Fast Track to Profire.....upgrade?

[ccuwan]

I've got a IMAC with PT 8 and a Fast track ultra. I am running the system with an external Cavalry 1TB harddrive. My system is set up so all data flows to and from the hard drive as I am recording. I am suffering a slight amount of lag when playing back previously recorded tracks and laying down a new one with the old playing in the background. I have the opportunity to trade in my Fast Track Ultra for a Profire 610 which although less feature laden, is fire wire and I'm hoping the lag will be a thing of the past.

I have 2 questions:

1. Will the lag be significantly reduced with the firewire Profire 610 and why?
2. Are there any other advantages of the Profire 610 vs. the Fast Track Ultra. (fact is in my market the Profire is more expensive then the Ultra in spite of the fact it has lesser features more similar to the Fast Track pro)

Thanks for the advice.....

[tribedescribe]

First, if that external hard drive is usb it is not supported for use with pro tools, ditch it and get a approved firewire harddrive(oxford chip). You will get errors!

Second, do you know how to reduce latency(the lag you here) via the playback engine? Is it set to 128? basically use 128 for recording and move it higher for mixing. The 610 is a better unit but you might be better off using the usb fast track and not daisy chaining two firewire devices.

later,

scott

[ccuwan]

I think you have solved my problem.....I went from 1024 down to 128 and the delay is gone......thank you.....are there trade offs recording at 128 as I moved it up to 256 without noticeable delay as well.

You said as well that the Profire is a better product. Pricing certainly reflects that but in what way do you mean. Does it sound better or is it a better build quality?

Thanks Again

[ccuwan]

With regards to the external drive. Do I solve the error issue if I record on the internal drive of my Imac and move the files to the external USB drive for storage only?

Thanks

[ericlees]

hey is not recommended to use the internal drive to record...better upgrade to an external e sata or firewire hd 7200rpm

[tribedescribe]

There are no trade off's with 128. Basically latency gives the computer breathing room to think and process info. In Audio latency is bad when you try record live instruments for obvious reason's. When the latency is low like 128 you cannot use alot of effects or Virtual instruments(midi) or you will get errors. When your mixing and you put the latency up to 1024 and it gives the computer time to procces all those effects.

If you are recording a couple tracks at a time for yourself you can get by with the internal drive, even though it is not supported. (dont use the usb! only for storage) If you are recording a live band with 10 tracks at once or have a large session mixing lots of effects and tracks you will need that firewire drive. Just buy a Glyph external firewire drive.

M-audio profire sounds better. The pre's are clear and the playback is clearer. It is not night and day like apogee, but it is a quality difference. Dont fret on qaulity though cause with a good mic and technique you can make good recordings.

[barters81]

You can use the profire mixer/router, by changing your input channel to "mixer out" to have zero latency. You then mute your record enable tracks in PT.

Basically the software mixer sits in front of pt and routes audio directly through your monitors or cans whilst letting PT to record as normal.

[ccuwan]

Originally Posted by tribedescribe

M-audio profire sounds better. The pre's are clear and the playback is clearer. .

If I were to switch to Profire, would the fles I have already created with Fast Track still run they way I originally created them. My local retailer is telling me that Fast Track USB Files are not compatible with firewire files even if they are both PT8. I asked the question regarding the exchange of files with a colleague who is planning to buy LE PT8 and a firewire interface. May I assume that if I stay within the Avid product group for a firewire interface I am good?

BTW nicely worded explanation of buffer size impact. In fact I experienced exactly what you were speaking of last night and the PT session shut down due to CPU drain at 128. I had to bump up to 512 and delete some unused tracks to stabilize the system.

[necjamc]

Originally Posted by ccuwan

If I were to switch to Profire, would the fles I have already created with Fast Track still run they way I originally created them. My local retailer is telling me that Fast Track USB Files are not compatible with firewire files even if they are both PT8. I asked the question regarding the exchange of files with a colleague who is planning to buy LE PT8 and a firewire interface. May I assume that if I stay within the Avid product group for a firewire interface I am good?

This is totally ridiculous. Anything you record into PT with any interface of any type will playback with any other PT setup. I routinely open sessions created both with my M-audio Mobile Pre, and Delta 1010LT and now I use a Profire 2626. I have also opened my 2626 sessions on my Mobile Pre and a M-Box micro. They only thing that would be a problem is your sample rate. Many interfaces don't support sessions over 48K. So that's your only caveat.