Really Basic Question about Playback Engine

[goodfellamikec]

Hey folks,

I'm having a surprisingly difficult time getting a straight answer about this, so here goes. I'm using an old Mackie Onyx Firewire as the Playback Engine (I know, I know - it's not ideal, or even acceptable, but it's what I have right now). Does this mean that my Mackie FireWire card is actually doing all of the processing on my session? Or is my computer still doing all of the work and the playback engine is simply a playback device?

I ask because I was getting a ton of latency when using iZotope's noise reduction plugins, regardless of any adjustments I made to the PE settings. Given the specs of my PC, should I be having this kind of latency? I followed the optimization guidelines, but eventually I had to just process the clips, one at a time, to deal with it. Any info would be helpful. Thanks!

Thanks!

HOST SPECS:
PC (Self-built)
Software: Pro Tools Standard 12.6.1
Windows 10 (V1607/OS build 14393.576)
Processor: Intel i7-3770K 3.5GHz Quad Core
RAM: 32GB
Storage: 512GB Samsung 850 Pro SSD
GPU: nVidia 970 GTX
Playback Device: Mackie Onyx 1620 (via FireWire 400 LOUD Technology driver)
Project Storage: OWC eSata RAID (4 - 4TB 7200rpm Sata III HDDs running on RAID 5 64MB cache)

[Ben Jenssen]

Originally Posted by goodfellamikec

Does this mean that my Mackie FireWire card is actually doing all of the processing on my session? Or is my computer still doing all of the work and the playback engine is simply a playback device?

Number two.
With non-HD PT all plugin processing happens in the computer CPU.

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by goodfellamikec

Hey folks,

I'm having a surprisingly difficult time getting a straight answer about this, so here goes. I'm using an old Mackie Onyx Firewire as the Playback Engine (I know, I know - it's not ideal, or even acceptable, but it's what I have right now). Does this mean that my Mackie FireWire card is actually doing all of the processing on my session? Or is my computer still doing all of the work and the playback engine is simply a playback device?

I ask because I was getting a ton of latency when using iZotope's noise reduction plugins, regardless of any adjustments I made to the PE settings. Given the specs of my PC, should I be having this kind of latency? I followed the optimization guidelines, but eventually I had to just process the clips, one at a time, to deal with it. Any info would be helpful. Thanks!

Thanks!

HOST SPECS:
PC (Self-built)
Software: Pro Tools Standard 12.6.1
Windows 10 (V1607/OS build 14393.576)
Processor: Intel i7-3770K 3.5GHz Quad Core
RAM: 32GB
Storage: 512GB Samsung 850 Pro SSD
GPU: nVidia 970 GTX
Playback Device: Mackie Onyx 1620 (via FireWire 400 LOUD Technology driver)
Project Storage: OWC eSata RAID (4 - 4TB 7200rpm Sata III HDDs running on RAID 5 64MB cache)

If you're talking about the 4-pack of plugins that Izotope pulled out of RX they explicitly mention on their site that a couple of those plugins are meant to run as AudioSuite and NOT in realtime because of the latency issue you ran into. Happened on my machine as well so it's not just your setup.

BTW - your Mackie - did they ever fix it so that the interface card in it picks up the eq's in the Mackie? The one for my 1220 didn't so I didn't purchase it.

[albee1952]

Originally Posted by Ben Jenssen

Number two.
With non-HD PT all plugin processing happens in the computer CPU.

Indeed^^^ That's the "short and sweet" version I'd like to expound a bit as you seem to want to learn(which I applaud). Many plugins take some(or a lot) of time to complete their processing(the delay compensation numbers are the dead giveaway). I also use the Izotope NR plugin(works wonders on noisy guitar and bass) and my solution to the big latency is to insert the plugin(just as you are doing now) and get the settings dialed in. I then save the settings as a Preset(maybe called something like "songname_ClnGtr"). Next, I open the Audiosuite version of the same plugin and call up the Preset I made with the inserted version, render the audio, close the audiosuite plugin and remove the inserted plugin(which is no longer needed). No more latency

You will find that many plugins have enough latency that you can't track with them(like my favorite Waves drum plugin that has 683 samples of latency), and latency on Master Track plugins are not compensated for(like my Waves L2 with 64 samples x2 because I stack 2 in a row). The trick there is to leave those plugins inactive while tracking and then make them active when its time to mix(where the latency won't matter)

As musicman said, the computer's cpu handles all the processing in any "native" system. A DSP system(like HDX or UAD) provides processing power on the card(s), but this only works with plugins that are encoded for DSP(like all the UAD plugins)

Last tidbit; remember that ADC(the delay compensation) works by finding the track with the MOST latency(totaling all plugins on that track) and then making every OTHER track later to match

[goodfellamikec]

Originally Posted by musicman691

BTW - your Mackie - did they ever fix it so that the interface card in it picks up the eq's in the Mackie? The one for my 1220 didn't so I didn't purchase it.

I actually didn't test the EQs on the channel strips. This was literally a last minute solution because I had this old board lying around, and before this, I was using my SoundBlaster card as the PE. It caused huge problems. I will make it a point to try this, though, but considering the drivers are quite old and no longer supported, it's probably a long shot. Thank you all for the replies!