„AAE -9173 error“ - the biggest pro tools workflow killer over the last years

[dankin]

Originally Posted by dwaynedelario

I don't normally buy into the hype on these types of solutions, but I was losing my mind with -9173 on a session with 35% usage. Did all the optimization routines and nothing helped until I used TURBO BOOST SWITCHER! I have 7 inserts on my master aux as well (PA, Waves, Slate, Izotope etc).

Same here. It's made a huge difference on my MBP. For me once I would get above 40% or so, it was constant -9173's. It's the only thing that has helped at all. I've actually been mixing a project the last week that's hitting the 256 voice limit. CPU hitting 80-85% range. I've seen a couple -9173's, generally only when instantiating a plugin while playing back ,or forgetting to close Safari.

Chaining multiple aux instead of one, can have an affect on core usage. Since one channel can't share cores, it helps spread the load more evenly. In my experience it depends on what plugs you are using in the chain as to how much it helps. If you have 2 or more CPU heavy plugs in a chain, it can help for sure IME. On the other hand, if the plugs in the chain are light on CPU, it may not make much of a difference, if any.

[dwaynedelario]

Originally Posted by Franklyn

Hey dwaynedelario,

1.
do you have most of waves plug ins?
so I can upload a little test session (without audiofiles). and i am sure you have the same problems with it :)
in the session are the following waves plug ins:
Sheps 73
Kramer Pie
H-EQ
NLS
H-Delay
H-Reverb
Kramer Tape
Abbey Road Vinyl
DPR-402
CODEX
sheps parallel particles
Greg Wels Mix Centric
Maserati GRP
ProLimiter (Avid)

hey Franklyn. Yes I own mercury. Feel free to post the session and I’ll try it out. Will 9173s occur if no audio is being processed?

[dwaynedelario]

Originally Posted by Franklyn

Hey dwaynedelario,

1.
do you have most of waves plug ins?
so I can upload a little test session (without audiofiles). and i am sure you have the same problems with it :)
in the session are the following waves plug ins:
Sheps 73
Kramer Pie
H-EQ
NLS
H-Delay
H-Reverb
Kramer Tape
Abbey Road Vinyl
DPR-402
CODEX
sheps parallel particles
Greg Wels Mix Centric
Maserati GRP
ProLimiter (Avid)

Also looking at your list, I can tell you that Codex causes massive headaches on my rig. I have to freeze it, even in light sessions.

[Ru_C]

I'm not sure how relevant this is to others issues, but i've become convinced the poor low latency performance on PT NON-DSP is connected to how PT handles the graphics, rather than the audio.

This is a quick demo video I've just made.

https://youtu.be/syhrOtDpaWg

Its a typical rock/metal session i'm working on at the moment . 60 tracks of audio, 16 strereo auxes for bussing & FX, & bunch of plugins.

Waves, Sonnox & AVID plugins used liberally throughout.

I've armed a pair of tracks & am attempting to overdub with a 32sample buffer.

With the Edit view running as normal in the background, we get the CPU spikes many of us have become familiar with.

Switch off the Edit view (PT still recording in the background) & the CPU usage massively drops off. Switch Edit view back on & they return.

Obviously working in the dark without the Edit view on is not very practical, but this does possibly point to where AVID could be making code optimisations .

Just my 2 cents/pence worth.

[jchan]

I mean:

"Initial testing of Pro Tools with macOS 10.13.4 has shown serious problems with CPU performance.

Avid is working to find a resolution for this.

It is recommended that users refrain from updating to 10.13.4 until further notice."

I have the same experience as Franklin.. Bombarded with 9173. Restarting PT helps for some time.

Izotope RX here..

Franklyn : could it be when the plug-in delay on a channel is bigger than ADC can handle? = 16384 samples..
RX often exceeds the maximum delay PT can handle looking at the channel DLY info..

[Olsoda]

Originally Posted by Ru_C

I'm not sure how relevant this is to others issues, but i've become convinced the poor low latency performance on PT NON-DSP is connected to how PT handles the graphics, rather than the audio.

This is a quick demo video I've just made.

https://youtu.be/syhrOtDpaWg

Its a typical rock/metal session i'm working on at the moment . 60 tracks of audio, 16 strereo auxes for bussing & FX, & bunch of plugins.

Waves, Sonnox & AVID plugins used liberally throughout.

I've armed a pair of tracks & am attempting to overdub with a 32sample buffer.

With the Edit view running as normal in the background, we get the CPU spikes many of us have become familiar with.

Switch off the Edit view (PT still recording in the background) & the CPU usage massively drops off. Switch Edit view back on & they return.

Obviously working in the dark without the Edit view on is not very practical, but this does possibly point to where AVID could be making code optimisations .

Just my 2 cents/pence worth.

Can confirm I experience similar phenomena. Hiding Edit/Mix seems to prevent wild CPU. Same with integrated or dedicated graphics card installed. Checking or unchecking “Enable GPU” in PT preferences makes no difference.

[pauledwards]

Hey Gang, I've had 9173 errors for years, and it's been really bad for months.

I think I've found a solution. Pretty sure it was recommended on this forum (potentially in this thread), but I figured I'd let y'all know that it worked for me.

Turbo Boost Switcher Pro ($10 USD). Install and then make sure you open the app and click "Disable Turbo Boost". I believe you have to do this each reboot.

For $10 it's a no brainer to at least try. There's a free version, but I just bought the Pro version.

I used to work for Korg as a Product Specialist, so you can be sure I had previously tried every other recommendation on the internet with no luck. So needless to say I'm beyond stoked!

I've since tested this solution on 12 different pro tools songs/mixes with a variety of Plugins. All the sessions are ones I was currently working on that had CONSTANT 9173 errors. After 2 weeks of mixing, ZERO 9173 errors. ZERO!!! :)

More info on my specific setup:

Pro Tools 12.8.1

Sierra 10.12.6

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015)
2.8 GHz Intel Core i7
16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
Intel Iris Pro 1536 MB

Using two external monitors (thunderbolt and HDMI).

Mixing on the internal SSD drive. Sessions have been 24/44 and 24/48 mostly.

Buffer was usually at 1024. Fairly big sessions 40-60 tracks with lots of Busses.

Apollo 16 with Apollo Quad Silver with Apollo Twin (original) with Octo Satellite (all chained together via Thunderbolt).

Plugins include lots from UAD, WAVES (v9 and v10), Tokyo Dawn Labs, DMG, Klanghelm, Acustica, etc.

Good luck,

Paul

www.pauledwards.ca

[Emi]

Yeah, the turbo boost switcher is the ticket. Sometimes disabling hyperthreading too.

[Guilla]

Originally Posted by Franklyn

I think enough time has passed. we need a solution, NOW !

Over the last 3 years the AAE -9173 errors are part of the daily work of so many pro user how work with big plug in chains on aux and master busses.
(no matter what system or CPU)

I am a PT user since the late 90s and I always work with the latest hardware and software tools and I could always help myself to solve software problems over the years. but in 2016 I had my first Avid support ticket which goes over a year. there where different people at Avid who tried to solve my AAE-9173 errors. some of them told me that they could find a solution by adjusting my system prefs. some month later they told me that it depends on the CPU and the mac model. so I bought different macs over the last 3 years (MacBook Pro i7, iMac 4.0 i7, new mac pro 8 core). but at the end we had to recognize everything they told me and we have tried to adjust on my system was complete senseless and they agreed that my AAE-9173 errors are a KNOWN problem and the avid software team knows that problem.

big plug in chains on the master bus produces AAE -9173 errors. also when your CPU meter is less than 50%

you can freeze, commit or bounce tracks. but all these things don’t make it really better. because the center of the problem is that the AAE engine can not handle big plug in chains on AUX busses and especially on the master bus. and freezing on the master bus is not really an option :)

2015 we got Pro Tools 12, this year we got PT 2018 and now we got ProTools „Ultimate“. But in the last 3 years Avid has nothing changed in the AAE to solve the „master bus“ AAE -9173 error.


I have a simple solution idea for this problem:

Please give us an option in the playback engine for an "extra large audio playback buffer size" (4.096 / 8.192 or more samples for playback tracks) which allows the AAE to handle all those new 3rd party plug ins and big plug in chains on aux and master busses without interruption.

All of you who have these AAE -9173 errors please vote here on the protools idea scale:

https://protools.ideascale.com/a/dtd...ze/309189-3779

Thank you all !

I hope this 9173 nightmare ends soon.

Avid, please give us a sign !

Franklyn

Reviving an "old" thread to see if you finally found a solution Franklyn ?

I got Pro Tools CPU spikes since day one.

I also noticed that they happen as soon as I create my last "summing aux tracks" (mixbus, vocal bus, music bus for example). I start putting plugins on those tracks.
It also happens more on the edit window (less when all windows are reduced).

It is a shame really. The session is often around 40% on PT CPU indicator, then goes to 60% when playback and then spikes "randomly" to 100, stopping the playback...

And according to my computer CPU indicator, Pro Tools is only taking 30% of the computer CPU at max.

I tried everything I could, turning of Hyperthreading, disabling some cores, turning Turbo Boost (seems to does not have any effect on my computer, I can't even get it to disengage Turbo Boost for whatever reasons), Keep A Drive Spinning, all the Avid Optimizations (purging plugins, clean install etc...). And nothing seems to work.
Using PT on low resolution does help a bit but it's not enough (and it's tiring for the eyes too).

So I was wondering if you found a way around this...

(Spec just in case someone will ask :
MBP Pro mid 2015
i7 2.7Ghz Turbo Boost to 4 GHz
16 Go RAM
Internal 512 Go SSD with at least 160 Go free space.
Mixing from an external SSD (with a lot of free space too).
Whatever interfaces (internal sound card) I use, the issue the same.)

[jchan]

Originally Posted by Guilla

(Spec just in case someone will ask :
MBP Pro mid 2015
i7 2.7Ghz Turbo Boost to 4 GHz
16 Go RAM
Internal 512 Go SSD with at least 160 Go free space.
Mixing from an external SSD (with a lot of free space too).
Whatever interfaces (internal sound card) I use, the issue the same.)

Still using Pro Tools 12.6?
MacOS version?