Is my computer outgunned?

H

HapiCmpur

New member
Because I'm new to DAW recording, I recently bought a DAW bundle from Guitar Center on the assumption that somebody put some thought into assembling components that would actually work well together. Not so sure about that anymore.

I may be misinterpreting the problem, but it appears that the Mac mini at the heart of the bundle is just barely powerful enough to run Pro Tools MP 9, and therefore it cannot handle the addition of any major plug-ins. The system crashes every time I try to get it to play a loop clip imported from the Steven Slate Essentials drum program that came with the bundle. In fact, the drum program won't even audition sounds without a lot of hang-ups and cut-outs, as if the Mac mini is being overwhelmed by the processing demands.

The Mac mini specs are: 2.3GHz Intel Core i5 with 500GB internal HD and 2GB RAM. To me, that sounds powerful, but the results suggest otherwise. Do you think that adding a pair of 4 GB memory modules (maximum possible) will solve the problem, or will that just allow me to run two plug-ins instead of one?

For the record, I've already maxed out my H/W Buffer and CPU Usage Limit in the Playback Engine settings window, and when the system crashes I'm not running anything other than one track of Pro Tools and the SSD4 Essentials application.
 
Hi there,
Your problem is most likely going to be a software/driver issue, or an issue with settings and configuration.

Your computer is the same spec as my MBP, except you have 2gb ram instead of the 4 I have.

Now, there's no denying that 4gb is a sensible and worthwhile upgrade, but your setup should still be ticking along nicely to a point.

CPU usage limit is a funny one. People often recommend setting it to the one below the highest. Usually 95%.
My experience has shown this to be a better choice. Don't ask me to explain it! :p

In day to day work is your computer OK?
Are you 100% that all your drivers and software versions are up do date and compatible?
Traul avid.com and pay particular attention to your OS version when you're looking at updates.

Also, the drive that you use can make a big difference. Again, I'd expect the system to work well up to a point, but still, if you're recording to the internal drive you might want to look at picking up an external one.
Doesn't have to be expensive or massive. Just any decent sized firewire drive should help a lot.

Maybe the combination of that and ram might sort it all out....It's hard to guess.
Hope that's useful.
 
Thank you for the quick response. I went to Avid.com and downloaded the installer for an update to MP 9 called MP 9.0.5. The update not only failed to install, it deleted Pro Tools from my computer! I reinstalled MP 9 and started the process all over again ... and got the same result. I emailed Avid Support about it, but from what I've heard, they're not likely to be any help. We'll see.

Like you, I always set my CPU usage at 95%. I only set it to 99% recently to see if that would allow me to run SSD4 without hang-ups. It did not.

My Mac mini is brand new and operates flawlessly under normal conditions. As you said, this seems to be a software issue. Trouble is, I can't tell if it's Pro Tools, the drum application, or if it's that my computer isn't up to the task of running them both at the same time. I don't really want to buy memory chips and a new hard drive just to find out, but I don't really know what else to do -- except to return the bundle and start over. Ugh!
 
I can understand where you're coming from.
Perhaps you could download reaper and try your drum software in it. It's free to try.
That would either rule out your computer, or rule out protools.
 
moresound said:
Once you've open the bundle GC will not take it back. So I've heard. :cursing:
Click to expand...

That's my suspicion as well, but every time I complain about the bundle to the store manager, he not only helps me solve the latest problem, he reminds me of GC's 100% satisfaction guarantee. I don't really want to return the bundle if I can get it working properly, but I've been fighting with it for over a month now and it really seems poorly assembled. For starters...

1. It contains many CDs but does not include a disc drive.
2. It contains MIDI programs, but the MobilePre interface doesn't have any MIDI ports.
3. Every software application in the bundle is a stripped-down version of the original, such as the Steven Slate Drums "Essentials" package, which includes only one drum kit. Even the Pro Tools application is a stripped-down version of PT9 called MP 9, which doesn't include PT basics like Boom or Xpand.
4. Finally, the Mac mini computer at the heart of the bundle has only 2GB RAM, but Tech Support at Steven Slate Drums now tells me that I need at least 4GB to run even their stripped-down "Essentials" program.

I can probably work around all these problems by adding RAM to the Mac mini, buying MIDI converter cables, picking up a disk drive, and upgrading the software applications, but once you add in all these additional costs, the bundle seems like a pretty bad deal. Maybe GC will give me store credit and I can start over by buying piecemeal.
 
I'd honestly suggest upgrading that 2GB to 4-8GB... 2GB is hardly enough to run a 64-bit operating system, I feel like that MAY be the problem. Memory's cheap these days, but as you've said, I'd talk to Avid first and try to get it figured out.
2GB is tiny though, so if you have the cash, boost that up to 4-8. If you get 8GB, you won't need any more until Pro Tools starts going 64-bit with their programs, and even then, 8GB should be PLENTY for your average project.
 
MrWrenchey said:
I'd honestly suggest upgrading that 2GB to 4-8GB
Click to expand...

I think I'll try that this weekend. However, I've been shopping around for memory chips online and am really confused by what I'm finding. Apple wants $150 for a 4GB chip (and I'll need a pair of them), but some websites and computer stores sell off-brand versions of what they CLAIM are compatible chips for twenty bucks. Can I save a lot of money and still get good results with the cheap chips, or should I suck it up and pay the Apple premium?

One of the websites I found has a note saying that there's a limit of one of these chips per household. What's up with that?
 
I wouldn't pay the apple premium, but I wouldn't go with a no name either.
Either find something with rave (independent/forum) reviews, or something with a good name.

I'm afraid the name escapes me, but there was one company with great prices. They also did a 16gb kit for 2011 onwards MBP+mini.
Apple don't officially support that, but the hardware does. ;)
If I can find it I'll post back.

I still think there's something else at play though. A netbook should open protools and run one instance of a drum VST.
Hell, some people here still use pentium 4!
 
Neither of those are the one I was thinking of, but crucial are certainly a known name.
Just remember, you probably want to buy in pairs.

If you want to prove that memory is the issue first, open activity monitor (shift-apple-u in finder / activity monitor) and flick to the memory tab, the run PT etc.
 
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HapiCmpur said:
I may be misinterpreting the problem, but it appears that the Mac mini at the heart of the bundle is just barely powerful enough to run Pro Tools MP 9, and therefore it cannot handle the addition of any major plug-ins. The system crashes every time I try to get it to play a loop clip imported from the Steven Slate Essentials drum program that came with the bundle. In fact, the drum program won't even audition sounds without a lot of hang-ups and cut-outs, as if the Mac mini is being overwhelmed by the processing demands.
Click to expand...

Stalls, stutters, and poor performance can be caused by a lack of RAM. However, actual crashes (where the app quits and the "Send a report to Apple" window appears) are always caused by one of five things:

  1. A bug in the application.
  2. A bug in the operating system or drivers.
  3. Bad RAM.
  4. A bad CPU.
  5. An improperly mounted heat sink on the CPU.

Period. Your computer is not overwhelmed. Something is broken. If you post the crash log file for Pro Tools, I might be able to help you figure out which of these is the problem.

Out of that list, an improperly mounted heat sink almost always results in the fan running full blast (often even while idle), so it should be obvious if that's the problem. And bad RAM or a bad CPU almost always results in crashes in multiple applications and/or regular kernel panics, so again, it should be obvious if either of these are at fault.

Try running Garage Band. If it doesn't crash, go scream at Avid.
 
In the interest of closure, I'd like to inform all thread participants and voyeurs that the glitches and hiccups went away after I upgraded the Mac mini's RAM from 2GB to 8GB.

Thanks to all who contributed to the discussion.
 
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