Pro Tools HD1 plugin System usage in a Mac Pro

[kieran kelly]

What kind of Plugin numbers for an HD1 are you guys getting with the Mac Pros ?
I use Massey , MCDSP, URS , Auto-Tune. mainly .

2nd Question. What about RTAS usage with this system for plugins ? will it buckle
under a heavy 32- 40 Track mix ?


3rd Question is 3 gigs ram enough ? I do not do much soft synth . I also print any drum enhancements

thanks in advance

This is the System I am looking at.
HD1
Mac Pro 2.66
3 gig Ram
96 I/o ( I have a Mytek 896 that will be clocking the studio and for my "money Track"s )
recording almost exclusively at 44.1...

This is what I have now.
Mix +
G4 Duel 500
512 ram
Mytek 896.

[Alécio Costa]

why not save some money and get an HD2 Accel?

[Tony Shepperd]

If you are going to use 7.4, I would recommend 4 GB of RAM.
The more HD processing you buy, the more plugins Digidesign throws in.

http://digidesign.com/index.cfm?navid=72&itemid=4855

[borism]

Originally Posted by kieran kelly

What kind of Plugin numbers for an HD1 are you guys getting with the Mac Pros ?
I use Massey , MCDSP, URS , Auto-Tune. mainly .

2nd Question. What about RTAS usage with this system for plugins ? will it buckle
under a heavy 32- 40 Track mix ?


3rd Question is 3 gigs ram enough ? I do not do much soft synth . I also print any drum enhancements

thanks in advance

This is the System I am looking at.
HD1
Mac Pro 2.66
3 gig Ram
96 I/o ( I have a Mytek 896 that will be clocking the studio and for my "money Track"s )
recording almost exclusively at 44.1...

This is what I have now.
Mix +
G4 Duel 500
512 ram
Mytek 896.

If I may say
I believe that a HD1 will handle your channel count playback, delay comp, dutys, maybe one or two reverb plugins eqs etc but not enough to MIX only in the HD system, so I would recomend at least a HD2 as Mr Acosta sugested to have enough power to run "heavier plugs", like long TLspaces, ampfarms etc
This is specially important if you pretend to run mixes at 98Khz, eventually you will run a mix at 98..
Having sayd that, the RTAS native power that you'll get with your Mac Pro is simply amazing and will allow you to run a bunch of plugins natively with ease, even at big 90+ channel mixes... and then some, (you will not belive how you have been dealing with your G4 this far, I know this because I got rid of my G4 dual 1.25 this year after 5 yeras of hard work)

My advice again buy the biggest computer (macpro) you can with the most Ram you can afford, 4Gb at least.

Last, dont buy the 96i/o, try to go for the 192 or look into the aurora 8 or 16, the sound and explansion quality is worth the extra money
Good luck!!

[barryjohns]

I have an HD2 on my MacPro and never need my 2nd card. I use RTAS almost exclusively. Leaving TDM plugs to plugs that I want to track through (Eleven, Soundtoys, Revibe). Once I've tracked, I change them to RTAS. You can get a tons of Massey Plugs on 1 chip, so no worries there. I justify HD for STABILITY, no Latency, Hardware I/O, ADC (That actually works, not like some DAW's that says it works, but really doesn't), Track through Plugs, and mainly because I love Protools. I started with an HD1 and the only reason I bought another card is I got a great deal on it, 1300.00 on eBay. FWIW I track at 44.

DO NOT BUY NEW - DO NOT BUY NEW - DO NOT BUY NEW

You can get new in the box systems from resellers like DM Management and Dutchmusik on EBay for much cheaper, they come with the same support.

Do not buy a 192 or 96 I/O's. The Aurora's are much cheaper and better. You can get a new Aurora 16 from Bayview Pro Audio for 2600.00, pus 300 for the HD card or an Aurora 8 for 1600.00.

Additionally, I don't use any of the plugs that Digi gives for free. I got the Plugs from an HD2 with my HD1 and I've not used any of them yet. I'm sure some of them are ok, but I have the Waves SSL, V, and API Native Bundles and they take care of my EQ and I use UAD and Massey for Dymamics in addition to my hardware. Soundtoys Baby, gotta have em'