Pro tools noob question - connectivity

[brawley17]

I apologize in advance for what is probably considered to be a stupid question by many here. I am new to the pro tools world, don't have a system yet and am looking to get started. I am going to buy a new Mac Pro 3.7 quad core and am looking at pro tools interfaces. I want to get into the higher end interfaces and am noticing they connect to a cpu via PCI yet these new macs do not have a PCI slot….what am i missing here?

Thanks in advance for any assistance with this! I am considering a HD Omni as my interface. I am wanting to get into doing sound to picture and hope to be able to work in surround sound at some point in the future. My understanding is the HD omni will allow me to work in surround sound so that is why I landed on that particular interface.

[Craig F]

are you looking at Native or HDX/DSP system?

for Native the is a Thunderbolt interface box to go between the Mac and the Omni
http://www.avid.com/US/products/Pro-Tools-HD-Native

for HDX there are boxes that take the Thunderbolt to 1 or 3 PCIe slots (can be used for the HDN card as well if you need PCIe slots for something else)
Magma http://www.magma.com/catalog/thunderbolt-2-expansion
Sonnet http://www.sonnettech.com/product/th...olt/index.html

[albee1952]

Thunderbolt will be your best(likely) option. HD/Native with an HD IO is one option, but pretty pricey to get started. Instead, I would look at the new UA Apollo boxes. You will need to decide how many ins and outs you need at any one time. For instance, if you plan to track a live drumkit, then you will need at least 8 mic preamps(so the Apollo, plus some external mic preamps), but if you work alone or deal with 1 or 2 inputs at a time, then the Apollo alone, or the new baby version) might be fine.