Will GigPerformer and VST's run reliably on an older Macbook pro?

General discussion about Gig Performer
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Just starting to convert to the VST world. Have an opportunity to buy the following:

MacBook Pro 13 inch (Mid-2012)

Processor: 2.9 GHz INtel Core i7
Memory: 8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
OS: 10.14.16 (Mojave)

This will be 100% dedicated to my keyboard rig an nothing else. Willl it be enough to comfortably run and play live music without latency issues? How many “typical” VST’s can I also add before starting to stretch the limits?

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Welcome to the community!

Not easy to answer, because it depends much on the plugins you want to run and your needs.
What VSTs are you planning to run and how many? What audio interface are you running?

Maybe I can help you a little bit as I am running a MacBook Pro 2019 Intel i5 on stage.

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Thanks! Not sure yet, just getting started with this. Need to buy an audio interface too that will meet my needs for live music.

Initial list of VST’s (I’m sure there will be more):

Arturia Analog Lab
Mini V
Stage-73 V

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I’m running a 2015 MacBook Pro, so a few years older but relatively similar specs and have no issues - I uses it for guitar plugins so maybe more CPU intensive than RAM intensive as no samples, but still runs like a dream.

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Hi @spartan_don, welcome to the GP community forum.

Definitely yes, and your Mac will be perfect for you to gain som experience of using VST instruments. The specs of are enough for what you want to do and

As @Stoffel already mentioned there is no rule to determine this. You will have to test.

But, you will need a decent audio interface.

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I’d invest in an SSD (if not already in the configuration) and another 8 GB RAM module (so you have at least 16 GB).

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Gig Performer itself was designed to support machines as early as those running 10.9. GP itself will not add much impact (that’s one of its benefits) but as noted above, it depends much more on what you try to do.

For example, you ask how many VSTs can you load comfortably? A better question (though it still depends on the particular plugins) is how many VSTs can you run simultaneously?

Why? Because plugins in non-active rackspaces don’t use any cpu cycles for audio processing so you could load hundreds of plugins if you’re not using them all at the same time, as long as you have enough RAM. Even if you don’t, you can use predictive loading to reduce RAM requirements if necessary.

Ultimately, it really is going to be dependent on the plugins you want to use and how you plan to organize them for use.

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@spartan_don you also use a korg kronos? So did I, but with the case the kronos 2-88 came up to 48 kg weight and so I tried the gig performer. As being a sound lover and redesigner it’s my personal paradise!

Hope I can give you a little help to show what GP is able to do:

Here a MacBook Pro 2019 Intel i5 8 gb ram with a Presonus studio 26c audiointerface (2x IN, 4x OUT, MIDI IN and OUT) feels more directly than the kronos to me (means less latency)!

To give you an example of a typical song in my setlist:
Rebel Yell (Billy Idol) runs the following plugins using aprox. 20-30 percent cpu load:

OB-Xa V
Synclavier V
2x TAL-UNO-LX
Real LPC (guitar emulation)
Dominator (amp sim)
Audio File Player (backtrack, click, basstrack)
VCS-1 (zero latency audio chan. using compressor and eq)

In this examplw it seems as if the cpu don’t even has to get out of bed, if you know what I mean.

Beside this:
A great thank you to the programmers of gig performer for this gem of software!!

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