Dual Processor Support, i have a question :) Options

[rageheart]

hello!

im using logic 5.2 on os9.
currently only one processor is computing the plugins, the other one computes the gui afaik.
will that change in the future, perhaps with osx/audio units, so that both processors are used for computing the plugins?

thn for any hint!

rage

[BusError]

On the audio path. there is very little interest of attempting to use both processors at once; since it's sequencial in nature - ie you need the output of plugin 1 as output of plugin 2.
Now one could imagine using 2 processors for 2 tracks, however, one must know that synchronising threads is not only hard to do, but also very expensive as far as the processor is concerned. especialy, achieving sample accuracy is next to impossible, even with "real time" threads. he more tracks you'd have, the harder it would get.
So it migth be that an application like an audio one would use more CPU power to keep in sync than whats gained by using 2 CPUs.

So, for the pure audio, thats the answer: KISS (Keep it Simple, Stupid ;-)) It is much easier for everyone to sequence multi tracks using one thread, so, why bother ?

However, there are many other things an application can do with 2 CPUs. Like the VST plugins could use a separate thread to run their snazy windows in etc. That very much everyone to itself at that point.