Cakewalk9 computer help

[DavidK]

Hi, I am experiencing dropouts in Cake a lot, even with 6 tracks of audio and plug-ins. My question is:

What hints do y'all have for tweaking my computer? We have talked about this in the past, so maybe someone can give me some links. I cant spend any cash now, but certainly I should get more tracks than this.

My 'Puter is a 566 celery, 128 ram, Darla24, nice cat named Simon.

I am sure the cat isnt helping, but system resources are 62%, what can I do to get that higher? My computer is multi-purpose.
I have defragmented, removed all the crap programs, deleted everything I can ( or I feel comfortable with removing). I will soon get a hard drive just for audio, but until then, any thoughts?
Thanx, Dave

[Donny]

Make sure you turn off any virus program you might have on. I had that trouble, turned it off and everything is working. Donny!!!

[SPINSTERWUN]

Also, try turning down your video acceleration.

And....

Systems Tools.

[gidman]

How fast (RPM) is your hard drive?
Check your buffer settings.

Peace,
gidman

[dachay2tnr]

Also, try compacting your audio files (Tools -> Compact Audio Data). This command puts all the audio associated with a project into a single wave file. Helps with playback.

You can also try setting your latency higher. Go to Options - Audio and under the General tab you will see settings for mixing latency. You can try either pushing the Buffer Size slider further to the right, or increasing the number of buffers. If your buffers are currently set at 2, try raising them to 4.

[DavidK]

Thanx Y'all, good ideas. I dont know the speed of my hard drive, I only have one right now, I am guessing 5400??

I am curious, how many tracks do you THINK I should get, with reverb or delay on each one? Also, there is a way to set the dropouts to either stop your song completely or just drop out parts, what do you all do?

Sometimes my disk meter at the bottom has incredible surges up to 95%, but usually its around 20. Whats up with that?

How do I make sure I am running as little as possible on my 'puter? The icons on the right bottom (system tray??) are down to a minimum, I dont run a screensaver, etc. What else can I do for maximum performance??

I have noticed that when I start messing with my tunes, everything runs smoothly, then in 1-2 hours things start messing up, and I eventually get dropouts or "stuttering" in audio. Is this a sign I need more ram?

I have 2 soundcards, a Darla24 and a SBpci512, which I don't really use. Will it affect performance if I disable the SB? ( It seems I cant play cd's through Darla, only the SB.)

Thanks for the help, I would be lost without your words of wisdom over the past year.

[gidman]

I had the same problem with the drop outs and still do sometimes, when I have 20+ tracks,and I am overdubbing or editing . They are infrequent. It only seems to happen when I get in a hurry, and flip from one screen to another while the song is playing / recording
The new hard drive helped and clearing the audio files, keeping plenty of hard drive space.
I will have 256 ram next week, and may step up my processor to a higher one too. Oh yeah a good restart always helped. Let your puter rest for a bit go out and take you a smoke...works for me.


Http://www.bmgsound.com/mp3

check out the last band I recorded Slow Joe Crow
Still working on mastering it.
These are rough mixes

[shem]

Gidman, did you record that band with your computer hard drive and Cake walk? I think it sounds pretty darn good for "rough" mix, pretty cool.

[gidman]

Shem,
I sure did. Thanks...Tell your friends...Lp coming soon !

http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/280/slow_joe_crow.html

Gidman

[mrsm57]

Here's my 2 cents even though you didn't ask for it! (day job) The levels are overall low, and when the band kicks in, it is incredibly bassey. I know its a rough mix. Overall, I think you have some good material to work with. Nice job!

[gidman]

Thanks for your input and compliments !!!