Pro Tools 7 sluggish compared to Pro tools 6?

[sardi]

Hey all,

Just a quick and rather staright forward question.

I finally got round to installing Pro Tools 7 the other day. After having a play around and working on a track, I noticed that the interface is REALLY sluggish compared to PT 6.4 that I was running before.

Im not quite sure why this is seeing as with Pro Tools 7 it now supports multiple CPU's.

Also, I was no way near maxing out my CPU.

So in general, is version 7 somewhat less responsive than prior versions?

Btw, Im on a G4 dual 1.8 runnig OS 10.4.5.

Many thanx.

[Raw-Tracks]

How much RAM do you have installed?

[C.Lambrechts]

Originally Posted by sardi

Btw, Im on a G4 dual 1.8 runnig OS 10.4.5.

There's your main problem imvho. Hate to disapoint you. That G4 is was one fine computer in it's own days but at this point ... running PT7 and the latest OS ... you shouldn't expect top notch performance. It will work .... but that's about it really.

[Mike Jasper]

Yeah, I agree with the above. Pro Tools 7 and even 10.4 OS and above are G5 creatures. I upgraded to both, then quickly went back to 10.3.8 and 6.4 (of course, I've got a Quicksilver Dual 1GHZ, so it was even worse for me, since Pro Tools 7 isn't recommended for Quicksilver models).

Now. Do I get a used G5 or a new MacIntel? That's definitely a wait and see type of question at this point.

Jasper

[taturana]

i guess that happens with most software upgrades...

[sardi]

Cheers for the replies.

Im well aware that its not the fastest machine on the planet, but in all honesty it seems to be more power than I need at the present.

I just didnt think the jump to Pro Tools 7 would make it feel so sluggy. The CPU is not maxing out and its handling whatever I throw it at fine, but it just take like 4 times as long to resize waveform compared to version 6.

Btw, it has 1.5Gb RAM installed.

Funny though, cos I dont notice any issues with running Tiger on that machine with any other apps. In fact, the opposite. Everything seems quicker under Tiger than Panther.

Except for the fact taht they stuffed the SCSI up under Tiger....... but thats another story.

Hmmmm..... so I guess I just have to lump it then. Sux though, because composition wise PT7 is better than PT6. Plus knowing that I have that 2nd CPU in use is handy.

[sardi]

Originally Posted by Mike Jasper

Yeah, I agree with the above. Pro Tools 7 and even 10.4 OS and above are G5 creatures. I upgraded to both, then quickly went back to 10.3.8 and 6.4 (of course, I've got a Quicksilver Dual 1GHZ, so it was even worse for me, since Pro Tools 7 isn't recommended for Quicksilver models).

Now. Do I get a used G5 or a new MacIntel? That's definitely a wait and see type of question at this point.

Jasper

Well my machine is a "gutted" Quicksilver.

I've read that about the machine, but failed to see what the problem was with running PT7 on a Quicksilver.

Tbh, a lot of software that I was told wasnt going to work well on several machines in the past has worked flawlessly for me..... so Im not conived that this is the issue.

And yeah, the main reason I had to stay G4 was the money invested in the unit. G5 with no PCI meant SCSI for me would be a PITA (read expensive), new Sound Card etc etc....

And Intel is a whole other beast. I will replace my last gen iBook with a MacBook, but Im not going to Intel for my main machine...... yet..... cost & software.

[s.d.finley]

I bet Tiger is a HAWG on yer G4 too....I am still on X.3.9....

[e-cue]

Originally Posted by Mike Jasper

Yeah, I agree with the above. Pro Tools 7 and even 10.4 OS and above are G5 creatures. I upgraded to both, then quickly went back to 10.3.8 and 6.4 (of course, I've got a Quicksilver Dual 1GHZ, so it was even worse for me, since Pro Tools 7 isn't recommended for Quicksilver models).

Now. Do I get a used G5 or a new MacIntel? That's definitely a wait and see type of question at this point.

Jasper

We share worlds.

I did the upgrade (6.4.1 to 7.2 & 10.3.1 to 10.4.6) on my rig due to a 96K Herbie Hancock session on my dual 1g quicksilver and it's painful. It's sluggish, but hasn't crashed yet, knock on woodblock. I have absolutely no room to complain because I knew it wasn't supported going in, but I DID finish the mix and made an extra $500 a day limping on my rig. I'm tetering on the edge between upgrading my PCI to express and going for the newest baddest mammah-jammah or going the used G5 route with my current cards. My experence on the older G5's has been good, but I haven't had to chance to even look into the newer options.

I loathe fans in the studio (one of the several reasons I'm really digging the Lynx Auroras), so expansion chasis are definately out for that reason alone.

[cajonezzz]

Same quandry here.

I've got HD3 ( not acell) running on a g4 dual 1.47 with 1.5 gig of ram. It's relatively snappy with 7.2, but the RTAS performance is crap, and I'm depending on a few relatively heavy RTAS plugs these days.

I've gotten a few crashes, but all in all pretty good.

I'm also considering a brandnew macintel, but the jump to Pci'e is just not in the cards right now, so I've been looking into a G5 2.7 and the possibility of getting ONE accel card to boost performance. That would be a stop gap move for the next year or two, at which time I'm sure something even more bruising will be out, and I'll be funded to make the crossgrade.

E-cue: the place I'm working out of is about to pull the trigger on the Lynx aurora's for the mix room. I'm looking into one to replace my 192 as well. ( fan and they do sound better apparently, I haven't heard it yet)


Looks like most of the plugs I own are really close to being macintel ready, so at least that's not in the way.
There are some great new features in 7.2 for sure.

cz

[sardi]

I guess I should of mentioned I run PT LE.

Unless your all being rude and ignoring the original poster...... ME!!

[Mike Jasper]

Originally Posted by sardi

Funny though, cos I dont notice any issues with running Tiger on that machine with any other apps. In fact, the opposite. Everything seems quicker under Tiger than Panther.

That definitely was not the case for me. Tiger in general made my machine sluggish. I'm surprised that Pro Tools 7 isn't working out for you, in that case. I would have guessed that if Tiger works well, PT7 would work well.

I also run PT LE.

Jasper

[foldback]

Go to the Digi support area and you will find that the Quicksilver G4 (all models) are not supported :-(

I've got a dual G4 that I bought new four years ago. I decided to stay at 10.3.9 and Protools 6.9 until I buy another MacPro for my Protools work (I like using a dedicated machine for Protools).

The dual mirror'd door models of G4 are supported but all of the Quicksilver line is not!

[Mike Jasper]

Originally Posted by foldback

Go to the Digi support area and you will find that the Quicksilver G4 (all models) are not supported :-(

I've got a dual G4 that I bought new four years ago. I decided to stay at 10.3.9 and Protools 6.9 until I buy another MacPro for my Protools work (I like using a dedicated machine for Protools).

The dual mirror'd door models of G4 are supported but all of the Quicksilver line is not!

I've been at 10.3.8 and Protools 6.4 for a while, so I have some questions for you, since we have the same computer (or at least we both have Quicksilver's, anyway).

What's the advantages of 6.9 over 6.4? Also, are you running QuickTime 6.5.2 on 10.3.9, or are you running QuickTime 7.x?

Finally, what's the advantage of running 10.3.9 over 10.3.8? I think me, the original poster and a few others could benefit from this info.

Thanks,

Jasper
PS -- Here's what it says at the Digi website.

<<<Mac OS X 10.3.9 Not Supported

With ALL versions of Pro Tools 6.x for Panther (other than Pro Tools LE 6.8.1 with Mbox 2 hardware only), the highest version of Mac OS X 10.3 that you should use is Mac OS X 10.3.8. There are incompatibilities with Pro Tools 6 and QuickTime 7, which is installed by Mac OS X 10.3.9. If you must use Mac OS X 10.3.9 for some reason, you should revert to QuickTime 6.5.2, available from the Apple website.>>>

[johnjm22]

I thought the dual 1.4 was the fastest G4 Apple released.

[foldback]

The Digi audio driver for Protools 6.9 allows a 002R interface to pass audio for other software like Garageband. This driver is quite a bit different than the one in 6.4, if you don't need to use Garageband or some other audio software thru a Digi interface I would not switch.

Do not go to Quicktime 7. My Quicktime is at 6.5.2. I think that's the latest you can use with 10.3.9.

The software and security updates for 10.3.9 are the latest for the 10.3 version of the OS. There are a few bug fixes for Safari inside of 10.3.9.

Installation of 6.9 also updated the firmware inside my 002R boxes although you need an internet connection available to the Mac so it can get the update from Digi online, the firmware update is not on the CD. It took about a half hour for the machine to do the update on each of my two 002R machines. There's no screen activity indicator during the firmware update. Finally it just finished. When I went into Protools the whole machine locked up. AAAAAAAAAhhhhh.

No worries. After installing the Digi updates, just shut down, then reboot after a 20 second wait. Do a full shutdown, not restart, there is a difference.

Hope that helps, best of luck to you.

[foldback]

My OS starts out as 10.3.3 I think with Quicktime 6.?. Then I apply the 10.3.9 consolidated update, this does not take it to Quicktime 7 automatically.

It has been a while since I installed on this machine but I'm pretty sure my Quicktime Pro 6.5.2 came off of the Apple installer that came with Final Cut Pro 4.5.

By the way, Quicksilver era machines are OS 9 compatible too, mine came brand new from Apple with OS 9.x on it. It was really buggy and quirky.

My 10.3.9 install with Protools 6.9 is rock solid reliable, it never quits or does anything funky.

The worst thing about 6.9 for me is remembering to first quit the digi driver after starting up the machine. The driver starts automatically even tho my 002R interface is not on, then if I try to boot Protools it quits. If I quit the Digi driver first then I have no more problems. I put the icon for the Digi driver in the Dock so I can see if it is running (little triangle under it when its runnning).

There are probably a few other differences in Digi 6.9 than I previously detailed. I do most everything OTB and rarely use plugins.

Logic Express does not like the Digi driver, strange evil things happen when I try putting Logic Express through it. Then again, Logic Express is one of the worst programs I own so it's to be expected :-)

[Mike Jasper]

Thanks, Foldback, that's very helpful info.

I think the best advantage for me would be the Safari upgrade. That seems to be hanging me up in 10.3.8.

I'll back up my system and give it a try. What do I have to lose? (As long as I back up everything first, of course.)

Thanks,

Jasper

[Soliton]

Running fast and stable over here!

Quicksilver Dual 1.0 GHz - 1.5 GB RAM - OS 10.4.8
Pro Tools 7.1 - 002 Rack - a lot of 3rd party plugins

[foldback]

That's good to hear. I only recently saw the problem listed on Digi support about the Quicksilver machines. I assumed it was a problem with a Northbridge chip or something in the Mac. Glad it works.

I've budgeted for a new MacPro Quad as part of my Protools upgrade. I don't want to waste time upgrading my Quicksilver. I've decided to wait until the MacWorld in January to see what new stuff comes out.

Dual Quad processors (8 CPU cores) are running in MacPro test machines right now. That would be the ultimate for native horsepower. On the other hand I mix OTB and rarely use plugins so I'm really just waiting to buy the next latest and greatest from Apple.

[Oroz]

I'm glad that a conversation about 10.3.9 came out again! There's a doubt I've had for a while: how stable/reliable is your system? I upgraded to 10.3.8 only because Digidesign says: "Mac OS X 10.3.9 has not been fully tested with Pro Tools and is not recommended" but my system is not that stable and since I read that many of you are using 10.3.9 sucessfully I'm thinking about upgrading, so, what do you think? What do you recommend me to do? Should I upgrade to 10.3.9?

G5 dual 2.0 GHz, Protools 6.9.1, Mac OS 10.3.8