PTLE6.4 evaluation/problems/observations

[Sabe]

Hi DUC,

Here is my evaluation/problems/observations on PTLE6.4 (with the latest PTLE6.4cs9 update installed)

The installation went well, and I was very pleased to open a session I was currently working on with no issues. The interface is a huge improvement, all the buttons seem to be in much better organization. My plugin groups are now in order as well (don't know if this was from Waves V5 install or ProTools 6.4cs9), but intially they were all out of order and difficult to find. In general, PTLE6.4 has some nice features, great GUI, and easy to navigate. This is the good stuff, now for the bummer stuff...

The "scrub" function (when using the right mouse button) in the "edit" window lags behind my mouse position so far that it is difficult to use, and it continues (either forwards or backwards depending on the direction I am scrubbing) after I release the mouse for a good ways making it nearly impossible to fine tune a scrub. It only functions correctly if I move the mouse very, very, very slowly (which renders it not a useful tool). In PTLE 5.3.1 the "scrub" function synced perfectly with my mouse movements, stopping exactly when I release the mouse, and tracking perfectly with the mouse.

When I press the "spacebar" I notice the "stop" key and the "play" key in the transport window both light up causing a delay (and sometimes an audible click or pop) before the playback. Almost always I will hear a click or pop when in an active region stopping and playing. Never had that problem before. In conjunction with this issue, the track level indicators will blink too, which makes you glance over to the mix window to see whats up and interrupts the work flow.

Using the "selector" bar to highlight parts of regions in the "edit" window also lag behind the mouse cursor which makes it very difficult to be precise. Sometimes the "blacked out area" while selecting will lag behind the mouse cursor and "skip" to catch up, very annoying and hard to work with.

During playback of a mix with automation sometimes I will hear an audible "click" or "pop" when an automation occurs, almost like a stutter in the sound, not good at all. This is a continuos problem, not very random, and is dangerous to my monitors. Not to metion the musicians headphone mix gets the clicks and pops too.

While using the "pan" slider in the "mix" window I will click and hold the "ctrl" key, the number shown in the window will sometimes lag behind and then speed to catch up. If I "alt" click the "pan" slider it will snap to center, but the number value tends to stay for a second or so before resetting to "zero". Very sluggish.

None of these problems exsisted when using PTLE 5.3.1

Are there any cures for what I have listed above..? I very nearly am ready to go back to a 5.3.1 setup to get rid of this lag I am experiencing, not to mention the audio pops and clicks.

Basically, unless I can find a fix, I will have to step back to 5.3.1. I can learn to live with the lag in PTLE6.4(ouch!), but I can not live with the audible clicks and pops in the sound, which is totally unacceptable.

Below is a list of my system with PTLE6.4 installed.

ASUS P4C800-E Deluxe Canterwood Motherboard
Intel i875P + ICH5R Chipset
Thermaltake Silent PurePower, 420Watt Power Supply
ASUS|V9280VS GF4 Ti4200 8X 128M Video Card
Intel P4/3.2CGHz 800M 478P/512K CPU
Corsair 1GB TWINX1024-3200LLPRO DDRam
Wester Digital 80GB 7200RPM 8MB Hard Drive x 2
PIONEER DVR-106D DVD+/-RW Burner/Player
Zalaman Heat Sinks/Fans

Please direct me to the correction of these problems I am having.

Thank you DUC.

[Idahoguide]

I can't really offer you any help specifically, except for this. I'm on a system that's not quite as 'juiced' as yours, but almost. (You have a bit more RAM, faster chip, etc.) I use 6.1 and it is stable, fully functional, with NONE of the probs you describe. I am generally an upgrade freak, but heeded the warnings about 6.4 and didn't move. I know there are a few features that I'd like, such as organized plugs, and especially the improved clip light functioning, but the probs such as yours that I heard about...especially sluggishness in all areas...held me back. I have heard quite a few comments like yours, and I'm glad I've waited. If you came from 5.3.1 all the way to 6.4 in one upgrade, I would suggest moving back to 6.1 and see if you don't like it a LOT better. 'Take-aways' are always tough--and you'll obviously notice some differences--but functionality is what this needs to be about.
grae

[Sabe]

I can't really offer you any help specifically, except for this. I'm on a system that's not quite as 'juiced' as yours, but almost. (You have a bit more RAM, faster chip, etc.) I use 6.1 and it is stable, fully functional, with NONE of the probs you describe. I am generally an upgrade freak, but heeded the warnings about 6.4 and didn't move. I know there are a few features that I'd like, such as organized plugs, and especially the improved clip light functioning, but the probs such as yours that I heard about...especially sluggishness in all areas...held me back. I have heard quite a few comments like yours, and I'm glad I've waited. If you came from 5.3.1 all the way to 6.4 in one upgrade, I would suggest moving back to 6.1 and see if you don't like it a LOT better. 'Take-aways' are always tough--and you'll obviously notice some differences--but functionality is what this needs to be about.
grae

Thank you for the reply Idahoguide,

I was leary of the upgrade, and now wished I would of taken notice of the warnings. I assumed it was all fixed with the several upgrades DIGIDesign has been issuing. Oh well, live and learn...

[Rail Jon Rogut]

I have an Asus P4C800 Deluxe with a 2.6 GHz Northwood, 1 gig of RAM and an nVidia gForce4 Ti 4400 128 DDR RAM at 1024x768 and an Adaptec 4300 FireWire card.. and have none of the issues you list -- have you changed any settings in XP? Which Service Pack? Which mouse? Have you checked for updated drivers? I have Maxtor drives.

I have disabled the serial ports, the SATA and Promise RAID controllers in my BIOS. The only tweak I've done to XP is to change the Processor scheduling to background and changed the paging file size to 1024/2047

Rail

[Sabe]

I have an Asus P4C800 Deluxe with a 2.6 GHz Northwood, 1 gig of RAM and an nVidia gForce4 Ti 4400 128 DDR RAM at 1024x768 and an Adaptec 4300 FireWire card.. and have none of the issues you list -- have you changed any settings in XP? Which Service Pack? Which mouse? Have you checked for updated drivers? I have Maxtor drives.

I have disabled the serial ports, the SATA and Promise RAID controllers in my BIOS. The only tweak I've done to XP is to change the Processor scheduling to background and changed the paging file size to 1024/2047

Rail

Hi Rail, and thank you for the reply.

I am using a microsoft ps2 mouse.
No service packs.
I have disabled my virtual memory.
That is about it, other than I installed 6.4 on top of 5.3 (as per DigiDesign's recommendation.

There must be a way to solve this because I have heard too many good things about 6.4

What would you recommend I try next?

Thanks Rail

[Analog Kid]

No service packs.

You must have XP Service Pack 1 installed for PTLE vs. 6xx to work properly.

The Kid

[Rail Jon Rogut]

Correct you must have SP1 installed (not SP2)... and I would have recommeded you uninstall PT 5.x first (and delete the file dalwdm.sys) before installing 6.x

Rail

[Sabe]

Correct you must have SP1 installed (not SP2)... and I would have recommeded you uninstall PT 5.x first (and delete the file dalwdm.sys) before installing 6.x

Rail

Thanks,

I must be blind or something, but I can not find service pack 1 anywhere on the microsoft website

Is it still available..?

I think I shall uninstall protools, delete the file you recommend, install service pack 1, then install 6.4.

Thanks again for your help.

[Rail Jon Rogut]

Follow the link for SP1a

Rail

[Sabe]

Follow the link for SP1a

Rail

Thanks Rail, on my way now.