After 16 years using Digital Performer I QUIT

[delcosmos]

Hello boys, I made my best effort giving `dp6 a try, but today, I decided to quit. Starting form the really irritating fact that they moved important things and even deleted buttons that I've been using since 1994! Their new Version 6.01 sucks bigtime.

Today, after 2 weeks using it, I said enough! I spent a whole morning fixing a vocal with the pitch tuning function of DP, and after 2 hours, I decided to hear my work from the beginning, then, some of my fixes, suddenly disappeared, I thought, hey maybe I forgot to fix those parts, but then I released that no, they disappeared, so I started again! I spent another hour making comps, pitch and crossfading. Then I merged all my work, because another engineer would mix this song. After the merge, I listened to the file and it was a JOKE, full of glitches, even the timing of some parts were wrong, really weird, so I said enough,

I'm going back to DP5.13. I really feel bad about this because DP is going backwards, there's no reason for me to be in DP6, I don't use their new reverb, I don't use their new compressor and even the look is not the best IMHO,


Not to mention the embarrassing moments that I had spent with the artists in front of me while we are recording vocals and then DP6 freezes like a minute and then it let you continue, also all the time, midi notes got stucked or I hear tons of flanged notes because something happened with the midi that suddenly started to play flanged notes just when I record my final mix to disk.

I QUIT.

I will start the migration from DP5.12 to Protools, at least protools is a company that hear their customers and don't change or move from the program what their customers use everyday. Yes it is more expensive, but at least you know that they are a serious company, with continuous developing, I feel so sad. Fellows, don't spent your time trying DP6, it not worth it.

Best regards.

delcosmos.

[chrispick]

Well, I'm using DP 6.01 and it's glitch-free for me.

That said, if you think a migration to PT will suit you better, good luck with it. At the end of the day, we all need toolsets that'll work for us.

[miguelmrq]

Originally Posted by delcosmos

Hello boys I made my best effort giving `dp6 a try, but today, I decided to quit. Starting form the really irritating fact that they moved important things and even deleted buttons that I've been using since 1994! Their new Version 6.01 sucks bigtime.

But today, after 2 weeks using it, I said enough! I spent a whole morning fixing a vocal with the pitch tuning function of DP, and after 2 hours, I decided to hear my work from the beginning, then, some of my fixes, suddenly disappeared, I thought, hey maybe I forgot to fix those parts, but then I released that no, they disappeared, so I started again! I spent another hour making comps, pitch and crossfading. Then I merged all my work, because another engineer would mix this song. After the merge, I listened to the file and it was a JOKE, full of glitches, even the timing of some parts were wrong, really weird, so I said enough,

I'm going back to DP5.13. I really feel bad about this because DP is going backwards, there's no reason for me to be in DP6, I don't use their new reverb, I don't use their new compressor and even the look is not the best IMHO,


Not to mention the embarrassing moments that I had spent with the artists in front of me while we are recording vocals and then DP6 freezes like a minute and then it let you continue, also all the time, midi notes got stucked or I hear tons of flanged notes because something happened with the midi that suddenly started to play flanged notes just when I record my final mix to disk.

I QUIT.

I will start the migration from DP5.12 to Protools, at least protools is a company that hear their customers and don't change or move from the program what their customers use everyday. Yes it is more expensive, but at least you know that they are a serious company, with continuous developing, I fill so sad. Fellows, don't spent your time trying DP6, it's no worth it.

Best regards.

delcosmos.


Best regards.

delcosmos.

Well, Digital Performer 5.13 is working really great here so we haven't updated to 6. Why don't you stay in 5.13 insted of going to Pro Tools?

[kgdrum_nyc]

i have DP6 but have not installed yet,6 looks very nice potentially and has some very nice new features.
for now I am very happy w/ 5.13 and will wait for 1 or 2 more DP updates before I take the plunge.
no DAW is perfect and most new versions goes through a few updates(remember logic last year)before they get everything working as intended.
I expect DP6 to be amazing very soon.............

[delcosmos]

Originally Posted by miguelmrq

Well, Digital Performer 5.13 is working really great here so we haven't updated to 6. Why don't you stay in 5.13 insted of going to Pro Tools?

Yes, I will stay on 5.13 till I start my transition, but it is sad to be stucked in a program that let you down ( have you ever tried to call Motu's tech support?) Without common sense, I mean, ok improve your program but don't move things that you are gaveing to your customers for so long!! And worst, with tons of bugs!!

I think that sadly this time, motu is loosing this race.

I am a DP user since 1997 (performer in 1993) and when I got success, I had the opportunity to make my dream studio, I got every dream piece of studio gear you can imagine, but I stayed loyal to DP, I never jumped to Protools because I thought that DP was as powerful as protools, but right now I feel really disappointed, the "Pre-render" thing is a joke, if you want to work you have to disable it, this fu^&^Ng bug where suddenly the color ring appears and you have to wait more than a minute to continue your work kills my creativity and also my artist's creativity.

I'm done.

Best regards.

delcosmos.

[Sergievsky]

Hehe, I know how you feel. For me it was the volume surges that's pushing me into Logic 8...I say pushing because I can't seem to find enough time to migrate. All these deadlines need me to keep working on DP 5.13's familiar interface.

Not so easy to migrate to a new platform.

[thermos]

I have that spinning wheel bug in 6.01 as well. Other than that, thing seem to be mostly the same as 5.13. I've always had that problem with the Dp tune, sometimes I have to remind it its supposed to be reading. But all of those pale in comparison to the bugs I experience in Logic 8.

Anyway, talking to PT users, there seem like there are plenty of bugs there too. Computer based recording is not without its flaws, thats for sure.

[RichTone]

Armando,

If you do decide to make the switch, I highly suggest you investigate the latest version of REAPER (REAPER | About). The community is great, and the developers definitely listen to their consumers. I think the routing flexibility, and customizable nature of the GUI will leave a favorable impression on you.

[miguelmrq]

Originally Posted by delcosmos

Yes, I will stay on 5.13 till I start my transition, but it is sad to be stucked in a program that let you down ( have you ever tried to call Motu's tech support?) Without common sense, I mean, ok improve your program but don't move things that you are gaveling to your customers for so long!! And worst, with tons of bugs!!

I think that sadly this time, motu is loosing this race.

I am a DP user since 1997 (performer in 1993) and when I got success I had the opportunity to make my dream studio, I got every dream piece of studio gear you can imagine, but I stayed loyal to DP, I never jumped to Protools because I thought that DP was as powerful protools, but right now I feel really disappointed, the "Pre-render" thing is a joke, if you want to work you have to disable it, this fu^&^Ng bug where suddenly the color ring appears and you have to wait more than a minute to continue your work kills my creativity and also my artists creativity.

I'm done.

Best regards.

delcosmos.

I do understand you! If you need to feel updated and if it's important for your work to be according to todays software then go ahead and change.

It's a con for a studio in US not to have Pro Tools, no matter what. (But here in Europe it's diferent)

Good luck for you, wish everything goes fine

[thenoiseflower]

Originally Posted by delcosmos

..... but right now I feel really disappointed, the "Pre-render" thing is a joke, if you want to work you have to disable it, this fu^&^Ng bug where suddenly the color ring appears and you have to wait more than a minute to continue your work kills my creativity and also my artists creativity.

I'm done.

Best regards.

delcosmos.

Same here, I used to use DP as a composition tool, (had been since 1998) , and even in that setting the pre-render thing killed me, I had started my transition to PT when that became a "feature". I started starting songs in PT, and have not looked back. tho I still keep up to date and sometimes I need to use(righ up until I transfer those sessions it to PT) it for specific clients of mine , I curse the day I upgraded to DP5. Sadly.

sucks cause I still know the program like the back of my hand, and when I do use it its still very powerful for many things, just no longer stable, can no longer be trusted with art or be useful as an recording/composition tool.

[delcosmos]

Originally Posted by thenoiseflower

Same here, I used to use DP as a composition tool, (had been since 1998) , and even in that setting the pre-render thing killed me, I had started my transition to PT when that became a "feature". I started starting songs in PT, and have not looked back. tho I still keep up to date and sometimes I need to use(righ up until I transfer those sessions it to PT) it for specific clients of mine , I curse the day I upgraded to DP5. Sadly.

sucks cause I still know the program like the back of my hand, and when I do use it its still very powerful for many things, just no longer stable, can no longer be trusted with art or be useful as an recording/composition tool.

I agree, I will start my transition soon, fortunately I already own a full HD3 rig, also my chief engineer and friend Francisco Oroz, is a Protools expert, so I will be safe on the learning curve.

I see DP these days, like those great pieces of hardware, you know, the classic name that suddenly releases a new "improved" version of their most important product, and fails miserably!

Best regards.

Delcosmos.

P.s. Please excuse my bad spelling, my English sucks and I'm writing from my Blackberry.

[Tony Shepperd]

In the past 3 weeks i've had 4 hard core (prominent) DP users pronounce they are going to make the switch to PT8.
They've had it with DP6 and can't wait until next month when they can switch.

[Larrysings]

Originally Posted by Tony Shepperd

In the past 3 weeks i've had 4 hard core (prominent) DP users pronounce they are going to make the switch to PT8.
They've had it with DP6 and can't wait until next month when they can switch.

Nuendo 3.2 here. We actually tried Cubase 4.5 the other day but preferred the sound of Nuendo 3.2. It works flawlessly and integrates amazingly well. Good luck!

[Chaellus]

hey delcosmos im surprised i always assumed you use protools...i use sonar which is just as good.. i tihnk been using cakewalk software since 99 before i was using a program by magix who make sequioa...but if your DAW is kill creativity and not doing what you want it to id rally change it ASAP.....by the way i checked your site out and saw your studio pics....very impressive.

[dannygold]

New versions always take some getting used to. Things have been moved, streamlined, re-organized but not really "deleted". It's not like they took the functions of the buttons you miss away, they just moved them, and it is in the long run a cleaner GUI. Although it took me awhile to get used to too.

[bigdog]

Yes I think many of us here in LA are hoping we can broom DP once and for all and just use PT8. I really hope it's as good as it looks.

[delcosmos]

Originally Posted by dannygold

New versions always take some getting used to. Things have been moved, streamlined, re-organized but not really "deleted". It's not like they took the functions of the buttons you miss away, they just moved them, and it is in the long run a cleaner GUI. Although it took me awhile to get used to too.

Hi Dannygold, well, I can deal with all the "reorganization" (although I don't understand why they "re-orgnized" after 14 years of the same GUI, one thing is a new look, but they moved things that we were really used to), but, I can't deal with bugs that kill my creativity and watching fantastic features on other softwares having to stay in DP5.13 because they can't make good update that BTW is not free.
We are in version 6.01, if you are lucky, they spent 5 or even 6 months between updates.
Right now, I'm sure, they think that this was "THE UPDATE"... c'mon!, there are a lot of people in forums like this one, "motu-nation", etc. not to mention my 4 recording studios, complaining about that "Freeze" that suddenly happens when you try to audition a region, also, stucked midi notes, glitches when you merge a highly edited region with cross fades, etc, etc.
C'mon!, at least they should do the midi right!! For a home studio is an OK software, you can live with it, but for a serious professional studio, it's impossible to handle with so many bad things.

Best regards.

delcosmos.

[delcosmos]

Originally Posted by Chaellus

hey delcosmos im surprised i always assumed you use protools...i use sonar which is just as good.. i tihnk been using cakewalk software since 99 before i was using a program by magix who make sequioa...but if your DAW is kill creativity and not doing what you want it to id rally change it ASAP.....by the way i checked your site out and saw your studio pics....very impressive.

Hi Challeus, well, I was really loyal to DP, as I said, I started using it in the 90's, always trying to be a rebel against Protools, because, I always start my projects on a midi set up and then I add real instruments. DP stood behind all those programs for many years, I made a lot of comparisons against the best softwares, and always found that using DP with a good clock and good AD/DA's, I never missed a system like protools, because I was so used to DP and because I have a lot of hardware to complement my sound.

But this time, I'm done, also if I'm gonna move from DP, it should be to PTs because I already have an HD3 waiting it's turn, and my Duality can control it.

Best regards.

Delcosmos.

p.s. btw, those pictures of my studio are 3 years old, wait till I show you my studio these days!!

[chrispick]

I used to run into glitches until I turned off all pre-rendering of effects and VIs (I never liked nor trusted the concept of this anyway) and configured my studio settings to...

Studio Busses - 64
Prime Seconds - 2.50
Work Quanta - 100
Max Work Percent - 80%.

I also configured my Hardware Drive Work Priority to low. This allows for smooth interaction with my UAD-2 card.

Since making these changes, it's been smooth sailing. No crashes. No audio pops. No bad merged files.

Maybe you can still get some mileage out of your DP set-up while you're waiting for your PT set-up? Couldn't hurt to try.

[delcosmos]

Originally Posted by chrispick

I used to run into glitches until I turned off all pre-rendering of effects and VIs (I never liked nor trusted the concept of this anyway) and configured my studio settings to...

Studio Busses - 64
Prime Seconds - 2.50
Work Quanta - 100
Max Work Percent - 80%.

I also configured my Hardware Drive Work Priority to low. This allows for smooth interaction with my UAD-2 card.

Since making these changes, it's been smooth sailing. No crashes. No audio pops. No bad merged files.

Maybe you can still get some mileage out of your DP set-up while you're waiting for your PT set-up? Couldn't hurt to try.

I will do that, THANK YOU chrispick. Do you have the "Kind of freeze" when you audition a region (option-bar)?

Best regards.

delcosmos.

[chrispick]

Originally Posted by delcosmos

I will do that, THANK YOU chrispick. Do you have the "Kind of freeze" when you audition a region (option-bar)?

Best regards.

delcosmos.

Not that I remember, but I'll test it tonight (going in to do some work later) and let you know.

Another adjustment I forgot to mention above: I totally rebuilt the Bundles from scratch. Deleted the old; built the new. This is sort of a pain as it can take a little while, but it seems to assure that no odd routing glitches occur (at least for me).

Good luck.

[delcosmos]

Originally Posted by Tony Shepperd

In the past 3 weeks i've had 4 hard core (prominent) DP users pronounce they are going to make the switch to PT8.
They've had it with DP6 and can't wait until next month when they can switch.

Hi Tony, well, I don't know if I am "prominent" but I'm going to make the switch to PT8, I hope PT8 comes with a decent midi implementation, we already found how to make patchlists with roland expansion boards, because my Synth list is complex and huge and also all my midi modules are far from me in my studio, so I depend a lot on those patch lists with expansions, but Francisco Oroz found a good way to add the expansion boards to the digidesign midnam lists. 4 years ago, I decided to stay in DP and not buy a PTs rig, just for the lack of patch lists, but now, there's another story.

Best regards.

delcosmos.

[George Necola]

midi is dead..

all the best with migration and spending the money on PT HD .. what will it be? PT HD5 system?

are you going with digi converters?

cheers

[ryst]

Originally Posted by delcosmos

Hello boys I made my best effort giving `dp6 a try, but today, I decided to quit. Starting form the really irritating fact that they moved important things and even deleted buttons that I've been using since 1994! Their new Version 6.01 sucks bigtime.

But today, after 2 weeks using it, I said enough! I spent a whole morning fixing a vocal with the pitch tuning function of DP, and after 2 hours, I decided to hear my work from the beginning, then, some of my fixes, suddenly disappeared, I thought, hey maybe I forgot to fix those parts, but then I released that no, they disappeared, so I started again! I spent another hour making comps, pitch and crossfading. Then I merged all my work, because another engineer would mix this song. After the merge, I listened to the file and it was a JOKE, full of glitches, even the timing of some parts were wrong, really weird, so I said enough,

I'm going back to DP5.13. I really feel bad about this because DP is going backwards, there's no reason for me to be in DP6, I don't use their new reverb, I don't use their new compressor and even the look is not the best IMHO,


Not to mention the embarrassing moments that I had spent with the artists in front of me while we are recording vocals and then DP6 freezes like a minute and then it let you continue, also all the time, midi notes got stucked or I hear tons of flanged notes because something happened with the midi that suddenly started to play flanged notes just when I record my final mix to disk.

I QUIT.

I will start the migration from DP5.12 to Protools, at least protools is a company that hear their customers and don't change or move from the program what their customers use everyday. Yes it is more expensive, but at least you know that they are a serious company, with continuous developing, I feel so sad. Fellows, don't spent your time trying DP6, it not worth it.

Best regards.

delcosmos.

I did something similar....except I quit on version 5.something a few years ago.

I went back to pro tools and it was the best switch I ever made.

[delcosmos]

Originally Posted by George Necola

midi is dead..

Well yes, Midi is a Dinosaur, yes.
...dead?, I don't think so.

Originally Posted by George Necola

all the best with migration and spending the money on PT HD .. what will it be? PT HD5 system?

Thanks George, well I already own an HD3, if I need more power, then I would add more cards with an expansion chasis.
Finally there are PCIe expansion chasis available!

Originally Posted by George Necola

are you going with digi converters?

No, I already own 48 channels of APOGEE AD/DA16x, I will be using just one Digi 192 with digital I/O's for interfacing with my Lavry Gold AD for final mixes.

btw, I can't believe I'm talking about this, if you make a search, I have fighted a lot in favour of DP in the past, but I am disappointed this time!!

BEST REGARDS.

delcosmos.

[outofphase]

I use Nuendo, but a really close friend who was a long time Digital Performer user, just switched a few months ago to Protools.
He always complained about the lack of technical support, he e mailed them several times questioning about stucked midi notes and they never answered him back.

Try Nuendo, it is FAR better than Protools (and less expensive ).

oOp.

[Oroz]

Originally Posted by delcosmos

btw, I can't believe I'm talking about this, if you make a search, I have fighted a lot in favour of DP in the past, but I am disappointed this time!!

That's exactly what crossed my mind while reading the thread . Anyway, I'm sure that it'll be a smooth transition, Pro Tools is really easy to use and I think that you're gonna love the new MIDI editing features in PT8, here's a link to a tutorial in case you haven't seen it:

The MIDI Editor in Pro Tools*8 - blog - protools|blog

[steff3]

Well, there are definitely some quirks with DP6 - as there are with every software package out there. The most important thing is to find the tools that work for the job. Personally I gave up on expecting one tool to work for all different tasks, so to me it is also very important that they share some common standards (like AU presets or stuff like that).

I think most of the tools available today are pretty sophisticated and have their specific approach - not all work for everyone though. Maybe it is even a good idea after 16 years of DP (maybe DP only) to also look at an alternative and than see how to integrate your tools in your workflow

Best

[Pastor Obviedo]

No offense cosmo but I want to ask you a question:
We already know that you own a Hi End Studio, you enjoy a big degree of success (congratulations btw ), ok, then... WHY DIGITAL PERFORMER?

I mean, you have access to the best tools for the job, then WHY DIGITAL PERFORMER? As we all know... DP is NOT the best tool in audio, it is (or was) a good midi sequencer, period.

I highly recommend you Protools, the best studios in the world use Protools, that is why it became a standard, but wait till they release PT8.01 or 8.02, because every software comes with bugs on their first release.

P.O.

[steff3]

Originally Posted by Pastor Obviedo

No offense cosmo but I want to ask you a question:
We already know that you own a Hi End Studio, you enjoy a big degree of success (congratulations btw ), ok, then... WHY DIGITAL PERFORMER?

I mean, you have access to the best tools for the job, then WHY DIGITAL PERFORMER? As we all know... DP is NOT the best tool in audio, it is (or was) a good midi sequencer, period.

I highly recommend you Protools, the best studios in the world use Protools, that is why it became a standard, but wait till they release PT8.01 or 8.02, because every software comes with bugs on their first release.

P.O.

no offense either - but I really thing that since DP5 - DP is a very powerful tool for audio editing, and definitely does not have to catch up to PT, as is Nuendo for audio editing.
For mixing of course PT HD has the advantage of near zeor latency plugin processing on the DSPs, but other than that? well .... Of course it is a matter of taste, but ....

best