High End Portable Pro Tools rig

Gioinla · 28th March 2010

I am designing a rig for a major artist and money is no object but portability is all. It needs to fit in his sports car either in the front seat or the small trunk space under the hood
He is a drummer and wants a Pro Tools rig that can instantiate big percussion libraries. I say 6 to 8 virtual instruments up at once max. They will be triggered via VDrums .We have Etheno Ra. And the EastWest stuff so far. It needs be his virtual percussion rig and sequencer
I am thinking to wait for the new Apple laptops , max it out and use a magma PCI & PCI-X Expansion Systems Either the 2 slots or the 4 slots one .Has anyone used this on a MacPro lap top?. Does it work well with PT?
The other thing is getting more juice for the virtual instruments.
All of the instruments we use are Native So I was thinking of using the Muse receptor However it is BIG and the user interface is difficult to maneuver for a none tech drummer type. I could set up ready to go tracks and he could load them form a PT file on the desktop. Is there an other way to go? How about the the PowerCore FireWire by TC electronics?
The interface I was looking at was either a Rosetta 800 Or a Aurora . because of the small space. How is the Prisim Sound ADA-8XR ?. It seems highly flexible. Could I get monitoring and routing all built in?? I would need mic pres it seems.
If Digidesign made a powerful Mbox all in thing I could use that. I tried an Mbox Pro on a new iMac and it fails so hugely. I have 16 gigs of ram but the Firewire is 400 and the Mbox drop instrument sounds left and right.
I appreciate any input suggestions and help
Thanks
G

DaKid · 28th March 2010

You could always get a macbook pro and pick up a used 002 and have it modded by black lion to upgrade the conversion. I use a macbook pro with a 002 sig mod and it's stable and I get a lot of work done with it.

If the budget isn't an issue... and you want PT.... I'd go for a macbook pro, 002 sig mod by bla, and grab an API lunchbox and fill it with some nice pre's. That should be a great sounding and very portable set up.

Best of luck.

Gerax · 28th March 2010

I think it depends on what your client needs to do. If it's just for triggering samples It could be a powerful laptop and a FW interface. If the MBP is your laptop of choice I'd try to go with PT M-powered and a M-Audio Lightbridge interface and an Aurora16 with the ADAT card installed: that would allow you acces to 16 simultaneous I/O (32 if used in PTHD) in 2 rack spaces with excellent conversion (far better than any modified 002R) and in a lighter package. For preamps, if you need to record at least 8 tracks and need high quality the solutions are many. You could start with really "off the wall" preamps with ADAT conversion (Focusrite, Mackie, Audient, RME etc..) or go up and choose some more boutique pres (2xAPI3124, Millennia HV3D, Focusrite ISA828, True Precision 8) but a lot depends on the color of preamp you like for drums (I like API a lot for rock drums, for jazz or cleaners tracks True or Millennia are great, also check out DAV).
In the end I think you could get away with a 4RU setup that really is high quality and is pretty much self contained; BTW, the Lightbridge is just half rack, so you could fit a dedicated external drive for smples and recording (like some Glyph tech or Lacie Rugged) in the available space on the Lightbridge's side.

Hope this helps

Gioinla · 28th March 2010

The main issue here is the ability for the host computer to playback 6 to 8 Sample Libraries that are high end Such as EastWest Play stuff. Can the laptop alone do that. since all the sample playback is handled by the CPU not PT. Also I am having problems with Mbox FW it seems to be buggy and prone to drop outs. It could just be my set up software wise. BUt do you think that the Mboxes are fast enough to drive 8 tracks of sample play back? Recording in is not so much of a big deal here as much as sequencing soft Samplers with big loads.
G

Jack W · 12th April 2010

Hi Gioinla,

Read this thread a couple of weeks ago and thought you had a very interesting build project on your hands, did you manage to come up with a solution?

Cheers,

Jack

28th March 2010	#1
Gioinla Gear interested Joined: Jul 2008 Location: LA Posts: 17 Thread Starter	High End Portable Pro Tools rig I am designing a rig for a major artist and money is no object but portability is all. It needs to fit in his sports car either in the front seat or the small trunk space under the hood He is a drummer and wants a Pro Tools rig that can instantiate big percussion libraries. I say 6 to 8 virtual instruments up at once max. They will be triggered via VDrums .We have Etheno Ra. And the EastWest stuff so far. It needs be his virtual percussion rig and sequencer I am thinking to wait for the new Apple laptops , max it out and use a magma PCI & PCI-X Expansion Systems Either the 2 slots or the 4 slots one .Has anyone used this on a MacPro lap top?. Does it work well with PT? The other thing is getting more juice for the virtual instruments. All of the instruments we use are Native So I was thinking of using the Muse receptor However it is BIG and the user interface is difficult to maneuver for a none tech drummer type. I could set up ready to go tracks and he could load them form a PT file on the desktop. Is there an other way to go? How about the the PowerCore FireWire by TC electronics? The interface I was looking at was either a Rosetta 800 Or a Aurora . because of the small space. How is the Prisim Sound ADA-8XR ?. It seems highly flexible. Could I get monitoring and routing all built in?? I would need mic pres it seems. If Digidesign made a powerful Mbox all in thing I could use that. I tried an Mbox Pro on a new iMac and it fails so hugely. I have 16 gigs of ram but the Firewire is 400 and the Mbox drop instrument sounds left and right. I appreciate any input suggestions and help Thanks G

28th March 2010	#3
Gerax Lives for gear Joined: Dec 2003 Location: Modena, Italy Posts: 619	I think it depends on what your client needs to do. If it's just for triggering samples It could be a powerful laptop and a FW interface. If the MBP is your laptop of choice I'd try to go with PT M-powered and a M-Audio Lightbridge interface and an Aurora16 with the ADAT card installed: that would allow you acces to 16 simultaneous I/O (32 if used in PTHD) in 2 rack spaces with excellent conversion (far better than any modified 002R) and in a lighter package. For preamps, if you need to record at least 8 tracks and need high quality the solutions are many. You could start with really "off the wall" preamps with ADAT conversion (Focusrite, Mackie, Audient, RME etc..) or go up and choose some more boutique pres (2xAPI3124, Millennia HV3D, Focusrite ISA828, True Precision 8) but a lot depends on the color of preamp you like for drums (I like API a lot for rock drums, for jazz or cleaners tracks True or Millennia are great, also check out DAV). In the end I think you could get away with a 4RU setup that really is high quality and is pretty much self contained; BTW, the Lightbridge is just half rack, so you could fit a dedicated external drive for smples and recording (like some Glyph tech or Lacie Rugged) in the available space on the Lightbridge's side. Hope this helps __________________ Lorenzo Gerace L'Acquario Recording & Post Mobile Recording, Editing, Mixing Prato (PO) Italy info@acquariorecording.it http://www.acquariorecording.it

28th March 2010	#4
Gioinla Gear interested Joined: Jul 2008 Location: LA Posts: 17 Thread Starter	Power for samples The main issue here is the ability for the host computer to playback 6 to 8 Sample Libraries that are high end Such as EastWest Play stuff. Can the laptop alone do that. since all the sample playback is handled by the CPU not PT. Also I am having problems with Mbox FW it seems to be buggy and prone to drop outs. It could just be my set up software wise. BUt do you think that the Mboxes are fast enough to drive 8 tracks of sample play back? Recording in is not so much of a big deal here as much as sequencing soft Samplers with big loads. G

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28th March 2010	#2
DaKid Lives for gear Joined: Jun 2006 Posts: 884	You could always get a macbook pro and pick up a used 002 and have it modded by black lion to upgrade the conversion. I use a macbook pro with a 002 sig mod and it's stable and I get a lot of work done with it. If the budget isn't an issue... and you want PT.... I'd go for a macbook pro, 002 sig mod by bla, and grab an API lunchbox and fill it with some nice pre's. That should be a great sounding and very portable set up. Best of luck.

12th April 2010	#5
Jack W Gear interested Joined: Oct 2009 Posts: 6	Hi Gioinla, Read this thread a couple of weeks ago and thought you had a very interesting build project on your hands, did you manage to come up with a solution? Cheers, Jack