one already, it really helps with load times and overall workflow

 

Last edited by a moderator: Apr 8, 2017

I'm able to run alot of fx vst ect with no problems in studio one v3 but like above comments I run a ssd and 16gb ram.It does run really good on my laptop also I can run omnisphere or synths and all kinds of fx with no problem.

 

One can overload any i7 in under 50 midi/audio tracks with unoptimezed processing (read: bad workflow) so I'd rather pick my favourite DAW than picking a random DAW just because the latter can run 100 FX instead of 90.

 

Every daw can handles What u write here...its the pc u must see..

For music creation u need this : best CPU. .prosessor. ..Intel I. 7 the 7.gen is very good.

Also u need 16 gb ram or more..

And harddisk ..best to have ssd for better performace. .

Now..I have use fl studio cubase live reason pro tools reaper and many more...

I can say to u that fl studio and cubase is in 1.place..

Fl because have the best pianoroll u can make a melody right away...

But I like cubase too...pianoroll is not so good...but they have a chord track ...u can use it to make music even if u dont know no things about music theory.

 

Reaper

 

it's more like what computer is powerful enough to handle it.. but reaper runs on systems with low specs so it's definitely a champ in that arena... but seriously even in reaper at some point it comes down to the hardware that's actually under the hood.

 

it's more like what computer is powerful enough to handle it.. but reaper runs on systems with low specs so it's definitely a champ in that arena... but seriously even in reaper at some point it comes down to the hardware that's actually under the hood.

 

Although I'm a Pro Tools kind of guy, I have to admit that the OP's query is the book description of Reaper.

 

Reaper > sonar >= cubase 8.5 > protools >>>>>>>>>>>>>> studio one. Theese are the daws i (have) use(ed) and that is what i expirienced in terms of system resource efficiency.

 

Sonar newest version all the way ;) i use /Own Sonar, Reaper, Cubase 8.5 and Protools ... Sonar and Reaper first choice for a heavy load then Cubase 8.5 and Protools last... Im getting better faster project load Times,CPU usage and less ram usage With Sonar than even Reaper now>>> On my machine ;)

 

Reaper, Samplitude pro X3, Cubase pro 9 and Ableton in that order.. If I want to go with a massive amount of Nebula or acquas, Reaper and Samplitude will always win. Win 7 x64, 32 gig ram, I7 6700K, rme Fireface UCX.
That being said it's obvious that it depends what you do, what type of plugs you mostly use, and what gear you have beside your computer.

 

Last edited: Apr 8, 2017

Why everyone is talking about RAM and big scoring templates when OP is asking about effects, "plugins"... ?

CPU is the biggest regard, GPU too. RAM will become important when you're gonna load tons of audio tracks or samplers plugins... If you have 8GB or more it's not a concern. CPU best choice and optimized workflow is. DAW really isn't (except for Reaper, the whole concept is based on "you can use tons of plugins").

By the way you didnt specified what CPU do you have so the whole question doesn't make any kind of sense without this information. If you have crapold Core 2 Duo dont expect miracles, on Reaper or on PT. (any DAW actually)

 

Last edited: Apr 8, 2017

Yes it really depends on the motor your running these DAW's on @ Real Talk cause ive tested most DAWs on many systems>>> they all give me Different results per project/machine im on... but i dont Think you will have better results than using Reaper or Sonar on any machine being it Old dino or a new top of the line build... Reaper used to set em all in the back of the line but with my newest build using Ryzen 800x Sonar is on top of Reaper so go figure HA HA \m/...\m/

 

Ok some more info.

I have 8 core i7. I have 2 tracks of Hammersmith Pro Piano vst, one is a clone of the other. On master I have lots of effects and plugins like altiverb, equalizers, exciter, compressor, limiter + many more. When using Studio One 3 latest version it can just about handle it, resulting sometimes in dropouts and crackles. Use Multicore is on. (I do not want to add more latency, got max tolerable already) If I turn some effects off it all works fine. I do not want to change os (win7). So this is the environment where I wonder what DAW's will do the job the best. Thank you for all answers.

 

do you use any Acustica Audio processing brother? if so or not Reaper or Sonar is gona give you alot more cpu headroom >>> if you do use any Acustica stuff make sure the plugins buffer is set the same as what you are running your DAW at ;)

 

What you describe isn't a big load of vsti and fxs...With a recent I7 8 cores cpu and 16 gig ram, you should be fine.
If the problems stop when you turn off the fxs it probably means that studio 1 doesn't like one or several of the vsties or fxs you have running. Some daws can be a bit b..tchy with some fxs or vsties, others will run them without any issue.Trying a similar project in another daw is your only option to evaluate what causes the problem in studio one. You can also have indeed one of those vsties or vstfxs that don't appreciate something in your setup. Finally make sure all of your drivers are up to date.

 

If the plugins and effects aren't exclusively VSTs then Reason 5.

 

He's right. What you are describing isn't such a big project, and your i7 should be really, really fine (info on model would be better though, huge difference between pre and post Haswell i7s). So it's obviously about one or many plugins not working properly with your DAW. Known issue, check every plugins, make sure they are all x64, then bypass one by one to find the most un-optimized. And you might consider letting it go... Sad story yes!

 

Last edited: Apr 9, 2017