protools Digi 002

sei046

Whats the deal here? Your still running off the ram on your cpu right? No processing is done in the box? Can you Record 8 tracks at the same time?

Doctor J

The 002 is just an audio interface, it doesn't do any processing. It has 4 mic pres and 4 line ins so you can record 8 tracks at once. However, it also has ADAT functionality so you can connect it to something like this and you can record 16 tracks at once. In fact, you could also hook up two channels of S/PDIF and record 18 tracks at once. Tis a fine piece of kit.

sei046

Im just looking at alternatives to my Sx rig. The computer is not running the best for me at the mo. Has a lot of glitches. It restarts for no reason quite frequently. I am running 2 gigs of ram on a 2.6 p4 which is nothing amazing but without fail i run out of juice by the time i have used the plugins etc. I am messing with the buffers and everything now but to get a nice latency i am gettin a huge loss in CPU. Im using a Terratec Phase 88. Any suggestions?

Doctor J

Format and reinstall from scratch, Windows and everyting else, there's something amiss somewhere. I use a laptop with Centrino 2ghz processor and 1gb RAM and a 002 through a PCMCIA firewire card and it's grand. You should be able to do a lot with 2 gigs and a 2.6ghz processor. Protools 7 is a lot less resource hungry than the older versions but even SX should have no problem with your spec of machine.

sei046

but to be fair i want to be able to use FX in real time. and use 2 or 3 amplitubes with an AMPEG svx and reverbs ant stuff like. But i still think i should be gettin better than i am

artvandulet

Dude, do this before you start messin with formatting. Worked for me with Pro Tools and for my mate with Nuendo. You should notice big improvements. In fact, anyone with Cubase or Pro Tools should be doing this unless there the lucky ones who can afford a general machine and a dedicated audio machine. Anywho, here ye go...

Create a new hardware profile:

Right-click on My Computer and select 'Properties.' Click on the Hardware tab and select Hardware Profiles - you should see a list with your computer's default profile. This profile will become the Pro Tools optimized profile, so you can rename it accordingly. Click Copy to create a duplicate profile before the changes we'll make - this will be your computer's access to the internet and other applications, so name it accordingly as well (i.e. Pro Tools (Current) and Default). Then make sure that 'Wait until I select a hardware profile' is checked. Close the Hardware Profiles dialog.


Disabling non-essential devices:

You should be back in the Hardware tab of System Properties - click on Device Manager. Click on the '+' symbol next to Network Adapters. Double-click on the first device listed and select the 'Do not use this device in the current hardware profile (disable)' option under Device Usage. Close that device's properties dialog and repeat the last step for the next device listed. All items under Network Adapters, Ports, and any default or built-in soundcard listed under Sound, Video, and Game Controllers should follow suit (disabling your network adapters will prevent you from using the internet).

Open the Universal Serial Bus controllers, and for any USB Root Hub, do the following: Right-click and select 'Properties.' Click on the Power Management tab and uncheck the 'Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power' option. Click 'Okay' to go back to the Device Manager.

If you have any external firewire drives, open the Disk Drives list and right-click on the icon of that drive to select 'Properties.' Go to the Policies tab and make sure the device is set to 'Optimize for Quick Removal.' Click 'Okay' to go back to the Device Manager.

You can now close the Device Manager and go back to the System Properties dialog.

Note: Combined with the previous step, you will now have two Hardware Profiles to choose from during boot. The 'Pro Tools' profile will now have these devices already disabled, whereas the 'Default' profile will not (i.e. your internet will still work on your ‘Default’ profile).


Disabling non-essential startup tasks and services:
lick on the Start menu and select 'Run.' Type "msconfig" in the prompt and click 'OK.' This will bring up the System Configuration Utility. In the General tab, click the 'Selective Startup' radio button. Uncheck everything but 'Load System Services.' Click on the Services tab, and you'll see a 'Hide all Microsoft services' checkbox at the bottom - ensure this box is CHECKED, then select 'Disable All.' Now uncheck the 'Hide all Microsoft services' box, and you should see the list of services refresh with some default services and a green check in their box. Click 'OK' on the System Configuration Utility window to close. It will ask you to restart - do so.
Note: If you want to go back to your normal startup, simply run 'msconfig' again and select 'Normal Startup.' Also, this step will disable most anti-virus software (this is a good thing when running Pro Tools).

Now that you've optimized your computer for running Pro Tools, it's important to check for anything that might be causing a conflict. The next steps can be advanced, so if you are unsure, please e-mail or call Tech Support before continuing.


Enter the BIOS:


Disabling Speed-stepping:

This option is referred to as AMD Cool n' Quiet in AMD processor motherboards, and can show up as various things in Intel-based boards. Sometimes it simply shows up as 'speed-stepping.' If your motherboard has this option, disable it, as it can cause major conflicts with the processor scheduling of Pro Tools and the USB bus. It's usually found under the 'Advanced' tab.

This option is usually disabled by following the steps in the ‘Getting Started Guide’ that’s supplied with your product by setting your Power Options to the ‘Always On’ scheme (found in the Control Panel - for some Dell laptops, this can also be called Dell Quick-Set Performance Mode). Some manufacturers supply their own power management system - please confer with those manufacturers to find the correct option, or follow the step above to bypass their management and turn this off directly from the BIOS. Also, sometimes the manufacturers limit your access to the BIOS and you cannot disable speed-stepping - if you cannot set Power Scheme to ‘Always On’ or disable speed-stepping on a laptop.
Disabling C-State Transition and Optimizing Integrated USB Hub:

This option is specific to Core Duo laptops. If you see C-State Transition anywhere in the BIOS, be sure to disable it. Also, find the Integrated USB Hub and set it to High Speed. Note that not all computers or BIOS will have these options.

Disabling on-board audio:

Other optimizations:

Aside from the steps above, here are some optional settings to get maximum performance.


Display Performance:

Another way to free up resources is to minimize the amount of processing Windows needs for display. This can be done in a few ways. First, right-click on My Computer and select 'Properties.' Go to the Advanced tab and select 'Settings' under the Performance section. In the Visual Effects tab, select 'Adjust for best performance' - this will change the way that Windows looks somewhat (to that nice 'classic' feel). Then click on the Advanced tab and set both Processor Scheduling and Memory Usage to 'Programs.' Close the Performance Options and System Properties windows by clicking 'OK.'

Now, right click on a blank space on the desktop and select 'Properties.' In the Display Properties dialog box, select the Appearance tab. Click Effects to bring up the Effects dialog box and disable the check-boxes next to the font-smoothing and shadows options. Click 'OK' and go to the Settings tab of Display Properties. Set the 'Color-Quality' to 16-bit, then open the 'Advanced' dialog. Under the Troubleshoot tab, set the 'Hardware Acceleration' to None.

While it won't be the prettiest OS, it should be running like a cheetah. More importantly, you have just maximized the performance of Pro Tools - now it's time to create!


DEP Fix:

This option disables execution prevention, a feature of Windows Service Packs that can sometimes cause errors. This won’t harm anything, but also isn’t always necessary. To do this, right-click on My Computer and select Properties. Click on the Advanced tab and select ‘Settings’ under Startup and Recovery. In the Startup and Recovery window, click on the ‘Edit’ button. This will display a text document with system execution parameters - we want to find the part of the text that reads: “ /NoExecute=OptIn “ and change the “OptIn” to reflect “ /NoExecute=AlwaysOff “ - note that the ‘A’ and ‘O’ are capitalized and there are no spaces. Then go to the file menu and Save the document. Close the document and click ‘Okay’ in Startup and Recovery.


Hope this helps!

sei046

artvan that was a brilliant post and i really appreciate you taking the time to throw in your two cents. I think that should be added to a sticky. Great info for everyone

frobisher

Artvan: I think you should cut and paste that thread to here.

Great post, nice one!!

artvandulet

Cheers. Just hope it works for ye.
I was having latency problems and buffer underrun errors despite having a half decent machine. This fixed it for me.

patdadi

I have a compaq pc. Athlon 3700+, 2.19GHz, 1.00GB of RAM.
My mBox wont play audio from the web ie youtube. It will play audio streamed through windows media player. Has any body had this problem and been able to fix it or know how to? I've disabled all the facilities that I was told to in the start up book. It is suggested to get a seperate soundcard for game etc. Could this be linked to the problem?

Patdadi

Gumbyman

Art, fair play. I'm printing this off and will get to work tonight. You are a king of kings.