HD hardware questions(basic)...

  • Thread starter Thread starter elenore19
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elenore19

elenore19

Slowing becoming un-noob.
I look for nice stuff to buy..it's what I do...do I ever buy it? Yes, after years of dreaming...

So that being said. I've been looking into HD systems.

So let me get this straight. To get Pro Tools HD.
I'll need a card...Like this one we'll say...
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/PTCorePCIe1/
Then hook up an interface like this one...
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/96io

And then with that one, I can do whatever I want right?
Like I could have a big 24 track 8 bus mixer that gets hooked up to inputs and outputs on that i/o96.
So it sort of seems like an analog studio type deal.

Or am I completely screwing this up?

Thanks guys.
 
No...

Both Digi HD hardware boxes (96 and 192) are only 8 analog in and out. You would have to have multiple boxes OR an expansion card just to get to 16 analog i/o. This is of course addressing analog only.

3 96 i/o's will get you 24 channels of analog.
 
or you can get the 96i I/O...that's 16 analog channels input and 2 analog outs (and S/PDIF too)

but to answer your question, yes...to get started all you need is a Core card and one of the interfaces. Other core cards and other interfaces can be added later
 
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Another cheaper way of getting more i/o is it get some of the older interfaces (888/24 for ex) which are now DEAD cheap - you can get'em for $300-$500 on ebay now...

The 96i/o have a "legacy" port that you can connect the 96 to expand your i/o.
 
(I think you put in the wrong link for the Core card..)


Yes, well that would work. You'd still only have 8 analogue i/o from Tools, so you'd have to either buy a stand alone converter to get more analogue i/0, or get another 192, or get the A/D expansion card.

Personally, for $5k, I think you could get a better from end that the Control 24. I would prefer to get some sort of analogue desk with EQs. For $500 more, you could get the Toft ATB24, which is really a very nice desk at that price. Sure, you lose your DAW control, but I'd rather have a nice desk with good, solid workhorse pres & EQs...
 
MessianicDreams said:
(I think you put in the wrong link for the Core card..)
Click to expand...
Fixed.
MessianicDreams said:
Yes, well that would work. You'd still only have 8 analogue i/o from Tools, so you'd have to either buy a stand alone converter to get more analogue i/0, or get another 192, or get the A/D expansion card.
Click to expand...
Why would I only have 8 inputs. Wait...I see now. Well damn. So I wouldn't even be able to take advantage of all 16 preamps on the control 24?
MessianicDreams said:
Personally, for $5k, I think you could get a better from end that the Control 24. I would prefer to get some sort of analogue desk with EQs. For $500 more, you could get the Toft ATB24, which is really a very nice desk at that price. Sure, you lose your DAW control, but I'd rather have a nice desk with good, solid workhorse pres & EQs...
Click to expand...
Hmm. Yeah, good thinkin.
Although I would like to have control over my DAW seeing that's where I really spend the most time. But I mean. Like I mentioned in my original post, this is all me just scheming about what to buy in like 4 years...

I really don't need 24 inputs. 16 would work just great. So even that Toft ATB16 looks pretty fantastic. So in order to get 16 analog channels, would I have to get like 2 96 i/o?
 
elenore19 said:
So in order to get 16 analog channels, would I have to get like 2 96 i/o?
Click to expand...


um.....

Both Digi HD hardware boxes (96 and 192) are only 8 analog in and out. You would have to have multiple boxes OR an expansion card just to get to 16 analog i/o. This is of course addressing analog only.

3 96 i/o's will get you 24 channels of analog.
 
Joseph Hanna said:
um.....

Both Digi HD hardware boxes (96 and 192) are only 8 analog in and out. You would have to have multiple boxes OR an expansion card just to get to 16 analog i/o. This is of course addressing analog only.

3 96 i/o's will get you 24 channels of analog.
Click to expand...

Right. Gotcha.
 
elenore19 said:
Although I would like to have control over my DAW seeing that's where I really spend the most time.
Click to expand...


Yes, however on a limited budget, I think having a nicer front end will provide a better outcome than a few flying faders and some knobs. I'd rather have better quality audio and a slightly slower workflow that the other way round.

elenore19 said:
So in order to get 16 analog channels, would I have to get like 2 96 i/o?
Click to expand...

You could do that, however I think it would be cheaper to get a 192 with the expansion cards than 2 96s...
 
MessianicDreams said:
Yes, however on a limited budget, I think having a nicer front end will provide a better outcome than a few flying faders and some knobs. I'd rather have better quality audio and a slightly slower workflow that the other way round.



You could do that, however I think it would be cheaper to get a 192 with the expansion cards than 2 96s...
Click to expand...
Alright, makes sense.
 
[size=+5]NEW QUESTION:[/size]
Alright, so. Now I have an LE question. But I'll try and avoid a new thread. Hopefully you guys will read this far and answer...

SO.
Could I get an Digi 003. Then get the Toft ATB16. Could I somehow use the Toft for protools. Like 8 of the channels into the channels already available on the 003. And then get a converter for the other eight to go through ADAT?
 
elenore19 said:
[size=+5]NEW QUESTION:[/size]
Alright, so. Now I have an LE question. But I'll try and avoid a new thread. Hopefully you guys will read this far and answer...

SO.
Could I get an Digi 003. Then get the Toft ATB16. Could I somehow use the Toft for protools. Like 8 of the channels into the channels already available on the 003. And then get a converter for the other eight to go through ADAT?
Click to expand...

Yes you can take 8 analog outputs of the Digi003 to the mix board, you can buy something like the Alesis AI3 which converts from ADAT to Analog and Analog to ADAT and with that you add 8 more analog channels, i have the AI3 but i had a hard time finding it because its now discontinued, the alternative to this is to buy a cheap ADAT unit which doesnt work (the heads i mean) and use only the converters to do this..., Also you could add 2 more inputs/outputs if you buy an SPDIF to convert from spdif to analog and viceversa, a "cheap" alternative for this is buying a DAT (again the mechanical functioning doesnt have to be ok for this). With that beeing said, youll have 18 inputs and 18 outputs, thats the way my home studio is set up
 
dualflip said:
Yes you can take 8 analog outputs of the Digi003 to the mix board, you can buy something like the Alesis AI3 which converts from ADAT to Analog and Analog to ADAT and with that you add 8 more analog channels, i have the AI3 but i had a hard time finding it because its now discontinued, the alternative to this is to buy a cheap ADAT unit which doesnt work (the heads i mean) and use only the converters to do this..., Also you could add 2 more inputs/outputs if you buy an SPDIF to convert from spdif to analog and viceversa, a "cheap" alternative for this is buying a DAT (again the mechanical functioning doesnt have to be ok for this). With that beeing said, youll have 18 inputs and 18 outputs, thats the way my home studio is set up
Click to expand...
So I'm a little confused. The outputs of your 003 to your board? I thought it would be mixboard-->003-->computer...

I'm a little confused.
 
MessianicDreams said:
Another cheaper way of getting more i/o is it get some of the older interfaces (888/24 for ex) which are now DEAD cheap - you can get'em for $300-$500 on ebay now...
Click to expand...

Yes thats a good alternative, but remember they will only work on a Mac g4 or a pentium 4, not newer pc's (although you may make it work the downside is that you will only be able to use one of the processors core, which i once tried and made the computer really useless), also it will only work up to protools 6.4 (im not sure if 6.9 will work but im sure it wont with 7.0 and up)
 
elenore19 said:
So I'm a little confused. The outputs of your 003 to your board? I thought it would be mixboard-->003-->computer...

I'm a little confused.
Click to expand...

Ok in the set-up i just mentioned it would be like Mixer channs outputs 1-8 to analog 1-8 input on your digi003, then channels 9-16 on your mixer outputs to the Alesis AI3 analog inputs, then Alesis AI3 Adat output to the ADAT input on your 003, finally, channels 17 & 18 in your mixer output to the DAT input, and the DAT SPDIF output to the digi003. Thats to record

Now outputs of the digi (mixing) Analog 1-8 outputs on the digi to 1-8 inputs on the mixboard, adat output on the digi003 to the adat input on the AI3, analog output on the AI3 to channels 9-16 on the mixboard, finally, Digi003 spdif output to the DAT spdif input, DAT analog ouput to the mixboard chans 17&18

I hope this clears things up a bit
 
dualflip said:
Yes thats a good alternative, but remember they will only work on a Mac g4 or a pentium 4, not newer pc's (although you may make it work the downside is that you will only be able to use one of the processors core, which i once tried and made the computer really useless), also it will only work up to protools 6.4 (im not sure if 6.9 will work but im sure it wont with 7.0 and up)
Click to expand...

I think he was suggesting using the legacy port on the HD hardware...
 
dualflip said:
Yes thats a good alternative, but remember they will only work on a Mac g4 or a pentium 4, not newer pc's (although you may make it work the downside is that you will only be able to use one of the processors core, which i once tried and made the computer really useless), also it will only work up to protools 6.4 (im not sure if 6.9 will work but im sure it wont with 7.0 and up)
Click to expand...

They absolutely will work with newer computers.


If you read my response, I was suggesting using the legacy port on the new HD interfaces, which allow you to hook up some of the old TDM interfaces and use them with PT HD. Digidesign have quiet nicely continued "support" (in a sense) of their old gear!


:D
 
dualflip said:
Ok in the set-up i just mentioned it would be like Mixer channs outputs 1-8 to analog 1-8 input on your digi003, then channels 9-16 on your mixer outputs to the Alesis AI3 analog inputs, then Alesis AI3 Adat output to the ADAT input on your 003, finally, channels 17 & 18 in your mixer output to the DAT input, and the DAT SPDIF output to the digi003. Thats to record

Now outputs of the digi (mixing) Analog 1-8 outputs on the digi to 1-8 inputs on the mixboard, adat output on the digi003 to the adat input on the AI3, analog output on the AI3 to channels 9-16 on the mixboard, finally, Digi003 spdif output to the DAT spdif input, DAT analog ouput to the mixboard chans 17&18

I hope this clears things up a bit
Click to expand...


If you do that, you're just going to have a massive loop! Remember, the Toft doesn't have channel path and return path. Here's how I would suggest hooking it up:


1)Buy a monitor controller, like the Mackie Big Knob or Samson C-control. Buy a 8 channel ADAT converter. patch the direct outs of the first 8 channels of the desk into the 003. Patch the next 8 outs to your ADAT converter (which of course is plugged into the optical input on your 003). Plug outputs 1-2 of your 003 into your monitor controller.

That is the setup for recording. If you want to mix:

2) Plug the 8 analogue o/p of the 003 into the first 8 channels of the ATB, and the 8 analogue outputs from your ADAT to the next 8 channels.

That's how I would do it anyways. I would *always* monitor your PT returns when recording, rather than listening to what's going in to PT and just assuming its all going well in the box!
 
MessianicDreams said:
If you do that, you're just going to have a massive loop! Remember, the Toft doesn't have channel path and return path.
Click to expand...
I clearly specified that when you record is one thing and when you mix another thing, of course if you return every single output to the corresponding channel on the console youll end up with a loop, but when you record you can use the outputs of your console and monitor either by the monitor outputs of the Digi003 or by returning the general mix to some returns in the console. What i wanted to specify is that i have a setup like that, in which i use all the channels on the console to record, and i may use again all the channels of the console to mix...
 
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