All waves configuration tag price don't reflect only gear but also come with : - professional support, - Sturdy all-metal casing, - Free 1-year warranty, - Neutrik etherCon SoundGrid port connector for some units - and more important all love from waves.

I always take my [2013 CPU i7 4770](https://ark.intel.com/content/www/fr/fr/ark/products/75122/intel-core-i7-4770-processor-8m-cache-up-to-3-90-ghz.html)as reference. It always had decent results on reverb test [creamware pulsar saturation on PCI Bus before](https://www.forums.scopeusers.com/viewtopic.php?t=17078&start=460) with the same result : around 10/11 reverbs. When i need to check the "brut power" of a CPU for reference, i google "i7 4770 vs The other one cpuboss" and check rapidely on some site like [CPU Boss](http://cpuboss.com/) for benchmarck comparison or [passmark comparison website](https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/). I check to have at least the same as the i7 4770 (or almost equivalent : [i5 8500T](https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/Intel-Core-i5-8500T-vs-Intel-Core-i7-4770/3231vs1907), [i7 4790](https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/Intel-i5-8500T-vs-Intel-i7-4770-vs-Intel-i7-4790/3231vs1907vs2226) Avoid Celeron, Intel I3 or too old CPU (before 2013), and be carefull with the reference : i6500 is NOT the same as i6500T (or K, S, T, U ....)

For a long time as reference (on planetz : [creamware user](https://www.forums.scopeusers.com/viewtopic.php?t=17078&start=460)) : ASUS or GIGABYTE where the most reliable choice for a music computer.

One of the mesure of setup performance (and does not reflect the whole CPU capabilities - see "[CPU Performance vs. Real-Time Performance in Digital Audio Workstations (DAW)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUsLLEkswzE)" for full explanation), is to test the worst case scenario for plugins use : reverbs. Reverbs are often the most commun and worst for system resources. This is why this is a commun reference.( see 2005 [Masterverb thread](https://forums.scopeusers.com/viewtopic.php?t=17078&sid=21d12edd7bac80c1b0427111224bc653)) A simple test you can do, as waves does : ### Test Version Result : Exemple : H-reverb 20 (11034840) will refer to a studio rack test on Waves V11 @ 48Khz under a latency of 40 ### Test Case | Case | Main Soft | Sub soft | Comments | |---- |---- |---- |---- | | 01 |eMotion |LV1 |latency optimized mode | | 02 |SuperRack |SoundGrid | | | 03 |StudioRack |SoundGrid Studio |SoundGrid mode | Source : [Waves](https://www.waves.com/compare-servers) [Plugins latency](https://www.waves.com/support/tech-specs/plugin-latency) ### Test Itself #### Case 3 StudioRack + SoundGrid Studio 1. create an audio track on your DAW, insert random wav on it 2. set studiorack plugin insert on this track, select H - Reverb plug in 3. play, if it's : - DOES NOT poping or other interference, duplicate and repeat until it does - DOES popin, your reach your max, count your track number : and this his the end of the test

## CPU Try to change the thermal paste of your CPU with someting like Thermal Grizzly Hydronaut - Conductive, High Performance Thermal Paste - Extensive for air Cooling Systems, Water Cooling, for All heatsinks CPU and GPU (7,8 Gram / 3 ml) Amazon [US](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ZJSDB7W) [FR](https://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/B00ZJSDB7W) and Isopropanol 99,9% Alkohol - Amazon [US](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07D4N472Q/) [FR](https://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/B07D4N472Q/) It will reduce your CPU temperature of few degrees.

Here's a simple set of instructions how to create a Soundgrid Server V11 USB stick on Windows in about 5 minutes - install SoundGrid Studio (or another Soundgrid application of your choice) on your System - Download Rufus https://rufus.ie/ - insert an empty USB stick - open Rufus and toggle "Show advanced drive properties" (below the "Partition scheme"-Dropdown). You don't need to click anything here, instead click on the "Boot selection"-Dropdown - select "Syslinux 6.04" from the "Boot selection"-Dropdown - hit START. You'll get some warning dialogs, as well as some dialogs where you need to allow Rufus to download syslinux. - download and install 7-Zip https://7-zip.org/ - navigate to C:\ProgramData\Waves Audio\SoundGrid Firmware\SGS - open the .wfi file with 7-zip - extract the content to your USB stick - eject the USB stick and put it in your server Source [krabbencutter](https://gearspace.com/board/music-computers/1311451-diy-waves-soundgrid-server-2020-edition.html)

Some command : ``` AG_NSServer -help ```  ``` AG_NSServer -i eth0 -m sgnf AG_NSServer -i eth0 -m sgnf -o ./wsgnf -d ```

Here is the symptom :  or ``` case controller -c no_lan can't open led serial device: /dev/case_controller ! case controller failed! ``` Resolution : add additional nic card

Hold SHIFT-F until the "FW" on your soundgrid server lights up and click that 'FW'.

With a NIC Card with multiple outputs, If you don't need more than one server and too long distance (ie a studio)... you can bypass the usage of the ethernet hub ... Worked with HP NC360T (low profile) between HP400G7 and direct cable to HP600G3SFF (SG Server) without any hub. It should work with a backup server but you need to test it.