Pro Tools 9 HW buffers

[joe_04_04]

After upgrading to pro tools 9 from pro tools 8 m-powered, I realize that all my sessions can no longer achieve 2048 sample hw buffers. It was very important that my system was able to have the high of a buffer because it would glitch out with anything less (I'm running quite large sessions). The highest I'm able to go is 1024. Does anyone know why this was changed? I did some searching and found out that you can get 2048 sample buffers going when you set the session up for 88.2 khz sample rates when you first create the session...but what about all my sessions that all already saved as 44.1? Also, I know nothing about sample rate conversions...with bit rate, if you record at 24 bits, you have to dither to change it back to 16 before you burn to an audio cd...what all do you have to do when you bounce down a 88.2 khz session file to get it back to 44.1? Just select 44.1 as the bounce option? or do I have to do anything extra?

So to re-ask my questions in an easy manor...

1) Does anyone know why I dont have a 2048 hw buffer option in pro tools 9 on my 44.1 khz sessions?

2) Is there a way to use get 2048 hw buffers back in my 44.1 khz sessions?

2) If I decide to start recording 88.2 Khz sample rate songs...What all do I have to know about it? How do I convert from 88.2 to 44.1? Will it put anymore strain on my system?

Sorry if that was more redundant than it needed to be...

[getz76]

(1) the buffers are in samples. Double the sample rate, then you double the samples available in the buffer. 2,048 samples at 88,200Hz is 23.2 milliseconds. 1,024 samples at 44,100Hz is 23.2 milliseconds.

the first (2) no.

the second (2) it is simple. See page 1,061 in the Pro Tools 9 reference manual. Basically, you can bounce down and resample before dithering down to 16-bit. After you resample, you can then dither the audio down to 16-bit. This is preferred as you retain the full 24-bit resolution for the resample (providing better quality, in theory).

[joe_04_04]

Thanks....

P.S. - I meant 3