UPDATE - AUG 31, 2010:

As I figured, the issue was indeed related to a lack of CPU power. I invested in a new power-house of a computer (i7 930, 6gb DDR3 ram, ASUS P6T-SE, etc.) and Live has been working flawlessly since. I'm still on Windows 64bit and I'm using the AudioFire 4 (with Echo drivers). I'm running at a buffer size of 256 samples: these days I never get audio glitches/hick-ups and the CPU never gets close to maxing out. It's awesome

Thanks for the all the help!


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Update:

-Onboard FireWire disabled via BIOS (not visible in Device Manager)
-1394b Vantec FireWire PCI card w/ verified Texas Instrument chip-set installed
-ASIO4ALL uninstalled
-Echo drivers uninstalled; PC restarted; Echo drivers re-installed
-Echo drivers selected in Live 8's preferences
-With latency set to 2048, there are still some audio stutters during massive builds (lots of tracks playing at once, tons of automation, lots of channels being send to BUS channels (e.g. reverbs))
-CPU definitely maxes out during these stutters (e.g. sometimes shooting to 120%)

Reminder:

-Windows 7 64-bit
-AudioFire 4
-4gb RAM
-ASUS P5K-VM mobo
-Core 2 DUO @ 2.33Ghz

I guess it's safe to say that upgrading the CPU (and thus the mobo and RAM) is necessary to fix this issue? A friend recommended going with the i7 860 as a (semi-affordable) power-house CPU...

Is it worth trying out Windows 7 32-bit? Is there any reason why a fresh install on Windows 7 32-bit with my current hardware may solve this problem (vs my current 64-bit config)?

Last edited by Nicolas Oliver on Sep-01-2010 at 01:00

What CPU and how much RAM are you currently running? Also, are you running more than one disk drive?

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my old stuff, not quite up to snuff - but I still dig it - UPDATED 9/23/2012

quote:

Originally posted by EddieZilker What CPU and how much RAM are you currently running? Also, are you running more than one disk drive?

I'm not at my home PC, but at the bare minimum I remember:

-Core 2 DUO @ (something like) 2.33Ghz
-4gb DDR ram
-one disk drive

u shouldnt need to use ASIO4ALL when using Echo Audiofire as it has its own awesome asio-driver. Try removing Asio4All and use Echo drivers instead imo, get the latest from their website. Also you could try changing your firewire card, i remember i had some problems when using the motherboard´s firewire instead of an own dedicated firewire PCI with Texas chip or something. If none of these helps you could learn the awesomeness of freezing/bouncing tracks to wav.

quote:

Originally posted by 19503 u shouldnt need to use ASIO4ALL when using Echo Audiofire as it has its own awesome asio-driver. Try removing Asio4All and use Echo drivers instead imo, get the latest from their website. Also you could try changing your firewire card, i remember i had some problems when using the motherboard´s firewire instead of an own dedicated firewire PCI with Texas chip or something. If none of these helps you could learn the awesomeness of freezing/bouncing tracks to wav.

I've used the native AudioFire drivers (always the latest updates) for the past 2 or 3 years. They perform more poorly than ASIO4All - surprising, I know!

quote:

Originally posted by Nick Cenik I'll make this short and sweet. Lately I've been writing some tunes that involve a lot of tracks, serious amounts of automation, etc. In Live 8 (latest version), Windows 7 (64-bit), Echo AudioFire 4, and stripped down OS settings (themes, background services, etc.) the tracks have been stuttering during the parts where a lot is going on (e.g. major builds). Cranking the latency all the way up and using ASIO4All helps a bit, but there are still some serious stutters/struggles (CPU maxing out). My Q is this: if I get a better computer (faster CPU, faster HD, more ram, etc) and stick w/ Windows 7 (64-bit) and the AudioFire 4, is it likely that I'll continue to experience these problems? Or, will it be necessary for me to upgrade the computer *AND* the soundcard to get better results? Thank you kindly

what is your current configuration ?

I'm currently running Sonar on an Intel Core 2 Quad at 266 with 8GB and Windows 7 64bit and, having maxed out my ASIO4ALL's latency, rarely run into problems - and I have to really run a heavy load to get it to that point. I should point out that while I close a number of services, such as the HP Printer driver, before starting work on music, I still have a suite of anti-virus software running in the back-ground.

I also have only one drive.

Although I'm still working for it, it would be preferable to have a dedicated sound-card rather than the stock one I'm using (hence the ASIO4ALL WDM wrapper). I'd also like to be using two more drives.

While I'd say going with an upgrade would improve your situation, your problem might be resolved more cheaply with a decent PCI sound-card. When you do upgrade, you can always put the sound-card in the new machine, as well.

___________________

Now with extra singles!
my old stuff, not quite up to snuff - but I still dig it - UPDATED 9/23/2012

quote:

Originally posted by Nick Cenik I've used the native AudioFire drivers (always the latest updates) for the past 2 or 3 years. They perform more poorly than ASIO4All - surprising, I know!

thats weird, i always had problems with asio4all. glad im finished with the whole PC experience, shit like this takes too much time.

i would think it is the firewire chip on your motherboard then.

dont forget abletons freeze track settings this can save loads on cpu

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there can be alot of things causing this

windows 64 bit for one is probably not such a great idea
your audio device
background services
anti virus programs are a really bad idea

until you give more specific details, there isnt much anyone can tell you. it could be a conflict between your main board chip and the soundcard.

quote:

Originally posted by Mad for Brad until you give more specific details, there isnt much anyone can tell you. it could be a conflict between your main board chip and the soundcard.

If this is stupid, let me know, but my thinking just now was that the settings on the sound-card's driver and the project settings weren't in agreement. If the sound-card driver was set to 48,000 Hz but your project rate was 96K, could that cause the issue?

___________________

Now with extra singles!
my old stuff, not quite up to snuff - but I still dig it - UPDATED 9/23/2012

quote:

Originally posted by 19503 i would think it is the firewire chip on your motherboard then.

That's a good bet. I would start with your FW card and make sure that it has a TI chipset - if it doesn't, that is most likely your problem.

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