DP 8, iMac migration to Mac Mini

[rogerhewett]

Hi everybody,

I am (finally) moving DP from my trusty 2009 iMac (OS 10.8.5, 3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4 GB ram) to a late 2014 Mac Mini (OS 10.10.4, 2.6 GHz Intel Core i5, 8 GM ram).

Running DP 8.07, lots of Kontakt 5 (Komplete , Ivory, etc. All sample libraries are on an external 1TBdrive. I am using MOTU Audio Express.

I am finding that on the new computer, which I purchased for more portability, the system is freezing when playing back a simple Ivory midifile. I'm getting an 'Audio playback has overloaded your computer's processor....detected an error in audio. Increase MAS buffer...' message.

Buffer Size: 1024 (it won't go higher)
Host Buffer Multiplier: 3 (I've also tried the others)
Work Priority: Medium (also tried High).

I've run CleanMyMac, removed a bunch of processors from plug-ins, but nothing is changing.

Is it possible that my old iMac was simply a far faster machine or am I missing something?

Many thanks for any input.

Roger

[mikehalloran]

Should be fine for DP. That's awfully lean for Kontakt 5. You should consider running that on a slave.

You don't say how you have the external drive connected. Should be TB or USB 3—an HHD is slower than either protocol. If using a FW-TB adapter or USB 2, time to upgrade.

Your new system is an improvement over the old but not by a large amount. Are you booting from an HHD or SSD? If SSD, is it OE or third party?

You don't say how you ported over. If you did it by cloning, download 10.10.5 and try a complete reinstall of the OS. Won't hurt anything and may help.

Repair Permissions in Disk Utility.

Clean My Mac is useless as is DiskWarrior, Onyx and a number of other such utilities. If you need to do a clean install, do a clean install.

Open Console to see if anything is failing to run that should or trying to run that shouldn't. Open the background processing window in DP.

The best Mini for DP was the 2012 quad core i7.

[rogerhewett]

Hi Mike,

Thank you for your reply. You were right...there was some vital information missing from my query.

I took note of your suggestion for an upgrade and just purchased a new external drive. The old one was running on USB 2. Currently transferring the libraries. The drive will be connected directly to the Mac, now via USB 3

I didn't 'port over' as such, but started afresh with the new machine.

After much futzing though, things seem to have improved. Ivory appeared to be a problem- I solved it by simply deleting the original Ivory Instrument Tracks from the DP projects and creating new ones.

Kontakt appears to be running smoothly thus far.

My MOTU 828 mk2 is currently in storage (I've been touring for the past 11 years) hence the Audio Express, which has a single dated FW setup, along with USB 2. Thus I was connecting the TB with an adaptor, which you do not recommend. I had seen online that with this setup, however, it is still best to keep the MOTU connected to a power supply (usually not required with FW). In your opinion, would it better to use the USB 2 instead of TB-FW adaptor?

I have been noticing that Mac Minis have downgraded since 2012, sadly. Yes, the i7 looks a lot better.

Once again, thank you for your valuable assistance.

Roger

[mikehalloran]

Your interface is a different issue. It runs over USB 1.1, 2.0 or FW400 (even if it has the FW800 connector) depending on the unit. Audio doesn't require the speeds that your libraries and VIs do.

The TB-FW adapter is fine for your Audio Express or your 828mkII. Although the FW spec is 22V, the TB spec is only 7W and that's the most bus power available on a 2011 or later Mac. For that reason, use external power.

I have had really bad luck using a FW hub on my Macs — my 828mkII crashes the FW ports if I use a hub. If you use both, daisy chain is likely to be more robust. If you crash your FW or USB ports, reset the NV RAM to bring them back to life.

[rogerhewett]

Thank you so much for your guidance, Mike.

The new drive appears to have made a big difference. Not sure how long I'll run with this machine though, considering its sluggishness. But it'll work for now.

Best,

Roger