32/64 bit

I don't get what the difference between 32 bit and 64 bit is. Basically I don't know what these are at all.

Do you get improved sound quality in 64 bit? And do you need your DAW to be 64 bit in order to use Reaktor in 64 bit?

Also, I was having a look at the 5.6 manual addendum and how you can toggle the 32 bit mode on and off from the info window. Mine is turned off and I'd be surprised if this means I'm running it in 64 bit by default.

 

Sound quality is the same. 64-bit version is for 64-bit DAWs, so you don't have to use a bit-bridge to run Reaktor.

 

The main advantage of 64 bit (when '64 bit' is being referred to in this context) is memory addressing. Movie score composers and others with similar needs run large 'orchestras' of virtual instruments and the sampling memory can easily top out with the limits of 32 bit.

32bit limits the amount of RAM your DAW can use to 4GB, whereas 64bit removes the limit, allowing you to run many more plugins, more tracks, etc.

Obviously there is no advantage if you don't have the RAM to begin with, and the other 'con' of 64 bit is Pace/iLok protected plug-ins are still running 32 bit authorization (though this will change very soon) and of course many plug-ins are still 32 bit.

IF you are not running sampling instruments in the manner of above scenario and hitting these memory limits then it is of no particular consequence for most users.

 

Actually, there is a RAM advantage! If your system is 64-bit pure (which is actually still tricky, especially on Windows), you won't be spending any of your memory on loading the 32-bit libraries in addition to the 64-bit runtimes. It might only be a few hundred megabytes at most, but if you have 4GB that might actually matter.

 

Thank you for the replies.

Loopy, you're saying that "32bit limits the amount of RAM your DAW can use to 4GB, whereas 64bit removes the limit". So how much RAM would I need if my system was 64 bit?

And since I now have 4GB, does this mean that practically even if I my system was 64 bit, it would still behave as 32 bit?

 

Depends on what you need

A classic example of a memory-hungry instrument is an orchestral instrument. It would have many samples per note, for articulations, for different concert halls (saving reverb processing). A full orchestra would run into the double digits for a major classical piece. Some individual instruments could even break the 4GB limit!

There might be a cause for slower operation if the 32-bit instruction set is emulated when running in 32-bit mode on a 64-bit CPU. The OS might also supply improved system libraries for mathematical operations when in 64-bit mode, and emulated/slower 32-bit code otherwise.

64-bit mode also has more registers available. Programs can work entirely off registers for more complicated operations without having to dip into slower system memory for temporarily carrying the two

 

Thank you for your post.

One more clarification: I know we can talk about 32/64 bit plug-ins and DAWs, but can we talk about CPUs and software being 32/64 bit too? Or that's not a real problem because these are already 64 bit? Excuse me if I'm thick, just trying to understand.

 

I don't know about Windoze but on a Mac you can run Snow Leopard in 32 bit kernel and have your programmes running in 64bit

 

Yeah I just googled it and found this really useful article: http://www.askdavetaylor.com/snow_leopard_running_32_bit_64_bit_32bit_64bit.html

It appears that I'm running both the software and Reaktor (standalone) 64 bit and I didn't even know that.. funny!

But now I have another question: When I use Reaktor as a plug-in in Ableton Live (32 bit), does it behave as 32 or 64 bit?

 

You'll be running 32-bit in Ableton.

These are some scenarios on OS X:

32-bit plugin on a 64-bit CPU, DAW started in 64-bit: Problematic, because the maths might be emulated, code not running at full potential. Bridges can be unstable (Kore 2 runs well for me, but a few other plugins freeze the system in Logic - Ableton being only 32-bit is actually a blessing .

32-bit plugin on a 64-bit CPU, DAW started in 32-bit: Same inoptimal code, but stability issue of bridge is gone.

32-bit driver on 64-bit system+CPU: Same code issues, plus it forces ALL drivers to run as 32-bit. A Mac Pro user with a Quadro GPU and more than 4GB video RAM might not be a happy camper in this scenario

64-bit plugin on 64-bit system: No problem, as it's compiled with awareness of extra registers that improve operations, and has access to any fancy mathematical instructions.

64-bit driver on 64-bit system: As above, full access to any memory, no bridging at the OS-level to talk to software, all the built-in drivers will be running as 64-bit.

And yes, OS X runs 32 or 64-bit programs just fine in either mode, as long as the CPU is a Core 2 Duo or newer. But the 32-bit mode will be using a simpler instruction set unless the programmers did some tricky things to check for a 64-bit instruction set manually. Any custom maths might do this, anyway, but system libraries are the easy way out.

The tl;dr version: 64-bit make system go faster! Programs bigger! Less waste!