How many tracks can you REALLY get from Pro Tools 9 or 10 standard

JoshAndWhatArmy · 8th February 2012

I know that the artificial limit is 96 tracks/voices in Pro Tools 9 and 10 standard (no HD card, no toolkits). Wondering what's the most tracks everyone has been able to simultaneously work with (edit, mix, play back) without encountering frequent error messages or maxing out system resources to the point that the session is pretty much unworkable.

If anyone's been successful in working with really large track counts (say, 70+ and maybe a load of plugins as well for good measure) on what kind of system, how are your audio drives set up etc?

I am wondering if this can be done (at least on a pretty good system) or if you still need an HD system to work with that many trax in reality.

Thanks in advance for any info

couch11 · 8th February 2012

The plug-ins are what will kill a session. If you work with a lot of plug-ins that are not very CPU intensive, then you will likely not run into any problems. It's the emulation plug-ins that start getting CPU intensive.

I've done mixes with close to 96 tracks and a mixture of CPU intensive and non intensive plug-ins. It's very doable.

nst7 · 8th February 2012

I have also had results similar to Couch, on a 2007 Imac Core 2 Duo.

If you get one of the newer Quad Core I7 Imacs (or Windows equivalent) you should be able to do tons more than that.

JoshAndWhatArmy · 8th February 2012

thanks so much, i should have also asked: what sample rates are you working at?

couch11 · 8th February 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoshAndWhatArmy

thanks so much, i should have also asked: what sample rates are you working at?

Usually 48kHz.

psycho_monkey · 8th February 2012

64 tracks at 96k from one fw800 drive is easy. 90 odd simultaneous tracks can give disk too slow errors.

Disk speed is what bottlenecks audio tracks, not processor speed.

Jeezo · 9th February 2012

i think the op was asking for the count limitation by the version ,? or am i wrong ?

nst7 · 9th February 2012

No, he already knew that, he was asking more for what's realistically possible on various computers.

JoshAndWhatArmy · 10th February 2012

er, almost. I kinda was asking about the program, i know the artificial track limit, but i'd been told that no matter how fast my computer and drive(s) i would need a pt hd system to work with that many trax. It made little sense to me that avid would give you all these trax in PT standard that you can't use even if you have the most powerful computer on earth, so i figured this might be misinformation.
so i was asking if anyone's actually done it without hd/toolkits, and if so at what sample rates, what kind of system/drive configuration you are doing it on (i.e. one fw800 drive, 2 eSATA drives, 3 cores of a mac, internal external etc). And sure, what computer... so it's a 3 part question i suppose 1. most importantly- can it be done and 2. how powerful a system is needed
so you're both right

Ideally i would ask Pro Tools 9 & 10 standard users to tell me how many trax they've managed max at each sample rate without slowing things down to a crawl, and what they're working on. And this info is especially helpful if you are also using lots of plugins. Thank you all!

JoshAndWhatArmy · 10th February 2012

...in practice not theory. thank you!

nst7 · 12th February 2012

Well, if you're using lots of plugins, that may affect overall what you can do.

In other words, with lots of tracks and plugins, it's impossible to know what's starting to tax your CPU. You may find that you can run 150 tracks with no plugins, and then in another instance run just 10 tracks, each with an amp simulator plugins, and find that your computer is having trouble.

So this is evolving from "how many tracks" to "how much can your computer do in general".

I will try to do some experiments, though.

8th February 2012	#1
JoshAndWhatArmy Gear interested Joined: Feb 2012 Posts: 9 Thread Starter	How many tracks can you REALLY get from Pro Tools 9 or 10 standard I know that the artificial limit is 96 tracks/voices in Pro Tools 9 and 10 standard (no HD card, no toolkits). Wondering what's the most tracks everyone has been able to simultaneously work with (edit, mix, play back) without encountering frequent error messages or maxing out system resources to the point that the session is pretty much unworkable. If anyone's been successful in working with really large track counts (say, 70+ and maybe a load of plugins as well for good measure) on what kind of system, how are your audio drives set up etc? I am wondering if this can be done (at least on a pretty good system) or if you still need an HD system to work with that many trax in reality. Thanks in advance for any info

8th February 2012	#6
psycho_monkey Gear Guru Joined: Jun 2006 Location: London Posts: 14,292	64 tracks at 96k from one fw800 drive is easy. 90 odd simultaneous tracks can give disk too slow errors. Disk speed is what bottlenecks audio tracks, not processor speed. __________________ Shameless Plug: If I've ever helped you with a technical problem or provided you with advice you found useful, you can more than repay me by going here and spending 79p of your hard earned on this single, now available for purchase, by a singer I'm working closely with. It would be much appreciated! http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/fam...14?i=496923918 Album now available for pre-order: http://itunes.apple.com/gb/preorder/...an/id513648911 /Shameless Plug....

9th February 2012	#7
Jeezo Lives for gear Joined: Oct 2008 Posts: 2,548	i think the op was asking for the count limitation by the version ,? or am i wrong ? __________________ http://soundcloud.com/zo-aka-jeezo/independant http://www.myspace.com/zoakajeezo Cutthroat to the bone !

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
10 interesting things I really should know about multi-track tape machines:	Blast9	So much gear, so little time!	17	25th May 2007 06:07 PM
Upgrading studio from PC based SONAR to MAC based Pro tools or similar (best fit)	pschmailinglist	Music computers	25	2nd February 2007 04:46 PM
PRO TOOLS 7.3 + REASON (REWIRE); IMPORTING SESSIONS FROM NEWER VERSION OF PRO TOOLS	woongsae	Music computers	2	29th January 2007 06:05 PM
Pro Tools Mix & OS 10.3.9?	Damian Taylor	Music computers	4	6th January 2007 08:06 PM
Click Track from an audio file in PT ???	nowinner	Music computers	3	6th December 2006 04:48 PM

8th February 2012	#2
couch11 Lives for gear Joined: Jun 2011 Location: Nashville Posts: 743	The plug-ins are what will kill a session. If you work with a lot of plug-ins that are not very CPU intensive, then you will likely not run into any problems. It's the emulation plug-ins that start getting CPU intensive. I've done mixes with close to 96 tracks and a mixture of CPU intensive and non intensive plug-ins. It's very doable.

8th February 2012	#3
nst7 Lives for gear Joined: Jul 2009 Posts: 1,071	I have also had results similar to Couch, on a 2007 Imac Core 2 Duo. If you get one of the newer Quad Core I7 Imacs (or Windows equivalent) you should be able to do tons more than that.

10th February 2012	#9
JoshAndWhatArmy Gear interested Joined: Feb 2012 Posts: 9 Thread Starter	er, almost. I kinda was asking about the program, i know the artificial track limit, but i'd been told that no matter how fast my computer and drive(s) i would need a pt hd system to work with that many trax. It made little sense to me that avid would give you all these trax in PT standard that you can't use even if you have the most powerful computer on earth, so i figured this might be misinformation. so i was asking if anyone's actually done it without hd/toolkits, and if so at what sample rates, what kind of system/drive configuration you are doing it on (i.e. one fw800 drive, 2 eSATA drives, 3 cores of a mac, internal external etc). And sure, what computer... so it's a 3 part question i suppose 1. most importantly- can it be done and 2. how powerful a system is needed so you're both right Ideally i would ask Pro Tools 9 & 10 standard users to tell me how many trax they've managed max at each sample rate without slowing things down to a crawl, and what they're working on. And this info is especially helpful if you are also using lots of plugins. Thank you all!

12th February 2012	#11
nst7 Lives for gear Joined: Jul 2009 Posts: 1,071	Well, if you're using lots of plugins, that may affect overall what you can do. In other words, with lots of tracks and plugins, it's impossible to know what's starting to tax your CPU. You may find that you can run 150 tracks with no plugins, and then in another instance run just 10 tracks, each with an amp simulator plugins, and find that your computer is having trouble. So this is evolving from "how many tracks" to "how much can your computer do in general". I will try to do some experiments, though.