# of Voices per DSP Problem

[SessionKat]

With the cards back in the Magma 4 slot exp chassis, I plugged the PCMCIA card into my old TiBook G4 500mhz. Opened up my test tone session and was able to reproduce the pops and clicks that I get from playback using 2 DSP's for voice allocation (1 core and 1 process) I'm running PT6.2.3 on this system.

I'd say that this rules out the possibility of a damaged PCMCIA slot in the powerbook G4 1.25Ghz that I normally use in this setup.


Hey SessionKat, any other ideas before I have plop down a chunck for a new exp. chassis?

Thanks

I thought you were going to try the G4/867 with the cards inside it?

-tv

[SHIRK]

SessionKat,

I did. In my posts above, you'll read that everything worked perfectly in the G4 867. No pops and clicks what so ever...in every different DSP/voice allocation configuration. That would lead me to believe the Core and Process cards are fine.

What should I do?

[SessionKat]

SessionKat,

I did. In my posts above, you'll read that everything worked perfectly in the G4 867. No pops and clicks what so ever...in every different DSP/voice allocation configuration. That would lead me to believe the Core and Process cards are fine.

What should I do?

Sorry I missed that Shirk. I'm out of answers, except for contacting Magma with regards to returning the chassis for them to investigate.

I hope you resolve this with less pain than its already caused you.

-tv

[turbosynth]

FWIW, only this explicit combo is qualified..

Magma 4-slot CB4DRQ-D1

and

PowerBook G4 1.33 GHz 17 Inch Display
PowerBook G4 1.33 GHz 15 Inch Display

surely your problem is PCI and chassis-related, maybe the manner in which your chassis was rebuilt is the issue? Magma can hopefully clarify this for you.

best of luck,
~turbo

[SHIRK]

thanks for the salt

[Seeee]

a 10k system is being held up by a 500 dollar computer and chassis.

how much is your time worth exactly?

[spinsong]

the fact that the 2nd powerbook had the same response says that there is an incompatibility between the powerbook and the magma setup with protools...thats obvious...but to rule out the chassis...

I went to magma's website and saw that the 4 slot cardbus and the 4 slot pci seem to be the same animal with the exception of the card and some connectors...

what I suggested in my previous post was that you change the pcmia (cardbus) connector to a pci connector (being that magma practically replaced everything else on that chassis)

I know it would mean coughing up some money for the upgrade but it would rule out the chassis as being bad, and verify that it was an incompatability issue, and probably if the chassis worked with the desktop, you could use it with one.

If you have to work out of a laptop I guess you might try the setup on windows or settle for one dsp on the mac, the ilok I think lets you use the same plugs on both platforms ( you would have to look into that) there are also so some issues on some windows laptops with irq sharing (look it up)

oh, and I don't mean to be rude, just some advice..check compatability b4 any purchase

good luck

[Wai]

Have you tried having just the core card in the chassis and use max dsp and voices?

-thanks,
wai

[SHIRK]

Good thought....I'll give that a try.

Had a lengthy conversation with Ariel at Magma tech support yesterday. He informed me that another client (famous rock band) has been having the same problem. He mentioned that in their (Magma) testing, they have been having some problems with multiple HD cards and DSP/voice allocation spread across more than one card when using the 4 slot chassis and the aluminum powerbooks. He thought that it might be the 275W power supply in the exp chassis. They are testing with the 300W version to see if that helps. That doesn't really jive with Digi's test reluts. But who knows...a few weeks ago my system was running like a swiss watch using OS 10.3.4 / PT6.7 / Magma 4slot / Albook 15" G4 1.25ghz. Now my system performance rivals that of an oversized mac mini running garageband.

Kidding...it's not that bad. But I'm not happy.

I'm actually looking into other options that still alow me to be somewhat portable. I built my current system(powerbook/magma 4slot) when I was working out of my dinky Manhattan apartment, basically cabbing/carrying my rig to live shows and nearby studios. Now I'm in Chicago, where I have a car and a little more space. I'm starting to think that running off of a laptop isn't as necessary. Been looking into picking up a Dual 1.4 G4 MDD that I can rack in a soft (carryable) rack case as an alternative. The downer is that those MDD g4's are so noisy. I'd rather buy a G5 and be current with newer technology, but those things are enormous. Toting one around requires a big rack. (almost 12 spaces tall I think...and you have to saw the legs to get it in a 6 space horizontal rack setup)

Any thoughts on this stuff?

Thanks for the help folks.

Steve