Subject:Acid rewrite

Posted by: liquid

Date:5/14/2006 7:00:35 PM

This was my 3rd purchase of aicd over the years and I can't say that it worked any better or worse now than before. It crases now it crashed before.
I think that in theory acid is a great idea, but the reality is that it needs a complete re-write. I just don't think that fixing the bugs will bring acid up to a pro level. Bugs have been fixed before and acid kept on crashing.
I'm not saying this to diss the staff that is obviously very bright and able, but I think taking the old SF code is a mistake that should be corrected now before the competition simply leaves acid behind..if it hasn't done so already.
just my opinion.

Subject:RE: Acid rewrite

Reply by: jumbuk

Date:5/14/2006 7:47:33 PM

All of this suggests that there is something in your system that is crashing. "It crashes now, it crashed before." .... "Bugs have been fixed before and Acid kept on crashing." If it kept on crashing, then maybe the bugs had nothing to do with your system crashing?

I say this because in the years since I first got Acid 2.0, Acid has been one of the most stable and reliable of my apps - one of the main reasons I like it! Not saying your experience is a fabrication - I am sure your crashes are very real and frustrating. But maybe there is nothing Sony can do to fix your problems - to coin a phrase "change must come from within"?

Subject:RE: Acid rewrite

Reply by: alltheseworlds

Date:5/14/2006 8:28:34 PM

liquid, so you don't go starting yet another "acid doesn't work" thread, let me state very clearly: It's your PC that's the problem, not Acid. If Acid worked that badly for everyone there would, by now, not be a program called Acid.

Subject:RE: Acid rewrite

Reply by: liquid

Date:5/15/2006 8:16:59 AM

I would tend to agree. However, consider this...
1. Over the years I have had multiple different computers.
2. I have had different cpu's, os, ram and hard drives
3. I have had dual cpu's and single cpu
4. Intel and amd

The computer I have now works perfect (I mean never crashed once) with reason and Sonar. Not once.
Grated sonar uses asio drivers which seems to make thing way more stable them mme, however, reason also uses mme and doesn't crash. never...filled with effects, tracks, loops etc...

Acid 4 had gotten to the point where it only crashed about once every few hours.
I still belive it's possible that it's my computer, or maybe even just my total ignorance. But my main frame alone cost me$2000, I am using one of the best computers I could buy at the time. I have everything updated and teaked. I don't believe that it's my computer, especially since acid 4 seemed to work OK....
Are you tellilng me you don't experience random crashes...even on older more stable versions of aicd? Does sonar or reason crash when/if you use them? I have a hard time accepting that it's just my computer when other people are posting equally disapointed posts.

Subject:RE: Acid rewrite

Reply by: drbam

Date:5/15/2006 8:47:42 AM

"I have a hard time accepting that it's just my computer when other people are posting equally disapointed posts."

Your computer may be fine – but, what about your soundcard, drivers, etc? Also, have you taken the time to troubleshoot your VSTs and VSTis? – especially if you have any "freebies" installed. It can tedious as hell but if everything else checks out ok, this process often reveals problematic issues related to specific plugins.

drbam

Subject:RE: Acid rewrite

Reply by: liquid

Date:5/15/2006 9:01:30 AM

But my vst work in other programs...like sonar. Without a hitch. And the only vst I have installed at the moment are the ones that come with sony.
You know I'm certainly no expert but I do have a lot of experience as a average user level user. I'll be the first to admit, that 9 times out of 10 the problem is me. But in this case, with the midi and the vst issues, I have been trying for days every different combination I can think of. It was just nice to download the demo of sonar and have it up and running perfect in a matter of min. I subsequently spend almost a day playing with sonar and it just worked. But I'm not saying that I know everything and don't make mistakes, I'm just saying despite how committed I am, I can't get acid 6 to work anywhere near an acceptable level. Who’s fault it is…who cares! I just want to make music and will switch platforms if that what I need to do to make it work. I would have switched to sonar years ago but when I had tried it back them it killed my cpu, but now I have the equipment to handle that so I guess I’ll make the switch, but I still haven’t and don’t want to give up on acid.

Subject:RE: Acid rewrite

Reply by: liquid

Date:5/15/2006 9:41:32 AM

I guess in all fairness I should mention that sonar worked like crap using mme drivers. It wasn't until I switched to the asio drivers that it starting working like a charm. As far as I know acid doesn't support asio..does it? and if not, how come?

Subject:RE: Acid rewrite

Reply by: thenoizzbox

Date:5/15/2006 9:46:25 AM

ACID has supported ASIO since at least version 4 and probably before. I didn't have access to ASIO drivers when I got ACID 3.0 so I don't remember if it did support ASIO or not but I'm pretty sure it did then too. It certainly works great with ASIO now.

Subject:RE: Acid rewrite

Reply by: liquid

Date:5/15/2006 9:51:36 AM

I can not find any reference to use asio in acid. obviously my sound card supports it since I"m using them in sonar.

Subject:RE: Acid rewrite

Reply by: randygo

Date:5/15/2006 9:58:19 AM

>I can not find any reference to use asio in acid.

Read the manual, perhaps?

Subject:RE: Acid rewrite

Reply by: thenoizzbox

Date:5/15/2006 9:58:30 AM

Go to Acid's Audio Device Preferences and select your ASIO driver. Really couldn't be simpler.

Subject:RE: Acid rewrite

Reply by: thenoizzbox

Date:5/15/2006 10:00:29 AM

> Read the manual, perhaps?

Yeah... that would help... ;-)

Subject:RE: Acid rewrite

Reply by: Chienworks

Date:5/15/2006 10:04:10 AM

ASIO references:

http://www.sonymediasoftware.com/Products/ShowProduct.asp?PID=1005
look under Proffessional Effects and Soft Synth Support

http://www.sonymediasoftware.com/Products/showproduct.asp?PID=1005&FeatureID=8483
look under Technical Specifications / Fundamentals

http://www.sonymediasoftware.com/Products/showproduct.asp?PID=1005&FeatureID=8481
look under Effects & Midi

Read the manual, pages 140,154, 155, 229, 247.

Search the help file for "asio" and these topics are listed:
- Troubleshooting
- 5.1 Surround Setup
- Routing Busses
- Advanced Audio Configuration
- Using a Mackie Control
- Audio Device Preferences
- Glossary
- Legal Notices

Search this forum under ACID Product Family for "asio" and over 1920 posts are listed.

Do a google search for +"sony acid" +asio and 12,600 websites are listed.
Do a google search for +"sonic foundry acid" +asio and 626 websites are listed.

Liquid, i came up with this list in under 2 minutes. How hard did you look?

Subject:RE: Acid rewrite

Reply by: midiaxer

Date:5/15/2006 10:16:17 AM

I too have had crashes with different versions of ACID, on different PCs. Now I have the new 6.0. It locks up during playback right after I record a track. If I click Save As...acd.zip before playback it seems to stablize the program so as to not lock up. But this takes too long to wait just to hear if the new part is correct. Producer and client don't like waiting for the "tape" to rewind just to hear playback. This doesn't happen all the time but most of the time, specialy when I have a hired studio musician in laying down tracks. Very frustrating. I have tried severel things to correct this locking up problem that only happens with ACID. I've tried looking up help in this forum, can't find much info. But I sure like working with ACID other than I can't figure out why it locks up.

Subject:RE: Acid rewrite

Reply by: liquid

Date:5/15/2006 10:33:03 AM

ok yes...I know...when I go to the audio devices settings tab, there is no option for asio....I have looked for it, but there is no option for it! I have searched through every tab and there is no option to use asio. Sorry for being a dumb ass....any suggestions?

Subject:RE: Acid rewrite

Reply by: thenoizzbox

Date:5/15/2006 10:39:37 AM

What is the name of Auio device you have selected in Sonar? Use the same one. It may not say ASIO specifically.

... and please do read the manual.

Subject:RE: Acid rewrite

Reply by: Iacobus

Date:5/15/2006 10:47:06 AM

ok yes...I know...when I go to the audio devices settings tab, there is no option for asio....I have looked for it, but there is no option for it! I have searched through every tab and there is no option to use asio. Sorry for being a dumb ass....any suggestions?

Read the manual? ;)

Go to Options > Preferences > Audio Device. Under, "audio device type," select the ASIO driver your sound card supports. (Don't ask for specifics, because every vendor lists theirs differently. For example, Echo lists theirs as, "ASIO Echo WDM.")

Iacobus

Subject:RE: Acid rewrite

Reply by: liquid

Date:5/15/2006 1:02:39 PM

Ok...closer inspection of motu driver being used idicated that it is using asio. So all the problems I have been having have been with asio.
So the crashing in acid has been happening using asio.
I HAVE READ THE MANUAL AND REFER TO EVERY TIME I NEED TO. I KNOW HOW TO SELECT DRIVERS.
Turns out that it wasn't being called asio, it was being ferered to as moto fire wire. So so much for the theory of acid crashing cause I'm not using asio drivers. And I have played with the setttings; all of them!!

Subject:RE: Acid rewrite

Reply by: liquid

Date:5/15/2006 2:41:34 PM

see..!!! I'm not the only one!!!

Subject:RE: Acid rewrite

Reply by: jumbuk

Date:5/15/2006 4:08:25 PM

"Granted sonar uses asio drivers which seems to make thing way more stable them mme"

- Ok, Acid supports ASIO, we sorted that one out. You still might try different latency settings on your soundcard and see if that helps.

"Acid 4 had gotten to the point where it only crashed about once every few hours."

- I would probably be complaining if that happened to me.

"Are you tellilng me you don't experience random crashes...even on older more stable versions of aicd?"

- Yes

"Does sonar or reason crash when/if you use them?"

- Don't know about Reason, never used it. I trialled Sonar and didn't buy it because it was unstable (for me) and I didn't like the split workspace.

"I have a hard time accepting that it's just my computer when other people are posting equally disapointed posts."

- It is more likely to be a particular combination of VSTs than the actual hardware. I sympathise with music software writers, because so many VSTs don't conform properly to the VST specs. Even Steinberg's own Cubase VSTs seem to conflict with apps like Sonar and Acid. I am sure there were fewer users reporting stability problems with Acid when it only supported DX - but then we all asked for VST support!

- I wouldn't take all the "disappointed posts" too seriously. Reread some of them - you see a lurid subject line dissing Acid for being bug-ridden, then you get into the message thread and find the poster eventually thanking someone for helping them solve the problem! Sure, there are a few users having genuine problems (like you), but I think this version of Acid has had the highest proportion of false alarms out of any release I can recall.

What would I do if I was you? Probably go back to Sonar, but I might first try excluding all VSTs using preferences, and see how stable ACid becomes. I might also try increasing my soundcard latency a little. If none of that works, go back to Sonar and wait for an update. Life is too short to spend debugging systems when there is music waiting to be written!