Recommended System Specs to build a Soundscape System
SSL Soundscape V6 and the SSL MX4 PCIe Card will run on virtually any recent Windows PC with a free PCIe Slot.
It is tested on Windows XP, Vista (32Bit and 64 Bit) and Windows 7 (32 Bit and 64 Bit) with at least 2GB of RAM.
In order to get most out of the SSL Hybrid Core Processing audio engine, we recommend you use branded and superior components for Motherboards, CPU, PSU and RAM.
The more CPU Cores you have, the better the performance.
| CPU | OS | Storage | Graphics | Chipset |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Recommended System for 64 Tracks at 48kHz/24Bit | ||||
| Intel Dual Core 2.26 GHz or more (Nehalem based) or equivalent AMD | Windows 7 (32 Bit or 64 Bit | Internal or external (USB/Firewire/eSATA) SATA Drive 7.2k RPM | Modern ATI or NVIDIA PCIe GPU | Intel Chipset recommended |
| Recommended System for 128 Tracks at 48kHz/24Bit | ||||
| Intel i7 Quad 2.26 GHz or more (Nehalem based) or equivalent AMD | Windows 7 (32 Bit or 64 Bit | Fast internal or external (FW 800 or eSATA) SATA Drive with 7.2kRPM and Minimum Read/Write of 55MB/sec | Modern ATI or NVIDIA PCIe GPU | Intel Chipset recommended |
| Recommended "Power User" System | ||||
| Intel Nehalem based 8-Core System (Dual Quad or Octacore) | Windows 7 (32 Bit or 64 Bit | Fast internal RAID (0, 3 or 5) with a minimum of 70 MB/sec Read/Write | Modern ATI or NVIDIA PCIe GPU | Intel Chipset recommended |
Net-Working:
If you are planning to collaborate with several Soundscape systems over a gigabit Ethernet network and some attached central storage (NAS), you should plan in some time for configuration and testing and look out for the following components:
- NAS (network attached storage): There are several vendors of RAID based NAS systems. You can configure a RAID System for performance, security or both. If you are planning a multi seat storage network, make sure, that it fits your security requirements and add a 50% buffer to your speed requirements. For instance if you need 50 MB/sec Read/Write minimum to run your projects on multiple seats, make sure that the storage is capable of 75MB/sec sustained R/W.
- Switch: Use a "managed Switch" from a well known vendor. These switches typically filter "Broadcast" data to all clients and attempt to optimise the flow of data to the single client that requested it.
- Gigabit Frame Setup: Any Switch, NAS and Network Adapter inside the PC can setup the Ethernet Frame size (Jumbo Frames). Make sure to set up the frame size to the same value on anything inside your network and give yourself some time to experiment and find the optimal settings.
