Finally, Some Progress

19 Jul 2008

Pro Tools


It's been an eventful day today, but I'll try and cover off what I've done.

I've made huge progress on drum tracks. Brakefoot (parts 1 to 3) now have their drum parts. I have also completed drum parts for Making Up Time In The Air (part 1), and made inroads into 31 Thousand 500.

My continuing evaluation of Pro Tools on OSX/Windows has turned up more interesting results. I downloaded and installed trial versions of all the updated software I'm waiting on (SampleTank 2.5, SampleMoog, SampleTron, B4II) and ran up my sessions on the Mac with these plug-ins loaded. Essentially, the Mac is now running the majority of software that the PC runs, so it is in this form that I can really get a decent feel for how the two systems compare.

Original configuration

Original configuration

I had terrible sync issues with my 002R all day. Pro Tools complained about running out of CPU, delivered hardware interrupt messages, and frequently lost communication with the 002R interface. Now, these messages annoyed me somewhat, as not only did they stop my session from playing back, they were tough to diagnose simply because I the system had loads of CPU left.

Here are the error messages I received using my 002R unit:

You are running out of CPU power. Remove some RTAS plug-ins, or increase the CPU Usage Limit in the Playback Engine dialog. (-9128)

You are running out of CPU power. Remove some RTAS plug-ins, or increase the CPU Usage Limit in the Playback Engine dialog. (-9128)

The operating system held off interrupts for too long. If this occurs frequently, try increasing the "H/W Buffer Size" in the Playback Engine panel. (-6086)

The operating system held off interrupts for too long. If this occurs frequently, try increasing the "H/W Buffer Size" in the Playback Engine panel. (-6086)

Pro Tools was set to use both processors in the Mac, with the maximum CPU rate set at 99%. Having tried everything else, I modified these values so Pro Tools could only use 1 processor, and set the maximum CPU of 85%. Instantly all issues ceased. I spent the rest of the day without receiving a single error message and started to fly through the drum parts I'd been working on.

Tweaked configuration

Tweaked configuration

The lesson learnt here is that setting everything to the maximum settings is not always the way to go, so if any of you out there have been having the same issues, I'd recommended thinking outside the square a little, and try reversing your settings. At this stage I have no idea how these settings will go with 12 guitar tracks and a host of extra processing plug-ins loaded, but I have a feeling that time will tell :-)

So as I write this at 2220 on a Saturday night, tucked in bed with a glass of wine (that's right, I live on the edge), I can't help but feel very positive about moving my DAW to a Mac. I am not yet converted, however I am getting pretty close. So far OSX has been hugely impressive, and Pro Tools has performed like a dream in that environment. The only question I have now is what to do with my $5k Dell XPS...


 

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