PT9 Purchase Imminent but....

[themactech]

Before I start, feel free to get all the lambasting out of the way first as I disclose that I've acquired a cracked copy of PT9 from a "friend".

<lambasting begins>.....

<and.. we're done...>

Ok.. now that we've got that out of the way, let me add that I work in my own home studio and I have and always purchase the software I use on a regular basis and at the moment.. that is Logic and Reason/Record. I feel I know my way around Logic and Record, etc. They work fine.. but I feel or have been made to feel that I'm missing out because I don't use PT. I've been interested in PT because that's the "standard"

So the opportunity came this week for me to see what all the fuss was about. Admittedly.. it's well laid out and I like the workflow... and it seemed to ReWire with Reason beautifully. So far I like. It does all the things I wish Record did and not as "complex" as Logic. So I'm sold..

until... I got to Bounce the tracks I'm playing with.. the dreaded "not enough CPU ... error. 6101010101 whatever it is" But after I tweak a few of the settings.. i finally get it to bounce. But then it might not work a second time so I have to play with the settings again...

and the only other thing that kinda bothers me is that when I go to add an insert plug-in.. i get the same error.. so stopping playback and then adding the plug-in seemed to cure that issue.. not a great cure but it is what it is

now.. these errors and issues may very well be due to the fact that this is not a legit copy of PT and/or maybe my Mac Pro isn't up to snuff. But I think it is... you be the judge.

Mac Pro 2 x 2.66GHz
Mac OS 10.6.4
12GB RAM
4 x 1TB internal hard drives (Boot drive, Scratch drive, Audio Drive, and Storage drive)... all drives are 7200RPMs WDs or Seagates
Plus I have a FW Time Machine backup drive
My audio interface is a Presonus FireStudio Project 10 x 10

Anyhow.. i'm not looking for advice on how to tweak or update my system, I'm just looking for some reassurance that when I drop the $600 for PT this weekend, that she's gonna work as advertised (for the most part) on my system.

Thanks... and if you still feel the need to blast me... then let the fur fly. But I'm a good guy and I believe in purchasing software that I use.

Clay

[Carl Lie]

PT takes a little more work to get going than the others but your computer is up to it. You'll need to follow all the troubleshooting especially where it comes to compatible plugins.


Carl

[djjazzy41]

Appreciate your honesty, Clay. In all reality, your "acquired" copy may be part of the reason for the bugs you are experiencing, but it's hard to tell for sure. I can tell you that I am running OSX 10.6.6 and all is pretty clear. A few minor overloads making me reboot, but most likely caused by me clicking too many buttons too fast or opening old sessions created in PT8 on a PC on the new Mac for the first time. As far as plug-ins go, I have never been able to insert them "on the fly" during playback, and I don't think anyone does this on purpose because of the CPU craziness that can ensue. You just put the plug-in on the track while the transport is stopped, and then once you begin playing the track back you can bypass the plug-in in real time if you want to A-B the track with and without the plug. Anyway, my advice would be to drop the $ and get a legit copy from somewhere like Sweetwater so that you can actually call and talk to a real person in Technical Support who knows what to do if problems start to happen. Sometimes glitches are caused by simple preferences or system settings that you may not have thought to change, and those guys can help you through that stuff for free (if you bought the software from them). Plan to expect SOME glitches no matter what software you are using, but I can tell you from experience that my move from PT8 to PT9 was about 1/10th as painful as my move from 7.4 to 8 was. It has been a MUCH smoother transition with a whole lot less bugs than when I moved up to 8. And besides, you will have the industry standard. Just being able to send it out to someone else to work on when you get stuck has got to be worth something!