is there any way to have Pro tools HD connected to Apollo 8p as a thunderbolt?

[Bearsounds]

Hi there!
I know that the Apollo 8p works perfectly fine with Pro tools 12.
I want to buy Pro tools HD coz I need to use the surround and metering/advanced editing features on pro tools. Is there a way I can have pro tools HD connected thunderbolt to apollo 8p as the interface?
without using the HD Omnis or interfaces that goes with PTHD...
Thanks

[Southsidemusic]

Hi

Welcome to the Community,

I might have missunderstood your question here but if you mean working with PT and Apollo via Thunderbolt and skip Avid hardware and cards then Yes.

If you mean any type of connection to a Avid PCIe card or Thunderbolt Box in a chain with any Avid hardware interface then No.

Sorry. That won't work as there are different core drivers and so on.

[Bearsounds]

Hey Southsidemusic!
Thanks so much for replying
exactly, I need to know about both options.
Meaning:
1 if working with PT HD (just the software HD) and Apollo via Thunderbolt and skip Avid hardware and cards... I assume it's: yes as you said. All I need is to plug it via mac.
2 if I have pro tools HD native (TB CORE/the thunderbolt). can it be plugged with the apollo 8p thunderbolt? instead of using HD Omni or the HD interfaces/converters/IOs that goes with the HD native usually... meaning, can the TB core thunderbolt be connected directly to the apollo 8p? I guess it's "no" if I understood you well...

[Southsidemusic]

Hey

Correct

We use two Apollo 8P Quads and 2 Apollo 16 Black ones and use them via Tbolt and run HD12 which works great!

On the second question it is unfortunately not possible to connect to Avid PCIe card or Thunderbolt Unit which comes with HD Native. Sorry about this but use the Thunderbolt connection to the computer, it is still super stable and fast as hell.

[Bearsounds]

Thanks so much!
that's what I wanted to know.
If you mind me asking: are there some great UAD PCie cards that go with the apollo quads? or just to boost the audio workflow on computer in general?
I am new to the UADs and apollos... I'll be recording and mixing foley and sound effects for animation and films. there will be some large number of tracks and effects on sessions... Do you think UAD sound cards (PCie internal cards) are great for upgrades? or maybe you may have some other ideas I can learn from...
Thanks

[Southsidemusic]

We use the UAD-2 Satellite units which are thunderbolt and Firewire but if you are getting a Quad Satellite then go for the Quad or the Octo.

There are also pcie cards quad and octo i believe but the thunderbolt are portble should you wanna take it with you somehwere else to boost the capacity of the UAD plugins.

Just so everything is clear hehe You can only use UAD-2 plugins with their boxes and cards and not use them to eleviate your computers CPU from other plugins.

Well worth getting as the Apollo interface you asked about only has a Quad chip so with one Satellite Quad you have doubled the CPU power of the plugins, they do take up alot of computer power so you will need more than the 4 processors on the interface sooner or later if you wanna run more of the plugins and some take a lot of the cpu power more than others

[Bearsounds]

thanks that's so informative!
what do you think is the best way to elevate the CPu for all plugins included on my mac pro? I mean what card (mac) suggestions or hardwares people often use if they want a MONSTER cpu to deal with all the auxes/effects/sends/tracks on a big PTHD session for mixing dialogues, foley, effects etc...?
I'm sorry if I sound pretty novice, I am determinded to learn...

[Southsidemusic]

Well we use a Pro Tools HDX2 system in one room and the Apollo interfaces and Satellites in the 2 other rooms.

The HDX2 is a beast for most tricky recordings but there are quite a few others for Waves plugins you have the DigiGrid boxes and for PT you have HDX and UA etc but the best thing to start with is a monster spec computer with 64 GB ram and only SSD drives and a Great CPU with powerful processors.

We only ever used Mac machines so if you wanna build a Monster PC i am not the guy to ask,

For example we run two New Mac Pro (Trashcan) with 32 GB ram on both and only SSD external drives via Thunderbot.

Both of those are 6 Core versions and then we use 2 Macbook Pro i7 16 GB machines for recording outside the studios and we only use their internal SSD when on the run and have sessions with over 120 tracks with sessions of big DJ Stars who use lots of VI and they work great.

It all depends but there isn't really a one for all here, you need to look into what you use and what you need more than what you "want"

[quantise]

I use PTHD with three Apollo's every day where the Apollo's act as front end preamps including all the Unison goodness. This is using a Native HD Thunderbolt i/face

Here is a link to a page on UA's site to get you started:
https://help.uaudio.com/hc/en-us/art...ools-HD-System

Best,

[Bearsounds]

Originally Posted by Southsidemusic

It all depends but there isn't really a one for all here, you need to look into what you use and what you need more than what you "want"

Thank you so much that was very informative! That's what I wanted to know exactly! Thanks again.

Originally Posted by quantise

I use PTHD with three Apollo's every day where the Apollo's act as front end preamps including all the Unison goodness. This is using a Native HD Thunderbolt i/face

Here is a link to a page on UA's site to get you started:
https://help.uaudio.com/hc/en-us/art...ools-HD-System

Best,

Thanks for the link! But I have no Avid HD interface, no PCIe nor native thunderbolt. I was wondering if it was possible to simply root mac directly to the apollo via thunder (using it as converter and interface and have the unison greatness as well). I was asking if buying a pro tools HD software alone can work with the apollo without the HD PCie or native thunderbolt or any HD avid interface/hardware (that normally goes with PTHD). ok, what I really wanted to do is to have the pro tools HD software advanced options, especially the surround sound mixing ability! Since pro tools (no HD) hasn't the surround option for mixing (which I need it).
In the link you shared, it seems that you need to have pro tools HD + The hardware. now I am confused lol! will it still be working if I had he software alone? right? without existing PTHD hardware...