DP7/Mac Dual Quad vs. DP4 on Old Mac G5

[mikemcgrath]

About two weeks ago, I went from using DP4 on a five-year-old PowerMac G5 with 2GB RAM and 1.66 Ghz processor to DP7 on a brand new Dual Quad w/ 6GB RAM and 2.33 processor.

I am trying to continue work on a project I started on my old setup and so far, audio performance in the new setup is no better than the old. After about 10 seconds, DP gets overloaded and tracks start dropping out. I do concede that I am making big demands on the system-nearly 60 stereo audio tracks at 96/24. However, I expected it to run better on the new setup and it really doesn't. I have spent hours, tweaking things such as the hardware buffer, work quanta, prime seconds and max work. I even opened a brand new DP file and imported all my audio tracks in case there was something corrupted in the old file. I am now running these tracks with no effects or plugins, but still there is no improvement! Also, I have tried things such as turning off Mac Sharing, Bluetooth, Sleep, and Date & Time Display, and I have gone into DP Preferences and flushed the undo history, turned off beat detection and overload alerts.

I don't know what else to do but I am certainly open to suggestions.

Mike

[newrigel]

2.33????
Apple never made a 2.33 Ghz. Mac Pro.
Also, if that PM G5 opened up those projects and that MP you have is having some problems... you have a bad processor or some hardware malfunctions...
I'd run the Apple Hardware test disc that came with it and test the machine.
That machine (2.66- 2.26 most likely if it's brand new) WILL just walk right through ANY session that was done on ANY G5!!!
I know, I own them!
Another thing... what's the big deal about 96? I can't hear any difference @ all...
By the time you dither down to 16/44.1 it's lost anyway (and the LAME codec isn't any better) so I don't see why people run @ such a high sample rates.
I have heard that the plugins have better resolution but it's all 64 bit floating point internally so I can't see the advantages of taxing your machine for it. I'm @ 24/48 (for video) and I love the quality... plus, I have NEVER seen the DSP meter even get halfway! I run DSP cards for my plugs and use a few CPU hungry natives but still... I don't hear any difference but to each is own.
Now 16 bit to 24 has a HUGE audible difference IMHO so I can see the reasons for that but that high sample rate is killing your processor (on any machine) so I'd really do some side by side comparisons to the added benefits of 96 to say... 48.
If your going to go that high using the red book standard doubled (88.2) would most likely be the best rate to be @ since your truncating is proportionate.

[mrgkeys]

I'm on a dual quad as well and you should be sailing thru that project. I've been running 55 to 65+ tracks of 24 bit @ 96k for the last couple of weeks and it's barely broken a sweat.. maybe 35% of processor.. and maxing out a UAD-2 Quad at the same time.. This project won't move on my Dual G5.. something is not right.

I like the sound of 96k on my converters. Most all SRC these days is up-sampling to a really high rate regardless of the incoming sample rate, the even divisibles don't matter. But, It's whatever works for you. Bad songs suck at any sample rate, and good engineering is more important than either rate or depth.

Good luck with your project.

[mikemcgrath]

Right. I meant 2.26 processor.

I ran the test disk you suggested and it did not find any problems.

Thank you mrgkeys and newrigel for your replies.

Mike

[newrigel]

Right. I meant 2.26 processor.

I ran the test disk you suggested and it did not find any problems.

Thank you mrgkeys and newrigel for your replies.

Mike

Just by chance... are you using a separate drive for your DP sessions? I know it's a stupid question, but you don't have any indication of this in your post.
Any more than one is an option and you said it was brand new so...
If you are, something definitely isn't right.
Did you install SL yourself or used the OS that was pre installed on the machine?
You may want to do a totally fresh install of everything and try it... can't hurt, and run the installer DVD and repair permissions prior to first launch.
Then allow the OS to finish the pre binding and indexing before trying a session.
Also, just try using the stock Mac audio and see if it will run fine... if it does, you need to address your audio interfaces drivers and get them up to date.

[mikemcgrath]

It is wise of you to ask about external drives. Yes, I am using an external, 750 GB drive. It, too, is new but I have tried running the same project on a different external drive and I still had the same problems.

I thought I had updated everything, but I discovered that I had not updated AudioDesk. Unfortunately, after downloading and updating there is no improvement.

I am not sure how to go about testing Mac audio. (I tried GarageBand and iTunes and they ran just fine). Is there something else I should do?

Later, when I have more time, I'll have to try reinstalling SL OS since it was pre-installed when I received the computer.

Thanks again for all your suggestions.

[newrigel]

It is wise of you to ask about external drives. Yes, I am using an external, 750 GB drive. It, too, is new but I have tried running the same project on a different external drive and I still had the same problems.

I thought I had updated everything, but I discovered that I had not updated AudioDesk. Unfortunately, after downloading and updating there is no improvement.

I am not sure how to go about testing Mac audio. (I tried GarageBand and iTunes and they ran just fine). Is there something else I should do?

Later, when I have more time, I'll have to try reinstalling SL OS since it was pre-installed when I received the computer.

Thanks again for all your suggestions.

Just get an 1/8" stereo jack for the back of the MP. Run it to your speakers and see if it's using less resources... it could just be the audio driver (for your FW audio interface) but the MP's have 4 internal SATA bays that will spank an external drive! I'd take the drive out of the enclosure and install it inside the MP. then you'll get better performance.
GB and iTunes are a total different thing than using MAS! DP uses it's own audio engine and uses core audio to talk to the other devices but those applications are not using MAS so there's where your problems exist due to an audio driver I would most likely guess could be causing it. If it works with the stock audio outputs then your audio interfaces drivers are the culprit... maybe not SL savvy yet... who knows? But you mention Audio Desk... I thought this was an issue with DP7?
Oh yeah... you should try turning off VI pre rendering too.

[David Polich]

Translate the project's audio files down to 24bit/44.1.
Whether your Quad "should" run that many tracks at 96k
is a matter of not only track count, but plug-ins, busses,
number of stereo tracks, etc.

Even if I was on the latest MacPro 8 core I'd still run
everything at 24/44.1. Unless you're recording an album
of struck wineglasses or windchimes, you really gain nothing
at a higher sample rate that isn't immediately drowned out by
the noise components of other tracks (like drums, guitars, vocals,
strings, brass, etc).

At the very least, by downgrading the sample rate you'll eliminate
that as a culprit in the scenario. You can then move on to the
usual suspects - eliminating plug-ins one by one, taking all
tracks offline and then returning them to online status one at a
time, trashing DP prefs...not to mention re-installing your OS
or DP7 or both.

[newrigel]

Translate the project's audio files down to 24bit/44.1.
Whether your Quad "should" run that many tracks at 96k
is a matter of not only track count, but plug-ins, busses,
number of stereo tracks, etc.

Even if I was on the latest MacPro 8 core I'd still run
everything at 24/44.1. Unless you're recording an album
of struck wineglasses or windchimes, you really gain nothing
at a higher sample rate that isn't immediately drowned out by
the noise components of other tracks (like drums, guitars, vocals,
strings, brass, etc).

At the very least, by downgrading the sample rate you'll eliminate
that as a culprit in the scenario. You can then move on to the
usual suspects - eliminating plug-ins one by one, taking all
tracks offline and then returning them to online status one at a
time, trashing DP prefs...not to mention re-installing your OS
or DP7 or both.

But he states that he was doing these projects on a G5... @96k? I'm always willing to give help but this seems a bit strange...
Could just be a troll.