64 vs 32 vst question

[Jimmy James]

Ok, I searched for this answer and couldn't find it. I have Windows 10 64. I run Reaper 64.
Most of my plugs are 64 and a few 32. I have the automatic bridge mode checked. I think that lets the 32 run in 64 BETTER?

1. Someone said I lose ram with 32 plugs. If I have auto bridge enabled. Do I still get my full RAM?

2. If I have 32 bit installed but I don't load it in a project, will I use all my available ram?

Thank you for your time.

[karbomusic]

Originally Posted by Jimmy James

I think that lets the 32 run in 64 BETTER?

You need the bridging to run 32 bit VSTs at all in 64 bit Reaper.

1. Someone said I lose ram with 32 plugs. If I have auto bridge enabled. Do I still get my full RAM?

You aren't going to lose RAM, that's a conflation concerning 32 bit OS. The bridging may use a tiny bit more RAM and there will be 'some' small CPU hit to actually do the marshalling over the bridge between the 32 bit VST and 64 bit Reaper. I have not seen this be much of an issue personally.

The big thing to remember is keep your 32 bit and 64 bit VSTs in separate root directories if possible. Then in Reaper always place the 64 bit scan path last in the scan list because... If there happens to be a 64 bit and 32 bit version of a VST installed, Reaper always favors the last scan path in the list and will choose the 64 bit version over the 32 bit which is what you want when using Reaper 64 bit.

[Jimmy James]

Originally Posted by karbomusic

You need the bridging to run 32 bit VSTs at all in 64 bit Reaper.



You aren't going to lose RAM, that's a conflation concerning 32 bit OS. The bridging may use a tiny bit more RAM and there will be 'some' small CPU hit to actually do the marshalling over the bridge between the 32 bit VST and 64 bit Reaper. I have not seen this be much of an issue personally.

The big thing to remember is keep your 32 bit and 64 bit VSTs in separate root directories if possible. Then in Reaper always place the 64 bit scan path last in the scan list because... If there happens to be a 64 bit and 32 bit version of a VST installed, Reaper always favors the last scan path in the list and will choose the 64 bit version over the 32 bit which is what you want when using Reaper 64 bit.

Cool, thanks man. I think I follow what you are saying.
In a nutshell, I should keep my 32 bit? I don't lose performance. No need to set fire to my 32 BIT plugs.

Edit: btw, I have a Windows 10 64, i7 4790k, 16gb ram and nvidia 1060.

[Glennbo]

Originally Posted by karbomusic

The bridging may use a tiny bit more RAM and there will be 'some' small CPU hit to actually do the marshalling over the bridge between the 32 bit VST and 64 bit Reaper. I have not seen this be much of an issue personally.

My experience was not as good. When I switched to 64-bit Win7 several of my projects that were at the edge in 32-bit, had the scales tipped enough that they would not play without artifacts in the audio. One by one I replaced things like the 32-bit Lexicon Pantheon with the 64-bit Lexicon MPX Native Reverb, and was able to make those songs play again at 64 samples latency.

If you don't have 100+ FX and 30+ tracks, it may not matter, but I saw enough of a hit bridging 32-bit FX to shell out some money and replace all mine with 64-bit versions so I would use no bridging.

[karbomusic]

I'm bridging right now with 100+ tracks and maybe 180 plugins with maybe 20 of those being 32 bit so it isn't really that. The thing we don't won't to conflate is bridging 32 bit plugins vs bridging buggy 32 bit plugins and those bugs may not surface until they are bridged. Just ditch any plugins that can't work well bridged and the problem should go away.

[Glennbo]

Originally Posted by karbomusic

I'm bridging right now with 100+ tracks and maybe 180 plugins with maybe 20 of those being 32 bit so it isn't really that. The thing we don't won't to conflate is bridging 32 bit plugins vs bridging buggy 32 bit plugins and those bugs may not surface until they are bridged. Just ditch any plugins that can't work well bridged and the problem should go away.

Other factors come into play as well though. My DAW is a five year old i5 running at 2.8Ghz with 6GB RAM, and the songs that I had trouble with using bridged 32-bit plugins, were at the ragged edge of not being able to play without any bridging.

I was in the mixing phase with a couple projects when I went 64-bit, and the songs were already in the "add one more effect, and break the camel's back" mode, so having a third of my plugins suddenly bridged was well over the edge.

[karbomusic]

To stay on the original point... It's not that bridging uses significant CPU (though it does use some and would eventually add up), it is because you were already at the edge of the cliff so anything 'more' would have taken you over the edge. Regardless, long-term, 64 bit is better, install both 32 bit and 64 bit Reaper (preferably portable), and slowly migrate from former to latter. That offers the highest chances of few or no issues.

[Glennbo]

Originally Posted by karbomusic

To stay on the original point... It's not that bridging uses significant CPU (though it does use some), it is because you were already at the edge of the cliff.

I pointed that in the second sentence of my first post in this thread, where I said,

"My experience was not as good. When I switched to 64-bit Win7 several of my projects that were at the edge in 32-bit"

The point being, that the extra CPU consumption for bridging becomes more and more visible at that edge, which is why I qualified that first sentence.

Edit: Additionally, I wanted to keep that edge as far away as possible, and bridging did not help achieve that goal for me.

[karbomusic]

Originally Posted by Jimmy James

Cool, thanks man. I think I follow what you are saying.
In a nutshell, I should keep my 32 bit? I don't lose performance. No need to set fire to my 32 BIT plugs.

Edit: btw, I have a Windows 10 64, i7 4790k, 16gb ram and nvidia 1060.

See my other post about both 64 and 32 bit being used in tandem while you transition. My plan was that I'd eventually just remove the 32 bit version of Reaper (check, I did). My other plan was to eventually rid myself of all 32 bit plugins but that never happened because there are a handful that just do what I want. So I try to not use those if I don't have to but do still use a few of them and I transitioned in maybe 2010 or so. AKA once 32 bit plugs were down to minimal usage, I found no reason to ditch them forever.