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  #11  
Old 11-17-2010, 07:54 AM
amateurtool amateurtool is offline
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Default Re: Frustrated!!!

Quote:
Originally Posted by drumster View Post
I also agree with the above poster. You shouldn't have any issues using a laptop with Pro Tools as long as you set it up correctly. Just follow all the instructions in the manual on how to optimize your Mac for Pro Tools.

Regarding your decision for a new laptop, my recommendation would be to purchase the fastest model you can afford and then expand the RAM on it. If you plan on running VI's with a MacBook Pro, the optimal configuration is to have two external FW 800 drives (one for audio and the other for VI's) running off of the FW 800 port. I recently purchased 2 of the Glyph PortaGig 50 drives for my MacBook Pro for this very purpose. The PortaGig drives use the Oxford 934 chip set and are compatible with Pro Tools. Check them out here: http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/PG50-500/

If for some reason, it isn't possible for you to have 2 external drives then I would recommend running your VI's/Samples off the system drive and your audio off the external drive. It won't be as optimal as the 2 drive configuration, but will be more stable than running both audio and VI's off of one external drive. If you do choose to go the route of 1 external drive, I would suggest upgrading the internal drive to 7200 RPM when you purchase your new Mac.


Hey thanks drumster. Not sure even what a VI is!! Can you please let me know? I might not even need to worry about VIs if im just basically recordng my band.

Thanks dude
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  #12  
Old 11-17-2010, 08:09 AM
amateurtool amateurtool is offline
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Default Re: Frustrated!!!

hey drumster also wondering what the avantage is of having two external hard drives is? I know I should record to an external drive but why two? I should run the 003 rack from the firewire port of my computer then daisy chain to an external hard drive then daisy chain to another one? Which drive does it record to? both??
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  #13  
Old 11-17-2010, 09:36 AM
drumster drumster is offline
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Default Re: Frustrated!!!

Quote:
Originally Posted by amateurtool View Post
Hey thanks drumster. Not sure even what a VI is!! Can you please let me know? I might not even need to worry about VIs if im just basically recordng my band.

Thanks dude
No problem! I guess I should have clarified what a "VI" actually was! A VI is a short acronym for "Virtual Instrument". If you browse these forums long enough, you'll hear people talking about Virtual Instruments such as Superior Drummer, Kontakt 4, and Omnisphere. These are all essentially sample libraries or software synthesizers that can be triggered from a Midi controller/keyboard, or in the case of Superior Drummer, an electronic drum kit.

From the sounds of things, Virtual Instruments are probably not important to you as your goal is to simply record your band using Pro Tools as a tape machine. Given this fact, you will only need 1 external, FW 800 (7200 RPM) hard drive to record audio to and save your Pro Tools sessions. I only suggested the second hard drive because I thought you might be running virtual instruments. Based on your needs, however, it doesn't look like you need the second hard drive. If you did want to record a few VI's using some of the stock instruments that come included with Pro Tools i.e. Boom, Mini Grand, or Vacuum, you could always leave them on the system drive without any major issues.

With regards to connectivity, my suggestion would be to daisy chain the 003 off your external hard drive as the the firewire ports on the 003 aren't meant for hooking up hard drives. I believe that they even state this in the manual, so just make sure that the 003 is the last link in the chain. You will probably also need a FW400 to FW800 adaptor to connect from the FW 400 cable on your 003 to the extra FW800 port on your external hard drive. I hope that makes sense.

As for hard drive selection, either the Glyph PortaGig model that I suggested or the OWC drive that Matt Russell suggested would work fine. I've used OWC drives in the past and have had nothing but good experiences with them.

Let me know if you have any other questions!
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  #14  
Old 04-22-2011, 06:19 PM
amateurtool amateurtool is offline
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Default Re: Frustrated!!!

hey this is just an update for anyone reading this who may need a solution.
I ended up getting the same computer I had before, the macbook pro. I also purchased the firewire glyph portagig 50 online from sweetwater as suggested by drumster. I still had the exact same errors occur. The buffering error would come up yet again.
In the end I took the whole setup into where I purchased the 003 rack and showed them. I had the firewire 400 lead plugged into a firewire 800 converter which allowed me to plug it into my portagig hard drive as there are only firewire 800 ports on this hard drive. It then plugs into the 003 with the 400 connection. They said that was right but sure enough the errors came up also. We changed the lead coming out of the hard drive so that it had an 800 plug on one end but a 400 plug on the other. So without the adaptor, its just a lead with two different plugs at each end. It also is braided or screened which you can see through the clear sheath. This worked!!! Couldnt believe it. Whether the lead i had which came with the 003 was dodgy in the first place im not sure but i truely believe its a 400 to 800 issue. It doesnt like being converted but with this cable i bought, it has resloved the problem.
Thanks for the hard drive tip off also drumster. Its a nice little unit.
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