let's hear from people with good working systems !!

[deepinfluence]

ROCK SOLID SETUP!!!
PPC Quad 2.5GHZ, 8.5GB RAM, 2x1TB HD's, 32' LCD MONITOR, STUDIO MONITOR YAMAHA MSP10'S
DIGITAL PERFORMER 5.13, 01X DAW MIXER, TC ELECTRONIC POWERCORE, WAVES DIAMOND BUNDLE, CSR CLASSIC VERBS, WAVE ARTS BUNDLE, AUTOTUNE 5, AUD1 (UPGRADING TO AUD2 QUAD)
VIRTUAL INSTRUMENTS= MACHFIVE, ETHNO, COLOSSUS, SONIK SYNTH 2, VIRUS, VANGUARD, NEXUS, ATMOSPHERE, TRILOGY, FM8, MASSIVE, CS80V, MINIMONSTA, RAPTURE...

ORDERING DP 6.0 "SO LET'S SEE IF MY PLUGINS & VIRTUAL INSTRUMENTS PLAYS NICE"

[FutureLegends]

All's well here.

DP6.0 was really stable on my system. And haven't had any issues with 6.01 (though haven't used it that much yet).
I don't use heavy VIs. Just a few tracks of MachFive and Battery 3. UAD-1e works fine and with DP6.01 the jumpy knobs are gone.
It's all just smooth sailing right now. It's nice

[James Steele]

So glad I never went to Leopard.

Yes. Yes you are.

I'm kicking myself because I have exact same configuration as you but Leopard and my NI VIs are hosed. I've just put off going through the agony of reinstalling Tiger because I don't want to dig up all my disks and go through authorizations again, etc.

Seriously, situations like this are precisely why I actually prefer the iLok. If all my authorizations were on iLok, I'd have no hesitation wiping the drive and downgrading to Tiger.

[kwiz]

I run a 2.16ghz Core Duo 1 (first generation) Macbook.
2gb RAM
OS 10.4.11
I record to the internal drive at 44.1/24 bit. I don't typically record more than 18-20 tracks in a single pass, but the laptop has no problem with that number.

I use external Firewire drives for temporary backup.

I've just finished a project that had up to 60 tracks of playback going.
It all works exactly the way it should.

Dave

Dave,

Do you have your internal drive partitioned? If so, how many partitions do you have, how large is the drive, and lastly, how many rpms is this drive.

It's always been said that you should never record to your internal drive but obviously you're doing it with great success!

Bump

[magicd]

It has long been a common misconception that you can't or shouldn't record to the internal drive of the computer. I will clarify that by saying I've never recorded with any other application besides DP, so I have no idea what limitations other applications may have.

Since I've moved to OSX I no longer partition drives.

There is also a common misconception that OSX defragments drives automatically. It does not. Fragmentation can take a long time time to happen under OSX, but it will happen. I (and Apple) recommend TechTool Pro as a defragmentation and disk maintenance tool. I defragment maybe once every two years.

I'm running the stock 5400rpm drive.

It makes a big difference to overall computer performance to keep at least 10gb of free space on the drive.

You may actually get better track counts from the internal drive as opposed to a drive that shares the same Firewire bus as the Firewire interface.

You can get slightly better drive performance by using an external 7200rpm drive connected to a secondary bus via PCMCIA/Express card, or via USB 2.0 connection. We do tell our customers that use our V4HD video interface that on a laptop, they should use a SATA card and external drive, but that's for high density video signal.

If you are also working with streaming samples to virtual instruments, and playing back movies, that can make a difference. At the limits or performance, splitting these tasks to different drives will give you better drive efficiency.

I've been using laptops for recording since the G3 generation. Years ago I set up a Magma PCI chassis and connected a first generation 2408 to my G3 and recorded 24 tracks of audio to the internal drive. I think I may be the first person to ever record 24 simultaneous tracks of audio to a laptop computer!

Dave

[kwiz]

Thanks Dave!
I got your email as well.

[Frodo]

It has long been a common misconception that you can't or shouldn't record to the internal drive of the computer.

Hi Dave:

By "internal drive", do you mean the System Drive itself where a dedicated second drive can also be "internal"? I've *always* had questionable results when using the System Drive for audio recording even on small projects. Pops and clicks are the main symptom even where buffers and work priorities are adjusted in various combos.

I know that one *can* record to the System Drive, but I struggle with understanding how this would be advisable based on what I've seen. I, too, have used DP on various laptops since the G3 days. If you can expound on your point or share some settings, it would be greatly appreciated.

Kind thanks,
Frodo

[magicd]

Hi Dave:

By "internal drive", do you mean the System Drive itself where a dedicated second drive can also be "internal"? I've *always* had questionable results when using the System Drive for audio recording even on small projects. Pops and clicks are the main symptom even where buffers and work priorities are adjusted in various combos.

I know that one *can* record to the System Drive, but I struggle with understanding how this would be advisable based on what I've seen. I, too, have used DP on various laptops since the G3 days. If you can expound on your point or share some settings, it would be greatly appreciated.

Frodo,
I've posted my specs and performance, including that I recorded 24 tracks to the stock internal drive of a G3 Mac (back in OS9 days and I don't remember which version of DP). Yes, I am using the stock internal drive of my first generation MacBook Pro.

I also beat the crap out of this computer for non music work. It's my office computer and I also dabble in graphics and video.

I've disabled Dashboard. I'm running OS 10.4.11 with 2gb installed RAM. Other than that, the computer is stock.

In DP I run the Sample Buffer at 1024. On the occasion that I do work with VIs, I drop the buffer to 256. Work Priority is set to High. Buffer multiplier at 1. Pre Fill Buffers is disabled.

I've never had pops and clicks. If I run the buffer at 256 on a very large project, I get slow response, up to the point of getting buffer overload messages. If I have to track VIs on a large project, I switch to a new mix and disable some or all plug-ins while I'm tracking.

It works.

Dave

[Frodo]

Hi Dave:

By "internal drive", do you mean the System Drive itself where a dedicated second drive can also be "internal"? I've *always* had questionable results when using the System Drive for audio recording even on small projects. Pops and clicks are the main symptom even where buffers and work priorities are adjusted in various combos.

I know that one *can* record to the System Drive, but I struggle with understanding how this would be advisable based on what I've seen. I, too, have used DP on various laptops since the G3 days. If you can expound on your point or share some settings, it would be greatly appreciated.

Frodo,
I've posted my specs and performance, including that I recorded 24 tracks to the stock internal drive of a G3 Mac (back in OS9 days and I don't remember which version of DP). Yes, I am using the stock internal drive of my first generation MacBook Pro.

I also beat the crap out of this computer for non music work. It's my office computer and I also dabble in graphics and video.

I've disabled Dashboard. I'm running OS 10.4.11 with 2gb installed RAM. Other than that, the computer is stock.

In DP I run the Sample Buffer at 1024. On the occasion that I do work with VIs, I drop the buffer to 256. Work Priority is set to High. Buffer multiplier at 1. Pre Fill Buffers is disabled.

I've never had pops and clicks. If I run the buffer at 256 on a very large project, I get slow response, up to the point of getting buffer overload messages. If I have to track VIs on a large project, I switch to a new mix and disable some or all plug-ins while I'm tracking.

It works.

Dave

Hey Dave:

Thanks SO much for the extended explanation. You have no idea how much I appreciate the info and the settings. It really offers a great benchmark as a starting point.

For example-- "pre-fill buffers" seems like a feature that would improve overall performance. It's actually listed as "prefill buffers for quick start". The words "quick start" are very attractive, so one wouldn't even consider disabling a feature that promotes quick starts if sluggishness is the symptom. (I hope I'm talking about the same feature that you are unless I'm mistaken.) Such irony with this.

While I now understand less about the pros and cons of pre-filling buffers for quick starts, there's no arguing if you say that disabling it works better.

Thanks again.

[beppe]

It has long been a common misconception that you can't or shouldn't record to the internal drive of the computer.

Hi Dave:

By "internal drive", do you mean the System Drive itself where a dedicated second drive can also be "internal"? I've *always* had questionable results when using the System Drive for audio recording even on small projects. Pops and clicks are the main symptom even where buffers and work priorities are adjusted in various combos.

I know that one *can* record to the System Drive, but I struggle with understanding how this would be advisable based on what I've seen. I, too, have used DP on various laptops since the G3 days. If you can expound on your point or share some settings, it would be greatly appreciated.

Kind thanks,
Frodo

Hi guys, I record on internal drive of a laptop since many years (1999? I dont remenber...).
Since DP3 (whit Magma+DAE on PT system, pwbk g3), until today Pwbk g4 1,67ghz or Macbook Pro, DP 5.13 whit Apogee AD16X or Symphony, I recorded every time on internal drive;
I have partitioned the drive every time in 2: 1system/apps -2projects (and related audio).
I Never had problem, whit 2 tracks or till 40-50 audio tracks. No VI or real time effect, only audio recording (classic music or similar).
System partition dedicated only to DP, no others programs installed and system-base installation, buffer to 512, prefill disabled, background processing disabled when possible.
Never a problem, never a crash, only sporadically the spinning beach ball for some seconds, after recording a long time of many tracks.
I recorded on this system up to 80 classic music cds. I am very very satisfied of this system, solid as a rock.
I hope DP6 will continues this standard, in Italy there is not landed...
Sorry for my poor english.

[Frodo]

You guys are among the blessed!

[Shooshie]

You have to believe, Frodo. If it's not working for you, believe harder! If it still doesn't work, you could try putting up curtains or something, then REALLY believing. You know, committing to one drive. That should do the trick.

Shoosh
[really now, Shoosh; curtains? Whatever have you been smoking?]

[ccrane]

Hey guys remember Gabe's post in June "DP6 - my first 24 hours with it have been tough"?
Where his very dense projects would not properly play in DP6?

• DP6 has difficulty loading my big trailer orchestral template (250+ MIDI tracks, 5 Kontakt2 instances, several Altiverbs, a bunch of eq, comps, limiters, RMX, PLAY, 2 Vanguards, 24 stereo aux ins for importing 6 light pipe cables from 2 pcs, a bunch of internal bussing, and a kitchen sink). On these monster sessions, it gets COMPLETELY bogged down and is not usable at ALL. This same template runs just fine in DP5.13.

DP6:
-runs out of memory
-it won't play the internal VI's but will trigger MIDI on external pcs
-it crashes while loading sessions
-The Out of Memory error pops up every time you click on something or run the transport.

If I had to to guess, I'd say memory management in DP6 has issues.

I believe Gabe was on Tiger 10.4.11 at the time - so that could have been compromising, but has anyone put DP 6.01 through any real torture tests? Though maybe not Gabe's 250+ MIDI tracks! But what about 50 or 100+ MIDI tracks, 30+ audio tracks and a bunch of demanding VIs?
And has anyone succesfully bounced a large session like that?


At the moment DP 5.13 and OS 10.5.4 (on intel mac) seem to be the most stable/robust and 3rd party compatible system.

What say ye power users?? Thanks in advance!

[Frodo]

You have to believe, Frodo. If it's not working for you, believe harder! If it still doesn't work, you could try putting up curtains or something, then REALLY believing. You know, committing to one drive. That should do the trick.

Shoosh
[really now, Shoosh; curtains? Whatever have you been smoking?]

Credo in unum DAW omnipotentem!!

I love the curtains, though. Explaining the curtain reference is so far OT that I won't even get into it. Out of respect for the other readers, it's nothing negative.

[SixStringGeek]

Running DP 6.01 with Leo 10.5.4 on a Mac Pro.

Current project is using various amplitube svx plugs / NI B4, Kontakt 3, BFD 2 - assorted audio effects - working fine.