I Want H/W Buffer Size of 2048 samples on 002R

[jbaby]

Hi

I'm currently using PT LE 7.1 on an IMAC G5 1.8GHZ - 2G Ram - with 002R - in Mac OSX 10.4.9. All in all, I'm very happy with the performance of my rig during mix down, especially considering that it's a 4 year old computer (and not too powerful to begin with), but recently I bought some DSP intensive plugins... Waves SSL, URS Strip Pro, McDSP. As my mixes near completion, they start to bog down. I get close... sometimes literally one convolution reverb away from done, and then its "DAE error." With a bit more efficiency I feel I could step my mixes up a level.

My question is this (and I CANNOT find the answer!)...

1) Will an upgrade to 7.3 give me a larger H/W buffer size? Is 7.3 more efficient than 7.1? My max is currently 1024 samples, and I'm thinking that 2048 could get me that extra DSP bump into completion with RTAS instead of Audiosuite... which suits my mix style much, much more.

2) If 7.3 is indeed more efficient, can I justify spending $150 to upgrade? I'm told by Digidesign that I need to buy the 7.4/8 upgrade to get to 7.3. I'm not buying a new computer until I need to (ie. when this IMAC DIES) so the 7.4/8 upgrade will be outdated by the time I actually can use it (hopefully!).

3) Any cheaper ways to get my hands on a copy of 7.3? I'll spend the $$$ if I like the answers I get here on the DUC, but... 150 smacks is pretty steep for uncertain and/or modest gains in performance, IMHO.

Thanks for your time... I eagerly await your advice.
Cheers

[albee1952]

Pretty sure only a higher sample rate will allow a higher buffer and that would bog you down even more. How many reverbs are you trying to run? If its more than 2, maybe you would do better by printing some of them or maybe apply verb via AudioSuite (which processes the track and creates a new audio file) so you don't need the RTAS bogging down the system. Also, maybe experiment with some stuff to see if certain plugins are more efficient.(such as; don't use a 4 band EQ when one band is all you need).

[jbaby]

I try to use only one VERB on one stereo aux for the WHOLE mix, and then route snare, toms, bass and guitar to the same instance of the plugin... Unfortunately, my most indispensable plugins are the most DSP intensive. Can't live without Waves SSL E Channel on each drum track (10 in all) and URS Stip Pro and saturation on Guitar and Drum Busses. And McDSP Revolver SMOKES dverb, and is a processor hog.

Overall I'm fairly frugal with my plugin count. I record in 24/48, and my sessions have anywhere from 24 to 32 tracks.

Just wondered if PT LE 7.3 would give me the 2048 sample buffer, which I thought might help during mixdown. As I said, I'm close... Just need a bit more efficiency to get where I want to go.

Thanks

[jbaby]

Anyone...? Does PT LE 7.3 give an increase in H/W Buffer size to 2048 samples at 24/48?

[daeron80]

Originally Posted by jbaby

Anyone...? Does PT LE 7.3 give an increase in H/W Buffer size to 2048 samples at 24/48?

Sorry, no. And a larger buffer size wouldn't really help you all that much, anyway. Until you can get a faster computer, print plugin settings as you become happy with them. Audio Suite is your best friend! I've done lots of mixes that way that came out great. Just make a new playlist each time you process, and name it after the process you're applying. That way if you need to backtrack and redo with different plugin settings, you can just flip back to the right place. It takes a lot more time than mixing with a hot processor, but you can either spend the time or the money. :shrug: And actually, restrictions always force creativity. You'll probably soon find that you're doing cool stuff that you never would have thought of if your gear limitations hadn't pushed you in that direction.

[DLINDSA21]

"The operating system held off interupts for too long. If this occurs frequently, try increasing the "H/W Buffer size" in the playback engine (-6086) "

The lowest buffer size I am able to recored at without this error interuption is 128. Of course the higher the buffer size the more delay you recieve while recording.


Im running Pro Tools 6.9 on

Power Mac G5
CPU Type: PowerPC 970 (2.2)
Number Of CPUs: 1
CPU Speed: 1.6 GHz
L2 Cache (per CPU): 512 KB
Memory: 2 GB
Bus Speed: 800 MHz
Boot ROM Version: 5.0.1f1

Digi 002



What is it that I need to override this error and recored with the lowest buffer size of 64? More memory, newer version of pro tools?

Would this also be my problem?