The Sunday Report...X1 vs 8.5 in weeklong battle royale!

As some of you may know I use X1b (build 246) at my music production studio and 8.5.3 at my commercial production studio...both Producer Edition.  X1 @ 64bits.  8.5 @ 32bits.  The X1 box is a 2.8 ghz Core i7 with 12 gigs ram running Win7 64bit with a Focusrite Pro24 DSP interface.  The 8.5 box is a 3.6ghz dual core with 4 gigs ram running XP pro 32 bit with a M-Audio Delta 1010 interface.  Coincidentally this last week I had two massive projects that required both boxes to be reallly worked hard.  On the X1 I was producing three complex musical pieces (two with extensive vocals) for a multimedia corporate presentation.  On the 8.5 box, 13 multivoiced, multi-sfx and music cue radio spots for national distribution.  As it has been pretty lean in our industry the last couple of years I was mighty glad to have the work although it was a very tough 10 days.  I use 90 percent of the same plugins on both boxes although I don't use nearly as many for the commercial production stuff which may well be significant in this "unintended head to head comparo".  All that said and whether anyone likes it or not here's the outcome in a nutshell.  No foolin and no ifs ands or buts about it.  In this corner X1 while having a much better layout...easier and better tools to work with...and an all round leaner, meaner feel...motorboated and/or just stopped playing back frequently requiring closing and reopening the project.  Would change the snap back to "measure" at random in every project.  Would occasionally just quit responding to ANY way of getting to either the PRV or the Console view, requiring closing and reopening the project.  Still (and I know this is not common) only shows the notes in the PRV about 75% of the time on entering it using any method.  If I then hit "D" closing the PRV and then re-enter it, the notes are there as they should be.  And, of course, the "teleport server quits responding" all the time.  That one I just don't care about anymore.  Luckily all of this was at my music production studio where I am alone.
 
Then...
 
In this corner we have Sonar 8.5.3 which...well...er...didn't do anything except work properly without one single stutter or glitch or hang or anything at all.  Performed flawlessly the entire week...with clients sitting right behind me smiling and talking amiably amongst themselves. 
 
 
Caveats:  The box with 8.5.3 on it used to be my music production DAW until my new one was built and I DID have occasional issues with it in that regard.  Which also lends creedence to plugins being the most likely culprit in nasty distractions.  That said, it might also help explain why some folks say (scream, really) "my system works perfectly fine I dont know how or why you or anyone else could have any issues at all you must be doing everything wrong"  or words to that effect.
 
Rock on, chillun.  Rock on.
 

I would heartily reccomend your going ahead and installing and learning X1.  Warts and all it is still an amazing DAW.  If you're still on 5 you are in for some wonderful new treats and tools.  And, yes, most of my plugins reside on both machines.  Not all...but most.  And figuring things out, ol pal, is a lifelong process;-)

I have just started using X1b.  I got it the day it came out but just couldn't get myself to try it.  I had a problem during a session with 8.5.3 a couple weeks ago and decided to try X1 and I was able to finish recording the sessions without problems.  I'm now "forcing" myself to use X1.  But, what I do is very little compared to a "commercial" studio.  The CD Project sessions for a singer I'm working on "mixing down" now only have 6 or 7 analog tracks.

I'm still happily plugging away on  v. 6.2 PE. Never gives me a hint of trouble, and anyway I don't have the box to even think about runnuing X1 just yet, and probably won't be til next year... after the galactic Mayan's return and all that. I will be grabbin' X1 soon though, simply to take advantage of the discount before X2 comes out. After all the crazy threads I've read since the official release I don't think I'd have the sack to use it on a commercial job without old faithful waiting in the wings to pick up the pieces.

There are a couple of new features (and the Smart Tool) in X1 that have ALMOST made me install it on the broadcast DAW.  But both it...and I using it...are not quite ready for prime time yet.  Still I have no hesitation in giving X1 this very "left-handed" compliment; if it was as stable as 8.5 I would think it's just about the greatest thing since sliced bread.  But, as we say down here, "if was a skiff...we'd all go rowin":-)

It'll sail off into the wild blue sooner or later... later than sooner... but that's alright with me. Just gives me more time to build a sea worthy rig to run the damn thing. I've seen so many posts though from people with almost identical system specs and yet polar opposite results. There seems to be no correlation, nor rhyme nor reason. A fecking roller coaster ride if ever there was one.