Inputs just cutting out randomly

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This forum is for seeking solutions to technical problems involving Digital Performer and/or plug-ins on MacOS, as well as feature requests, criticisms, comparison to other DAWs.
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rainmaker
Posts: 456
Joined: Tue Apr 26, 2005 10:01 pm
Primary DAW OS: Unspecified

Inputs just cutting out randomly

Post by rainmaker »

Ok, this is getting annoying. I'm recording a live show with three motu 8pre's connected to an iMac. For some reason I cannot figure out, one of the units will just drop all inputs and cut out from 1 to 3 seconds every few minutes. The meter bridge in DP will reflect the cut with all inputs from that unit going blank. Anybody have any idea what might be causing this? The other two units are going strong as they should. They are all daisy chained with one cable going to the computer so I don't think that its the cable either. Not good for a live setting

Thanks,
Rainmaker
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kassonica
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Joined: Sat Oct 30, 2004 11:01 pm
Primary DAW OS: MacOS
Location: melbourne, Australia
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Post by kassonica »

I would try replacing the firewire Cable just to be sure.

Also chaining them in this way maybe exceeding the firewire bandwith.
Creativity, some digital stuff and analogue things that go boom. crackle, bits of wood with strings on them that go twang
Kaspar
Posts: 14
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 10:01 pm
Primary DAW OS: MacOS
Location: Denmark
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Post by Kaspar »

I've done some testing and have succesfully recorded 90 minutes of 48 tracks with 3 x 8pre and a MacBook.
At first I had drops too but then I did the following:

Set "Buffer Size" to its maximum to give the processor time to do its different tasks.

Set "Host Buffer Multiplier" to 2. The manual isn't very informative about this parameter.

Use the internal disk in the computer so that the data aren't travelling two times on the FireWire cable (From the 8pre's to the computer and from the computer to an external disk).

Use short FireWire cables. The total length can become quite long with "normal" cables. Apple has some 50 cm cables.

Turn off BlueTooth and Wi-Fi.

Any processor spikes during the recording can lead to drops, so I'm not having any plugins loaded when I do 48 tracks and I'm not "disturbing" the recording.

Less than this can possibly also give fine recordings, but when you only have one try, it's better to be safe than sorry!
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