Win 64 bit decision, support and solution

[Mfx]

Hi all

Having a think over OS upgrade and have had a little play with W7 32bit. Due to time and restraints have gone back to XP32 for the time being.

Recently upgraded PC to i7 from a P4 (yes I missed the duos/quads and vista band wagon) and really pleased with the new rig. Currently using XP32SP3 and want to make use of the 6GB RAM for samples and speed I have several questions and require some solution advice please re 64 bit OS, inparticular W7;)

1• Not being a Vista fan, not sure why just never felt inspired...should I go XP64/Vista64/W7? ( I am aware that xp64 bit is not offically supported by SB but am sure there are some people with experiene).

2• If using 64 bits bits does this not mean that the system perform differently and how. As I understand 64 buts per sec is more to process than 32bps?

3• I do have a legit W7 key and tried W7 however I have not been able to install the driver under legacy or other for the RME Fireface 800. Anyone got any experiences or solutions? (Maybe I did something incorrectly).

4• I am still awaiting 64bit support for the Access Virus and guessing j-bridge or 32 bit mode isn't going to help so 32bit is only option for the moment - why I am still on 32XP.

5• I have a couple of Wave plugins, Reason 4, Cubase 5, NI Kontakt5, Vanguard, Fabfilter and PSP Nitro...anyone had experience with any of these in W7 32 or 64bit?

6• I still, but dont have to, use a Emagic Unitor8 midi interface but no drivers would load under legacy and no 64bit available. Can anyone advise if I can use all the ports and address them from within cubase via the midi on the FF or Virus (routing). Haven't tried yet so hoping someones got some tips here. Got a dozen pieces of midi gear.

Anything else people can advise or suggest I am all eyes and ears.

Many thanks and hope my ?'s aren't making people :rotfl: too much .

[D]

XP64 is the best of all possible DAW OS right now. That is my opinion, and you will find other expert level people here who concur.

64 bit processing is faster than 32 bit, simply because the data paths can carry more data with fewer instructions at the machine code level.

If you keep your old machine and use it as a slave, you can use all software that will not work on your 64 bit OS of choice. The good news is that most 32 bit software will work on a 64 bit OS. This excludes drivers, which must be written for the OS.

Hope this helps.

[Beat Productions]

Personally, I although I liked the XP64 footprint MUCH more but I couldn't find all drivers/programs/support that worked well in XP64 so I went to Vista 64 and have been very happy. I find it more stable than XP although a bit of a resource hog. Roll on W7!

[paulwr]

whatever 64 bit o/s you go with, it will be more stable.

I'm on XP x64 on three of 4 computers. Need one 32 bit for GigaStudio 3. God I'll be happy when I don't need that any longer!! But certain sounds I still need and everything doesn't import well into Kontakt like I'd like.

W7 is fabulously stable. I did some beta testing. When I have the time, I'll be porting the main DAW over to that, and then the slaves as the need arises. They are very very stable right now, and you just don't screw with a box that makes great sound.

-Paul

[Mfx]

Thanks for the feedback. Have got retail W7Ultimate x64 and loving it. A few compatibility issues with older midi interfaces but no real deal, issue with RME driver in 32 bit Cubase but works great in 54 bit so great and trying to get Waves to work in the jbridge wrapper with shell2vst host.