PT 12.7.1 or PT 10HD
 

I have been using LE 8.0.5 for years in my home studio.

I am looking to upgrade but budget is the deciding factor.

I was either

Upgrade my computer and upgrade to 12.7.1 to get the full 64bit and RAM usage that comes with that

Or

Buy a whole new computer with HD3 (cheap on Ebay) and use PT10.

I have tried to research but I am unsure which would be better. I have a digi 003 that I am determined to keep hence the 12.7.1. With the advantages of the 64 bit 12, is there much advantage of going for the HD3 instead.

Re: PT 12.7.1 or PT 10HD
 

Just my own observations so there's that. I'm on a Mac 3,1 - 8 core.

I've been on PT 9HD forever, sold the Auroras and cards and have just been using it Native style with an Apollo Silver for years...works great. It crashes way less than it did with the cards. I've wanted to upgrade to 10HD but just didn't want to have to pay the $999 which gives you 10HD-12HD. I've ended up monthly subscribing to plain old non HD 12.7.1 for a few months just to check it out & go back & forth with that & PT9HD. I like it a lot.

Short version, 12.7.1 non HD works great, I'll probably bite the bullet and get up to 10-12HD. If it's not in your mind that you have to have the security of HD3/Cards to track bands I'd just upgrade the computer & PT and forget the 3 cards...unless it's all attached for a killer deal.

Good luck.

Re: PT 12.7.1 or PT 10HD
 

Thanks for the quick reply.

I use it only for mixing and recording my own stuff at home.

Have a few local bands that are sending my stems to mix for them so tracking full bands is not the aim (at the moment, will be looking to do this in the future and at that point I am planning on investing in HDN).

Regards

Re: PT 12.7.1 or PT 10HD
 

The only reason to go with an older TDM rig would be to work in surround. Any current native system will handle larger mixes than an older HD3 rig(and for that matter, if you found a 12.7.1 license for HD, the 003 could handle surround since it has enough outputs):o

Maybe the more important questions would be about the computer you plan on using, and why 12.7.1 instead 2019.5? I ran a 6-core Windows(7) machine with 32GB or RAM with a DIGI003 and had no issues tracking full bands(up to 18 live inputs) at a 64 buffer setting. I mention 2019.5 because it(on my rig, anyway) runs leaner than any previous version. I'm doing full mixes now(even with Ozone and Melodyne) at the 64 buffer and I never could do that with any previous version unless I upped the buffer(opening Ozone or Melodyne would stop playback and throw an error unless I went to 1024):-)

Re: PT 12.7.1 or PT 10HD
 

The reason I was going g to use 12.7.1 is because that is the last version that supports the Digi 003 console as a control surface. If I can use more recent versions then I will, as I am looking to get a monthly subscription in the next month or so.

Re: PT 12.7.1 or PT 10HD
 

Thats your point. I think PT Mix DSP and HD Systems sounds better or have a special look because fixed point DSP mixing. HDX and HD Native use floating-point mixing, its a other "sound look"! :)

Re: PT 12.7.1 or PT 10HD
 

You might want to give some consideration to workflow as well.
Offline bounce can be a real timesaver in some instances... but if it's strictly music, then I still like to real-time bounce (and of course you MUST real-time bounce if you are hitting any outboard.) But for when I have to do dialog and theater work/song edits, key changes, etc... The Offline bounce you get after PT10 is a godsend.


That being said, I really loved the I/O flexibility I had on my old TDM and HD rigs. At one point, I had over 100 channels of I/O and had every output of every device in my room patched directly in, but it was quite an ecosystem to keep up with. Not to mention the whole "stuck in time" thing you had to accept in regards to your OS, security updates, and application updates where anything will break the entire rig... and THEN you get to factor in your control surfaces. There's a lot to keep up with... multiply this by about 100 if you go the Hackintosh route. But it certainly can be done.

The HDX route just isn't in my budget anymore, although the 64 channel I/O per card is VERY attractive.



These days, I just live with the 32 I/O limits of running Ultimate in No Hardware Mode and use my laptop.
Being able to edit on the go is really handy in a lot of cases, for me anyway.

Re: PT 12.7.1 or PT 10HD
 

Another "budget" option to consider:
If you got the HD software, buy a used HD/Native PCIe card(around $700), a digilink license($299) and 1 or 2 used 192 IO's(NOT the 192 Digital). From my own experience going from the 003 on firewire to HDN(on the exact same 6-core PC), performance was very good(and considerably better than with the 003). If you went with 12.4HD, then the Digilink license is not required. I routinely did larger mixes than my friend's HD3 rig could handle and a pair of 192's with a pair of lightpipe preamps gives a full 32 in on a very reasonable budget. Just food for thought:o