Pro Tools 9 does not show clipping on recording

[strangedaysuk]

Ok finally someone else gets to see the same issue.


It's frustrating when you know you are right!.

So does PT need a patch or Mbox needs a driver update?

[lancemcv]

My guess is there are bugs in both, I have had other issues than just this and did not know this was going on until I read your post as I have not done a lot of tracking with the mbox yet and of course try and not clip the signal when I do.
Have you reported this to Avid? If not we should, not sure if they even have a place to report bugs.

[lancemcv]

I just saw someone else reporting the problem will check it out to see if they are using the MBOx pro or something else. I have an older mbox I guess I could loud that driver and see if it is still happening, more time waisted....
One way to test it would be to use pro tools with your computer as the interface bypassing the mbox pro and see if it is still happening.

[lancemcv]

I guess the problem with the meters is they are off by one tick, therefore not showing clipping, if you push the fader up one notch it then clips. Seeing it shows clipping in the mbox's system pref mixer and not in PT it must be a bug in PT 9.

What is really crazy is there is nowhere as far as I can see after searching on this site a place to report bugs that users are experiencing. You have to post it in the forums and hope they might see it and actually do something about it.
You must pay 40 dollars to get a tech support ticket for LE and 70 for HD to report a bug in their software?? They most likely will tell you to reinstall pro tools and or reinstall your entire system and guess what the bug will still be there because it's the software that needs a fix after you waisted hours of your time. Most companies have a place to report bugs. Even Apple has a place to report issues and make comments, without charging!! One free tech support ticket when you buy a new product gee thanks Avid your so generous!!
I used mine up when my PT 9 ilok transfer failed because of one typo on my behalf and they were actually going to charge me 40 just to resend another ilok license but after I almost had a conniption they did it without charging me. This will eventually come back to haunt them, Digidesign used to be more user friendly and actually except phone calls, those days are gone.
Most users of Avid products are professionals using their gear to make a living and when they have issues it means they are loosing money and potentially clients. You buy a pro tools hd system for thousands and you get one free support ticket....what a deal!

[strangedaysuk]

I bought PT due to the offer of the Mbox. I used to have a Duet but after having 2 burnt out pre amps on them I gave up.

I used the opportunity to get PT9 with the deal on the new Mbox 3.

I have used a support ticket to contact them and have mentioned this issue.


I have to admit that the support system is shocking for a big company. When you have to PAY with your support tickets for a problem CREATED BY AVID then you wonder whether they are offering you a fair deal.

Pro Tools 9 is £500 thereabouts - the most expensive deal on the market for a DAW for what is basicaly their LE version of their flagship DAW (come on its still PT LE just the next logical version of it).

The most expensive Logic or Cubase packages are less than that.

I justify my choice because I love the way PT works, and I do not wish to have to complain about the aformentioned pricing.


But I will as the support is shocking. Its early days and you would of thought that they could sort this out without having to use up my support tickets that are mine, for my issues not Avids issues.

[DigiTechSupt]

Originally Posted by lancemcv

What is really crazy is there is nowhere as far as I can see after searching on this site a place to report bugs that users are experiencing. You have to post it in the forums and hope they might see it and actually do something about it.

Not exactly the case - we see most bug reports here and log them as soon as possible.

In this case - we've been able to reproduce the problem, but I can't say for sure what the cause is - it appears to be a problem with the 'softclip' feature, but that's speculation at this point.

We're having someone look into it and I will report back as soon as I get info and am able to get back to this thread.

Any reports posted on Ideascale are also looked at, though I haven't been as available to reply to them as I would like. We're looking at ways to change that so all reports are acknowledged and the reporter (and anyone interested) will see that we know about it.

[strangedaysuk]

Ok thanks for looking into this.


Can you explain the softclip a little to me? Is the softclip done in hardware or software?

How come it only occurs in Pro Tools and not other DAWs

[strangedaysuk]

Any news?

[lancemcv]

Tried some tests with soft limit and I'm not really impressed with it. If you record a track a little hot without it on, you can hear and see your clips but when you use soft clip it keeps the meter, audio from going into the red but you still hear the clipped audio so not sure what real use it has. One should record at the right levels, soft limit or not the clipped audio still sounds crappy.
I did some more tests on the meter problem and blasted some guitar via amp and mic into the micpre of the mbpro and clipped the hell out of the recording and on playback the meters do not clip in PT but do on the Mbox pro system pref mixer. So I think it is a PT 9 bug not the Mbox. I can try it with my old Mbox to see if it does the same and also see if it does the same thing in GarageBand that would prove it's one or the other.

[lancemcv]

One posative note is that I like the fact that you now see the meters of the mbpro's system pref mixer when you bounce a mix. You get to see meters/levels when printing a mix, what a concept! Those poor hd folks don't get that.