Anyone keeping their Mix + System?

[brokemusician2]

Let's not turn this into an LE vs. TDM thread, please.

This is very much an LE vs. TDM thread for me and many others because here's why. I own mix +++, and the reason I won't change to HD is because native will be just as good very soon so I can't justify the kind of money Digi is asking for an HD rig. My point is Digi will be forced to abandoned HD or any type of TDM or drastically reduce their asking price for HD because native will force that. Now how is spending a lot of money on HD worth it in lieu of what's happening with the technology, especially when mix+ works great. Get it.

[cmaynes]

I think everyone who has posted to this thread has made great points, however I have to say that the main downside to the pre-HD hardware is that you cannot take advange of the newer Macintoshes. (sorry if you are talking about Windows machines) Since moving to the G5 myself, the performance is so far superior to any OS9 machine I have ever used- It is truly a different universe.

I bought my G5 dual 2ghz machine for $2100 USD. in December- Had I known about the performance bump, I would have bought it way earlier.

And of course there is a certain benefit to be gained with having 192 disk voices available.

Personally, It made sense for me to leave Mix for HD because of two things- The greater performance was realized with me getting home earlier at night- And 2nd, the $1500.00 Fostex FR2 turned me onto working at 96k. Which ultimately compelled me to be able to work at higher sample rates whenever possible.

things to consider...

charles maynes

[CharlesL]

Yep, that's right - forgot to mention the mixer. The most important task it performs is to allow you to use your system. If you didn't need it for that (if your Mix Farm was a Mix Core, both having the same exact available DSP) you would be much better off having another DSP Farm card in place of your d24. I guess thats my point - don't add a d24 card to a working Mix system because:

1.) I'm not sure if the system would even work with 2 Digi "core" system cards (haven't tried it or heard of anyone trying to do it).

2.) If you have a d24 card all you need is a DSP Farm, which can be had for a couple hundred bucks, then you could sell a complete working core d24 system (minus I/O, of course) and buy a couple of DSP Farms and a chasiss.

3.) The one chip on a d24 card can only be used to build the mixer and for I/O compared to the 4 chips on a DSP Farm which, as Chief Technician stated, has 4 SDRAM chips that can be used for I/O, building a mixer, as well as for plugins.

4.) A d24 will use a PCI slot that you could be using for other things, like a DSP Farm or a SampleCell w/TDM module (which some folks are litterally giving away).

5.) d24 cards are more expensive than DSP Farm cards because they are the bulk of a "core" Digi system. Well, I guess this is kind of the same point as #2.

I just wanted to point that out because it was appearing to me that there was some confusion regarding the usefullness of the d24 card. Sorry if I'm overemphasizing the point, guys!

-Donny

Sorry to bring up an old post.. if I have a MIX system (single core card), would it be "better" to fill my PCI slots with 1 or 2 more DSP FARMs rather than a MIX FARM? ebay market price for a MIX Farm is like 2.5 to 3x that of a DSP Farm..

and what's this "Rev. B", "Rev. Q E" thingie that I have to take note of?

AND.. if I want to mix in 5.1 surround, is a single card MIX system enough? or do i need to go at least MIX PLUS? (ie. by adding a MIX FARM?)

sorry for being a MIX newbie. considering a quick and cheap way to get into TDM..

Thanks!

[SHIRK]

Not to stary off topic here, but what have you guys found to be the most stable version of PT 6 with a Mix++ system. When a client wanted to upgrade to HD a year ago. I convinced them to move their Mix++ system to their B room. We put the Mix++ in a newer G4 cause the old 450mhz G4 just wasn't cutting it. We got a Dual 1.25Ghz MDD G4. Running PT 6.4.1cd3, it was working fine for awhile, then they started having crashes every couple hours. I'm not in NYC (where they are) so I've tried troubleshooting with them over the phone. They've even been on the horn with Digi and they aren;t getting any satisfaction. So it looks like I'll be heading back to NYC soon to get this thing tuned up. So what is working best for you guys?

they have Mix++, 888, 1622, USD, Dual Channel SCSI card (not sure which one)

Thanks

[Seeee]

I am running a d24, a Mix I/O Card (d24 card),a nd 5 dsp farms in a 7 slot chassis and I am thinking of ditching the mix i/o and going with a mix farm so i will officially be "mix".

just an fyi for you d24 guys that need more than 32 tracks, get a mix i/o card and that doubles your track count and gives ya dsp for mixing.

I am running os9 on a quicksilver 867 with 1.5 gb's of RAM and 3 internal drives. other than new converters, why would I want to upgrade again?

Digi!!! give us a mid priced modular tdm system thats affordable.

[ddayson]

Running a D24 Core with 2 Mix Farms myself (in a 1.3Ghz single G4), with a Apogee front end and couldn't be happier (missing only plugin delay comp, which isn't a huge deal in my workflow). I'm going to get a Mix Core one of these days, but no hurry (I work in 32 track mode most of the time anyway). I still work in PT 5.1.x most of the time, and it's rock solid (which is my primary concern).

100's if not 1000's of hit recordings have been done with these systems, so if something isn't right we can't blame the equipment...

Doug

I am running a d24, a Mix I/O Card (d24 card),a nd 5 dsp farms in a 7 slot chassis and I am thinking of ditching the mix i/o and going with a mix farm so i will officially be "mix".

just an fyi for you d24 guys that need more than 32 tracks, get a mix i/o card and that doubles your track count and gives ya dsp for mixing.

I am running os9 on a quicksilver 867 with 1.5 gb's of RAM and 3 internal drives. other than new converters, why would I want to upgrade again?

Digi!!! give us a mid priced modular tdm system thats affordable.

[pmklein]

... My point is Digi will be forced to abandoned HD or any type of TDM or drastically reduce their asking price for HD because native will force that. Now how is spending a lot of money on HD worth it in lieu of what's happening with the technology, especially when mix+ works great. Get it.

[/QUOTE]

You're dreaming. This is the company who figured out how to make people pay $60,000 for a control surface! By the way, I just reverted back to Mix + on OS 9.2 after a frustrating run of PT 7 LE with an audiophile 192 card and all of the fun that goes with it. Mix + on OS 9 is the apex of the Pro Tools zenith so far, in my opinion.

[Dog BBQ]

The only advantage to HD is the 128 audio Tracks!!!!

It sux having to Lock Two Mix Systems together

Looks cool having two Sessions Running But editing is a Pita!!!!

But in the End everything Mixed ends up as an MP3 Downloaded and Played on an iPod !!!!

Most new car Stereos even play MP3's off a CD!!!!

[c-post]

When it comes to software and hardware upgrades, if I threw away my Mix+ system after 6 years, which cost me a bloody fortune (and well worth it!), not only am I contributing to our nation’s landfills, but let’s face it, for a Protools system as deep, rich, and complex as this, even after six years, we’ve all probably learned less than half – even less than a quarter – of the available commands. I’m still learning new features and commands each week, powerful new features in the "old" software that I wasn’t even aware were there.

On top of this, new software and hardware versions often throw out many old, familiar, and highly useful features.

Why is it that Itzhak Perlman, Artur Rubenstein or Pete Townshend can spend decades on the exactly the same instrument developing their virtuosity, while we computer geeks must go back to kindergarten each time our software company tells us to?

Faced with the unexplored depth of the existing software, the many commands and features we haven't yet discovered, the panicky rush to install new software with new features is a waste of time and money ... what we really need more than new features is total consistency from one version to another, IF we choose to upgrade at all. We need reliability, no glitches, no changes in settings, no decline in performance, no need to buy more software or hardware...inotherwords, we don’t want to lose ANYTHING, YET when we “upgrade” from one software to another, too often we LOSE more than we gain...we’ve seen it happen time and time again!!!! The psychopathological computer marketing, the unconscious, hysterical, mindless stampede to the what’s coming up NEXT, has got to stop!!!

Software engineers feed on obsolescence in much the same way that vampires feed on blood. The obsolescence is artificial, involuntary, and out of control. The “obsolescence” may be driven by the profit motive, or by the simple desire to earn a decent or even an unscrupulous living, but it is a story of when great is never good enough.

There is, after all, built into the entire culture of computers an obsessive-compulsive surrender to the primacy of numbers. The numbers, which are always increasing (processor speed, version number, sample rate, amount of ram, etc) are not so much technically important as they are marketing tools.

The most unfortunate consequence of all this is that the technical aspects of staying on the software treadmill have consumed so much of our time and energy, that the content and substance of what we produce have taken a severe hit. This goes for all the communications gadgetry, not just protools.

As someone once said, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

-c-post

[Khaarmeyer]

What is the highest PT version and OS X version people are using with their mixplus.

I would like to add the Solid State Logic Duende system via VST wrapper but it requires OS X 10.4.4 and PROTOOLS 7.0 use via VSTWrapper.

My current setup is

G4 Dual 1.25
Mix Cubed
Appgee Rosetta 800's
Still use OS 9 and OS X
PT 6.4.1