Digital Performer, How can I stop the jitters? Options

[egbdf]

Hello,

I'm new here and would like some advice with Digital Performer. I have a Power Mac G4, 667 with 768 Megs of ram. I am using the latest version of Performer (3.1). I've tried my best to use only the extentions that are necessary to run the program, have given Performer lots of memory to use but I am getting lots of jerkiness, stuttering and dropping out especially when I try to record a midi part while having oher midi and sudio tracks playing. On one particular project I have maybe 4 stero and 6 mono audio tracks going along with about 5 or 6 midi tracks. I have NI's B4 running in the background and linked to Performer so I can enter a part for it on a midi track. Occasionally Performer just stops for an instance and then continues. The wiper sticks and jumps and the playback stutters and jerks. How can I optimize Performer to run smoothly in this situation or is my setup just not up to the task.

Thanks in advance,

Pat

[Levon River]

Yes, I am using an internal hard disk

Are you recording to the same disk that DP is on? That is definitely not recommended, and can cause problems. Also, is the disk you're recording to 7200 rpm with a good seek time? That's also important. On MOTU's web site they have tech notes about recommended specs for drives for recording with DP. You should read those notes.

As far as the "audio prefs" I'm not sure what you mean.

You haven't said what you're using for an audio interface, if any. There is a menu item in Digital Performer for configuring your audio interface--setting the record buffers, etc. There is also a menu item for configuring your studio for number of tracks, etc., which needs to be adjusted and optimized for your system.

With the speed of your computer and the amount of RAM you have, you shouldn't have any problem with the load you say you're putting on it--unless you have three reverbs on each track.

You must have some problem with the way you've configured the audio buffers and/or your studio, and you need to tweak those settings until you have a happy. Search the MOTU tech notes base for specifics. Or, you could really get extreme and read the manual.