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Subject:Upgrade to Acid 3?
Posted by: DePerch
Date:11/15/2001 2:58:55 PM
I have Acid Pro 2. Works great. Is the upgrade worth the trouble and money? I see that there are a lot of bug issues, but I know that people tend to only post problems- not when everything is working well! |
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Subject:RE: Upgrade to Acid 3?
Reply by: Iacobus
Date:11/16/2001 8:39:57 PM
I realize that some people have trouble with ACID 3, but I don't. With that in mind, it'd obviously be biased of me to suggest getting it. However, you might want to try the demo out on your own (click the "demo version" link in the upper right) and come to your own conclusions. I bet if your system is in top shape (and I don't mean having just cutting edge hardware; your system should be optimized as well for a DAW atmosphere), you probably won't have a problem. HTH, Iacobus |
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Subject:RE: Upgrade to Acid 3?
Reply by: Maruuk
Date:11/23/2001 1:09:25 PM
There are some real improvements in 3.0, and the bugs which are real are relatively obscure and not likely to cause frequent glitching in most cases. The area that posters have the most trouble with between 2 and 3 is the theoretical switch to all HD-playback from 2's all-RAM playback. This is controversial and SF hasn't come on here and been clear about it. But some credible posts have stated that is indeed the case and it tends to cause some playback anomalies: --Some folks who had glich-free playback in 2 now get nasties in 3. Often, it's folks with slower drives and weaker CPU's which could handle the fast RAM memory access but with wimpier drives and CPU's struggling to keep up with the slower datastream you get problems. --Generally folks with newer machines (with 7200 Ultra 100 drives) and zippy CPU's do not have problems. --Also, 2.0 played MP3's more efficiently as the RAM data got to the CPU quicker for decompression in good time without buffer underuns. Same with big one-shots--with 3.0 draggin' 'em off the HD and shoveling them over to the CPU slower than RAM. it taxes the system more. Now, to be fair, this is all still theory. But it seems to hold consistent with what folks are saying. Looks like SF did what most software makers do--they build an app around a set of optimistic machine assumptions (7200 drives, big memory, 1G+ CPU's) because that's where most of their market is headed hardware-wise. Nothing wrong with that, just what you have to do to keep performance up. So there is a cadre of folks with older machines who swear by 2.0 and are happy there. Bottom line--the 3.0 upgrade is nothing earthshaking and you're not likely to miss anything by staying in 2.0. 4.0 now, that's another matter entirely... |
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Subject:RE: Upgrade to Acid 3?
Reply by: Iacobus
Date:11/23/2001 2:09:12 PM
You can actually adjust the preferences in ACID so that any added file under 5 minutes (300 seconds) is added as a Loop. However, you must have plenty of RAM especially if adding multiple tracks in this manner. To do so, you'd use Options>Preferences on the menu bar. Click the Audio tab, and under the "Open files as loops if between (seconds)" option, max the rightmost value to "300.0". (Anything longer than this will be added as a Beatmapped track.) Then, to paint your file as one entire event, use the Paint Tool and while holding down the CTRL key on your keyboard, click where you want the event to begin. To put things in quick perspective: Loop type tracks are loaded in RAM. One-Shot tracks are streamed from your hard drive only if longer than three seconds. Iacobus |
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Subject:RE: Upgrade to Acid 3?
Reply by: Maruuk
Date:11/26/2001 12:25:14 PM
Thanks for the clarification, mD! With RAM so cheap now ($25 per 256 megs), it shouldn't be a big problem. Hopefully this adjustment with a RAM upgrade should help with a lot of one-shot and long loops glitching including some big mp3 tracks which can go nuts coming off a HD. SF should go public with how the app deals with audio (HD/RAM) so the average user who doesn't read this forum can decide how to best allocate resources. Just giving the user the phrase "open files as loops" doesn't explain the process. |
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Subject:RE: Upgrade to Acid 3?
Reply by: Iacobus
Date:11/26/2001 3:14:11 PM
Glad to be of help, Maruuk. :) Oops. Just realized looking at my last post that I forgot to add that you can also change an already added track in a project to a loop type track (if not that type) by double-clicking the icon in the track list and changing the track type to "Loop" under the "General" tab. You'll get a warning stating how much RAM will be used with the option to go ahead by clicking OK. Use the "Stretch" tab to adjust properties such as the root note, etc. So, actually, you can use any file as a loop even if it's longer than 5 minutes using the above method. Again, have to make sure one has oodles of RAM. Just one 6 minute song added and used as a loop, for example, eats up around 70 MB or more. Iacobus |
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Subject:RE: Upgrade to Acid 3?
Reply by: Maruuk
Date:11/26/2001 4:14:07 PM
mD--Was about to try your technique on an MP3 I was using as my basic track which I've previously beatmapped. The option bar seems locked on "beatmapped"--I guess once you've beatmapped a track, you can't then have it load and play off RAM via the "Loop" designation. |
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Subject:RE: Upgrade to Acid 3?
Reply by: Rockitglider
Date:11/26/2001 6:49:14 PM
Hello, Are you guys saying you figured out a way to run loops or oneshots from ram, If so could you explain it again for me, I have 768 RAM, so I might as well use it up. Thanks, Rockit |
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Subject:RE: Upgrade to Acid 3?
Reply by: Iacobus
Date:11/26/2001 8:53:43 PM
That's weird. For giggles, I tried opening up a previously Beatmapped track myself. (This track is also an MP3 itself as well.) I had no problems accessing the track properties and changing it over to a loop type track. (Got the warning window on RAM usage and all.) Very curious... Could the MP3 be corrupt? Tried another MP3? Iacobus |
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Subject:RE: Upgrade to Acid 3?
Reply by: Iacobus
Date:11/26/2001 8:58:02 PM
Hey Rockit, Kinda sorta. Since loops always play from RAM, there's a way to "trick" long files to play as loops. Check out my post on opening files as loops here and my post on changing already existing tracks to loops here. Alas, note that One-Shots will still only play from RAM if they are 3 seconds or shorter. Longer than that, and they'll stream from the hard disk. Iacobus |
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Subject:RE: Upgrade to Acid 3?
Reply by: Maruuk
Date:11/27/2001 2:57:25 PM
So to clarify, anything the app "sees" as a loop by our manually switching the designator to "loop" or by setting the "loop designator" length to 5 min. will always play off RAM. Anything else is off HD, right? |
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Subject:RE: Upgrade to Acid 3?
Reply by: Rockitglider
Date:11/27/2001 4:44:28 PM
That Sounds like it to me :-) Thats cool, Gotta give it a shot See ya, Rockit |
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Subject:RE: Upgrade to Acid 3?
Reply by: Iacobus
Date:11/28/2001 10:21:28 PM
Yes. In addition, One-shots will only play from RAM if 3 seconds or shorter. (Most One-shots are actually very short anyway.) Any longer than that and they'll stream from the HD. Iacobus |