Cheapest possible way to run PTLE software, 32-tracks at 96k ? - M-Pwred, M-Box, or?

[666666]

I've been studying the Digi website, trying to figure this out.

I'd like to have PTLE software on my rig for EDITING only. I/O interface does not matter to me, it can be the smallest, cheapest thing on the planet. Just need the software so I can open and edit existing WAV files at 24/96k.

I do need to be able to run 32-tracks at 96k... do not want to be limited to 24 tracks or 48k as I believe some of the cheaper PTLE systems are.

I believe I can get the "M-Powered" version of PTLE and then perhaps use a $99 M-Audio interface.... this would only cost about $350 complete if I am not mistaken. But not sure if this interface will allow me to work on 96k files. It appears to be a little difficult to find all this info on the associated websites. I wonder if they do that on purpose.

I guess I could always get a 003 Rack for $1200 and I'd surely be covered, but I will not need the rack unit... do not need converters or mic pres, etc.... need JUST the software.

I'm sure there is a definitive answer here, I'd appreciate it if someone could lay it on me.

Thanks!

[ryancork]

Looks the cheapest possible way to get 96k audio is to get an M-Audio Fast Track PRO and Pro Tools M-Powered. M-Powered is 249.97 on Sweetwater, and the fast trap PRO is 199.97. Or you could go for an Mbox 2 PRO which is 699.97.

[Matt Whritenour]

cheapest would be Pro Tools M-powered and the M-Audio Transit
M-Audio Transit USB | Sweetwater.com

If you buy Pro Tools M-powered from Musicians Friend you get a free M-Audio JamLab interface but that only does up to 48k. Might be worth getting it for free.
Buy Digidesign Pro Tools M-Powered 7.4 online at Musician's Friend

[Matt Whritenour]

I forgot to add that the Transit also has a TOSlink if you ever wanted to use good DA converters for monitoring.

[666666]

Guys, thanks!!!

I should have mentioned though, I believe I need to run the interace via Firewire.

Any reports regarding the M-Audio Firewire 410...? I could use the midi I/O also now that I think about it. This 410 looks like it may be a good cheap option, with midi I/O.

[ryancork]

I use the 410 from time to time as an output only device for ableton live and have had no problems with it. The pre's aren't great but it doesn't sound like you'll be using those. No operational issues for me, I always shut down my macbook pro before connecting it, just to be sure it works correctly.

[nukmusic]

M-Audio Transit interface
M-Powered ProTools LE software(32 tracks)
$250 + $80 = $330

***Music Production Toolkit will add 16 more tracks. But I would look for someone selling it separately vs buying the whole bundle new. Ebay maybe.

the cheapest way...end of story

edit:

question is....how will the interface function at 96k on YOUR particular computer. Good Luck

[Matt Whritenour]

why does the interface need to be firewire?

[E-Irizarry]

Remember, if you use a few plugins while recording your vocals, latency will be seriously introduced with a FireWire M-Audio 410.

The only program that I can use that pre-amp with & with a few plugins on my chain while recording that has less an a millisecond of latency is REAPER 2 or greater.

[kNasty]

Mbox micro (I think that is what its called).

Digidesign Mbox 2 Micro | Sweetwater.com

The little PTLE USB stick that is good for running PTLE. I use it for editing on my laptop when I am out of town. It has no interface other than a 1/8 jack for headphones. You can find them for $199 on ebay.

[Matt Whritenour]

Originally Posted by zer0ne

Mbox micro (I think that is what its called).

Digidesign Mbox 2 Micro | Sweetwater.com

The little PTLE USB stick that is good for running PTLE. I use it for editing on my laptop when I am out of town. It has no interface other than a 1/8 jack for headphones. You can find them for $199 on ebay.

The Mbox micro can only run up to 48K, he needs to be able to do 96K

[Dax Productions]

Just try and find a used mbox 2 pro. I got one about a year ago and its just fine. Does it have tons of IO? No. Does it have the best sounding converters in the world? Definitely not, but it sounds like you're not looking for that anyways.

Why do you need 96k?

[JChance]

If you wanted to go M-Powered, the transit is the ticket at $99. Will playback 24/96k, plus has the digital I/O if you wanted to record with good converters/pres.

If you went firewire, which of course, is usually a better solution when dealing with 96k, the M-Audio Firewire Solo is the single channel version of the M-Audio 410. I've seen them on eBay new from dealers for as low as $125 or so.

[666666]

Thanks for all the replies. Great info!

I also wanted to mention that I'd want midi I/O as well so I can listen to midi files out of PTLE and possibly other programs too. I suppose I should have mentioned this earlier but it slipped my mind.

So I guess the revamped question is, what is the cheapest way to run M-Powered PTLE via Firewire and also have 96k support, 32-tracks and midi I/O? Perhaps the M-Audio 410? I've been looking at the 410 and the Lightbridge as possible options. Would anyone vote for one over the other for any reason? Is one perhaps more stable or just easier to deal with overall? They're only $100 apart in price, it wouldn't bother me to get the Lighbridge over the 410 if for some reason it WAS truly "better" in some regards.

Here's an important question... the Lightbridge appears to have Word Clock I/O... which I'd like to have if possible... the 410 does not. However, the 410 has SPDIF I/O. Is it possible to add a "word clock to SPDIG RCA adapter" to the SDPIF port and be able to take or feed just the clock only? I've seen some other converter units that had an arrangement like this... I think the Benchmark DAC-1 is like this, has SPDIF ports, but comes with a press on adapter that converts the SDPIF to a word clock jack... or am I smokin' crack here? Someone please set me straight on this. Beause IF I can run word clock I/O using ther 410's SPDIF ports, then the 410 might be fine for me.... otherwise I might vote for the lighbridge just to have word clock ports for when needed. I'll likely be running the system off a high-end clock.

Thanks!

(Again, sorry my question has "evolved" here, but initially I had overlooked certain needs - it's all good because all the info posted here is interesting and helpful to me and others - so, no wasted bandwidth )

[Matt Whritenour]

the Profire Lightbridge has SPDIF / Midi / Word clock, all via a 15pin dsub adapter that comes with the unit.

or you can get a midi interface to go along with the Transit for $40 bucks
M-Audio MIDISPORT 1x1 | Sweetwater.com
but then no word clock

[kNasty]

Originally Posted by Matt Whritenour

The Mbox micro can only run up to 48K, he needs to be able to do 96K

That's what I get for selective reading

[Matt Whritenour]

Originally Posted by zer0ne

That's what I get for selective reading

I don't see why it can't do 96k if the M-Audio Transit can do 96k why not the mbox micro?

[nukmusic]

Originally Posted by Matt Whritenour

I don't see why it can't do 96k if the M-Audio Transit can do 96k why not the mbox micro?

LOL...same reason we have 10,000 different M-Box designs. Its DIGIDESIGN we're talking about.

[psycho_monkey]

Originally Posted by Matt Whritenour

I don't see why it can't do 96k if the M-Audio Transit can do 96k why not the mbox micro?

read the specs...

[Matt Whritenour]

Originally Posted by psycho_monkey

read the specs...

maybe you should take your own advice,

They are both USB1.1 the Transit can do 96k and the Mbox Micro can only do 48k.

[Alxi]

Not to burst anyone's bubble but i have PT Mpowered and i'm unable to open projects with a greater sample rate then 44.1 My sound card is a delta 66 and it does support 96k... i think it one of the limitations of Mpowered .......but i'm not sure

-Alxi-

[kafka]

Originally Posted by Alxi

Not to burst anyone's bubble but i have PT Mpowered and i'm unable to open projects with a greater sample rate then 44.1 My sound card is a delta 66 and it does support 96k... i think it one of the limitations of Mpowered .......but i'm not sure

PTMP is in general fine with 96k. There's nothing in the software that limits the sample rate. I've used everything from 44.1 up to 192k.

Your problem is a pretty common one. If some other piece of software grabs hold of the M-Audio interface first and sets the sample rate, then PTMP won't be able to override it, and you won't be able to open sessions at other sample rates. One way of forcing it is to open your M-Audio control panel and manually set it before opening PT. This can be a pain in the neck if you've forgotten what sample rate you used for a session.

The usual advice is that the interface should not be your default sound device. From what I've seen, however, some people have trouble even after changing that setting. I'm sure this is your issue, but good luck in tracking it down. Someone over on the DUC might be able to give you some better advice on how to do that.

[Alxi]

Originally Posted by kafka

PTMP is in general fine with 96k. There's nothing in the software that limits the sample rate. I've used everything from 44.1 up to 192k.

Your problem is a pretty common one. If some other piece of software grabs hold of the M-Audio interface first and sets the sample rate, then PTMP won't be able to override it, and you won't be able to open sessions at other sample rates. One way of forcing it is to open your M-Audio control panel and manually set it before opening PT. This can be a pain in the neck if you've forgotten what sample rate you used for a session.

The usual advice is that the interface should not be your default sound device. From what I've seen, however, some people have trouble even after changing that setting. I'm sure this is your issue, but good luck in tracking it down. Someone over on the DUC might be able to give you some better advice on how to do that.

Thanks Kafka.. Sorry i wasn't trying to HighJack the thread. It's good to know that it is possible... i'll look into it

-Alxi-

[E-Irizarry]

Again, that's why I love using Reaper 2.xx; one can override the sample rate of the ASIO driver in the settings of the DAW program with a checkbox-then-apply click.

Even with SONAR 7 Producer Edt., I try to override it, and it just friggin' locks up the sound card and won't release it. Hence, I'd have to reboot.

The marriage between my FireWire M-Audio 410 and Reaper 2.xx has no drama whatsoever.

I could record at 32-bit float/96kHz, but I get less sample require, less latency, and more plugins that work at 44.1/48kHz.

Go Reaper.

[geekd]

I recently got Pro Tools M-Powered academic on ebay for $159. The ad said I could send proof that I'm a student after purchase, but the seller never asked me. New in box, same box you buy anywhere. I also bought my ProjectMix IO on ebay, and it was drop shipped direct from Digidesign, reciept and all. So if you are on a budget (and who isn't), I'd give it a try.

on another note:
Here's a great chart with the specs and compatibility info for many m-audio interfaces:
http://www.m-audio.com/images/global...rfaceChart.jpg

I wanted an interface I could bring along with my laptop for mobile mixing (the ProjectMix is big) - and this chart helped me decide on the FastTrack USB - $79 refurb from MusiciansFriend.com

-geekd

[666666]

Originally Posted by geekd

I recently got Pro Tools M-Powered academic on ebay for $159. The ad said I could send proof that I'm a student after purchase, but the seller never asked me. New in box, same box you buy anywhere....

Thanks for the tip. I just stopped over at Ebay and saw this... PTLE M-Powered software "academic" for $179 plus $13 shipping... that's a lot cheaper than anywhere else, brand new. Anyone know what's up with this? Is this legit??? Seems too good to be true. These Ebay guys apparently sell a lot of different items with an "academic" discount. As long as it's good new legit stuff (and not a fancy bootleg or stolen merch or whatever), sounds like a great deal. Opinions?

[666666]

And also... hope this isn't too dumb of a question, but it's been a LONG time since I've purchased any software (I'm an analog guy ya know!)...

I will need PTLE M-Powered on TWO of my computer rigs for my two rooms. How does this work, do I need to purchase TWO copies of PTLE M-Powered, or can I buy just one copy and legally use it on two of my own computers, or....??? What can be done, what does everyone else do? I'd hate to have to buy TWO copies of the software if not necessary... but if necessary, so be it.

[Alndln]

Although it's been recently discontinued, the M-Audio Firewire Audiophile can still be had for around $169.00($149.00 if you look around) and has midi i/o as well as SPDIF i/o. Here's one link anyway.

• M-Audio Firewire Audiophile - Firewire Audio Interfaces - Audio Interfaces & Sound Cards - PRO Audio - Audiolines.com

[Matt Whritenour]

Originally Posted by 666666

And also... hope this isn't too dumb of a question, but it's been a LONG time since I've purchased any software (I'm an analog guy ya know!)...

I will need PTLE M-Powered on TWO of my computer rigs for my two rooms. How does this work, do I need to purchase TWO copies of PTLE M-Powered, or can I buy just one copy and legally use it on two of my own computers, or....??? What can be done, what does everyone else do? I'd hate to have to buy TWO copies of the software if not necessary... but if necessary, so be it.

You can put it on both rigs, but can't use it at the same time, you will have to bring your Ilok back and forth.

[terminal3]

please don't forget that you don't get 32 tracks with the basic LE/M-Powered, you get 32 voices. this means you get either 16 stereo tracks or 32 mono tracks or any combination thereof.

the toolkits do give you 48 tracks - those can be stereo OR mono but the cap is 48 before you have to start making stuff inactive.

this only applies to audio. for midi, instruments, auxes etc - the limit is your CPU.