Solution to ProTools Hardware Buffer locked at 128

[JFPicasso]

Recently I started working with Pro Tools M-Powered 7.4 cs3 at home, with a Fast Track Pro, and my current desktop PC for recording:

- Asus A7V600-X Motherboard
- Athlon XP 2.3Ghz
- 1,5 Gb DDR Kingston Ram
- Windows XP SP2

I quickly ran into an issue, Pro Tools H\W Buffer would not display any option besides "128 Samples". This made it impossible to work, when I started loading the session with plug-in's, and editing audio, the amount of digital "clicks and pops" would increase.

I knew the solution was to increase the buffer size when mixing, as I have been working for many years with other DAW's like Nuendo, Cubase, etc.

I searched the forum, and found different suggestions, but no definitive answer. Here's what I tried, and what finally worked.

- Starting another Audio App before or after starting Pro Tools "steals" the ASIO Drivers settings, so you can't change the buffer settings. Restarting the system and only opening Pro Tools should fix it. >>> Didn't Work, and to my understanding, Pro Tools connects directly to the hardware, not through ASIO Drivers, ASIO works for other DAW's and Audio Apps.

- Make sure that M-Audio Fast Track Pro is NOT selected as your default audio device, because then any app, including Windows itself, would again "steal" the driver. >>> Made sense, but when I tried it, as my Fast Track Pro is the only Sound Card installed on the system, there was no other option for Windows to choose as default audio device. Which lead me to try what finally worked.

- Someone posted a thread with the same issue, and then posted that he had recently removed his older PCI Sound Card from his system, he re-installed it and set up this PCI Sound Card as Default Audio Device, and it solved the problem. >>> I had been working with an ESI Pro MAYA 44, and had disabled it (in windows Device Manager) when I installed the Fast Track Pro. I re-enabled it in Device Manager, set it as Default Audio Device, and bingo! All options for H\W Buffer in pro tools became available again.

It's funny, my ESI Pro MAYA 44 helped me out with Pro Tools

One more thing to mention, It didn't made any difference which Buffer size was set in FT Pro's driver, Pro Tools would only show "128"

If you have an on-board sound card in your motherboard, and you've disabled it (in BIOS or in Windows Device Manager), try enabling it again and setting this sound card as default audio device. Most audio apps let you choose which audio device to use, so this shouldn't be a problem.

Hope this helps someone having the same issue!

Este topic está disponible también en español!

http://duc.digidesign.com/showthread...20#post1609720

JFPicasso

[Vitor Fonseca]

Hey JF,

It helped a lot! Thanks for sharing