Buffer size Apollo 16 and PT 11 Performance issue

[Bekkstudio]

Iam setting up a new system its all pretty new and on new software.
I need to use a buffer size of 256 to make it run and even then it seems like it makes CPU spikes. I would belive that i could run a buffer of 64 when only recording 16 tracks no plugins.

Tried with both Thunderbolt and FW

Anybody see a obvious culprint?

MBP Retina 13" , 2.4I5 , OS10.9.1
APollo16 SW 7.4.1
Pro tools 11.1.1

Many thanks for the input.

[YYR123]

What drive are you recording to? I didn't see it listed

[Darryl Ramm]

Yes, make/model/specs of your dedicated session/audio drive. And what session sample rate are you working at?

[Bekkstudio]

Tried the internal at first. Now iam using an all new USB3 stick 64Gb to test
Working @88.2khz

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by Bekkstudio

Tried the internal at first. Now iam using an all new USB3 stick 64Gb to test
Working @88.2khz

You should not be recording to a USB stick. Go get a proper Audio Spec disk drive. USB3 or Thunderbolt either an SSD drive (a real SSD drive not a USB stick) or a 7200 rpm or faster HDD. eg. something like this http://www.lacie.com/products/product.htm?id=10599 ( there are many other choices).

Have you properly optimized the system for Pro Tools -- done every last optimization step in the install documentation?

You have absolutely no plugins at all in use in Pro Tools?

What *exact* error do you get from Pro Tools.

[Bekkstudio]

With all due respect shouldnt the internal drive handle 16 chn of 88khz easily with a buffer of 128? I Could always get another disk for a tripple check.

Ill will need to go through the optimization settings.

1 plugin "tools" Sending out a 1khz tone and looping back.

"Error try setting up the latency..."

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by Bekkstudio

With all due respect shouldnt the internal drive handle 16 chn of 88khz easily with a buffer of 128? I Could always get another disk for a tripple check."

No. Or we would not be asking about this. Yes as I've already said you need a proper spec audio/session disk drive. Whether this is exactly causing the problem, or whether you have multiple other things wrong as well, or whether these is some other issue here we won't know until you get this system properly set up.

And how about providing clear information. Disk drive performance varies by orders of magnitude. So what *exact* make/model/spec drives are you talking about. "internal drive" tell me squat about the actual drive performance. . All that information is reported in the System Information utility on your mac, cut and past it here. And I really hope you do not have a Apple Fusion system drive.

And *exact* error messages please. Verbatim text that you see on the screen.

Yes please fully optimized your Mac following the instructions in the Pro Tools install documentation? Bluetooth disabled, WiFi disabled, Spotlight indexing disabled (on the audio drive, but start by disabling it on all drives)? Power Management disabled? etc. etc. do every last thing.

[Rosco1969]

Originally Posted by Bekkstudio

With all due respect shouldnt the internal drive handle 16 chn of 88khz easily with a buffer of 128? I Could always get another disk for a tripple check.

Ill will need to go through the optimization settings.

1 plugin "tools" Sending out a 1khz tone and looping back.

"Error try setting up the latency..."

Just a thought but, your not using MasterMeter plugin too by any chance? There's been problems reported with this plug.

Rosco

[Darryl Ramm]

He did say "no plugins" in the first post. But yes that crossed my mind as well.

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by Bekkstudio

1 plugin "tools" Sending out a 1khz tone and looping back.

Maybe I'm blanking but what exact plugin is this and from which vendor? What happens if you do not have this plugin in the session (remove it from the inserts)?

Your may end up also needing to test by physically removing all third party plugin files, including all UAD ones, from the AAX plugin folder and restarting Pro Tools.