Im an electronic drummer and use midi triggers to play Impulse kits live. I do live looping/recording/remixing on the fly. Great fun...great to watch.. then DISASTER!
Everything works fine for the first 45 minutes or so, then the audio quality degrades a bit, and then within 2 more minutes REALLY bad crackles, ..it sounds like the Ableton filter "bit reduction.". ...then I have no recourse execept to kill the main midi volume slider...and get the scowl of death from my bandmates. ...DISASTER!
I took extreme measures with my Sony Vaio laptop:
-Reformatted HD and installed fresh XP Home
-Put in 1 GB of RAM
-Took all unused programs off the laptop. It is ONLY for LIVE 4.
-Went to Musicxp.net and did 90% of the suggested XP tweaks.
-Downloaded newest drivers for my RME Multiface (it the best right?)
-Lower graphics to 16 bit.
-Set the Multiface latency for 6 ms. I cant go any higher..as a drummer I hear the 6 ms delay...12 MS would kill me!
After all these "fixes" the same thing still happens.
I DO use alot of effects.
I run 3 Midi tracks and 2 Audio tracks
I have pre-qualified all my VST fx and they all check out fine.
The only remaining questionable aspect is the Hitachi 7200 rpm HD I put in the laptop a 1/2 year ago. Im wondering if there is a heat build-up issue???
Before I throw the laptop out the window (with my leg tied to it!) do any of you experienced users have any ideas at all what the hecks going on.?
Again, it works GREAT for about 35--45 minutes then these symtoms happen.
Thanks in advance.
TK
Live preformance disaster: Audio & XP gurus...HELP!
Live preformance disaster: Audio & XP gurus...HELP!
eDrummer: Roland Vdrum kit Live 8/ MacBookPro 2.5 mhz & 2gb. Motu Ultralite.. Homemade midi-triggering pad for LIVE's filters , clips , & record buttons. Hopelessly hooked on live looping.
Problem after 45 minutes
Do you have your hdd partitioned?
If not you might try that.
Perhaps keep the OS and Live app on the primary partition and all loops etc on the other.
Can you afford an external hdd? I bought one for $70 - a 120Gb 7200rpm USB 2 device.
Hope this helps.
If not you might try that.
Perhaps keep the OS and Live app on the primary partition and all loops etc on the other.
Can you afford an external hdd? I bought one for $70 - a 120Gb 7200rpm USB 2 device.
Hope this helps.
It would seem to be heat, I agree.
if the app isnt throwing windows errors or munching resources in normal situations then the only variables would seem to be heat and humidity.
you could try a bit of extra laptop cooling
http://www.pccasegear.com/category142_1.htm
if the app isnt throwing windows errors or munching resources in normal situations then the only variables would seem to be heat and humidity.
you could try a bit of extra laptop cooling
http://www.pccasegear.com/category142_1.htm
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bytheriver
- Posts: 360
- Joined: Wed Mar 16, 2005 3:53 pm
Can I ask for the exact specs and model of your vaio, because I also have one and have had similar experences in the past.
I have-
PCG-GRZ615S
P4 - 2.4
512mb ram
40gig HDD (comes in two 20 gig partitions from factory)
I used to get a very similar thing, what helped me was..
1) defraging on a FREQUENT basis, I used to DJ live with tracktor, and i'd defrag before every gig.
2)Blowing into the fans, if your vaio is anything like mine it has an intake and an output fan, on the top right side, and top right end from the keyboard respectively. Switch it off, pick it up, and blow all the crap out of it, better yet use compressed air in a can.
3)Get a cooling pad, I have one similar to the one posted in the link above.
With these three things i've not had any problems for a while.
One last thing to try, since you've opened it up to install the harddrive, is thermal paste http://www.dansdata.com/goop.htm I've not tried it, but apparently it can help, and if your opening the thing up, get some more blowing involved
Hope that helps, if you find a solution i'd be intrested to hear what it is.
I have-
PCG-GRZ615S
P4 - 2.4
512mb ram
40gig HDD (comes in two 20 gig partitions from factory)
I used to get a very similar thing, what helped me was..
1) defraging on a FREQUENT basis, I used to DJ live with tracktor, and i'd defrag before every gig.
2)Blowing into the fans, if your vaio is anything like mine it has an intake and an output fan, on the top right side, and top right end from the keyboard respectively. Switch it off, pick it up, and blow all the crap out of it, better yet use compressed air in a can.
3)Get a cooling pad, I have one similar to the one posted in the link above.
With these three things i've not had any problems for a while.
One last thing to try, since you've opened it up to install the harddrive, is thermal paste http://www.dansdata.com/goop.htm I've not tried it, but apparently it can help, and if your opening the thing up, get some more blowing involved
Hope that helps, if you find a solution i'd be intrested to hear what it is.
Thanks for all these ideas...Im going to approach the heat problem today.
One thing I failed to mention...WHen I close a live file and open a new one, the CPU load (As viewed by Windows Task Manager) jumps to 100% for a few sec. and then quiets down, once the new set opens....
???
One thing I failed to mention...WHen I close a live file and open a new one, the CPU load (As viewed by Windows Task Manager) jumps to 100% for a few sec. and then quiets down, once the new set opens....
???
eDrummer: Roland Vdrum kit Live 8/ MacBookPro 2.5 mhz & 2gb. Motu Ultralite.. Homemade midi-triggering pad for LIVE's filters , clips , & record buttons. Hopelessly hooked on live looping.
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dragonbyte
- Posts: 55
- Joined: Mon May 20, 2002 6:56 pm
e-drummimg and Live
Hey there vdrum!
If I might throw my 2cents into this mix, I have a feeling it could be the card bus card in your laptop. the possible laptop heat is messing with the card IMO after 45 min. As far as drives go for your samples and audio loops, I think your best bet is and external drive exspecially for a laptop set-up. Although I think it should be possible to run the number of tracks you listed with out it.
Best,
Chris
If I might throw my 2cents into this mix, I have a feeling it could be the card bus card in your laptop. the possible laptop heat is messing with the card IMO after 45 min. As far as drives go for your samples and audio loops, I think your best bet is and external drive exspecially for a laptop set-up. Although I think it should be possible to run the number of tracks you listed with out it.
Best,
Chris
1) Desktop G4 466Mhz 1G OS X.3.9
2) HyperCube 3.02 Ghz 1G Windows XP HE
Motu 828•M-audio Revoluton 5.1•Glyph M-Project
drumKAT Turbo•Oxygen 8•Roland PC 300 • Muse Receptor
2) HyperCube 3.02 Ghz 1G Windows XP HE
Motu 828•M-audio Revoluton 5.1•Glyph M-Project
drumKAT Turbo•Oxygen 8•Roland PC 300 • Muse Receptor
My experience levels with the music side of things is extremely small... i'm an almost complete noob with all this stuff.
However, PCs are my thing, and have been for donkey's. So i'm in a pretty good position to try and help you out.
As everyone has said, heat does seem to be a likely culprit, because of the way problems only start occurring after a while. There are a few things you can do to test this for sure.
The first is to do quick restart of the laptop once these problems start happening. As soon as it comes back up, load up your kit and make it make noise again. If the problem is heat, the problems should still be present. They may take a minute or two to reappear (if whatever was overheating cooled off a bit while we were restarting). The point is, the problem should take far less than the original 35-45 minutes to reappear.
So having done this test, we can say for sure if heat is the issue or not.
Assuming it is a heat issue:
You mentioned, and some others have chimed in about harddrive overheating... I'm gunna say that I'm almost positive this has nothing to do with it. It is almost impossible to overheat a harddrive... and when you do, you don't get tiny little corruptions like sounds playing funny, you get one big mother of a ****up - ie, Windows packs it in. So I doubt that that's the issue.
Like I said, i'm pretty noob-ish when it comes to the music side of things - but what do you use for sound output? The Vaio's in built sound outputs, or something external? I ask, because usually when something goes mental with a PC (e.g. the screen starts flickering/distorting/tearing while playing Quake), the problem is closely related to the symptoms (with video problems, its most often a faulty/overheating video card). So in your case, the Sound hardware would be my first guess as to the cause of your problems.
The other real option I can see is some kind of software problem. Your best bet would be to try to isolate the problem: Once the problems start, try restarting each individual program you're running, and then seeing if the problem persists.
Good luck troubleshooting, and lemme know how you go with any of the stuff i've mentioned.
Pyros
However, PCs are my thing, and have been for donkey's. So i'm in a pretty good position to try and help you out.
As everyone has said, heat does seem to be a likely culprit, because of the way problems only start occurring after a while. There are a few things you can do to test this for sure.
The first is to do quick restart of the laptop once these problems start happening. As soon as it comes back up, load up your kit and make it make noise again. If the problem is heat, the problems should still be present. They may take a minute or two to reappear (if whatever was overheating cooled off a bit while we were restarting). The point is, the problem should take far less than the original 35-45 minutes to reappear.
So having done this test, we can say for sure if heat is the issue or not.
Assuming it is a heat issue:
You mentioned, and some others have chimed in about harddrive overheating... I'm gunna say that I'm almost positive this has nothing to do with it. It is almost impossible to overheat a harddrive... and when you do, you don't get tiny little corruptions like sounds playing funny, you get one big mother of a ****up - ie, Windows packs it in. So I doubt that that's the issue.
Like I said, i'm pretty noob-ish when it comes to the music side of things - but what do you use for sound output? The Vaio's in built sound outputs, or something external? I ask, because usually when something goes mental with a PC (e.g. the screen starts flickering/distorting/tearing while playing Quake), the problem is closely related to the symptoms (with video problems, its most often a faulty/overheating video card). So in your case, the Sound hardware would be my first guess as to the cause of your problems.
The other real option I can see is some kind of software problem. Your best bet would be to try to isolate the problem: Once the problems start, try restarting each individual program you're running, and then seeing if the problem persists.
Good luck troubleshooting, and lemme know how you go with any of the stuff i've mentioned.
Pyros
Re: e-drummimg and Live
Just google'd 'RME Multiface'... so I answered my own question about what sound interface you use. It seems fairly unlikely that that thing is responsible for messed up sound.
. Theres no obvious way of cooling one of those things, so I think your best bet would be to try and borrow a new one and see if the problems still occur.
I think dragonbyte hit the nail on the head with that comment. The interface between your laptop and the sound interface could easily be overheating and causing weird problems. Ive not heard of overheating PCMCIA cards before, but when it comes to computers 'never say never'dragonbyte wrote:I have a feeling it could be the card bus card in your laptop. the possible laptop heat is messing with the card IMO after 45 min.
. Theres no obvious way of cooling one of those things, so I think your best bet would be to try and borrow a new one and see if the problems still occur.