Most stable OSX DAW for mobile recording ?

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Hi,

I did a quick search but most posts weren't specifically for location recording... or were a bit old.

I have pro tools 9 with a MAudio Lightbridge running on a 2008 macbook pro + an HD 24 as backup.

I was wondering what OSX DAW other people are using which they find to be ROCK SOLID for mobile stuff.... I don't need editing as I'll run Pro Tools on a different partition... just something I can put into record for a show and depend on not to fall over.

I've already got Reaper and was looking at Boom Recorder too.

Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

Al

[AlphaMutt]

10.6.6 is ultra stable for Pro Tools 9.0.2. If you have an older OS update using the downloadable COMBO updater. Once that's installed you can use software update for all the rest. Just uncheck the 10.6.7 update while you doing this. This should prove to be a very stable OS.

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Thank you AlphaMutt : )

[Timsplace]

Take a look at Boom Recorder Pro

VOSGAMES - Boom Recorder

All it does is record. Up to 128 tracks. If you feed it Time-code on ANY track, it will automatically time-stamp all files with that time-code. Has great file naming features as well. We've used it for years and NEVER seen it crash.

I use it as a backup to our Protools system (also recording 128 channels).

[therecordinghous]

OSX 10.4 here with Pro Tools 7.3. If it aint broke. :D

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Originally Posted by therecordinghous

OSX 10.4 here with Pro Tools 7.3. If it aint broke. :D

Hi therecordinghous,

I have 10.4 and Pro Tools 7.3 on another partition too...
I actually got that setup after reading your advise here on GS : )

[therecordinghous]

Originally Posted by scanner

Hi therecordinghous,

I have 10.4 and Pro Tools 7.3 on another partition too...
I actually got that setup after reading your advise here on GS : )

this setup has always worked solid for me, cept the time the entire club lost power. however, i was able to hit stop in PT and save the session.

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Originally Posted by therecordinghous

this setup has always worked solid for me, cept the time the entire club lost power. however, i was able to hit stop in PT and save the session.

Just to update my previous post... I'm actually running 10.5.x not 10.4 with pro tools 7.3 so I can't be directly sure of your level of stability.

Do you use a PPC mac with your mobile rig ?

Al

[philper]

Boom Recorder, clean computer, good ext clock, no device aggregation working, UPS.

phil p

[scanner]

Originally Posted by philper

Boom Recorder, clean computer, good ext clock, no device aggregation working, UPS.

phil p

Hi philper,

I'm just checking out Boom Recorder now.

I can see it's been built for reliability...

A quick technical question though:

I need to be able to do a balance for monitoring as the recording goes down.

Does Boom recorder allow for volume adjustments an panning on the monitor path ?

Ta

Al

[philper]

Originally Posted by scanner

Hi philper,

I'm just checking out Boom Recorder now.

I can see it's been built for reliability...

A quick technical question though:

I need to be able to do a balance for monitoring as the recording goes down.

Does Boom recorder allow for volume adjustments an panning on the monitor path ?

Ta

Al

It's not ultra simple but it does. Check the manual--you can control both record and moni levels in the matrix page. Kind of a pain, but doable. I mostly recorded a mix I made in MOTU's CueMix when I used BR, that was much easier to deal with (and the MOTU box outputs its stereo mix as part of the FW stream to the recorder anyhow).

phil p

[ISedlacek]

I did the same research to be able to record with my MBP and Weiss AF1. I excluded Cubase, Logic and similar "dinosaurs" I successfully ended with Reaper that is very much stable and is able to do the job of reliable recording of few tracks very well, is simple and intuitive ... For $40 great choice ... (I just need to record and export the waws later, to continue in Samplitude)

I also looked at the boom recorder, but it somehow looks a bit strange to me (GUI). I would not have the feeling something is being recorded at all )

That said, I can t wait till Samplitude is finally available for Mac (should happen in V13, that is quite far away unfortunately)

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Originally Posted by ISedlacek

I did the same research to be able to record with my MBP and Weiss AF1. I excluded Cubase, Logic and similar "dinosaurs" I successfully ended with Reaper that is very much stable and is able to do the job of reliable recording of few tracks very well, is simple and intuitive ... For $40 great choice ... (I just need to record and export the waws later, to continue in Samplitude)

I also looked at the boom recorder, but it somehow looks a bit strange to me (GUI). I would not have the feeling something is being recorded at all )

That said, I can t wait till Samplitude is finally available for Mac (should happen in V13, that is quite far away unfortunately)

Originally Posted by philper

It's not ultra simple but it does. Check the manual--you can control both record and moni levels in the matrix page. Kind of a pain, but doable. I mostly recorded a mix I made in MOTU's CueMix when I used BR, that was much easier to deal with (and the MOTU box outputs its stereo mix as part of the FW stream to the recorder anyhow).

phil p

Thanks for the info guys : )

I guess I'll have to fire up all 3:

PT9, Reaper and Boom Recorder..

... and do some stress testing !!!

I think mixing in Boom recorder will make my head burst though.

[fakir_cz]

Originally Posted by AlphaMutt

10.6.6 is ultra stable for Pro Tools 9.0.2.

+1. Very solid indeed.

Tom

[zephonic]

I have heard from quite a few different sources that DP + MOTU hardware is unbeatable for dependability. On a Mac, obviously.

[jglamar]

Hands down the most bombproof platform for recording on location is MIO Console. Only works with Metric Halo gear though. Outside of that, I can give a +1 to recording on-location with DP. It never crashed for me.
Whatever software you decide on, be sure to record in a format that will leave usable audio files if there's a crash or unexpected stop.. CAF or SDII.

[willi1203]

I know Logic get no love here, but I must say in my case it never crashed ....
3 years ago, I used Pro Tools on a Windows notebook... was a real nightmare... kept crashing.

For me, using Logic has been a huge improvement !

[plus6vu]

Another product that doesn't get much press here and not Mac based is SawStudio. I've been using it live to a laptop (internal drive) up to 24 tracks (all I've ever needed) to an old Dell C640 via RME digiface for 5-6 years and it's been solid.

RME products can also use RME's DIGIcheck tools for recording as well. I've heard good things about it, but I've never used it other than just playing around to see if it worked. It's very simple, record only software.

Scott

[edwinhurwitz]

Originally Posted by jglamar

Hands down the most bombproof platform for recording on location is MIO Console. Only works with Metric Halo gear though. Outside of that, I can give a +1 to recording on-location with DP. It never crashed for me.
Whatever software you decide on, be sure to record in a format that will leave usable audio files if there's a crash or unexpected stop.. CAF or SDII.

It's what I use, but CAF isn't crashproof. I thought it was, but when the power went out at a venue I was recording at, I lost all the files. It wasn't a mission critical show, but annoying nonetheless. I got a UPS.

[matyas]

Originally Posted by ISedlacek

That said, I can t wait till Samplitude is finally available for Mac (should happen in V13, that is quite far away unfortunately)

Really? That's worth waiting for!

[therecordinghous]

Originally Posted by scanner

Do you use a PPC mac with your mobile rig ?

Al

Nope. 17in Macbook Pro, 2.4Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo.

[Gaston69]

Originally Posted by willi1203

I know Logic get no love here, but I must say in my case it never crashed ....
3 years ago, I used Pro Tools on a Windows notebook... was a real nightmare... kept crashing.

For me, using Logic has been a huge improvement !

I did a clean install of Operating system and Logic however it is not reliable at all. Use now Boom Recorder instead which seems to be stable, (keep my fingers crossed) Have my Nagra VI as backup just in case.

My system is based on a Macbook Pro 17", Fireface UFX

[huub]

I love Logic, but not for location recording..
The recording time is limited, and it's just not reliable for long recordings anyway.

[scanner]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for all your input.

I went with a defragged, fresh install of Pro Tools 9.0.2 and OSX 10.6.6 in the end.

3 hour show... and I had a weird , buffer, distortion thing happen 7 times.

I tried changing the Disk Cache, Buffer Settings etc for the second half but still had the same problem.
I was recording a maximum of 29 tracks split across 2 FW 400 drives using the PCI Express buss and was getting a disk access load of 10% and a CPU load of 4%.

It didn't drop out of record but it put this noise across all tracks for about 2 to 3 seconds at a time.
The noise is not the same for all tracks, but equally horrible.

I stress tested the setup the night before for 6 hours but as I was recording blank the problem didn't show up (or I didn't look hard enough !)

Thank god for the HD 24, worked like a charm... and was able to edit the needed parts no problem.

I'd definitely go with for boom recorder next time if it had a decent mixer. Instead I'm going to try PT 7.3.1 like -therecordinghouse- says, and I'll give Reaper a go...

I'll stress test both with non blank tracks and report back my findings.

I've posted an example of the distortion thing I was getting incase anybody else recognises it, and can identify the problem.

Nice one,

Al

PS: If you decide to listen to the example file TURN YOUR MONITORS DOWN. It's the most subtle occurence but it's still not pleasant.

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Originally Posted by therecordinghous

Nope. 17in Macbook Pro, 2.4Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo.

Hi therecordinghous,

I've got the 15" version...

Are you running OS X 10.4.11 ?

If I get that right I'll have the same setup as you,
which by all accounts is stable as hell : )

Al

[LX3]

Maybe I'm wrong, but that doesn't sound like your software, that's a sudden earth buzz creeping in from somewhere.

Would need more info about the rest of the setup to hazard a guess as to what was causing it. But obviously there could have been any number of analog culprits.

Edit: Sorry, you're right, and I am wrong. See below.

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Originally Posted by LX3

Maybe I'm wrong, but that doesn't sound like your software, that's a sudden earth buzz creeping in from somewhere.

Would need more info about the rest of the setup to hazard a guess as to what was causing it. But obviously there could have been any number of analog culprits.

EDIT: In fairness to LX3, I've now replaced the original file with a more obvious example.

Hi LX 3,

Unfortunately it's not just a noise being added to the signal.

In some cases there's actually a severe multiple repeat of that section of audio. Maybe my example file wasn't the best one to use. Some trackes "S t u t t e r", some tracks go blank, some tracks are just noise.

And this is across ALL tracks.

Nice !

I think it's some kind of buffer problem as I don't see a disk access spike.

Hmm, Interesting.

Al

[norbury brook]

I've used Reaper for live recording for 3 years now and it's never let me down.
I'll qualify this by saying I've used it under windows,however I've no reason to expect the OSX version to be any different.


MC

[Don S]

Originally Posted by ISedlacek

That said, I can t wait till Samplitude is finally available for Mac (should happen in V13, that is quite far away unfortunately)

Why not use bootcamp? I use a MBP and XP w/Sequoia and it's pretty solid.

[LX3]

Originally Posted by scanner

Hi LX 3,

Unfortunately it's not just a noise being added to the signal.

In some cases there's actually a severe multiple repeat of that section of audio. Maybe my example file wasn't the best one to use. Some trackes "S t u t t e r", some tracks go blank, some tracks are just noise.

Oh sorry, you're absolutely right, now I'm home and listening on something better than a laptop, it's clearly not an earth thing. My bad.

Yeah, that's pretty disappointing. FWIW, I'm finding Nuendo to be the most reliable and useable software for recording with Mac laptops.

Choice of interface (and the ability of the interface manufacturer to write a decent driver) is a big factor as well.