Organtechnology just installed a 3 Manual plus 32 note pedal board Hauptwerk based VPO, in an Allen 300 series console, in a private residence in Dallas, Texas. All of the Allen electronics were replaced with a Dual Core 8GB Lenovo Computer and the audio module is an M-Audio Firewire 410 ASIO module driving 2 BX-5s and an SPX-10 sub-woofer. The manuals are housed in an Organtechnology stack unit loaded with Behringer UMX-610 keybeds. Organtechnology key cheeks and a custom name board dress up the front to look like a new organ. Voicing the FBR Schantz to the room will be done by Mr. John Tarver of Dallas, TX, a well known organist and tonal consultant in the Dallas area. This project was accomplished for under $10,000.00 and provides an instrument with the sound and style the client wanted. Check the web page for photos (coming soon).
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Organtechnology announces the removal of their facilities to larger quarters.
We are very pleased to announce that thanks to all the people who have, are about to have and want to have an Organtechnology VPO, we are relocating to a larger facility in an industrial park in Plano, Texas.
We now have a demonstration VPO (2M/P) with a semi-headless console and a stereo speaker setup in a church's temporary facilities in Garland, Texas. This Organ is available to see and play by advanced appointment.
We have also enlisted the talent and organ skills of Mr. Grant Youngman to be our sales manager and he has generously agreed to allow us to conduct demonstrations at his location in the DFW area. This is a 3M/P Tracker Touch, Dual Touch Screen, Dual Xeon system with a magnificent audio setup. Perfect for taking your pipe organ home for practice.
If you are going to be in the DFW area for a visit, or if you are local, send us an email and we will arrange a demonstration session for you.
TJG
We now have a demonstration VPO (2M/P) with a semi-headless console and a stereo speaker setup in a church's temporary facilities in Garland, Texas. This Organ is available to see and play by advanced appointment.
We have also enlisted the talent and organ skills of Mr. Grant Youngman to be our sales manager and he has generously agreed to allow us to conduct demonstrations at his location in the DFW area. This is a 3M/P Tracker Touch, Dual Touch Screen, Dual Xeon system with a magnificent audio setup. Perfect for taking your pipe organ home for practice.
If you are going to be in the DFW area for a visit, or if you are local, send us an email and we will arrange a demonstration session for you.
TJG
Sunday, June 19, 2011
RAM and Mother Board considerations for i5 and i7
The question has been posed "How do I get the most RAM value for my new i7 based computer?" Somewhat surprisingly there is no fixed answer to that question because it involves an ever developing competitive environment.
When the i5 and i7 were first announced the i5 was a "2-channel" memory processor and the i7 was a "3-channel" memory processor. Both of these CPU chips had on-chip memory processing capability but required different memory sticks albeit from the same generation (DDR3). The i5 required the 2-channel mother board and the i7 required the 3-channel mother board.
The obvious result of this was that i7 motherboards were equipped with RAM sockets in groups of three modules (usually 6) and the i5 mother board had groups of 2 sockets (usually 4). The gave an i5 machine with a 16GB capacity as the sockets were limited to 4GB memory modules and there were 4 of them and an i7 machine with a maximum capacity of 24GB of RAM. All of this RAM is non-ECC Registered RAM and usually un-buffered as well.
The i7 triple-channel mother boards remain at 24GB maximum with the exception of some server class dual CPU mother boards which can accomodate up to 96GB of RAM (or higher) but which require server class hardware and error correcting memory to reach these levels.
The new "Sandybridge" i5 and i7 processors which use dual channel DDR3 memory and a new motherboard chipset, can provide 16GB capacity i7. Although this is the chip set that was infamous for the production flaw which cost Intel dearly to repair and replace, that has all been workked out now and the Sandybridge product is flowing again.
The Sandybridge chip set allows 16GB of memory on an i7 mother board (i7-2600) and will allow 32GB if there is ever an 8GB module that is non-ECC available. There are currently 8GB modules but they are server class ECC Registered with a price tag in the $350+ range. The i5-2500 CPU uses the Sandybridge boards and still allows 16GB of RAM to be loaded on the mother board.
Is 16GB enough RAM for Hauptwerk ? The answer in most cases is a resounding yes! There are a few sample sets that can require more memory and there will certainly be more of them in the future. So while discussing the RAM requirements for your computer, it should be kept in mind that Hauptwerk recommends that only 66% of the available ram be used to prevent the operating system from trying to stash RAM information on the much slower hard drive. Even the solid-state drives are not as fast as RAM. This can cause a poping and drop-outs in the ASIO audio stream. There are some i7 24GB machines which do not seem to have this issue but the jury is still out. This means that a computer with 16GB of RAM installed, can most likely only utilize 12GB of that memory for Hauptwerk and sample sets. This now means that no, 16GB is not enough for some sample sets. The 24GB RAM reduces to 18GB which in most cases IS enough RAM for Hauptwerk and its professional ASIO audio stream.
The conclusion to this is yet to be written but the recommendation for June 2011 is that if you need more that 12GB and less than 17GB for any sample set you plan to own, that you use the 24GB i7, triple-channel technology. If 12GB is adequate for your current sample sets, then the 16GB Sandybridge motherboards are an excellent choice. Someday there will be 8GB RAM modules but whether they will work in the present mother boards is unknown.
-TJG-
When the i5 and i7 were first announced the i5 was a "2-channel" memory processor and the i7 was a "3-channel" memory processor. Both of these CPU chips had on-chip memory processing capability but required different memory sticks albeit from the same generation (DDR3). The i5 required the 2-channel mother board and the i7 required the 3-channel mother board.
The obvious result of this was that i7 motherboards were equipped with RAM sockets in groups of three modules (usually 6) and the i5 mother board had groups of 2 sockets (usually 4). The gave an i5 machine with a 16GB capacity as the sockets were limited to 4GB memory modules and there were 4 of them and an i7 machine with a maximum capacity of 24GB of RAM. All of this RAM is non-ECC Registered RAM and usually un-buffered as well.
The i7 triple-channel mother boards remain at 24GB maximum with the exception of some server class dual CPU mother boards which can accomodate up to 96GB of RAM (or higher) but which require server class hardware and error correcting memory to reach these levels.
The new "Sandybridge" i5 and i7 processors which use dual channel DDR3 memory and a new motherboard chipset, can provide 16GB capacity i7. Although this is the chip set that was infamous for the production flaw which cost Intel dearly to repair and replace, that has all been workked out now and the Sandybridge product is flowing again.
The Sandybridge chip set allows 16GB of memory on an i7 mother board (i7-2600) and will allow 32GB if there is ever an 8GB module that is non-ECC available. There are currently 8GB modules but they are server class ECC Registered with a price tag in the $350+ range. The i5-2500 CPU uses the Sandybridge boards and still allows 16GB of RAM to be loaded on the mother board.
Is 16GB enough RAM for Hauptwerk ? The answer in most cases is a resounding yes! There are a few sample sets that can require more memory and there will certainly be more of them in the future. So while discussing the RAM requirements for your computer, it should be kept in mind that Hauptwerk recommends that only 66% of the available ram be used to prevent the operating system from trying to stash RAM information on the much slower hard drive. Even the solid-state drives are not as fast as RAM. This can cause a poping and drop-outs in the ASIO audio stream. There are some i7 24GB machines which do not seem to have this issue but the jury is still out. This means that a computer with 16GB of RAM installed, can most likely only utilize 12GB of that memory for Hauptwerk and sample sets. This now means that no, 16GB is not enough for some sample sets. The 24GB RAM reduces to 18GB which in most cases IS enough RAM for Hauptwerk and its professional ASIO audio stream.
The conclusion to this is yet to be written but the recommendation for June 2011 is that if you need more that 12GB and less than 17GB for any sample set you plan to own, that you use the 24GB i7, triple-channel technology. If 12GB is adequate for your current sample sets, then the 16GB Sandybridge motherboards are an excellent choice. Someday there will be 8GB RAM modules but whether they will work in the present mother boards is unknown.
-TJG-
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Hauptwerk V 4.0.0 is here and ........
The already fantastic program from Martin Dyde has a new look and feel and lots of helpful wizards. Yes, Hauptwerk V4.0.0 is here and it works really well as of course you would expect from Hauptwerk. For newcomers to Hauptwerk it is much easier to get started and for us experienced users it is much faster to customize to suit.
If you have been thinking about trying out Hauptwerk V4.0.0 is the place to start! If you need a little help with getting upgraded or are just starting out, drop us an email and we will be glad to assist.
info@organtechnology.com
If you have been thinking about trying out Hauptwerk V4.0.0 is the place to start! If you need a little help with getting upgraded or are just starting out, drop us an email and we will be glad to assist.
info@organtechnology.com
Saturday, February 20, 2010
What do professional organists really want in a practice organ?
Because Organtechnology is engaged in providing affordable practice organs to anyone who wants one, it behooves us to know what it is that is wanted!
So this is your invitation to tell us your ideas for a practice organ. How many manuals you want, what kind of stop jamb, what ranks you want, how many audio channels and the like.
We would like to keep it realistic, but what the heck, it's imaginary right?
So this is your invitation to tell us your ideas for a practice organ. How many manuals you want, what kind of stop jamb, what ranks you want, how many audio channels and the like.
We would like to keep it realistic, but what the heck, it's imaginary right?
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Hauptwerk v3.30 do I really need an i7?
Now that we have Hauptwerk v3.30 with the enhanced polyphony processing, do we really need the extra processing power of the I7 processor over the Quad Core series to play most of the organs?
The new version of Hauptwerk handles the pipe polyphony so well that we no longer need 8 core processors (four core processors with Hyperthreading) such as the I7 to be able to play 'the big organs'. The definition of 'a big organ' is of course somewhat variable and is affected by the number of ranks and divisions as well as the reverberation characteristics of the room but a good rule of thumb is that if the sample set requires more than 8 GB of RAM, it is a big organ.
It has also been observed that a professional organist can 'outplay' a professionally constructed Virtual Pipe Organ in a very powerful computer and suggested that it is probably not possible at this stage of processor development to build a computer that has sufficient polyphony for all sample sets and players.
What are your thoughts on this subject and what experiences do you have with poliphony.
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