Newbie to Pro Tools LE - Latency questions

[Gibsonsg71]

OK, I'm new to this hard disk recording thing, and this forum, so bare with me.

My System: Apple G3 iMac 350 Mhz, 1 GB RAM, running Mac OS 9.1. I am recording to an external 80 GB hard drive via the USB bus. Slow, but it works.

Pro Tools Version: 5.0.1 FREE. Is this the same as LE? The documentation does not match some of the file menus on screen.

USB Interface / Audio input: Tascam US-122

Mainly, I am curious what latency settings would work best for recording time-sensitive tracks. My first attempt at recording a guitar track while a 2-track stereo drum track plays back was hideous. My delay / latency on guitar was so bad, I could not play in time.

After reading up on the subject, I set the following:

Setups/Hardware Recording latency @ 45% CPU
DAE Playback Buffer Size = 1

I am assuming I will get better latency performance by bypassing any inserts I've added while recording dry tracks also. Any comments welcome. Thanks.

[staggerlee]

My System: Apple G3 iMac 350 Mhz, 1 GB RAM, running Mac OS 9.1. I am recording to an external 80 GB hard drive via the USB bus. Slow, but it works.

Let's see...first of all PT Free is not the same as PT LE. LE comes with digidesign hardware (like an Mbox or Digi 002). PT Free is just...free. I was never able to record using PT Free because of the latency issues. I'd be suprised if you were able to resolve this problem with your current system, but I could be way off base.

I would recommend increasing the CPU % as much as possible and adjusting the playback buffer size and see what kind of reults you get. And yes, get rid of any inserts and plug-in and see if that helps.

And maybe someone else here can suggest a better program for your needs...

[Gibsonsg71]

Thanks for the reply. Actually, most of the grossly offensive latency has been resolved by the settings I used. I haven't tried disabling the inserts yet. As for a different program, I have no intention of investing huge sums into this recording system. It is only a home-based "toy" to capture some ideas. I realize now that "FREE" and "LE" are 2 different things. My inital tests with the US-122 interface, Pro Tools FREE and my DR-5 drum machine were encouraging anyway. The only thing I would want to add is the D-verb plug in.

I am guessing I will never use more than about 6 tracks in any one session, and all the inserts will be added after the tracks are layed down. I didn't buy this iMac with the intention of turning it into a hard disk recording studio. It is basically used for internet, email, and Photoshop retouching. I was just hoping I could get away with using Pro Tools Free on this dinasaur of mine. If I can't get it to work successfully, then I'd consider upgrading to a a dual processor G4 tower. For now, it's not in my budget.

[clutch]

Just a thought - if you are playing through your Tascam on the USB bus and recording onto a drive on the same USB bus you may encounter trouble. If you start having issues you may want to look at running the session of the internal drive (shock, horror!)

I'm glad you got your latency worked out - I tend to put my CPU limit at around 80%, DAE buffer at Default (2) and adjust my playback buffer to suit whether I'm recording or mixing.

[Bender]

If your using the USB-122 you can use the zero latency monitoring knob. Turn it all the way and you will be monitoring your input directly.
I use one with Cubase and it works similar to the mix/playback control on the M box.