Pro Tools, Firefox, Winamp all audio app's freeze when playback set to Digidesign

[joshbakaitus]

Hey all,

Since last week my Pro Tools and all audio applications freeze upon launch. Not sure what else to do to fix this.

Pro Tools does not launch at all, Firefox freezes when audio is played on a webpage, Winamp freezes now, WMP freezes too. Audio plays when I have my Sound playback settings on SoundMax but not when I set to DigiDesign. Never had a problem with this before...

I am running Pro Tools 7.3.1
I do not have Internet Explorer 8 installed.
Reinstalled drivers & Pro Tools

ANY IDEAS? HELP!

[sw rec]

XP or Vista? Did ANYTHING change anywhere? Have you successfully used your Digi hardware to play audio before, and thru what "helper" application? What interface?
Remember, DIGI hardware was NEVER intended to be a general purpose "soundcard". And when you DO use it in that capacity, it's SINGLE client, meaning only one program at a time can access it. So if you have, for instance, Winamp open and attempt to launch Pro Tools, it will tell you that the digi hardwear is in use by another application, and refuse to launch.
Lot of unknowns here. Give us some real detailed info about what you're doing, and we can probably point you in the right direction. And BTW, most of us are using our on-board soundcards for non-PT audio.

[joshbakaitus]

Hey there!

I am actually running XP... and yes I have successfully been using this setup for over a year. All of a sudden last week it stopped working.

I am also aware that it is for one program at a time... The helper I am using is Digi MME Helper.

What I have been doing is basically running DigiDesign as my soundcard for all audio but now when I have my audio set to "DigiDesign" and try to launch Pro Tools, I get nothing. Nothing pops up at all. It just does not launch. When I run Winamp separately from Pro Tools the application just freezes and I have to end the process. Same thing happens for Firefox when audio is played on the browser (Embedded flash usually). BUT the thing is that if I switch my audio to Soundmax soundcard audio plays and the problem ends.

Switching to SoundMax though doesnt help me because obviously Pro Tools will not work and I do not get to enjoy audio through my studio monitors.

Any ideas here?

[sw rec]

Patch your SoundMax output into the aux inputs on your Digi interface (still didn't specify which one you're using; if it's an Mbox this won't work) and use the aux-to-monitor function.
It kind of makes sense that switching to Sound Max makes the no-launch problem disappear. Just because the program isn't open anymore, doesn't guarantee that the software "released" the hardware. Again, Digi interfaces were designed specifically as Pro Tools interfaces, and not as "general purpose" soundcards. SO anything that DOES work thru it is either courtesy or plain old luck!

[joshbakaitus]

Yeah, that won't work as I am using the Mbox2. Whoops... meant to say that before.

"Again, Digi interfaces were designed specifically as Pro Tools interfaces, and not as "general purpose" soundcards. SO anything that DOES work thru it is either courtesy or plain old luck!"

Yeah, I understand... But like I said it worked perfectly well for over a year.

Ugh! Frustration sets in....

[sw rec]

Some guys are using Presonus Central Stations or Mackie Big Knobs to get soundcard audio over their studio monitors. And for me, this is one of 734,526 reasons why I didn't jettison my console!

[albee1952]

Originally Posted by sw rec

this is one of 734,526 reasons why I didn't jettison my console!

I told you a million times, don't exaggerate......just kidding. Yes, using a monitor/source selector is much easier than this dance. I ran analog from the computer to my Central Station for a few years until my present computer which has an optical SPDIF output. Feeding that to the CS sounds excellent(cleaner and quieter than the mini plug output).