Deep Synth Theory Insights: Improving Performance
In My Opinion
Halion and Sonic share the same engines, so I assume that the additional overhead from accessing more features might increase the load, but I haven’t noticed any significant impact.
The Drawback:
Halion, Sonic, and UVI utilize what I refer to as “differentiation” sound design. This approach involves taking a single sound and expanding it into several variations. For instance, you might have:
- A sound without reverb
- A second sound with reverb
- A third sound with reverb, delay, and distortion
When you select adjacent sounds, they often end up being very similar, if not exactly the same. I assume this is a way to get a higher preset count.
The issue arises because these effects or layers aren’t truly deleted; they’re just bypassed. My testing shows that bypassing layers doesn’t reduce CPU load at all.
Personally, I’m not a fan of this method. The main concern is that neither Halion nor UVI’s engines return CPU resources when you bypass layers or effects.
So, essentially, sound designers are merely bypassing layers (and in Halion Sonic, you can’t even see them due to the limitation of four simultaneous engines). You are burning CPU cycles and you don’t even know it!
Bottom Line:
In Halion, you can see all the layers at all times, allowing you to delete those bypassed layers, which can free up significant CPU resources. The same applies to UVI products: removing bypassed effects can greatly enhance performance.
I saved like 2x the CPU when I upgraded to Halion because I could delete all that stuff that I couldn’t even see was there. Check, check, check it out!