Lion User: Get PT 10 or Downgrade OS?

[NewEra]

Hi,

Longtime browser here, Glad to have finally signed up!

I have a Macbook Pro running 10.7 Lion and a Digi 003 Console. I also have Pro tools 8 LE which I use to use with Leopard, but know will not work on Lion. PT 10 or 9.0.5 however from what I've researched will work on Lion. If I put out the $ to buy PT 10, Will my Digi 003 console work with it? And what track count can I expect?

On the other hand, would any of you suggest that I not put out the $ on PT10 and just downgrade from Lion back to Snow Leopard/Leopard and use PT version 8 LE or 7.4.2 LE?

Aside from maybe the luxury of having an increased track count, It really doesn't matter to me if I have the latest version of PT. I just want as less errors as possible when recording. Stability is my main concern. I understand that many hit records were made PT versions earlier than 8.

Specs on my MacBook Pro are: 2.5 GHZ, 8GB RAM, 500GB HD, 7200RPM if that helps.

Thanks for your help guys. I really appreciate it.

[bashville]

It sounds like the path of least resistance is to just upgrade to PT9 (way less expensive than the PT10 upgrade). Sorry I don't know the particulars about the 003. Did you hear somewhere that it might not be supported in 10?

[NewEra]

Originally Posted by bashville

It sounds like the path of least resistance is to just upgrade to PT9 (way less expensive than the PT10 upgrade). Sorry I don't know the particulars about the 003. Did you hear somewhere that it might not be supported in 10?

Thanks Bash...Didn't hear anything about the 003 not being compatible, just curious. I've been using the search feature on this forum though and found out that PT 8.0.5 LE will work on Lion though Avid didn't approve or announce it. Thoughts?

[nstu]

I had been working with PT10 and 003 with lion for a few weeks. It just worked.
From time to time i had some firewire issues but they were on SL too.
I changed to motu 424 pcie on my mac pro with an motu 24io and it is rock stable. (Don't no how it is on a macbook pro)

The only thing that i would do every time again is to install a clean system with a clean install of PT. Don't put anything else on that drive when it isn't really necessary. Do all that stuff thats said about for an os x system like "shut down spotlight, wlan etc" (btw bluetooth works for me).

if you go with lion check all your plugins (two times ) and get the latest version. even if they were in the unused folder, they could make problems if they are not up to date.

after one month working with lion i see no reason to go back to SL.

I can't say anything about PT 9.06.
The clip-gain function, better eucon support, channel strip together with stable lion support were enough for me to go with PT10 (even it was a pricey update)
I heard strange things about 9.05. (and some guys told me that 9.06. wasn't even better)

About track count and other things that came after PT8...i think you will love it. PT9 was a great step for tracks, busses and delay compensation.
In other words...i would not consider to go with 7 or 8 if you can go with 9 or 10.

And for the 003. Be sure you get the latest driver. it is pretty important when you go with PT9. There are driver updates for the whole 003 setups.

Hope it helps a bit.

[reichman]

PT10.0.0/Digi 003/Lion 10.7.2 - best Pro Tools setup I've ever had. Don't go back- go forward.

[NewEra]

Thanks for the info nstu. I will update all my drivers on the 003 asap. I assume it's free right?

reichman - Sounds good to me, but the software alone for PT10 is quite expnsive for me right now. What does it go for like $400 to $500?

But then again you're a reich man so that probably doesn't phase you.

[reichman]

Very funny New Era. I wish that were the case.

I upgraded for $300 from PT9. That was well worth it. And I had already purchased the Complete Production Toolkit when it came out in v8 years ago. Avid thankfully didn't charge an upgrade fee for that.

Snow Leopard and PT9 was really good, too. Leopard and PT8 was a little shaky for me in terms of stability. Some people made it work, and I did for about a year, but I don't miss it.

Look closely at the features you need, and buy the gear that meets your needs. No reason to upgrade unless you need to. In that spirit, I have no intention of buying an HDX card. PT10 w/ CPTK does everything I need. I might get an HD|Native card soon, but not HDX.

[NewEra]

Originally Posted by reichman

Very funny New Era. I wish that were the case.

I upgraded for $300 from PT9. That was well worth it. And I had already purchased the Complete Production Toolkit when it came out in v8 years ago. Avid thankfully didn't charge an upgrade fee for that.

Snow Leopard and PT9 was really good, too. Leopard and PT8 was a little shaky for me in terms of stability. Some people made it work, and I did for about a year, but I don't miss it.

Look closely at the features you need, and buy the gear that meets your needs. No reason to upgrade unless you need to. In that spirit, I have no intention of buying an HDX card. PT10 w/ CPTK does everything I need. I might get an HD|Native card soon, but not HDX.

What's an HDX or CPTK card? Do I need one?

[reichman]

CPTK is Complete Production Toolkit, it's a software option that gives you 100% of the SOFTWARE functions of PTHD

HDX is the newest PCI card.

Take a look at the Avid site...

[NewEra]

Ah I see. Thanks