
NashBackslash
New member
(Warning: The following is a rather angry rant and I apologize upfront if reading this makes you upset but I just have to say this because it is frustrating me)
Hello all. I've recently moved my studio and decided to increase my input count. I've sold what I had (a Pentium 4 HT 3.2 GHz, Intel D945P motherboard, MOTU 828 MKII) and purchased a Pentium Core 2 Duo E6600, Intel D965LT, MOTU 24i/o PCI-e and upgraded my RAM to 2 GB @ DDR2 667.
I've been using my older setup for almost 3 years and never, EVER had any problems with it. No pops and clicks and all that bullshit. I thought with better equipment, things would only get better. But that is far from the truth.
Since I believe that the E6600 is a pretty beefed up processor I thought I'd monitor my inputs through my DAW (Sonar 6) instead of the hardware zero latency monitoring. I don't have much outboard gear so I really want to do this so that I can insert a software reverb for the drummer to monitor, for example. Or maybe use some software guitar amp sims.
So for my first tracking session using my new stuff, we were working on drums and I utilized 12 tracks. The first few takes I was pretty happy because it seemed to be running smoothly. Then I heard a popping sound while the drummer was tracking. When I played it back at the position where I heard the pop, it wasn't there. "So this is what 'pops and clicks' is all about", I thought. I decided to ignore it.
It only got worse from there to the point where it is annoying as fuck. The thing that pisses me off is that the CPU indicator in my DAW barely hits 50% and even if it does, it's only for a split second, and even then for only one CPU.
I went on to open the MOTU audio console and tried a bunch of things. I definitely couldn't increase the buffer because the latency it produces is very distracting for the performer. The lowest I can set it to without playback sounding like crap is 128 samples. I tried 64 and 32 but it just wasn't playable anymore.
Then I tried some other stuff like updating the Intel's BIOS and chipset drivers. I also tried updating the MOTU's drivers. I then went as far as to opening my box and switched the PCI-e 424 card to another slot just to see if it makes a difference. But no go.
Then I thought, "okay guys, fuck it with this DAW input monitoring, let's just monitor from the hardware". Although the band was kind of disappointed (the software equalizing, compressing and effects really energized the whole session) they agreed.
Much to our horror, the popping and clicking is still there even without the real-time monitoring. What the fuck?
I've read rave reviews about the E6600 and this bullshit is all I'm getting. I've wasted many hours trying to figure my system out (even in the presence of my clients; while they were nice enough to understand that I've recently upgraded and crap is to be expected, it doesn't really look nice on me, plus I've spent quite a bit of money upgrading, I don't need this shit!) and I can't take this anymore.
I really want this to work. I don't believe the MOTU is crap. The 828 MKII never failed me. And I definitely don't believe the Core 2 Duo is crap too.
Anyway, I come here with this post seeking advice and help. I'm hearing any reading all these success stories about people with dual processors and insane stuff like .1 millisecond latency and the like. I've done a great deal trying to optimize my box for DAWs eventhough I don't really feel I have to (I mean come on, it's 2007, and it IS a dual core processor after all; I feel all that tweaking is so year 2000).
This is my first time using a PCI (PCI-e, to be precise) interface; before this the only experience I've had is with Firewire. Back then I had to do stuff like downgrade my Windows XP firewire driver to SP1 or something like that. I understand that PCI is superior to Fireware and I can only imagine PCI-e to be better (I mean, the good graphics cards are all on PCI-e, right? That's gotta be some fast shit).
Thanks for reading this. I'm sorry again for the angry tone of this post but put yourself in my shoes; I don't have much money and had to work my ass off to purchase my upgrades. I've spent sleepless nights researching and reading reviews before buying the stuff. I've spent time that I will never get back to decide that this setup is what I want. Then when I finally get a hold of it, I get shit thrown my way.
Hello all. I've recently moved my studio and decided to increase my input count. I've sold what I had (a Pentium 4 HT 3.2 GHz, Intel D945P motherboard, MOTU 828 MKII) and purchased a Pentium Core 2 Duo E6600, Intel D965LT, MOTU 24i/o PCI-e and upgraded my RAM to 2 GB @ DDR2 667.
I've been using my older setup for almost 3 years and never, EVER had any problems with it. No pops and clicks and all that bullshit. I thought with better equipment, things would only get better. But that is far from the truth.
Since I believe that the E6600 is a pretty beefed up processor I thought I'd monitor my inputs through my DAW (Sonar 6) instead of the hardware zero latency monitoring. I don't have much outboard gear so I really want to do this so that I can insert a software reverb for the drummer to monitor, for example. Or maybe use some software guitar amp sims.
So for my first tracking session using my new stuff, we were working on drums and I utilized 12 tracks. The first few takes I was pretty happy because it seemed to be running smoothly. Then I heard a popping sound while the drummer was tracking. When I played it back at the position where I heard the pop, it wasn't there. "So this is what 'pops and clicks' is all about", I thought. I decided to ignore it.
It only got worse from there to the point where it is annoying as fuck. The thing that pisses me off is that the CPU indicator in my DAW barely hits 50% and even if it does, it's only for a split second, and even then for only one CPU.
I went on to open the MOTU audio console and tried a bunch of things. I definitely couldn't increase the buffer because the latency it produces is very distracting for the performer. The lowest I can set it to without playback sounding like crap is 128 samples. I tried 64 and 32 but it just wasn't playable anymore.
Then I tried some other stuff like updating the Intel's BIOS and chipset drivers. I also tried updating the MOTU's drivers. I then went as far as to opening my box and switched the PCI-e 424 card to another slot just to see if it makes a difference. But no go.
Then I thought, "okay guys, fuck it with this DAW input monitoring, let's just monitor from the hardware". Although the band was kind of disappointed (the software equalizing, compressing and effects really energized the whole session) they agreed.
Much to our horror, the popping and clicking is still there even without the real-time monitoring. What the fuck?
I've read rave reviews about the E6600 and this bullshit is all I'm getting. I've wasted many hours trying to figure my system out (even in the presence of my clients; while they were nice enough to understand that I've recently upgraded and crap is to be expected, it doesn't really look nice on me, plus I've spent quite a bit of money upgrading, I don't need this shit!) and I can't take this anymore.
I really want this to work. I don't believe the MOTU is crap. The 828 MKII never failed me. And I definitely don't believe the Core 2 Duo is crap too.
Anyway, I come here with this post seeking advice and help. I'm hearing any reading all these success stories about people with dual processors and insane stuff like .1 millisecond latency and the like. I've done a great deal trying to optimize my box for DAWs eventhough I don't really feel I have to (I mean come on, it's 2007, and it IS a dual core processor after all; I feel all that tweaking is so year 2000).
This is my first time using a PCI (PCI-e, to be precise) interface; before this the only experience I've had is with Firewire. Back then I had to do stuff like downgrade my Windows XP firewire driver to SP1 or something like that. I understand that PCI is superior to Fireware and I can only imagine PCI-e to be better (I mean, the good graphics cards are all on PCI-e, right? That's gotta be some fast shit).
Thanks for reading this. I'm sorry again for the angry tone of this post but put yourself in my shoes; I don't have much money and had to work my ass off to purchase my upgrades. I've spent sleepless nights researching and reading reviews before buying the stuff. I've spent time that I will never get back to decide that this setup is what I want. Then when I finally get a hold of it, I get shit thrown my way.