HDX card and non digilink interface

[pdj1982]

Hi all

Am assembling a PT system after years away on logic etc. So far I got my copy of ultimate on a clean M1 MacBook Pro, got an HDX card in a thunderbolt chassis, app good so far.

Coming back from logic and UAD, I suspect I made a dumb assumption which was to think that the advent of Protools hybrid was much like UAD I.e. outboard DSP and audio interfacing could be decoupled.

What I thought I could do was use the HDX card for more processing power but be free to use any audio interface, I’m now thinking I made a stupid assumption and that I can ONLY use a digilink interface if I want to actually use the HDX card.

Am at the point of buying a new interface and wondering am I now tied into digilink/HDX and must bug say an MTRX or could I use non digilink hardware e.g. DAD equivalents?

Many thanks for any help!

Pete

[nsureit]

Check out this article related to interfaces that are compatible with Pro Tools Ultimate. There are just a handfull that are Digilink/HDX compatible. I used a Focusrite Red 4 with HDX before I got my MTRX Studio.
https://www.production-expert.com/au...avid-pro-tools

[albee1952]

Consider what your real IO needs are. a used OMNI might cover everything. On a tighter budget, a used 192 might handle what you need.

[pdj1982]

Thanks guys for the responses - seems crazy to me that the DSP component of HDX and the I/O component are still coupled together - was hoping i could use my HDX card on the go for editing etc without having to lug an interface with me but sounds like that’s impossible!

Thanks

Pete and

[BScout]

Originally Posted by pdj1982

Thanks guys for the responses - seems crazy to me that the DSP component of HDX and the I/O component are still coupled together - was hoping i could use my HDX card on the go for editing etc without having to lug an interface with me but sounds like that’s impossible!

Thanks

Pete and

You don't need HDX for editing.

The DSP component is best used when tracking (modern computers are faster for general plugin work) since it removes latency. That's why the interface is needed (the mixer runs on the HDX cards so it doesn't have the delays of transferring to the computer until the end.) All the work stays between the DSP cards and the interface in those tracking scenarios while being controlled by the computer (this is what Luna tries to emulate.) Which is why you need the interface on the digilink.