Severe Lag in DP 8

[Dark Goob]

This is a weird issue. I've been using DP since 2001, and I've never had anything like this happen.

So I've got this one project, nothing unusual about it. Just a couple of VIs in a V-rack, along with a Master Fader, a Bus Mix channel for Bus 3-4 (Drums Mix), six mono drums channels, a MIDI channel for keyboards, two stereo keyboards channels (one for whatever is the active VI of the V-rack, one for an external synth), mono clean vocals and a stereo FX vocals that's a return from an external effects unit, and a mono bass input.

Everything is routed through my 896HD, whose clock is slaved to ADAT optical. The ADAT unit that's connected is just there to provide its 8 extra inputs to the 896HD, and I have the master clock set to ADAT optical because that was the only way to avoid clicks and pops.
I've been using it this way for YEARS with DP with no issues!

The problem is that with this particular project, it has become extremely laggy. Meters on the mixer animate at about 1 frame per second. The animations of plug-ins also play *extremely* slow. Yet my processor meter is barely showing any activity at all, and memory is only showing about half full. (This is with all tracks enabled.)

If I make a new sequence in the same project with ONE channel in it, it's still laggy like that!

Yet if I make a separate, new project it will run just as smooth as butter!

This project was created with DP 8.06 and I am running DP 8.06 on a 3.2 GHz Mac Pro with 64GB RAM and OS X 10.9.5, with an NVIDIA 285 GTX PCI card. All of my other software runs perfectly on here.

I've tried running DP in 64-bit or 32-bit mode; either way it doesn't make a difference.

I would note that the project was recorded all in 32-bit float, 44 KHz. If I make a new project with those same settings, I don't see this issue. I haven't tested making a new project with the same track count, then recording some stuff and seeing if it has an effect.

I guess what I'm wondering is whether this sort of latency issue is a known problem with DP 8.06, or if anyone has possibly encountered something like this before and might be able to suggest a fix?

Thanks

[HCMarkus]

LOAD the problem project into new project and things may improve.

[Shooshie]

A couple ideas:
• New Project, load chunks, as suggested by the esteemed Mr. Markus
• Create new, empty mix to eliminate plugins and automation as contributors to the problem.
• Disable VIs one by one to see if any of them may be corrupted.

Actually, I'd probably try those in reverse order. If any of them work, you'll learn something only if you start with disabling the VIs.

Shoosh

[tommymandel]

Shooshie, your 2nd suggestion reminded me of a question I've had for a long time:
I normally don't enable multiple mixes (actually I never have.) But every once in a while, I get the idea to 'try a new mix' but preserve what I've done so far as a previous mix. But every time I try to create a new mix, the mix I have been working on is gone. I haven't found the way to save the current mix, when no mix is selected! What I've been doing is just saving the project, which seems to accomplish my purpose, regardless of whatever unknown advantages I'm passing up by not understanding what I'm asking you in this post. Thanks for your patience, I know i should just but I'm currently out of town.

[Shooshie]

Hey, Tommy!

Yeah, the MOTU menus in the Mixing Board are confusing. To preserve your current mix when creating the first saved mix, you DUPLICATE the current mix. Then you rename it. That becomes your primary mix. Then to create an empty mix, you create a new mix.

I used to repeat those instructions every time I mentioned new mixes, but I've grown lax. The logic is, you already HAVE a mix going on there, even if it's not saved as a mix. So, to save it as a mix, first you have to duplicate it among the saved mixes. Then your current mix has a copy saved in the mix menu. Now you can leave your mix and come back to it.

I hope that was clear. It might be more clear if MOTU would change the menu item to read "save your current mix to the menu. But it doesn't; it says "duplicate..."

Shooshie

[tommymandel]

Thanks Shooshie, perfectly clear, (even to me haha).
Apologies for going OT on this thread, but thanks again!

PS. every once in a while I have to reboot DP 8.06 on my system or even restart the computer because MIDI slows to a snail's pace or an audio interface isn't recognized. (sometimes the system confuses the Digidesign 002 and the Phonic Helix Firewire mixing board for the other one.) (The two 24i/o's are my 'good children' though ) But I blame this on either the RAID aging, or jBridge running auxhost in the background, or some dodgy plug-in. It goes right away with a reboot, and I'll probably never know.