Live Tracking... Whats your Opinion

[Jonathanginese]

Hello everyone... Its been awhile since i've been back on the DUC (so long that I've forgotten my password)...

Anyways, Heres what I'm trying to do.

Live Recording.. 16 tracks at a time, for bands at there concerts or practice spaces.

I have a Digi002r + ADA8000 Berhinger... So i can record 16 tracks at a time.
I'm a little hesitant to use Pro tools to start recordings Live music for a 2hr + period of time... but I'm sure that i can tune it to make it pretty sold.

My question is to the people that have used multiple DAWs and hopefully have tried to do what I'm attempting.
---------------------------------
I can either use Cubase SX 3 or Protools LE 8.

Cubase SX will be used for tracking only and then import the .wav files into Protools for edit and Mix.

Or

I'll just tune my system so that Protools can handle it.
---------------------------------

In the past I've had my system tuned so that i could record 16 tracks for about 5+ hours with no session stops.. but i had to re install and now i have to go through that whole process of tuning again.. which is what i want to avoid. Even though i had the system tuned that well i was always nervous that it would stop session because PT(atleast for me) always seemed to have a mind of its own..

Also, if there is another program that you recommend for JUST tracking that is rock solid and can compensate for any hick-ups in the system please let me know.

Thanks

Jon

[sw rec]

My two cents worth....record it and mix it in Pro Tools. I can't think of a reason to start it on one platform and finish it on another. Last two Christmases, we recorded EVERY one-hour show at the "world famous Flying W Ranch" ON A FAIRLY old PT rig, and got EVERY single show, sometimes twice a night, for two straight weeks without a glitch.
This without stopping between songs or anything, just set it up & let 'er roll. (Incidentally, we had pretty much the same hardware setup you're using, just an 003r instead of an 002r.)

[Jonathanginese]

Hmm... ok.. yeah my system is from the old recommended build about 3 or 4 years ago.. so I'm working with what i have. I guess i just need to bite the bullet and start my testing. The buffer errors is what I' worried about.. at the moment its weird.. I'll try to record at 1024 buffer @ 48/24 and it will tell me to lower the buffer.. wtf? so i set it at 256 or 512 and it works fine.. then it messes up and it tells me to raise the buffer .. so i put it back up to 1024... and repeat. its pretty frustrating. Any ideas for as to were I should start testing?.. I have the SIIG firewire card from back in the day that was recommended motherboard and everything. but i still have problems.

Jon

[sw rec]

I eliminated the buffer errors on my smaller (Mbox) system by setting up the page file.
Control Panel/system/advanced/performance/settings/advanced/virtual memory. I set mine for twice the amount of installed ram.

[Jonathanginese]

hmm... didn't think about trying that...

I've got 2gb ram though do you still think that would make a difference?

[sw rec]

Did on mine......

[albee1952]

In case you did not think of this, for live recording, don't use any plugins and set the buffer to 1024. This will offer the lowest system drain.

[AndyJCP]

Live tracking a few hours with PT LE 7.4 and 8 worked quite well, both with my not-so-new laptop (2 tracks) and my newer-but-not-state-of-the-art desktop (8 tracks).
Never did 16 tracks though.
Btw, can you recommend the Behringer ada8000 for a cheap expansion? Does it work well with the 002?

[BradLyons]

With ANY audio software, having a well-tuned computer is going to make a difference. I record large track counts live all the time direct to Pro Tools, although be it Pro Tools HD. In fact, this weekend I'm not only multi-tracking a major concert here in Fort Wayne, IN via Pro Tools HD---I'm also mixing the live TV broadcast through it as well.

[sw rec]

Re: Behringer, yes, it worked flawlessly with the Flying W 002 rig.