damn chipset-sensitivity

petal · Post by **petal** » Sun May 22, 2005 4:10 pm

Damnit!

I'm sitting here - everything is finished. I just need to render the damn files. This never used to be such a big problem as it is right now, but I can't use my Scope-cards because of statics in the reverb!

Fuck this shit - I would be finished now if
I didn't have this hardware-problem.

I know I should build the machine around around the soundcard, but still it's a fucking hardware-nightmare to match Creamware hardware with normal pc-hardware.

FUCJK THIS - Aarrrgrgrggrgggr

I just want to get this over with, but I can't because of this damn problem.

Is there anything out there which is a sure winner when it comes to buying hardware - I don't want to sit in this situation again - EVER!

Sorry for all this bad energy, I just had to come out with my frustration somewhere....

Post by **garyb** » Sun May 22, 2005 4:27 pm

intel mobo and chipset, works for me...

petal · Post by **petal** » Sun May 22, 2005 4:28 pm

petal · Post by **petal** » Sun May 22, 2005 4:50 pm

wierd....!?

This problem seems to be specific about the project!?

I'm running an XTC-project in Cubase SX2, using ReWire and Reason, and I don't have these statics in a different project of mine..

I guess it has something to do with how SFP distribute the Scope-devices over the DSP's and cards.

hmm...
gotta think....

voidar · Post by **voidar** » Sun May 22, 2005 4:59 pm

How is your hardware set up IRQ-wise?

Standard or ACPI computer?

Are you hyperthreading?

Are you taxing your hardware with these other projects that are working fine?

How are your ULLI settings?

astroman · Post by **astroman** » Sun May 22, 2005 5:08 pm

dunno what a 'static' in a reverb is (for simplicity I assume it stu,stu,stu stutters), but it's very unlikely that it has anything to do with dsp processing at all.
SX2, Reason and Rewire lock the reverb from the memory bus - the reverbs requests aren't served in time. It's not only the amount of cycles, but also the proper 'time slot' that must be matched.
The 3 native apps aren't cooperative simply because they have no idea about what's going on - hope you can work it out, tho

cheers, Tom

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: astroman on 2005-05-22 18:09 ]</font>

petal · Post by **petal** » Sun May 22, 2005 5:13 pm

I believe its set up standard, which I think gives me no choice about IRQ-stteings - I remember trying to set them up once, but weren't able to do it some now not-remembered reason.

I'm running an AMD 2000XP - KT-400 chipset (I know! wrong move..) with patch - which actually do wonders to the performance.

I'll hopefully have money to buy some "fool/fail"-proof hardware in the near future.... come to think of it, this is what this project is all about.... DOH!

Thanks for helping me out, but I think I'll just work around the problem tonight, and buy me some new hardware next week.

Cheers!
Thomas

petal · Post by **petal** » Sun May 22, 2005 5:17 pm

Thanks for the input Astroman, but the strange thing is, that the statics in the reverb (which aren't stutters, more like statics feeded to the reverb without me sending anything) are there even before I load Reason..... My guess is still dsp-software distribution, and of course my shitty motherboard..

voidar · Post by **voidar** » Sun May 22, 2005 5:20 pm

Have a look in control panel -> system -> hardware -> device manager, and sort by connection (under show/vis). Look under IRQ/avbruds.. and tell us if your Scope hardware is sharing IRQ with something else.

petal · Post by **petal** » Sun May 22, 2005 7:26 pm

OK, I managed to work around the problem.

Voidar, thanks for offering your help. I'm tired now, so I'll look into your suggestion tomoorow.

Cheers and goodnight!
Thomas

Post by **garyb** » Sun May 22, 2005 8:42 pm

you know, doing the mixdown in realtime to a dat or some other device would allow you to do a lot more with your computer...

next to nothing · Post by **next to nothing** » Sun May 22, 2005 9:24 pm

vst or scope reverb?

petal · Post by **petal** » Mon May 23, 2005 5:36 am

The reverb I'm talking about is both MasterVerb Pro and MasterVerb, and I experience this problem both in Scope and XTC-mode, all though never as bad before as yesterday. Usually it's just a few static particles an hour, but yesterday it was 5-10 a minute, which off course was complete unusable.
It was really strange because I didn't experience this in other projects, so I guess it has something to do with the combination of Scope-devices, and how they are loaded to the DSP-chips, and then off course my MB which are giving all my hardware a hard time.

Rendering realtime to a DAT - Sounds like a good idea but unfortunately not an option to me, and I really don't think that this should be needed, I mean I'm working with 6-8 tracks, CPU-load under 10%, HDD-load not even noticeable.
But the problem isnt only under mixdown, it's all the time, even when the computer isn't doing anything!?

To look at it all from a diferent angle, these sound particles are quite beautiful - I'll try and capture them for you all to listen to

astroman · Post by **astroman** » Mon May 23, 2005 6:47 am

an approach which can be highly successful, though you're not the first one.
...Using the electronic clicks, crackles and snaps produced by the (malfunctioning) machine as the starting point for his surprisingly melodic studio investigations, Betke reconfigures these sonic glitches (akin to vinyl scratches) with a heavy bass pulse to create Pole's esoteric sine-wave dub...
from the Pole biography
http://www.icebergradio.com/artist/25179/pole.html
the artist now runs his own label

cheers, Tom

petal · Post by **petal** » Mon May 23, 2005 7:33 am

I know! He's a hero of mine since many years

voidar · Post by **voidar** » Mon May 23, 2005 2:26 pm

Surely you are mixing your tracks down in realtime if you are using DSP effects? This is a must.

petal · Post by **petal** » Mon May 23, 2005 4:36 pm

yes of course - everything sounded as it was supposed to, except for those static particles entering the reverb from "who knows where".

I'll post a file in the near future so you can here it

CroNiX · Post by **CroNiX** » Mon May 23, 2005 5:10 pm

It was mentioned earlier in the thread, but I would try to increase your ULLI setting by a notch.

beerbr · Post by **beerbr** » Tue May 24, 2005 3:19 pm

Is your electric outlet is in good condition?

Did you use any UPS or Power Conditioner?

It's possible that all your problem come from dirty power AC line. And don't forget to use high quality Computer Power Supply. This prove to be helpful for stability of your PC.

The Scope card is very sensitive for clock locking. Any disturb on power WILL cause the Scope card's clocking to be unstable. And that also WILL make your Scope system to be unstable..

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: beerbr on 2005-05-24 16:20 ]</font>

petal · Post by **petal** » Sat May 28, 2005 4:13 am

OK,

I have now made sure that both my cards are on their own IRQ, and I have also tried to raise the ULLI and still the problem remains.

I invested in a rather expensive and powerful (550 w) PSU a few years back so this shouldn't be a problem either.

My guess is still my MB and how the scope devices are distributed over the DSP's in this particular XTC-project.

Hopefully I'll be able to buy a new MB, CPU and ram in the very near future. So now the old dilemma rises again, should I go pure Intel or should I choose AMD64+nforce3 chipset? I'm leaning towards AMD, but these last experiences make me reconsider.