Get it while you can. Next level tech. Must have a GTX1xxx video card
That looks very promising!
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I tried it on my laptop (i7 11800H, RTX 3060 6GB GDDR6).
All my reverbs use only 1% to 3% of the cpu. This Fir Convolver uses over 25% !!
Very disappointing, no explanation or details on a possible setting that would allow to exploit the gpu and not the cpu.
Furthermore, the choice of reverb parameters is limited to 2 buttons: one selector for 10 IR types and one Mix button, itās mind-boggling.
Finally, on the site, all the comments are very complimentary but all in the conditional tenseā¦ as if nobody had used this plugin.
I uninstalled this totally useless and greedy plugin while waiting for feedback because the process seems interesting to use in a machine with a powerful graphics card but which does not present any particular advantage in GP.
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I signed up too but at the time no plugins were available. I see that a beta of the FIR Convolver is available but the first beta version says that itās āinitial AMD supportā. I would guess that would mean it doesnāt support NVidia, so it may be unsurprising it bombs out with your RTX 3060.
To be frank, GPU Audio hasnāt seemed to share a lot of details on the technical aspects and details of their products and their FB page has a lot of glitz and promos and livestreams and announcements and razmataz but I really havenāt seen anything Iād call the real thing and user feedback yet. LoL - comparing the GP community type stuff to theirs and you would think they are trying to sell snake oil. Iād advise continuing to monitor but the real deal, even in beta form, hasnāt materialized yet.
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I was careful to get the right version: gpu_audio_nvidia.dll.
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I downloaded the product and sofar have had any notice about a version for NVidia. Iām posting the information from the installer file so everyone can read it themselves as there are some critical notes, to be expected as a beta early access program. It does say that it expects to find two GPU cards, as is found in certain gaming rigs and leaves one for the display and the other for audio GPU processing. The notes on how to measure what is doing what are interesting as that remains to be resolved for mainstream use - eventually.
It may have a lot of promise, but my opinion is itās far from prime time. I have a GFORCE RTX 3070 Extreme in my system, but only one of them, and from previous gaming issues switching between the onboard Iris Display chip and drivers Im not going to mess around with this plugin unless I have a lot of time and inclination in case things go sideways. Others may be more enthusiastic 
GPU Audio - FIR Convolver
(Early Access Demo Version 0.18.1)
Hey there! Thanks for downloading the latest Early Access Demo Version of GPU Audioās new FIR Convolver. Believe it or not, this is the fastest FIR convolution reverb VST3 designed to be powered by GPUs. The FIRC is a simple, single wet/dry knob convolution reverb plugin, with a rotary switch for selecting between 10 custom Impulse Responses. You can also replace these with your own impulse responses, for often surprising results! Read on for the latest updates, install instructions, etc.
early access is meant for testing and community feedback. this is not a final product and should not be viewed as one, & used with caution when on risky or important projects always back up your DAW sessions
I.
System Requirements:
Operating Systems/Hardware
ā¦ Windows PCās, Windows 10/11 OS
ā¦ Discrete NVIDIA GPU that is CUDA capable (recommend series 10xx and up) or certain AMD GPUS
ā¦ Currently Officially Supported DAWs:
ā¦ Bitwig Studio
ā¦ Ableton Studio 10/11
ā¦ Cakewalk
ā¦ MOTU Digital Performer
ā¦ PreSonus Studio One (known issues)
ā¦ Reaper (recommended for EA)
ā¦ Magix Samplitude Pro X
ā¦ Magix Sequoia
ā¦ Cubase
ā¦ Studio One (some issues reported)
ā¦ Not Officially Supported Yet: FL Studio (if you test, see Discord), ProTools (try a wrapper)
II.
Important Links:
EA Plugin Download:
httpsā¦ ://ā¦ earlyaccessā¦ .ā¦ gpuā¦ .ā¦ audio
Discord (Resources and Community): sJ7zxgeb7T
ā¦ YouTube: ā¦ httpsā¦ ://ā¦ youtubeā¦ .ā¦ comā¦ /ā¦ gpuaudio
Bug/Crash Reporting:
httpsā¦ ://ā¦ docsā¦ .ā¦ googleā¦ .ā¦ comā¦ /ā¦ formsā¦ /ā¦ dā¦ /ā¦ eā¦ /1ā¦ FAIpQLSdhmSudEdPJā¦ 0ā¦ nlfuā¦ 9ā¦ cOoFSKā¦ 4ā¦ lā¦ 0ā¦ GwBcMYGdaā¦ 40ā¦ iā¦ 65ā¦ CBaSHAā¦ -3ā¦ Aā¦ /ā¦ viewformā¦ ?ā¦ pliā¦ =1
SDK Signups:
httpsā¦ ://ā¦ docsā¦ .ā¦ googleā¦ .ā¦ comā¦ /ā¦ formsā¦ /ā¦ dā¦ /1ā¦ MoZpā¦ -2ā¦ rUMcehqLGYTā¦ 83ā¦ XISicā¦ 6ā¦ vBeAAPlVā¦ 1ā¦ rgwrnhā¦ 0ā¦ Oā¦ 0/ā¦ viewformā¦ ?ā¦ editā¦ _ā¦ requestedā¦ =ā¦ true
III.
Updates for Version 0.18.1:
ā¦ Extended the trial period
Updates for Version 0.15.1:
ā¦ Fixed performance regression introduced in previous version
ā¦ Better long buffers support
ā¦ Correctly responds to incompatible setup configurations
ā¦ Better support for various sample rates/buffer configuration (96khz/96 samples still recommended)
ā¦ Numerous Performance and Bug Fixes
ā¦ Audio hiccups on āloopingā should be fixed. Please test.
ā¦ AMD GPU early access support (see guide, below).
ā¦ Better single-GPU support. Now you can try running some plugins at low latency together with OBS running!
ā¦ Fast-Rendering Feature Support:
ā¦ GPU AUDIO - based heavy projects (lots of tracks and long timeline) can be rendered / exported faster compared with CPU or DSP alternatives. We want users to try tens or hundreds of GPU FIR Convolvers running on timelines of at least 10 minutes, and render it. It should work faster compared with CPU-based cases. Currently, we expect 3-10X faster synthetic case.
ā¦ After VST3 limitations will be resolved or gone (maybe with CLAP integration) we can assume the speed-up up to 20X-40X, depending on the case. While making the CPU mostly free during the rendering. We know. Thatās huge Letās do it.
ā¦ Known Workarounds:
ā¦ Studio One and other DAW users may experience CPU spikes when returning data from the GPU. Fix: work within EAP buffer settings (96 samples, 256 block as a starting point)
IV.
AMD GPU List (7/5/22)
ā¦ With AMDās official support, we were able to bring AMD GPU support for CUDA processing much faster than anticipated. As a temporary limitation, AMD has asked us to start with āPROā drivers which does limit the models currently in play. There is an important limitation:
ā¦ In an AMD Laptop system, there are two GPUs, one in the APU and one discreet
ā¦ When you install the PRO driver, the consumer grade driver on the APU will be removed by default
ā¦ Laptop users may experience this. Read on for instructions
ā¦ TESTED AMD Drivers:
- 22.10.20-220524a-380149C-AMD-Software-PRO-Edition
ā¦ AMD support is beginning in Early Access with PRO DRIVER support, which means you will need to MANUALLY install the correct driver. The following is a guide:
ā¦ Currently, the following is recommended for a dual AMD setup:
-
Download official driver supporting both APU & GPU 1. https1. ://1. www1. .1. amd1. .1. com1. /1. en1. /1. support
-
Download Pro driver that is the nearest equivalent.
-
Install the PRO driver.
-
APU will be pretty much disabled, so your resolution and desktop effects settings will probably be disabled.
-
Try out the plugin.
-
Revert to originally downloaded installer that supports APU
-
Once installed, the PRO driver will stop recognizing the APU and this is handled for APU only systems in the installer. For dual AMD GPU systems, the consumer drivers will pretty much make the system stop recognizing the APU. For this reason, please keep both the official driver AND your PRO driver easily accessible, to revert back after using the Early Access AMD plugin.
-
Currently Supported AMD GPUs by Architecture:
-
Vega* Navi 1X Navi 2X
ā¦ navi21 (gfx1030)
ā¦ navi22 (gfx1031)
ā¦ navi23 (gfx1032)
ā¦ navi10 (gfx1010)
ā¦ navi14 (gfx1012)
ā¦ vega20 (gfx906)
ā¦ vega10 (gfx900)
ā¦ Jun 2017 Jul 2019 Nov 2020
ā¦ Radeon RX Vega/Radeon VII(7nm)
ā¦ Radeon RX 5000
ā¦ Radeon RX 6000
ā¦ *Vega isnāt officially supported yet, but should still be tested.
V.
About GPU Load Metering:
The Windows Task Manager is useful for seeing how adding instances of a VST3G scales processing loads, however, it is not showing you the āactualā GPU load. Our device scheduler completely occupies the GPU for specific time-slices, if any tasks are running within that particular frame. So in theory, a single channel could show up as ā100% GPUā even though we could run 100-200x - orders of magnitude - more channels.
VI.
Install and Setup Tips for Early Access FIRC:
ā¦ Installing FIRC:
ā¦ Close all DAW applications
ā¦ Double click the latest GPUAUDIOEAP Installer and follow the instructions on the screen.
ā¦ Files will be installed in C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3\GpuAudio
ā¦ Restart your computer. You will be prompted - if you donāt, things can break.
ā¦ Boot up your DAW of choice
ā¦ GPU Settings:
ā¦ Set your PC monitor to use integrated graphics for the screen
ā¦ Set your NVIDIA Settings to Performance Mode (Prefer Maximum Performance)
For best results, set the buffer in your DAW to 256 as a starting point
ā¦ First, for accurate performance, it is recommended to have 2 GPUs in your system: some integrated (Intel or AMD) for display connection, and the discrete one - for the processing. This is commonly the case in āgamingā or āproductionā laptops like Razer, Asus, MSI, or most PCs.
ā¦ If so - please set your default graphics adapter to āintegratedā to get the most performance.
ā¦ Load FIRC to your inserts as you would any vst3 plugin.
ā¦ As itās an EA version, please set the buffer higher to increase the number of instances you can create without dropouts (useful for stress testing)
ā¦ If stress testing, turn down your volume on the track not in use, by -18db to avoid overloading
ā¦ The recent update includes performance boosts for single-GPU systems
VII.
Installing Custom IRs (Impulse Responses):
A custom impulse response is a .wav file that captures the characteristics of an acoustic environment through a transient attack, followed by a tonal sustain and decay. These sounds may be short or long in duration (for example, a hand clap or sweeping sine wave in a corridor or cave).
ā¦ To install your own IRS, go to
C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3\GpuAudio\EAP\Impulse Responses
ā¦ Open the Impulse Response folder.
ā¦ Inside youāll see the current impulse responses.
ā¦ To add your own, create 10 unique folders, 0-9, and add a single IR .wav to each folder.
ā¦ They will correspond to the rotary knob +1 (ex: folder 0 will correspond to knob position ā1ā).
ā¦ Drag and drop the stock IRs into a different folder on your desktop for now.
ā¦ To hear the changes, youāll need to reboot the DAW at this point in time.
About Early Access:
ā¦ As an Early-Access product, we want to set up expectations, share known issues that we are working on, and details about compatibility as we update. It is meant to be a fun way for us to benchmark with the community of users, and is not a final product with final feature sets/max performance, etc. Please note that new features are often experimental, and that is why we are here - to get your reports!
ā¦ The Early Access Program will continue even when the full open-beta Suite is released. We will use EAP to roll out new features such as Pre-M1 Mac OS support, M1 support, iGPU support, Audio Unit support, and various new features and quality-of-life improvements.
ā¦ This EA version is running our GPU Plugins with the official SDK, but not with the official GUI design stack. This will be rolled out iteratively.
ā¦ The final suite, coming in Beta, uses gorgeous embedded GUI graphics that even supports 3-D, openGL and more, and a container method for loading multiple plugin chains for production, without crazy visual design overhead for small plugin developers.
UPDATE!!! I installed the beta and it does give the user the option to install either the NVidia or AMD drivers within the installer routine.
When the installer finished it crashed my system - and it was a hard crash. After restarting my computer whatever was going on at the System/Kernel level was causing severe multi-core loading and high RAM usage - 92% of 64gb ultra fast ram. Fortunately the uninstaller did work after hanging for a few minutes (probably due to the huge system and ram loading) and everything is back to normal.
Not going to be trying that again until there are enough other users singing itās praises before trying it again. Iām just not into this to be spending my time on the bleeding edge when what I have works more than satisfactorily for my personal set up.
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Just tried in Reaper: 1 track with this plugin: Reaper cpu display = 0.5 to 0.8%
Itās much better but still more greedy than for example ValhallaRoom: 0.1 to 0.4%.
What I donāt like about their presentation: āDownload our free early-access plugin to try the fastest convolution reverb powered by GPUā.
Maybe they should specify that it doesnāt free up the cpu load though.
They tend to make it sound too good and forget that itās a beta-beta-beta-version.
I was lucky not to have a crash, but other users report having serious crashes as well (French forums and KVR forum).
Anyway, it doesnāt work properly (for the moment only?) in GP, so I forget.
Wait and seeā¦
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You should report that to them
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@dhj Thatās what I wanted to do but I gave up because I donāt like not having the choice to refuse cookies, not finding a contact link to be able to send a comment and having to create an account with a password and signature to send a comment.
I had already given my email address to download the plugin, maybe Iāll get messages from something other than a no-reply address.
@CruiseCycle CUDA is not installed on my computer, malfunction in GP may be due to that. But I doubt it because it would also malfunction on Reaper, which is not the case.
1 Like
This technology is interesting to me just because itās new and pushing into hardware where it was deemed to be inapplicable for this type of use. However, my rig has enough resources that this would not be useful to me personally, and if necessary, there are tried and true applications to hand off DSP processing to other resources. Short version - Iām not going to spend much time trying this out. Iām also guessing that the company making this is hoping the mainstream plugin producers will use this technology in their products rather than making plugins themselves, so Iām happy to wait and see !!!
I use temp addresses, private browser window and/or container extension, and just delete cookies afterwards in this kind of situation.
FYI I just opened that site in a private browser window and right-clicked the Contact Me button, got the following direct email address (attached here as image)
2 Likes
So simple! I thought this was for professionals (editors, developers,ā¦).
Before sending a message, I would like to clarify something so as not to talk nonsense:
-
in GP, the cpu indicator shows 30% for the gpuaudio plugin and 1% for a classic reverb (valhallaroom).
-
In the windows task manager the global cpu displays 3%, around 1% for GP with gpuaudio and 0.5% with valhallaroom.
How can I explain these very different indications in my message?
The indicator in GP measures only the time taken for the audio processing thread. If that value is high, then they are doing something inside that thread that is VERY slowā¦.maybe related to communication/sharing audio buffers with the GPU not being handled well (speculation on my part)
2 Likes
For your information, I sent the following message:
Hello,
I tested Fir Convolver on my computer and I give you information particularly on its use in real time.
-
Fir Convolver works correctly on Reaper but the CPU load remains 2 times more important than with other reverbs: approximately 2% against 0.5% for valhallaroom for example.
-
On the other hand, I meet a big problem with my software for the live : Gig Performer - Deskew Technologies.
The percentage of time used by the cpu (integrated cpu indicator) is 35% against 1% for valhallaroom and other reverbs (convolution or others). -
There are also audio crackles in Gig Performer below 256 samples buffer while other plugins run without concern with a 96 samples buffer.
Of course Gig Performer has nothing to do with a daw as it is designed primarily for real time use.
Characteristics of my equipment (dedicated to audio only) :
- Dell G15 Laptop / i7-11800H / 16GB DDR4 3200MHz / 2x SSD M2. 1TB / NVIDIA RTX 3060 6GB GDDR6
- OS: Windows 11 21H2
- System fully reformatted and optimized for audio applications / no other applications and services / disable: LAN, WLAN, firewall, antivirus, wifi, bluetooth.
- Configured for real time use (concerts, performance).
- RME Babyface pro FS audio interface.
I am providing this information at the suggestion of the Gig Performer developers who are very attentive to the improvement of their application and to the successful integration of third party applications.
I hope that this information will be useful to you.
Sincerely.
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