Time to upgrade and need advice.

[Planet Red]

Sorry if this is in the wrong place. I’ve been on PT 10 now for far too long and finally have some funds to upgrade. My current system is HD3 with two 192 io’s on a 2010 Mac Pro.
I have roughly $10k to work with, could be a little more if it’s clearly better.. I need a new Mac and 16 channels of IO for a mix rig. The only tracking it will need to do is an occasional single channel of vocals or a DI.. I print through a lot of outboard so usually not running massive amounts of plugins and only a handful of VI’s for triggering samples.

I’ve been so far out of the loop I don’t know what route to go. HDX card with a Mac mini? Some sort of iMac or possibly new Mac Pro and native hd? Or get a new interface and not use ultimate? Sorry for the noobish question I’m just so disinterested in the computer side of things.. I’d much rather be dropping $10k on some outboard but I can’t stay on my current setup forever.

[JFreak]

All you need is a computer with TB port and a HDN|TB box to connect your old 192 interfaces which still work while not supported.

[reichman]

•If you need the same low-latency tracking you currently have, you need HDX. If you could suffer with a little latency, HD Native will work.

•If you feel like you have enough processing power for your work with HD3, a Mac mini or iMac will be a good upgrade in processing power. If you need ten times the power you currently have, go Mac Pro. But I suspect with your outboard gear that you don't need a Mac Pro.

•If you want an upgrade in audio quality (especially going to outboard and back), get a MTRX Studio. You'll hear the difference compared to the 192s.

So maybe Mac mini, HD Native Thunderbolt box and a MTRX Studio. All of that is under $10k. But JFreak is right, you can keep your 192s if you want to save money.

[Cheesehead]

For me there was a big sonic difference between my old 192 and a new HD 8x8x8 when I bought it.
I can only imagine that the converters in the MTRX Studio will be even better.
Just keep the 192's if you need AES I/O. Unfortunately the MTRX doesn't have any. They don't go for much second hand.