Playback Overload

[dixiechicken]

DC here!

Lats night I started to get playback oveload i DP playing back a recorded audiofile.

I recorded my bands latest rehearsal on an usb stick directly through the Soundcraft UI-16 mixer console.

Loaded the wav-.file into DP-8.0.7 & started to edit the file cutting away the pauses discussions and re-take of the songs.
Put each song on a new stereo-audio track in DP.

Have about 14 stereo audio tracks in the project, no MIDI no effects no virtual intruments of any kind.Listening to the last song all the others audiofiles are muted so I only listen to one song at a time.

The playback meter goes into the red and audio stops. If I stop playing and wait a few seconds and start playing again the audio is back for some 15 seconds and then the same thing happens again repeadedly.

The processing meter in DP is barely moving just thin green line visible -
the playback meter goes into the red and audio stops - although DP keeps on playing - the counter keep moving numbers.

Setup:
Mc Pro Nehalem 2009 quad-core 2.66GHz. 16GB ram. Yosemite 10.10.4 - swedish
Motu-828 MKII using firewire. MIDI Time Piece AV. DP-8.0.7
Buffer settings is 1024, 1 multiplier, Work priority = low.

Anybody please gort any tips - what be the cause of this?
Cheers: Dixiechicken!

[bayswater]

You didn't say whether you copied the files from the USB drive to a drive on the Mac, and loaded them into DP from there. If you didn't, that would be a place to start.

[dixiechicken]

DC here!

Yes I did!
I started by importing the long audio wav file into DP-8.0.7.
I was recordes with 48KHz/24 bit fron the Soundcraft UI-16 mixer to the USB-stick.
And converted into 44KHz during the import operation.

Cheers: Dixiechicken!

[monkey man]

I was going to ask the very same question.

Are you certain the files were actually copied to your HD? Just because you converted or edited them is not necessarily reason enough to assume the new files aren't residing on the flash disk too. It's a preference setting.

Anyway, if that's where they are, that'd explain the playback meter's readings. The meter's reading is a combined CPU-usage / disk-load one, and if you're using the thumb drive, the feedback DP received would likely be interpreted as that of a "normal" drive's being under duress due to the comparatively-slow performance.

Just MHO, but I suspect Bayswater figured this too.

[dixiechicken]

DC here!

Thanks for the input - I will double check.

I just assumed that when I imported audio into DP and it showed up in Soundbites window -
that it had been transfered to the hard drive.

Cheers: Dixiechicken!

[mikehalloran]

Much of my work is on files that others send me. I always create a Raw Audio folder in the project folder, copy the audio into that from whatever source and work from there.

Not only does this eliminate the possibility of working from the wrong drive but I never have to look for those files again, an issue before I started organizing this way. When I had major problems converting my files to work in DP 7.24, this saved me a lot of time.

On the occasions I record directly to DP, this isn't necessary, of course, only when I bring in audio from another source.

[dixiechicken]

DC here!

Good suggestion that last one - I will have to change my "evil ways"

Cheers: Dixiechicken!

[bayswater]

I just assumed that when I imported audio into DP and it showed up in Soundbites window -
that it had been transfered to the hard drive.

That assumes two things: that you have preferences set to copy imported files to the project's audio folder, and that you have saved the project, and therefore it's project folder somewhere other than the original USB drive.

When you start a project by importing audio, you can get make sure things are in the right place by using "save as" and save to your audio drive, and in the save dialog, check the box that tells DP to copy the audio to the new project folder. From then on, things will be organized and located correctly.

[dixiechicken]

DC here!

Another good suggestion - I will look into it.
Take some time to figure out the best workflow for me.

Thanx again for all the help.

Cheers: Dixiechicken!

[monkey man]

DC here!

I love it.

[Phil O]

I always create a Raw Audio folder in the project folder, copy the audio into that from whatever source and work from there.

Not only does this eliminate the possibility of working from the wrong drive but I never have to look for those files again...

Excellent tip, Mike! I'm going to incorporate that into my workflow. I always copy audio to my work drive, but keeping it in a dedicated folder in the project folder makes so much more sense...and I really like the name "Raw Audio." I think I'll steal it.

I knew we kept you around here for some reason.

Phil

[dixiechicken]

DC here!

Yesterday night after a rehearsal with the band. I started from scratch.

Deleted all the soundbites.
Copying the wav file from the usb-stick into the project audio folder on the hard drive.

Changing also the MAS driver setting from 44,1 KHz to 48 KHz before importing
the file into DP.
(that was the freguence in tthe audio recording from my Soundcraf UI16)

So far so good - but I havent done all the editing yet - so we'll see.
Thanks agin for all the help.

Cheers: Dixiechicken!

[dixiechicken]

DC here!

The playback overload is back.
I have 17 edited wave files - aka 17 songs
each on its own stereo track.

I have removed all unused soundbites from the project.
The file resides in the audio-folder on the hard drive.
I only playback 1 stereotrack at a time.


When I play song 17 - Suffering With the Blues playback indicator redlines
and play back stops.

When I play song 2 - Cardiac Party - the playback indicatore redlines - but playback and audio keeps on playing????

All brilliant ideas are extremely welcome - lols

Cheers: Dixiechicken!

[bayswater]

Open up OS X Activity Monitor, and then start the playback in DP. Activity Monitor will show the load on the CPU, and will also show disk activity. Often you will find DP's Audio Performance monitor showing overload when Activity Monitor shows that everything is fine. You might also find disk activity in Activity Monitor spiking, and that can produce Overload in the DP Audio Performance monitor. That might indicate a problem with the drive.

If everything looks fine in Activity Monitor, and DP is producing the sound you expect, just turn off DP's load monitor, or ignore it. I never have it showing. Too often it reports problems that don't exist.

[dixiechicken]

DC here!

Checked that!
It's the same as in my previous post.
Playback of song number 2 redlines playback activity monitor in DP but playback and audion continue.

Playback of songs 17 or 16 as an example - redlines the playback activity monitor in DP and audio stops playing back - the counter i DP keeps moving.

Activity monitor on the MAC - shows almost no processor activity just a slight coloration in one maybe two of the kernels.
It does show quite a bit of disk activity - but I do not know how to read that graph it is showing.
Does the peaks touching the thin black line in the bottom graph indicate disk overload???

Cheers: Dixiechicken!