Staggered Meters

[adonis]

I recently switched over to a PowerMac G4 500 Mhz w/ 512 Ram.

My problem is, my meters seem to stagger. On my PC they flowed freely up and down, now on my MAC they seem to studder up and down. When I use a soft synth like Koblo the meters completely stop working(they just freeze in there place). What can I do to fix this, it's annoying.

Second, on my PC when I went into the Set-up/Hardware menu I could still hear what was playing. Now when I go into the same menu on my MAC the whole thing stops playing. What can i do about this?

Also when i'm tweaking knobs on the Koblo the Midi Clock drops in and out...what's up with that?

Are these memory issue because my MAC has 512mb in it.

I gave into the whole "MAC IS BETTER" thing and i'm not seeing it. On my PC I was up and running in no time flat. I bought this MAC on Monday and I'm super frustared still, today, wednesday.

I built my PC for less than $600. I just dropped over a thousand dollars and I'm not impressed...

[where02190]

Have you allocated more ram to PT and DAE? Optimized your extensions for PT? Added a second HD for audio?

[adonis]

Originally posted by where02190:
Have you allocated more ram to PT and DAE? Optimized your extensions for PT? Added a second HD for audio?

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">No, how do you do all this? Macintosh is a very new thing to me. I'm not much of a computer tech, so the ins-and-outs of "Extensions" I don't really know about...please tell me more.

[Morningstar]

Hmmm. You couldn't have been a PC user for long, being number 29xxx. So, on this 600 dollar pc did you optimize it for PTLE? Second HD for audio, seperate hardware configuration, scrutinized irq requests, shut off unnecessary items like network cards, modems etc. in device manager etc..
Optimizing the Mac is not much different, extensions will need to be optimized, read your getting started manual. After you bring up 'Base', begin turning things off like appletalk, and other unnecessary things. DO A SEARCH, there are extension sets posted that may help. Also, memory allocation is in your manual.
Last, Koblo could be some of the problem, it's buggy as hell.

[dkrausz]

Have you tweaked the system exactly as stated per digi recommendations listed in the manual prior to launching LE?
Which version of LE? And what OS are you running?

Are you using a separate dedicated audio drive that’s at least 7200rpm?

What video card is installed in this Mac? Are the drivers enabled?

I recently switched over to a PowerMac G4 500 Mhz w/ 512 Ram.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Is it a "real" completely stock G4 or a G3 with a CPU upgrade or other third party stuff installed?

Are these memory issue because my MAC has 512mb in it.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">No.

How much ram have you allocated to LE and your other audio apps?
I would give DAE and LE at least 120megs each.

Also when I’m tweaking knobs on the Koblo the Midi Clock drops in and out...what's up with that?

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Not sure what you mean there. The midi click? Timing errors?

Second, on my PC when I went into the Set-up/Hardware menu I could still hear what was playing. Now when I go into the same menu on my MAC the whole thing stops playing.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">It just takes two seconds to make that adjustment. Why is hearing what’s playing so necessary when performing this operation?

I gave into the whole "MAC IS BETTER" thing and I’m not seeing it.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Well., I’m by no means new to computers but I’m sure it would take me more than just a couple of days to figure out a similar set up as mine on a windoze machine and have it up and running with zero glitches. I would certainly try to familiarize myself with a completely new OS, machine and it’s optimizations are before knocking it.

Don’t give up just yet… [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

dk

Here you go…

Setting memory-

Find the PTLE application icon(not an alias); click on it once to highlight it. Hit the Apple key + the i key. This will open the Get Info window. From the pop up menu, select memory. In the "preferred" memory settings field, type in something like 120000 (120megs), hit return and close the window. Adjust the DAE memory setting as well using this method or any other app for that matter. NOTE: Never change the "Minimum" settings field ever! Very bad… things.
Settings will only take affect after a restart.

From Chapter 2: Macintosh Configuration

Installing the Pro Tools LE Software

Apple System Software Settings
To ensure optimum performance with the Pro Tools LE software, configure the Apple System software
with the following settings.
To configure the Apple System software:
1 In the Memory Control Panel do the following:
o Set Virtual Memory to Off.
o Set the Ram Disk to Off.
o Set the Disk Cache to a Custom Setting of 512K.

2 In the Energy Saver Control Panel, set the "inactive" time to Never.

3 In the Appearance Control Panel do the following:
o Click the Fonts tab and set the Large System Font to Chicago. In addition, deselect "Smooth all
fonts on screen."
o Click the Sound tab and select None from the Sound Track pop-up menu.

4 Set the number of colors to thousands in the Monitors & Sound Control Panel. If you are using a
Power Macintosh 9600, set the number of colors to 256.

5 In the Extensions Manager Control Panel do the following:
Open your Extensions Manager control panel (Apple menu > Control Panels > Extensions manager).
Set your Extension set to "Mac OS 9.x base"
Duplicate the set and give it a name like Pro Tools or something else that lets you know what this set is for (the "Duplicate" button is in the lower right hand side of the Extensions Manager window).
Turn on the Digidesign extensions (Digidesign DSP Manager, Digidesign Stream Manager, Digidesign Direct I/O, Digi System INIT).
Turn on the Open Music System extension.
If you have extensions for a third party MIDI interface or third party plugins, you will want to turn these on as well.
After doing the above, hit the Restart button at the lower part of the Extensions Manager window. Upon restart you will be running in this new extensions set.

[adonis]

Originally posted by Morningstar:
Hmmm. You couldn't have been a PC user for long, being number 29xxx. So, on this 600 dollar pc did you optimize it for PTLE? Second HD for audio, seperate hardware configuration, scrutinized irq requests, shut off unnecessary items like network cards, modems etc. in device manager etc..

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Actually had the PC for over a year. Thanks for your suggestions though...

[adonis]

Originally posted by dkrausz:
Have you tweaked the system exactly as stated per digi recommendations listed in the manual prior to launching LE?

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Yes, I followed the manual step by step.

Which version of LE? And what OS are you running?

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">5.1.1 and OS 9.2

Are you using a separate dedicated audio drive that’s at least 7200rpm?

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">No.

What video card is installed in this Mac? Are the drivers enabled?

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">I'm not sure. How would I find this out.

Is it a "real" completely stock G4 or a G3 with a CPU upgrade or other third party stuff installed?

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">I bought the Computer from the Apple store here in Seattle Wa. I'm pretty sure it's the real deal G4 - Based on what the salesman told me, the description on the box, etc...

Also when I’m tweaking knobs on the Koblo the Midi Clock drops in and out...what's up with that?

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">

Not sure what you mean there. The midi click? Timing errors?

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">I send a midi clock out to a Korg Ea-1 and the EA-1 triggers the softsynth. It's an easy way to write patterns and what-not for me. For me, it's an essential thing for writing music.

Second, on my PC when I went into the Set-up/Hardware menu I could still hear what was playing. Now when I go into the same menu on my MAC the whole thing stops playing.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">

It just takes two seconds to make that adjustment. Why is hearing what’s playing so necessary when performing this operation?

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">It's just something i'm used to. It's my preference. It's not that big of a deal, sometimes I don't like to stop what i'm doing because i'm liking what i'm hearing.

I gave into the whole "MAC IS BETTER" thing and I’m not seeing it.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">

well., I’m by no means new to computers but I’m sure it would take me more than just a couple of days to figure out a similar set up as mine on a windoze machine and have it up and running with zero glitches. I would certainly try to familiarize myself with a completely new OS, machine and it’s optimizations are before knocking it.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Good point.

Thanks for your suggestions. I really am excited to get deep into this MAC, i'm just a little frustated because i'm not making any music...I'm fooling around with a computer.

[where02190]

A second drive for audio is recommended by Digidesign. Your apple manual or apple website gives step by step instructions for easy installation. (You can actually install 2 add'l drives into a G-4 w/o any add'l hardware.)
I recommend two fine books for the Mac. The Mac Bible, and Mac Secrets. Both can be found at any major bookstore, and are totally worth their cost, particularly for a Mac newbie.

Welcome to the world of Mac, hope this is helpful.

[Slim Shady]

I bought the Computer from the Apple store here in Seattle Wa. I'm pretty sure it's the real deal G4 - Based on what the salesman told me, the description on the box, etc..

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">How did you get a G4/500 in the box? It shouldn't have cost you $1000. A brand new 800mhz is only $1600 - the 500mhz models are over a year old now, so anything off the shelf is quite old and probably a refurb. You shouldn't have paid more than say $800/$900 for that system. Can you still take it back? I would recommend it if you can, that sounds like a bit of a rip-off.

[adonis]

How did you get a G4/500 in the box? It shouldn't have cost you $1000. A brand new 800mhz is only $1600 - the 500mhz models are over a year old now, so anything off the shelf is quite old and probably a refurb. You shouldn't have paid more than say $800/$900 for that system. Can you still take it back? I would recommend it if you can, that sounds like a bit of a rip-off.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">It was a CTO (custom to order) and the person never picked it up. It's just been sitting in the store. Since it was a custon built machine it doesn't have a modem and what not. The saleman who sold it to me actually uses Pro-Tools and digital performer and we sat down and went over all the specs to run Pro-Tools. It's a solid machine.

My problem isn't with the machine or program it self-it's all the optimizing i'm going to have to do because i'm new to Mac that's frustating me. I'de rather be kicking it, making techno with my friends instead of dealing with extensions, downloads, and what-not.

I doubt i'll take it back...it cost $1100. It's worth the $200 bucks for me to have the computer now instead of being without a computer for a week to a month waiting on the deal your talking about. I sold my PC and some other gear to buy the MAC.