Pro tools interrogations

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spadrille

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Hello! It's my first visit in this forum. I'm a newbie in pro tools TDM and consider to buy one. I need the TDM and not the LE because of the surround possibilities. I've got a mac G5 bi pro 1.8 Ghz and i believe that only the Pro tools HD is compatible. Tell me if i'm wrong. But i don't know if i have to use the last generation of interface (192 I/O, 192 Digital I/O, 96 I/O, 96i I/O) or if i can go with an older interface and which one. Also, i don't know if pro tools TDM is MAC only or if i can have it on a PC. Is there different cards? Are the cards compatible PC/MAC? I know that such newbie question seem stupid but i have made some research on internet and these questions are so simple that nobody ask it! But, i promise, i will come back with very good technical hi level question later!
 
Hey...

Pro tools HD I do not believe is compatible with older interfaces, this is just the way the folks at digi keep you buying new gear. It is cross compatible between pc and mac, although I do think there are some differences.

The bottom line is this... you're about to spend an incredible amount of money on an expensive pro setup... we're talking many thousands of dollars to get properly hooked up, and... for surround,

so I plead with you to check out cubase sx if you only need 5.1 surround, nuendo if you need to do a whole lot of theatrical work and video integration is important to you...

Either way, you have definite pc / mac freedom, and your choice of audio interfaces... it will cost much much less the HD and you can upgrade things as you feel it necessary.

Just my 2 cents.

Good luck.
 
If you really want surround, it all depends on your budget

Like jazzrich says: TDM is really expensive! You get what you pay for: the best software available and you are compatible with almost every studio.

If it is too expensive, yoyu have two options:

-drop your surround wish and go for the LE version and a Digi 002

- go for other software that does support surround.

your choice.
 
spadrille said:
Hello! It's my first visit in this forum. I'm a newbie in pro tools TDM and consider to buy one. I need the TDM and not the LE because of the surround possibilities. I've got a mac G5 bi pro 1.8 Ghz and i believe that only the Pro tools HD is compatible. Tell me if i'm wrong. But i don't know if i have to use the last generation of interface (192 I/O, 192 Digital I/O, 96 I/O, 96i I/O) or if i can go with an older interface and which one. Also, i don't know if pro tools TDM is MAC only or if i can have it on a PC. Is there different cards? Are the cards compatible PC/MAC? I know that such newbie question seem stupid but i have made some research on internet and these questions are so simple that nobody ask it! But, i promise, i will come back with very good technical hi level question later!
Click to expand...

Here's a work-around for doing surround in Pro Tools LE:

http://www.eqmag.com/archive/0404/0404_Features2.htm

At this point I wouldn't invest in a mix system but go for the HD. For one thing it sounds better, secondly the newer versions of the software may not support old hardware (though I believe it still does at this point).

The HD system is available on both a Mac and PC.
 
THERE IS A SURROUND PLUGIN FOR PT LE - go to the digistore in the plugin section surround scope or something like that! PT kicks ass but YOU DONT NEED TO SPEND 50k for Surround Sound!
 
Pro Tools HD 24 Mix systems (such as the 888, 882, 1622 and so on) are no longer supported by Digidesign, so you will not be able to get very much support from Digi, or be able to update your software past version 5.0 (I think version 5 was the last supported for the Mix systems).

Pro Tools TDM is the current system. When you buy a TDM system, it is broken down like this-

HD 1=Pro Tools software and Core Card (PCI card for you computer).
HD 2=Software and 1 Core Card plus 1 Accel Card.
HD 3=Software and 1 Card plus 2 Accel Cards.

The more Accel cards, the more TDM processing power you have. The cards are compatable on both PC and Mac machines.

Now that you have the cards and software, you still need to buy a Digidesign TDM interface like the 192 I/O or 96 I/O.
 
i know the original post is over a year old....but it's been unearthed with a couple of incorrect statement that I just wanted to clarify

THERE IS A SURROUND PLUGIN FOR PT LE - go to the digistore in the plugin section surround scope or something like that! PT kicks ass but YOU DONT NEED TO SPEND 50k for Surround Sound!
Click to expand...

If you're talking about Digidesign's Surround Scope...this is not a surround sound mixer for LE, it's just a scope meter for surround sound systems. It's used for the HD systems.

Pro Tools HD 24 Mix systems (such as the 888, 882, 1622 and so on) are no longer supported by Digidesign, so you will not be able to get very much support from Digi, or be able to update your software past version 5.0 (I think version 5 was the last supported for the Mix systems).

Pro Tools TDM is the current system. When you buy a TDM system, it is broken down like this-
Click to expand...

Pro Tools Mix|24 systems were not called HD. The newer versions are the HD units. Both systems, old and new, are called TDM which stands for Time Division Multiplexing and has to do with the way data is sent to the processing cards.
The name Mix|24 was sort of confusing during it's time, since not all the interfaces supported 24 bit A/D converters.
 
ProTools Mix and d24 cards will allow you to mix in surround. They only go up to Pro Tools V. 6.4.1 and are NOT compatible with G5s, where the HD cards are now at software version 7 (though I am staying at 6.9 for stability sake for a while), and are compatible with G4s, older G5s, and PCs. If you have one of the new Macs (Quad), you have to wait for the PCI Express version of the cards.

All cards are compatible with Mac G4s and PCs.
 
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