Pyramix 4.3 stereo file sync

[John Mayfield]

Anyone experiencing loss of sync between the L & R channels of a stereo file after rapid play position changes? This is happening to me quite often, and more since installing an external Firewire drive. It was happening also with 4.2.6, but not nearly as often.

[Graemme]

Hi John,

I think that the system at the Banff centre does this (Brian?) but mine doesn't, which is weird. Are you using Direct-X plug-ins while this is occurring?

Best,

Graemme

Anyone experiencing loss of sync between the L & R channels of a stereo file after rapid play position changes? This is happening to me quite often, and more since installing an external Firewire drive. It was happening also with 4.2.6, but not nearly as often.

[John Mayfield]

Hi Graemme,

No, no plug-ins employed. Just quick, two ch. playback commands.

[Julian Gough]

Anyone experiencing loss of sync between the L & R channels of a stereo file after rapid play position changes?

Not in the situation you describe, but I did have a time when a colleague complained that a CD I had burned off the Pyramix started out OK but as it progressed, the L and R tracks started drifting apart.

I don't know how it happened, and I have never had that problem since.

Julian

[Professor]

Not in the situation you describe, but I did have a time when a colleague complained that a CD I had burned off the Pyramix started out OK but as it progressed, the L and R tracks started drifting apart.
Julian

This is known bug before 4.3 - reset playback buffer before start CD image or any other mixdown process. I'm not sure, was it fixed in 4.3 or not.

[John Mayfield]

Thanks for the thoughts guys but I've never had a problem with cutting CD's.
While editing a simple 16 bit, 44.1 stereo interleaved file, I can occassionally loose audition sync (not track sync) when I hit the space bar for a play command. Today when it happened, I did not hit stop and within a few seconds, sync was regained. Perhaps this is a clue.

Thanks in advance to anyone that can shed some light on this new quirk!

John Mayfield

[Silas]

Hi All,

Same problem here (v4.2.6). It happens when I am in the Fade Editor and am rapidly auditioning various changes. Sometimes it even starts playing from the wrong place entirely (but in sync). Mostly there is a seperation of channels as described. It has happened on every size project I can think of - with and without plugs. It is similar to the problem with Directx in 4.1 but more mild.

Best,
Silas

[John Mayfield]

Silas,

I'm glad to hear someone else is having the same symptoms. I started having this problem at 4.2.6. I'm currently on 4.3 sp1.
It may do no good at all but if you don't mind, I'd like to compare set-ups to try to trace the problem.
Under 4.2.6, I was running Win 2K. With 4.3 I'm on XP Pro.
Both were (are) running on an Intel Pentium 4 (2.8 Ghz) with 512 MB Ram.
Based on your answer, the boys at Merging might be able to cut to the chase and find the problem. You never know what clue might trigger a thought!

Hey Graemme, your thoughts would be appreciated also...

Thanks again for whatever you can offer!

John Mayfield
Mayfield Mastering

[BrianRichards]

John, same problem here but mine was while using a macro that zoomed to a certain level while auditioning. When I removed the zoom command the problem disappeared. Have you tried different zoom levels? My problem also wasn't consistent - for a couple playbacks it was ok and then it would start glitching at random. I also noticed it several versions back up to 4.3.3sp1

-Brian

[Graemme]

Hi guys,

My system (that doesn't seem to display this problem) is :

Asus P4C800e Deluxe MB
2Gig RAM
SATA RAID/FireWire/IDE drives
WinXP Pro Sp1
4x MB5 Mykerinos
Matrox G550 Video card
Pyramix 4.3sp1
buffer size set to standard (65536)
Pyramix is locked to external wordclock

I have two other systems to test as well.

I definitely did experience the Direct-X related sync issue in version 4.1, for the record.

John, what video card is in your computer?

Best,

Graemme

Silas,

I'm glad to hear someone else is having the same symptoms. I started having this problem at 4.2.6. I'm currently on 4.3 sp1.
It may do no good at all but if you don't mind, I'd like to compare set-ups to try to trace the problem.
Under 4.2.6, I was running Win 2K. With 4.3 I'm on XP Pro.
Both were (are) running on an Intel Pentium 4 (2.8 Ghz) with 512 MB Ram.
Based on your answer, the boys at Merging might be able to cut to the chase and find the problem. You never know what clue might trigger a thought!

Hey Graemme, your thoughts would be appreciated also...

Thanks again for whatever you can offer!

John Mayfield
Mayfield Mastering

[MikeP]

Graemme,

John's config: Intel D865PERL-L / P4-2.8HT / 512MB / SCSI (Adaptec controller, Firewire, IDE, / Matrox G450 (current driver) / WinXP PRO. This is happening on 44.1/48k EDLs. Don't know on HS.

I wonder if its a buffer management issue from rapid fire plays (less than 1 sec) checking relative levels all over a mastering EDL? Sometimes we have a tendency to click/check 10-20 quick places over an EDL, start/stop with the left thumb, or sometimes just leaving it in play.

What are the upsides/downsides to increasing/decreasing the Buffer size?

Mike

[Silas]

Hi John / Mike,

It seems we have virtually identical systems except 1 gig of ram and a 2.6GHz here. I have had a few of the same issues in the last 2 days using v4.3.3. Playback buffer at 65536. Seems to occur regardless of project size, track count, number or type of plugins, or sample rate in my case. Its especially an issue at the attended sessions...with the client who is already a nervous type and is here for the first time

Best,
Silas

[MikeP]

Silas,

Another situation just cropped up about an hour ago, but I haven't determined if they're related yet. 6 out of 12 CD images for a project done last week muted the first second or two on the right channel at the very beginning of the image. Didn't know it until the customer called pointing out the problem. Thank goodness he didn't send the masters to pressing before the final QC!! The EDL was fine, but the generated image was bad.

Also, on John's system, the buffer field has nothing in it, the SET button and slider appear to do nothing. Does your buffer field change when you move the slider?

Mike

[Silas]

Hi Mike,

Are you using Native or Myk based PMX? I have never seen a case where the playback buffer had no number in the field (!). The slider works here (it doesn't change until I let go of the mouse) as does the reset button. We are talking about the general settings (alt-G) then playback page read out right?

I have never (2.5 years) had a CD Image issue at all let alone one this strange. I have never heard that one before. Was the image creation in real-time? Are you using any Direct-x effects during image creation by chance?

Best,
Silas
legacysound@att.net

[John Mayfield]

Silas & Mike P.

John Mayfield here...just finished reburning all those masters and can answer some questions now:
I'm on my original Myk. MB-1 board and I'm not creating the image in real time...no plug-ins...nothing fancy.
I reverted back to Pyramnix 4.2.6 (deleting 4.3 first) before recreating all those images and found that 2 out of my six were still bad. Upon another attempt, the image was successfully created. I'm now checking each image after creation. Seems I can't depend on them at all.
Now, the odd thing is that I still do not have anything showing in my Playback Buffer setting. In my more that 4 years of working with PM (Waveframe originally), I've never had a CD Image issue either and have never "lost" my buffer setting! Could it be my "old" MB-1 board is showing it's age???
At any rate, I'd love to hear from anyone who is experiencing this same problem.

Thanks,

John Mayfield
Mayfield Mastering
Nashville, TN
615-383-3708