HD native card in Magma Xpressbox1 w Omni on MacBook Pro i7 - pre-thunderbolt

[dugongmusic]

I am about to bite the HD native bullet and upgrade to HD native. My Macbook Pro is a 2010 2.66GHz i7 with NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M 512 MB and 8 GB Ram.
Will this work for ProTools 11 using the express-card slot and Magma ExpressBox1 for the Native card? I haven't seen this listed in compatibility charts.

[Mike496]

Do the 2010s have thunderbolt?

[dugongmusic]

No 2010 only have firewire 800 but they do have the express card slot

[Hugh-H]

Hello,

Avid doesn't support that machine because it's older than they want you to use. In other words if you use it, they won't give you official support if you have problems.

We have a small acquisition/playout system using that vintage MBP (6,1), ExpressBox1, HDNative card, and HDMadi interface. The Native card works fine in that application. The largest limitation is the fragile connectivity of the ExpressCard slot. We have worked out a velcro attachment scheme to help hold it in.
The processing power of that vintage is a bit dated despite being an i7, if your use will fit the processing power available you'll be fine.

Do you currently have the ExpressBox1? If not we're considering selling ours to move to a Thunderbolt unit, if you're in the US give me a PM if you're interested.

Hugh

[dugongmusic]

Thanks for responding Hugh-H. Since this is only being used for remote classical recording and mastering there is very little processing or tracks being used. Only concern is length of a continuos recording without interrupts. The express box is being bought with the bundle. How much for yours?

[dugongmusic]

Hugh, what version ProTools were you using with it?

[JFreak]

Originally Posted by dugongmusic

Only concern is length of a continuos recording without interrupts.

If that is your only concern, be sure to run at least PT10HD which has the Disc Cache feature keeping you out of trouble :)

[dugongmusic]

To be specific: I am recording 8-12 raw tracks over a continous period of 60 - 90 minutes at 88kHz 24 bit. I managed this on an 003 +rack without any hiccups so I'm assuming the HD native card will be less taxing.

[Darryl Ramm]

Unless you are tracking with a lot of pluigns, the disk is what you should normally be worrying about first. A nice fast SSD drive properly set up as a dedicate audio drive. HD timeline cache is a benefit and can mitigate slower disks. And since you have it included there is no reason really not to use it. As always proper systems optimization can make or brake things.

[dugongmusic]

Been tracking to a firewire 800 Glyph drive. Is that still sufficient?