IMAC 21.5" and PT 8 on Snow Leopard 10.6.2 Observations

[Recording Odyssey]

Been running my brand new shiny IMAC 21.5" 3.06GHz Core 2 Duo for a couple of weeks now and thought I would post my observations

This thing runs Protool 8 like you would not believe, I have my most plugin hungry project loaded and I am running 256 sample on the playback engine and it has no troubles whatsoever.

Initially I tried to run the Snow Leopard pre-release but it completely screwed the system. It would load but it chewed up huge amount of cpu and kept crashing.

I reinstalled the the standard 8.01 and it ran like a dream again.

A few days later, I installed Skype. I didn't use PT for a couple more days then when I did a was have problems again, slow to load and using way to much CPU cycles ( I always run the CPU Monitor floating at the bottom of my screen)

I put 2 and 2 together and closed down skype, this made no difference? I rebooted, closed skype down and it was still bad. I disable skype from autostating and Voila!

Skype, if it is running or has been running seam to cause a lot of problems with Protools on Snow Leopard.

So if you are thinking about upgrading to snow leopard, or buying a new iMAC I would recommend you go ahead. I have tried the following plugins and none have caused any problems except one slight glitch as mentioned below:

Standard Digi plugins supplied with PT8
Amplitude UNO
Amplitude Light
Ampeg UNO - Sometimes has no output when project loaded, move to a different plugin spot and back again fixes this.
IK Mulitmedia mastering plugs
Massey Plugs
Cycling74 with Pluggo Runtime

[Dave D]

Thanks for your observations.
Very helpful.

[Recording Odyssey]

I forgot to mention one down side! This is to do with the Firewire 800 port. I had to buy a Fire 800 to 400 adaptor cable. This seems to emit a lot of radio interference noise that my monitors pick. (Event TR8s)

I did notice I had a similar noise from my setup when I connected my 002 to my Laptop.

I can only assume therefor that this is some sort of grounding issue, any one have any ideas on how I can fix this?

This is more an inconvenience at the moment as I can switch them off when not in use or if recording, the noise is lost when playing music back through them.

Andrew

[Dave D]

Sounds similar to the issues with my G5.
Does the noise get louder when you move the mouse?

The solution for me was to use balanced cables to connect from my amp to my monitors (passive KRKs) and to install CHUD tools and use the processor system preference panel to turn off processor napping.

I'm not sure whether that's possible on intel macs.

[Recording Odyssey]

Originally Posted by Dave D

Sounds similar to the issues with my G5.
Does the noise get louder when you move the mouse?

The solution for me was to use balanced cables to connect from my amp to my monitors (passive KRKs) and to install CHUD tools and use the processor system preference panel to turn off processor napping.

I'm not sure whether that's possible on intel macs.

It sure does, effected by the mouse or anything happening on screen. I will try balanced cables, tomorrow I was going to try rearranging the order that everything is plugged into power boards to see if I can get rid of ground loops.

thing is, this exact setup worked perfectly before I updated to latest Mac with FW800.

What are CHUD tools? (Will probably know by the time you answer)

Andrew

[Recording Odyssey]

Managed to find one Balanced Jack cable and tried it, it works, Whooo hoo. Now only have one noisy speaker which I will fix tomorrow.

thanks for the advice.

regards

Andrew

[Dave D]

CHUD is part of the Developer Tools - an optional install from your OS X/Recovery disc.

Install the complete Developer Tools package. After installing you'll find a folder called "Developer" on your MAc HD. Inside the "Extras" folder there's another folder called "PreferencePanes". Double click "Processor.prefPane" to install the processor pref panel.

From what I've read, intel macs might not have the option of turning off napping via this panel.

[Dave D]

Originally Posted by Recording Odyssey

Managed to find one Balanced Jack cable and tried it, it works, Whooo hoo.

Excellent!
Disregard my advice to install CHUD.
Sounds like you won't need it.

[DigiTechSupt]

Originally Posted by Dave D

Excellent!
Disregard my advice to install CHUD.
Sounds like you won't need it.

And, from what I've seen, having it installed can cause crashes in Pro Tools...and possibly other apps...

[Recording Odyssey]

Now have balanced cable to both monitors and the silence is golden.

Thanks guys for all the advice.

Andrew