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So I gave Pro Tools a fighting chance. I bought myself a Digidesign 002 rack about a month ago. At the same time, I've built myself an awesome PC to run this one program. Everytime something went wrong I called Digidesign's "customer service," and all I ever got was "this piece of hardware isn't supported by digidesign. I can't help you until you have supported hardware." So I went out and spent more money. Then I got back on the phone only to find out another piece of hardware wasn't supported. Well damn, I wish they would have mentioned that on my last phone call!

FINALLY, my PC was perfectly to specs with what they wanted. After almost a month I get PT to load and start working, and I'm able to record one track. However, when I try to record another track I got "DAE error 6088." It was a critical error disallowing me to continue recording. So I went to digidesigns website to look up the error. Suprisingly, it's not even listed on their site. So I decided to do a google search for DAE error 6088... wow! Tons of other engineers are getting the SAME exact error with their PT LE 6.7. Everyone on this particular forum was getting the same error, and everyone said they had called Digidesign's "customer support" and never got an answer.

So I thought I'd call myself to see what they said... they had NO idea what was wrong. Some know-nothing had me adjusting my screen settings, and turning off this and that. But nothing changed. I asked the guy if they ever got reports of this DAE error 6088. He said, "Well let me look. looks like we got the first error in September of 2004." I said to him, "Do you realized that that corrisponds with the release of PT 6.7?" I don't think he made the connection. So I told the guy I'd have to take my unit back and get something different. He was, "Ok, thanks... click." He was just happy to get off the phone because he had no idea how to fix it.

Essentially, there is this critical error that is stopping people from using PT 6.7, tons of people have it and have reported it, and Digidesign has no idea how to fix it, let alone post it on their website.

So I took my unit back and got myself Cubase SX 3 and a Firepod. So far, I'm much happier. At least it records 2 tracks without crashing.

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Comments

anonymous Sun, 04/24/2005 - 18:37

BladeSG wrote: I run 6.4 with a 001 on my PC flawlessly. Did you give 6.4 a go?

I actually got it working with 6.4. But I'm not willing to spend that kind of money to have to use older/lesser software. And after working with their customer service department I was happy to get rid of them.

I've been using Cubase SX for the past few days and am really impressed. I had no idea on the midi options of this program.

anonymous Sun, 04/24/2005 - 19:09

no problems at all with 6.7, 002r, and a 933mhz g4. for the record i bought my 002 used and it came with 6.4 but i have os 10.3.8 which is not compatible with 6.4 so i had to buy the 6.7 upgrade.
definitely seems like most pt problems occur when using a pc. i'm assuming it's easier for digi to get things right on macs because everything is standard and proprietary at least as far as the processors and motherboards go. still not a good excuse but whatever. i like pt and i like mac so i'm happy.

anonymous Mon, 04/25/2005 - 04:23

mrbwnstn wrote: I actually got it working with 6.4. But I'm not willing to spend that kind of money to have to use older/lesser software.

Older/lesser software is stable software. NEVER upgrade to the latest software until it's a year or two old, or you absolutely have to, to fix an issue.

I rely on ProTools to earn my money. Latest software doesn't necessarily = best software. I'm using PT6.4 at the moment, and I'm not going to be upgrading it until I absolutely have to because my system is stable and enables me to do my work and earn my money.

Never use the latest software. It's usually full of bugs that haven't ironed out yet. I'm not going over to Jaguar until I have to, and my PC has only just gone over to XP, after running Win2000 solidly for a couple of years.

As soon as you start relying on your kit to enable you to earn a living, you realise that the latest gear/upgrades are usually more trouble than their worth.

anonymous Tue, 04/26/2005 - 09:10

I have been using PT on Mac since version 1.1 and always keep up with the updates... Never a problem. However, I will admit that for the 3 years I used it on Windows, I had to jump through a lot of hoops to keep it running properly. I am currently using PT 6.7 and Digi 002 Rack on a G4 with dual 1.5s. I am now getting the error. It doesn't happen often, but crashes the program when it does. I hope the (now available) version 6.9 fixes it.

I recently bought Logic Pro 7, which also works with the Digi hardware. I love it for MIDI, the on-board sampler and instruments, more tracks, better use of the dual processors and the sound of many of the plug-ins is superior, but for raw tracking and fast editing, I still prefer Pro Tools... even with the occasional error.

On the topic of customer support, and hardware support, I agree that Digi kind of stinks. So sorry that you have had to put up with all the problems and didn't get proper help from Digi. I'd be pissed too. Thankfully, there are many other options these days.

jonnyc Tue, 04/26/2005 - 11:47

I'm a 6.7 user with an Imac G5 and I've had zero problems. People on tweakheadz.com laugh when I defend pro tools. I know its restrictive I know its expensive but I started with cubase on a pc and honestly it was crap. I'd record something then play it back and it'd play back twice as fast, some of the vst's i had wouldn't work it was just full of problems. Point is almost every piece of hardware out has problems and probably every software forum has people bitching about that particular software. Sorry PTLE didn't work for you but it does for me and its never restricted me.

jonnyc Mon, 05/02/2005 - 13:33

You people spend way too much time bitching and complaining about a program you don't even use. There are plenty of people that are fed up with cakewalk, cubase, and logic. But you never really hear people bitch about it. IMO most people that complain about pro tools do so because they're percieved to be the "big boys" and everyone loves to knock down the "big boys". When I tried using cubase before I ever worked with pro tools, it pissed me off daily. I'd record a song, and it'd play back three times faster. I'd set up a new song and all the sudden it would tell me something about being outta sync, when I never changed anything. Long story short I didn't bitch and complain, I chose to try something else, and I decided to go with pro tools. So I got on digi's website, saw that the machine I was going to buy wasn't compatible so I called. Two rings later a real person answered told me not to worry the machine in question was just in the process of passing its tests and should be good to go. 8 months later, and I've had zero problems and all my clients are very satisfied.

anonymous Mon, 05/02/2005 - 15:21

yeah... To be fair, Pro Tools has been an incredibly powerful tool for me. The speed & reliability of it enables me to make a better living than I could without it. It's Apples and Oranges, I suppose. I hate most of the others out there. probably because I have used PT for so long and am used to it.

Logic is great too... for different reasons. I know that my mixes sound better in Logic. Probably due to the way their EQ works. Pro Tools seems to pinch out the fullness somehow, but that's a different discussion.

anonymous Sat, 05/14/2005 - 00:26

Think about what your goals are with your music and make a plan on how to get there.

I have owned/used Pro Tools TDM, Pro Tools LE, Cubase, Sudio Vision Pro (remember that?) among others--all on the MAC platform. For me, there was a lot of pain and suffering with Cubase. I tried using it back in the mid 90's and kept trying to use it for years--until '98 or so. For me that was the worst app as far as stability went. That said, I was using Digi hardware with it. Had I been using a Steinberg audio IF card--if they existed back then? maybe my pain would have been less? I dont know. What I do know is that out of all the systems I have used--even tho everyone loves to hate them--Digi systems were and continue to be the most stable available for me.
I am not in and out of all the major studios, so I don't know what most of them are using, but from what I'm told, most of them have Digi systems. Why is that?

If you are planning on using a CPU to do DAW production, etc., understand that it's a very complex ENV inside a PC/MAC--trying to tie all of the hardware with the software, drivers, etc., and ensuring compatiblity is almost impossible.
IMO, your odds are far, far greater of being stable and more productive on a homogenous system. For me that means using a MAC platform because it works and I don't have to worry about all the different drivers for each separate vendor's flux capacitors with service pack 2 that breaks eight other applications and DLL's. But going MAC has always been more costly.

Someone previously also said it perfectly when they said "Never use the most recent." This is very good advice. I am currently still using older Digi interfaces with ProTools 6.4 and I am running OSX 10.3.9. You can get great results from old setups like this using Apogee converters and Waves (or firewire effects if you are brave).

In short, make sure you are using qualified, supported hardware before you buy. Digi has very clear spec's and information on their site, if you deviate, then you are taking chances--probably not worth the risks.

anonymous Thu, 06/23/2005 - 21:12

jonnyc wrote: very well said cmcc i agree completely. if you don't take the time to make sure you're compatable you may not be happy. took me a total of 5 minutes on the phone for them to look up my system and check its compatability.

Like I said earlier, my system was built to perfect specs. Every piece of hardware was purchased based on the specs Digidesign suggests.

Coming to a message board and complaining or praising a product is EXACTLY what these boards are for. That was my exact experience with PTLE and I wanted others to hear it. If you think differently that's fine, and I'm glad you got it to work for you. For myself, so far I'm very very happy with Cubase SX3.

Peace.

anonymous Thu, 06/23/2005 - 22:18

same deal

Im also running a PC that is to spec, and shortly after upgrading to 6.7 I also receive the 6088 error. I made a post earlier but hardcore digi ppl started to get pissed. I love pro-tools, but next time its a mac.

btw, it seems the error is somehow connected to firewire issues from my expierience. Make sure your hardware is cool in that respect.

-dannn

anonymous Fri, 06/24/2005 - 01:17

I just upgraded to 6.9LE today from 6.4.

I was going to update to 6.7 first because my local Digidesign dealer (no, not Guitar Center or Sam Ash... a legitimate pro audio/SR house) had NO IDEA if you could update frome 6.4 to 6.9 without 6.7 installed.

So I called Digi. Their Customer Service schmoe said the update would work across 6.7 and I shouldn't have any issues with my plug-ins (legit plug-ins, mind you!). I suspected 6.7 was an accident when they removed the upgrade from the Digistore!

I installed it and no problems. It's up and running fine with no problems. This is on a liquid-cooled P4 2.8 XP Service Pack 2 machine on an MSI board with 1.5G RAM that I built myself almost two years ago when I installed PTLE 5.3.

I have issues with running Sound Forge 8 and Acid Pro 5 now, but this is probably due to me having a cheesy Audigy Gamer sound card on the machine instead of something serious.

As far as the Digi ASIO driver goes, everything sounds great at 24 bit 48 kHz regardless of application. I just can't run the ASIO and Windows wave drivers at the same time now. The applications using my Creative soundcard for quick monitoring on my Altecs now crackle on playback when PT6.9 is still open. But I'm willing to work around that.

Frankly, I was shocked when I could run SF8, Acid 5, and Pro Tools 6.4 all at the same time with different drivers.

I need to update my soundcard anyways. If that doesn't work, Digi shall feel the heat of my wrath and fix it eventually.

It's still the industry standard though.

It's like the Final Cut vs Avid thing going on now. "Cold Mountain" really stirred the editing industry for some fashionable reason. Digi and Avid need to step up... and by that I don't mean addressing the "prosumer" with M series crap.

What do we call that? Pro Tools LELE? Or do us LE users get left in the dust when they finally decide to just offer M Series and HD/TDM versions?

Be wary... Any 001 users out there? What happened to the middle ground?

Kev Fri, 06/24/2005 - 15:01

Good Luck

a friend of mine in Tech Support spent 6 hours trouble shooting a brand new system purchased two days ago.

All supplied from one Apple dealer with the addition of a Tascam interface already owned by the client.

Songs wouldn't load and play correctly ... Clock all over the place
so much trouble

A very unhappy customer and my friend gave him a discount cos he felt sorry for him ...
pah !!!
I say screw 'em

Most of the problems are caused by the customers and their lack of knowledge in both the Equipment and the Software.

It's not the tools
it's the craftsman

:)
the world according to Kev

jonnyc Sat, 06/25/2005 - 08:04

I switched from Cubase because I was sick of the crap. People need to understand everything has problems. I was running SX3 on my pc with a 2.4 ghz processor and 2 gigs of ram. Every single time I shut it down and opened it back up something would happen. Either my tracks would playback with 1930's quality audio, sometimes it'd play back like a chipmunk shit sometimes nothing played back. It was a constant struggle to get any ideas down and keep them. After a few months of constant headaches I switched to an Imac and ptle, since I've had zero problems and its worked amazingly well. BTW I also tried Sonar for what ever reason it wouldn't even load on my pc, let a friend have it to see if it work on his, didn't. Point is every software is gonna have some kind of problem whether it be user error or not.

Kev Sat, 06/25/2005 - 16:53

jonnyc wrote: ... BTW I also tried Sonar for what ever reason it wouldn't even load on my pc, let a friend have it to see if it work on his, didn't. Point is every software is gonna have some kind of problem whether it be user error or not.

Yes,
and that can drive you to despair

I've purchased a lot of software as I have been in this for a very long time, so chance has played it's hand a number of times.
I've had faulty installer for Cubase and PT
and there was a version of Deck that just didn't work ... they followed up with a patch and then very soon came Deck 2.6 which mysteriously solved every thing.
...
and I've been in plug-in hell and had a war with Waves. Heated international phone calls with Waves.
I counter punched with some info on one of my web sites. (Fix the problem and I'll remove the info) .... :?

the biggest trouble is having the inside knowledge when
..... IT'S NOT YOUR FAULT.
cos the company usually gives you the run around

anonymous Sun, 06/26/2005 - 07:12

We all can gripe--but what it comes down to is what works for you (clients) and your (clients) music/audio. Some people like Pro Tools, others like Logic, some people like ice cream on their apple pie, others don't.

I've been using my pro tools rig for a steady 6 years (prior to that I was using ADATS/Stand Alone Hard-Disk-Recorders)--I've gone through hell an back with that program, especially during the transition from OS9 to OSX. But, it's always come sthrough for my clients, and their music--and has yet to displease my ears or hinder a check from coming in the mail.

I probably would be saying the same thing if I started using logic 6 years ago. But right now Pro Tools is it for me, and has been rock solid for 2 straight years for me. Yes, it crashes sometimes-----but that'll teach you to save or use session file backups----

how many times does Apple's Mail crash, or Microsoft Word, or Photoshop----do you ever hear anyone complain about that? For some reason we expect DAW software to work flawlessly and don't care too much about other kinds of software. We must remember that we are dealing with computers, computers that will crash, computers that will lose data, things will be incompatible, some things will piss you off. But I think with all DAW software the plusses HEAVILY outweigh the minor griping issues.