Could bad performance be caused by this?

quandry · Post by **quandry** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 10:12 pm

craw wrote: heat is an issue sometimes
sometimes firewire sucks

I just had a though/question--do you use powered firewire (6-pin), and actually power your interfaces with the firewire and not the wall plug? I've had great luck with my pcmcia RME and firewire hardrives, my friend on the ibook g3 is having surprisingly good results with an Alesis Multimix fw, plugged in with 6 pin, but powered from the wall.

henry ford · Post by **henry ford** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 10:19 pm

quandry wrote: I think there is more than just the cpu meter% that can cause spikes. On my system and a friends ibook g3, the slow speed of the internal hard drives can cause glitches when playing back (or recording) a number of tracks on the internal drive, even though the cpu meter is low. Then there's the soundcard, fw, or pcmcia/pci, or fw via pcmcia. On top of that there is the manufacturer of the interface, or the fw and/or pcmcia controller. The Maudio 410 may work for some, but just on this board I've read dozens of complaints from people on both platforms--clearly it is not as smooth of an interface as an RME. Not only that, but you have drivers for these interfaces that may or may not suck. Then there are heat issues such as I've had and others on this thread might have. Then you have latency settings, and general computer tweaks and setup. There are just so many variables, and for many of these, the cpu meter stays well within normal limits even though audio is glitching. With so many variables, it is really hard to pinpoint problems or to even compared most systems that aren't extremely similar. anyhow, just my 2 cents on things that can cause glitches, and yes, both desktops and some laptops can have 2 gigs RAM, some desktops even 4 or more.

ok this is my point , and what tends to infuriate me about this topic. I've used this machine , on previous versions of live 5 and also live 4.14....and its only occured since 5.03 graced me with its presence. I beg of you , to believe me when im saying its a software issue. and not repeat the same do's and dont's cos i know them all. im not a newbie. im a long time user. ive got all the tweaks tweaked because my computers priority is music. if you love jah , you will believe me

the interface has its own power source

right now im willing to believe its a fire-wire maudio interface issue.... i will make sure to never buy maudio again , nor to believe reviews in magazines , nor will i fall into the trap that if the software promotes the hardware , the hardware must be good.

bad heny , bad

quandry · Post by **quandry** » Mon Jan 09, 2006 2:58 am

I believe you in your case--if Live 3 and 4 still work fine and 5 isn't, then something is wrong. I guess there is the delete preferences file option, but I'm sure you've tried. I wasn't really directing my comments towards your case specifically, but more to the issue in general--there are just tons of variables that must be considered. For me heat from dust build up has be the cause of my glitching problems. Trying to milk too many tracks off the internal drive has also caused problems. But if the same tests and sets work fine in 3 and 4 but not in 5, then you are right, it would seem that software is to blame, not hardware. fwiw, I own Live from version 2-5, but still use 3 in perfromances, and would have to say that using live 5 live is ballsy if not asking for trouble, though some users seem to be having no problems.

henry ford · Post by **henry ford** » Mon Jan 09, 2006 4:05 am

ya , ....well , im going to be getting rid of this machine soon anyways , so I'm kind of on a live vacation untill i get my new machine. Not sure what the ideal setup is.......i was considering an imac g5 instead of a lappie , as i think its just as portable for me. But considering firewire can cause cpu spikes...im not sure.

roby · Post by **roby** » Mon Jan 09, 2006 7:34 pm

for the record, i've never had problems with my FW410 on either of my laptops.

forgie · Post by **forgie** » Tue Jan 10, 2006 2:05 am

Hey roby, what laptops/what OS/what software etc.

roby · Post by **roby** » Tue Jan 10, 2006 3:35 pm

1) Sager P4 2.4, win2k, live5, energyXT
2) Gateway P4 1.6, winXP, live5, energyXT

I use the 410 with the Gateway mostly and with a 4-pin to 6-pin cable