PT 10 performance, disk cache etc

[rofa]

Hello, I have a question about how PT10 performs on low end hardware;

I have a 2008 macBook, and it had a lot of error-6101, especially when using EZDrummer or Superior Drummer or any other Virtual Instruments (Eleven was the trickiest one). A fresh install of Snow Leopard and PT9 decreased these errors, but I still have to use at least 256 samples cahce, if not 512 or more to prevent these errors. The external disk was replaced by a Lacie quadra, that I'm fairly sure has some version of an Oxford shipset.

I hear there's a new disk system that gets rid of this cahce setting... Does this mean that PT10 would probably perform better than 9 on my slow MacBook? How is the performance otherwise, comparing 9 and 10? Does PT10 use more juice from the computer than 9?

I have 4G RAM, which is maximum to this model.

[Chief Technician]

Originally Posted by rofa

I hear there's a new disk system that gets rid of this cahce setting...

The former is true. The latter is not.

Originally Posted by rofa

Does this mean that PT10 would probably perform better than 9 on my slow MacBook?

You may see the -6101 errors go away.

Originally Posted by rofa

How is the performance otherwise, comparing 9 and 10?

For me it appears to be the same.

Originally Posted by rofa

Does PT10 use more juice from the computer than 9?

v10 requires more RAM than v9.

Originally Posted by rofa

I have 4G RAM, which is maximum to this model.

I have a MacBook Pro with 4GB of RAM. v10 is working for me, but I'm not using Pro Tools the same way you are.

[RTFM]

If you can give us an idea of your configuration - the interface you're using, how everything is connected, etc (see the Help Us Help You thread for details) it's likely there are optimizations that can be done to improve performance on your machine.

Disk Cache on a machine with 4GB will work best with 512MB RAM assigned to it. With that said you'll need CPTK to have Disk Cache available so, depending on your budget, you may want to see what can be done about optimizing it first. I have a 2.2Ghz MBP and can get down to 128 pretty easily, but I also don't have EZ Drummer or Superior Drummer. I do use BFD and other VI's, though. You won't get a ton of VI's on a machine like that, but you should certainly be able to do as good or better than what I'm seeing on my machine.

[drumzalicious]

I'm curious about this as well. Switched things to 32 and didn't really hear a difference granted I wasn't expecting something big with the files having already been recorded at 24 bit.

[rofa]

OK, I seem to have mixed up some things, H/W buffer is still there, right? And it works like before?
Vanilla versions (is this what is referred to as "Pro Tools 10 software only"?) have the "new Disk Engine", and Disk Cahe is something separate, right? Does the new disk engine, at least theoretically, allow me to use USB disks?

@RTFM, About my setup: macbook 2008 "penryn" with snow leopard. It was reinstalled from scratch, following the PT optimization guides as closely as I could, even watched some video about all the settings that needed to be done. I use that machine for nothing else than Pro Tools, only firefox and some lightweight media player are installed in addition to the audio stuff.

The interface was at first an Mbox 2 mini, now I use a Focusrite Saffire Liquid 56 on the FW400 bus. What interface I am using doesn't seem to affect the error rate much. Due to some problems with the Focusrite MixControl software, I am currently trying to have the disk on USB, this doesn't seem to affect the error rate. I'm hoping this improved disk engine may be more forgiving about USB disks?

CPTK will not be within my budget for a long time yet...

But based on your answers, upgrading seems to be worth the try for me, in the meantime I can manage by using Focusrite's zero latency monitoring, big HW buffer settings and moderation in the amount of heavy plugins... And let the big boys do the heavy processing with their million-core mac pros...

[Chief Technician]

Originally Posted by rofa

OK, I seem to have mixed up some things, H/W buffer is still there, right?

Yes.

Originally Posted by rofa

And it works like before?

Yes.

Originally Posted by rofa

Vanilla versions (is this what is referred to as "Pro Tools 10 software only"?) have the "new Disk Engine", and Disk Cahe is something separate, right?

Correct.

Originally Posted by rofa

Does the new disk engine, at least theoretically, allow me to use USB disks?

I haven't tried this.

[Snarf]

But if you are only using Pro Tools Native, than you don`t have access to disk cache anyways. It is HD or CPTK only.

I´ve had NO errors whatsoever on my 2009 iMac with a 3,06ghz C2D "Wolfdale" regarding disk errors. I´ve even tried to run the included Demo sessions from my system drive with no errors. And I had ALOT of errors with PT9 on both SL and Lion.

PT10, Lion, and everything runs better.

Do however have a Strike problem, but that must be the plug-in..