Introduction to forum, and CPU overload, what can i buy?

[DjEM]

Hey guys, I'm a "bedroom producer" excited about and new to the Avid community and Pro Tools 10. I just got it yesterday :). I use to use Fruity loops when i was younger and then switched to Ableton Live 8 when i got a macbook. Now that I joined my schools Studio Recording Technologies program I decided to make the jump over to Pro Tools. My setup may not be the most professional, but I'm more then happy with it for my needs.

That is until i used Pro Tools for 5 or so minutes. Using Maschine or Kontakt for example, just one plugin, will make my latency spazz out, and theres crackling and [bleep][bleep][bleep][bleep]. And then boom, CPU overload. Now in Ableton I have made full songs with really low latency, using many different Audio tracks, vst plugins, effects, the works. Yet in Pro Tools, one plugin track is to much for my CPU to handle.

Im really not the best with specs and equipment type of stuff as I just got into hardware recently, so ill try to include everything I'm using. If anyone would like to take a little time to help me out it would be greatly appreciated. Don't call me a dumb-ass because I already know.

- Macbook pro 13" 2010
- Memory 4 GB 1067 MHz DDR3
- 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
- 250GB HD(and an external 1 Terabyte HD)
- Behringer Xenyx X1204 USB Interface
- Novation Impulse49 (Automap isn't the cause but I'm sure its not helping)
- NI Maschine Mikro(CPU ERROR)
- NI Komplete 8(CPU ERROR)
- Blue Bluebird Microphone (in a nice lil acoustic foam booth no cpu error )
- Mackie MR5 MK2 Studio Monitors (unrelated, but its my last piece of gear so i figured I'd include it)

Ive searched and I have seen posts similar to this one, but they all had different setups and specs. Some were solved but maxing out the sample rate or switching to only one processor in playback. I tried both and am running on 90% in the playback menu. Others were left unsolved, like mine. So here is my personal thread, hopefully it can help me out, or someone else with the same issue.

I'm not the best with interfaces as I never had any type of cpu errors with other programs using no interface at all. From what I understand after searching the web, my Xenyx mixer interface is a sorry excuse for an interface, and is better if wired to an audio interface to control it? Im not sure if I'm getting that right but maybe somebody here knows. Then there is my 4GB of RAM, again never a problem for me until I got Pro Tools. I saw two 8GB ram cards for my model computer going for 80 bucks online. Seems a little low priced for something that I believe is very important for a powerful computer so could it be like piece of [bleep][bleep][bleep][bleep] scam ram? or good quality ram? but more importantly would it fix my problem and make everything run smooth? Would getting something like a Scarlett 2i2-2i4(guy at guitar center tried really hard to sell me that last week) or an Mbox fix it? Im open to spending a little money to find the solution, but I can't afford to be spending like another 800 dollars on top of the other hundreds ive already spent to be able to run 3 like plugins. In Ableton I was always worry free and could run as many as i wanted. Is there any way I can fix this without like spending 1000 dollars? I know i need a new Audio Interface and plan to get a better one down the road but is that the reason? Would the 16 GB ram upgrade fix it? At 80$ I could have that ASAP. What would it take for me to get back to that peaceful state of mind where I can load plugins without being nervous my CPU will crash. If the Scarletts or the M boxes arent good enough to handle the fix, what interface would? My budget is about 500$ I guess, but im looking for the bear minimum price I would have to pay (whether that be 100$ or 1000$) to fix it. So far Pro Tools looks pretty cool, but if I need to spend another really large sum of cash on equipment hoping it will fix my CPU and Latency without guarantee, then I'd just have to give up on Pro Tools, as my music production is more of a hobby. A hobby that has taken over 2k of my money in equipment and software but doesn't pay a cent back, which is fine because I love to do it, but Pro Tools isnt worth the switch if it costs me another 900$ to get working and doesnt make any money back, when i could produce something in Ableton CPU worry free and sound even better then what I'd make in Pro Tools since I don't know how to use it yet. I hope will be able to get to use it.

ANYWAY, if you were able to read this 29894 page essay I typed, then I am deeply thankful, even if you do not reply back.Any input you have is greatly appreciated. I dont care if your a 10 year old behind the computer (preferably not though), you are probably more qualified then I am to figure this out alone. Thank you for your time.

[crizdee]

Hi,

You will need to use one processor in the playback engine and a hardware buffer big enough to process any big VIs you use. You wont get a boat load of VIs on a dual laptop using pro tools. So you might be better of rewiring live into pro tools and using live to run VIs as VST or creating projects in live then mixing in pro tools.

I have a dual laptop at home and it does a good job of most things but won't run many big CPU hogs like some VIs.

Chris

[nst7]

Actually, on a dual core, the using one less processor thing doesn't really work, in my experience.

However, Djem,

You should not be having these problems on that computer. I had an Imac for 5 years with the exact same processor and same amount of ram, and it could do way more than that.

Something is wrong somewhere in your system. You have not mentioned what Mac operating system you're using. Snow Leopard? Lion? Mountain Lion? And what version of your OS? 10.6.8, 10.7.4?

And as for PT10, are you using 10.0? 10.3.3?

And do you have the latest updates for Komplete and Maschine? Do you have the latest driver for your behringer interface?


Also, if you were using other programs for years before, you might have some really old plugins that either need to be updated, or maybe uninstalled.

You may want to uninstall all your 3rd party plugins, and then see if Protools works better. Note I'm just talking about plugins, not Virtual Instruments. You can leave Komplete and Maschine alone, but just make sure you have the latest updates.

One way or another, you should be getting better performance from that computer.

However, be aware that Protools has never been as good as other DAW's when it comes to using virtual instruments. This may change when Protools 11 comes out and is 64 bit. But you should still be doing much better than you are now with what you have.

[DjEM]

Thanks for the advice guys. I had to put all my firmware versions when i signed up so i figured it wud be at the bottom of my post. I use snow leopard 10.6.8, and have Pro Tools 10.3.3. In they playback engine I had changed the processor to 1, i have the usage at 90 percent. I am glad to hear that my computer is capable of more from pro tools as i knew pro tools would be more powerful but this is rediculous. When you say rewire, do you mean loading up Ableton in pro tools as a plugin? Because im not sure that id even be able to run both at the same time. If the rewiring process is different just say so, no need to write a big explanation, ill look it up. I am a little hesitant to try it. I will be searching the depths of my computer deleting old plugins i dont use, or anything i dont need.

On a side note, assuming I can get pro tools fixed without buying anything, what audio interfaces can anybody recommend for low latency in 4-500 range. And is upgrading my RAM a way to make Pro Tools run even faster or use less CPU power? Thanks again for your help guys, I will take your ideas into effect immediately, and ill be sure to write how it goes.

[DjEM]

Update: I used Ableton through rewire on a track i made by playing with the audio loops included with PT10. However, it says that Live is not able to run Plugins while in rewire slave mode. The way it seems to me, I will have to use Ableton Live for music production, and then export all the tracks as wavs and arrange and mix in Pro Tools. All in all, it just seems to be adding a lot more work, for basicly the same end result. I cleaned out my computer files and plugins but it doesnt appear to be much help to pro tools. I hope someone has any more ideas, i would really hate to have to leave my brand new Pro Tools to sit and gather dust in my closet for a few years until I get a new computer.

Second update: it seems to be working decently running on 99% (which wasn't an option yesterday?). Ive got 3 Kontacts and an Absynth open and I am not experiencing lag or latency issues for now. Feel free to post anything that may hold stability, or the Audio Interface you use if it works well. Until then, Ill do more research on Audio Interfaces, and I will probably upgrade the Ram to 16GB because I can only see that helping my CPU stability.

Third update: I added a clicktrack, and the errors came back again. No one has made any reply yet so I will shut up unless spoken too.