Guitar Rig 2 + Rig Kontrol w/1.5 ghz Powerbook

I am looking for any way to get the latency down to 5ms or so without glitches. I am using my 1.5 ghz Powerbook with 1.25 GB ram with the new Rig Kontrol. If I go below 8ms of latency I get glitches and 8ms just doesn't feel right. I am using the low res setting and my CPU meter is only up to 35-40% max. Any suggestions??

 

I'm on a PowerBook too. 1.67 GHz, 1 GB RAM, OS 10.4.2
I've spent the entire day trying to make the Rig Kontrol 2 audio interface work without crackles and glitches. To no avail.
No matter what buffer size (even the very high ones), there's always crackles. They tend to occur less frequently with high buffers, but they're still there nonetheless.

I did tests with the built-in audio interface with RK 1 - the situation is better, but I would still like to improve it.

What sort of optimizations are there for the Mac? I already installed OnyX and disabled Dashboard and emptied some caches which seemed to improve the situation sligthly. I also disabled airport and my internet connection. What else can I do?

Observations:

I've spotted that I get less crackles with Guitar Rig in Tracktion than with the Standalone version.
An other thing that I find puzzling is that on the Mac there is a new entry in the system settings (under others) where you can apparently set the hardware buffer size (if I understand that right, the hardware itself does have latency - which probably explains why 8ms driver latency still feel very sluggish, while I'm normally fine with that).
I also have a Windows PC and everything is running very smoothly on it. Not a single glitch or crackle. It surprised me that there doesn't seem to be a similar menue for hardware buffer size as the Mac has it. So I had to set the latency to 4 ms in order to be able to accurately play Guitar Rig. But again, my PC handles that just fine.

I really want Guitar Rig 2 and the Rig Kontrol 2 to work with my PowerBook. I actually need it to work, as I will soon rely on that setup for guitar teaching.
Is there any PowerBook user out there that is successfull with that setup?

Cheers, Pady

 

Hi Pady
I have a similar setup with a Powerbook G4 1.67 17" and 1GB RAM OSX 10.4.3. This is definitely a USB driver problem that needs to corrected by NI. They are aware of it and are working on fixing the problem. If you have access to another audio interface, I suggest using that in the interim, even if it's the Powerbook's built in audio, which will work well. I switched to my MOTU Traveler setup, which I had been using with the original Guitar Rig and Kontrol, and it is glitch free, so I guess we'll have to wait a little while longer for Rig Kontrol 2 and Macs to play well together. Hope this helps..

Doug

 

NI tech support led me to believe that I shouldn't expect anything better than 7ms on my powerbook...Is that right? Or is it the Rig Kontrol interface that is slowing it down? Or maybe 7ms really isn't that much but it just feels worse because of this interface problem?

What latency are you using with your alternate interface?

Also, about the fix, I assume you mean they are working on something beyond what they offered in the NIUSBAudio_10_4_Installer_108.dmg driver? I hope so Will the fix allow lower latency or just no pops?

 

7 ms is quite useable, if the interface is working properly. I use it in various ways. Live, it's a plug in through Digital Performer 4.61 with the MOTU buffer set at 128. As a stand alone, I've used 9 ms without any feel problems as well, but this is with the MOTU Traveler interface. I will not use Rig Kontrol 2 exclusively as the audio interface, until NI fixes this problem with the current driver. The current driver is the 108 incarnation, and it is a problem, but there will be another one coming up that hopefully fixes these problems. I read in another Guitar Rig thread, that they are working on this, as reported by the one of the NI team, as they asked for our understanding and patience. I'm not sure how soon though.

Doug

 

Hey PowerBook users, do you have USB2 on your PowerBook or do you use a cardbus card ?

On my 1GHz PowerBook, I have only USB1. And I would now if there are no problems with USB2 adapter and RK2 ???


Thank you !

 

On the Powerbook G4's from the 1.33Ghz models on the USB ports are the 2.0 Version. I don't know if there are compatability issues with a USB 2.0 adaptor, but you might want to ask NI technical support.

 

Hey Doug,

Thanks for the heads up. Hope they cure the problem soon!

Cheers, Pädy

 

Hi,

I finally buy this USB2 card :

http://www.dlink.com/products/?pid=151

And it works fine with my 1 GHz PowerBook with RG2 and RK2 !

 

I think that it is the rig control. I only have a rig control 1 and I use a MOTU 828 firewire interface. I can get the latency down to a 128 sample buffer in ableton live without issues. Sounds like I have lower cpu utilization as well with most plugs taking 20-25% on my powerbook 1.5ghz.

 

What do you mean by "And it works fine"? Any crackles? Driver Issues? What about CUP load. Can you use the HighRes button. Have you speed problems with any of the presets. What bit resolution (16 bit/24 bit) and rate do you use (44,1 kHz / 96 kHz). I'm considering to buy GR2 but will wait until the driver issue is resolved. Currently I'm on a 1 GHz PowerBook MacOs 10.3.9 & TASCAM US 428 interface via internal USB 1 or USB 2 adaptor card running the demo version, which works well with 8 ms latency (44,1 kHz) but not with the HighRes button. This works only for simple set-ups like one amp + DI box, although it sounds much better for distortion sounds.

 

Hi,

I use it at 44.1 KHz (at 96, it unusable), with a latency of 12 ms. I have no crackles. I can't use the high res option (I press on the button, I just ear a little beep).