Carbon and Windows 10?
 

Only info i could find about Windows and Carbon support is since Windows doesn't support AVB it will be available in the future sometime.

Any more specific timeline than that?



Would a third party AVB PCIe network adapter solution like for example the Echo Audio NIC-1 PCIe network adapter work?

Re: Carbon and Windows 10?
 

Hey Christian,

No updates to share yet. But, we definitely hear the request! A third party AVB adapter isn't enough as there needs to be the AVB software stack to support it (it's native on macOS). That's the main technical challenge right now.

Re: Carbon and Windows 10?
 

Thanks for your answer. I dont know if this will take months or years but in the mean time could it be possible to make a rev.2 version of Carbon wirh with thunderbolt or another existing connection type that does work with Windows 10?

If yes please throw in sends/returns for all the onboard preamps. That would make it perfect as one could choose to monitor analog while tracking as i can with my Avid Omni.

Re: Carbon and Windows 10?
 

The actual NIC needs to be AVB enabled also. Even if Windows supported AVB the NIC would have to be AVB enabled as well. And it's a much more difficult process to do on the hardware side, which is why most NICs used in Windows machine don't support AVB. Apple can do it because they build all their own stuff and charge three times as much for it.

Also the AVB specifications, which is actually now officially called TSN (time sensitive networking), still, after more than 11 years, is not officially finalized.

Re: Carbon and Windows 10?
 

The Hybrid Engine gives you sub-1 ms monitoring latency at ALL sample rates. So, monitoring via hardware sends doesn't provide much benefit in terms of reducing latency. Is that the goal of your request? Additionally, you'd give up a lot by choosing to monitor that way (no plugins, no routing through Auxes/Master Faders, very limited hardware routing for monitor paths, etc).

Re: Carbon and Windows 10?
 

Yes that was the goal of my request.

I've become acustomed to track vocals/guitar dry (except hardware preamp and compressor) analog by sending a signal from my Avid Omni pres sends to my Presonous HP60 headphone amp and mix that signal with the output from Omni line out 3-4 into Input A on my HP60. This way I get latency free recording.

I also can easily and quickly control the mix between these to sources to individual taste.

The main reason for this setup is the dreaded "blast/explosion of white noise" issue I had in earlier versions of Pro Tools. Luckily it's not been a problem for many years but it still hunts me in the back of my mind. The terrible blast was so loud that I'm afaid it has damaged my hearing. It was especially loud the way I tracked befor (through Pro Tools).

To avoid distorting the input by turning the recording Pro Tools track channel up by 6 to 9 dB to be able to hear myself properly I rather had to turn every other track down by 6 to 9 db (leave the recording channel at 0 db) and turn up the headphone volume to compensate. I guess you can imagin how the white noise blast sounds 9 db louder directly into my ears.

So with Carbon since it's 32bit will it be possible to turn up just the recording track (in the Pro Tools mixer) while tracking (6 to 9 db) wihout it distorting like it does on my Omni and Mbox 3 Pro befor that?

Re: Carbon and Windows 10?
 

The Hybrid Engine integrates that entire low latency monitoring workflow into Pro Tools, which is why it's such a joy to track with Carbon. You no longer need external mixing hardware nor a standalone router/mixer app. I definitely hear you on noise bursts. Yuck! We prioritize any noise issues very high and address them asap if they ever crop up. That said, with digital audio there is always some risk. Putting limiters on all monitoring paths can help. Hardware limiters can also help, but that gets cumbersome. Ultimately, it's a user choice. But, our goal with Carbon is to make the best possible tracking experience we can. Keeping you immersed in the Pro Tools environment is key to that goal.

Carbon inputs are very high headroom. So, it's easy to track at a lower input gain, then increase PT fader gain, without clipping.

Re: Carbon and Windows 10?
 

You need a NIC with a chipset that supports multiple transmit/receive queues and hardware time stamping, such as the Intel i210. There are several, but you are right that it is not so common. It will be interesting to see how Avid addresses this, particularly for laptop users.

Re: Carbon and Windows 10?
 

Great. Then i hope it will become Windows 10 compatible soon. I'm excited to hear the preamps, line inputs, monitor and headphones quality.

I'm assuming all the above is noticable better sounding than my Avid Omni?

Re: Carbon and Windows 10?
 

I'm excited for you to hear it too. 👍🏼

From input to output, it's noticeably better than OMNI. It sounds excellent.