Re: Upgrade Path Options?
First, Kryst, thanks for your reply.
> Well.... I can say LE supports RTAS. Otherwise, what plugins would you expect us to use?
> VST isn't accepted, unless you use the Adapter.
Okay, that's good to know. Still in terms of TDM (and now TDM II) vs. RTAS, I've read that
(1) RTAS is a more efficient model (in terms of exection time) than TDM
and/or
(2) TDM may be phased out in favor of RTAS
> I'm not familiar with an ADAT system, but I would think if you haven't got any Digidesign products
> to turn in to get an 'upgrade', they may not offer you an upgrade path.
Perhaps I did not make myself clear. I realize there is no upgrade path from ADAT to ProTools (would be nice...lol). My point was that after a search (and I will search s'more) I could not easily find upgrade path information from within the ProTools family of products.
> If you plan to buy LE or M-Powered in order to try to quickly move up to HD in some upgrade,
> I think you may not want to buy LE or M-Powered at all...
At this point I am in the information-gathering stage, and my final decision will be based upon several criteria.
(1) Cost (including software, hardware, etc.)
(2) Upgrade path
(a) Factors that play into the feasibility of upgrading between ProTools versions.
(i) Which versions support what DSP engines (RTAS, TDM, TDMII, etc.)?
(ii) Which I/O device to use? 192 I/O? Some other company's I/O device?
(iii) Which third-party plug-ins support what ProTools version(s)? If a third-party
plug-in supports different versions, what's the upgrade path of that plug-in
for compatibility with better verions of ProTools?
(2) UI
(a) The Control|24 looks nice, but it's a control surface. I'll need to consider a
recording console for serious work. Are the converters on the Control|24 good enough
to bypass purchasing a dedicated I/O device, like the 192 I/O?
(b) ICON, you say? $$$...
(c) With respect to remotely controlling ProTools, just how compatible is an external
console? For example, the Mackie Digital X Bus owner's manual, under "DAW Emulating
Mode Submenu", states that it supports "DigiDesign Pro Tools HUI". How does that
measure up with the various ProTools versions?
(3) Portability to Intel-based Macs
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My intent is to buy a Mac. By year's end, I believe, Apple will discontinue
production of PowerPC-based Macs, and move exclusively to Intel-based production. On the
positive side, this means there are deals to be had with PowerPC Macs. On the negative
side, we're back to upgrade paths. Suppose I get a good deal on a PowerPC Mac, and
somewhere down the line decide to purchase an Intel-based Mac. Do you see where I'm
going? ProTools, plug-ins, third party plug-ins, PCIe on an Intel-based Mac (currently
not supported by ProTools, if I read that right) will force a decision on the
Accelerator card and expansion card versions. For example, if I were to buy a PowerPC-
based Mac, I'm good with the PCIe. As of now, if I purchased an Intel-based system, I'm
out of luck with that hardware, or I'll need some delegate hardware to mediate between
them (yuck). Besides, let's face it, even if Digidesign is aggressive in porting its
entire software line to Intel-based Macs, that says nothing of third-party plug-ins. You
know the deal. Historically, software development is way slow in catching up with
new/changing hardware architectures. I'm not complaining; many of these shops simply
don't have the financial resources or the manpower to address this quickly enough.
Heck, that's a lot to chew in one post, and I definitely have my research cut out for me. Still, I'm hoping to get many more responses from this forum, especially since I plan a paradigm shift in terms of recording. I know there are plenty of you out there with the knowledge and experience that can address these questions. If you have a few moments of spare time, I will certainly appreciate your feedback.
Thanks to all and happy recording!
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