Building a silent HD or HDX system?

[propower]

When I had HDN - I was using a 2013 6 core MP and AVID i/o (that system was sold ~1.5 years ago). I always recorded at 96kHz, 64 buffer and in general there was never any issue with CPU unless some plugin was giving problems (like Abbey Road Plate). The Hex 2013 (IMO) is still an awesome Audio machine. I am not a heavy VI user but for Toontrack drums or BFD still no real issue even at these low buffers. Kontakt (Abbey Road Drums) was always an issue with anything less than 256 buffer 96kHz. This was a while ago though so can't say what may have changed.

I do some light PT work with Antelope now and also have no issues recording or mixing. Very little VI work last few months though and all monitoring is via Antelope for track at a time stuff.

[TNM]

Thanks.. the thing that frustrates me about antelope is that they have no modulation/delay/tempo FX, unlike universal audio.. Also they don't have a simple plugin you can drop into pro tools, to recall their console session instantly when you load the corresponding pro tolls project. This puts UA in that regard, far far ahead, cause it's true plug and play.

Antelope told me they had no plans to expand their reverb line, or add any delay/mod stuff.. literally they told me this via email 5 months ago.. a couple days later i posted that at gearslutz, and i was severely trolled and bashed for being "negative" or dare say apollo was a better dsp system. Antelope themselves jumped in and said they have no idea why i thought that, as they had many plans for their FPGA fx. Well of course, 5 months on and all they are doing is keeping to add eq and compressors dsp effects lol.

Now, may i ask, do you remember what it was like, or did you ever, monitor 64 inputs simultaneously into PT HDN?

I think the best solution for me, if i stay on mac and go HDN, will be the 8 core mac pro, as it's quiet and i can put it under the desk. The new imac pro is more expensive, granted more powerful, but the cpu gets way too hot and the fan is right at my ear level.. I just don't think those machines will last 3 years, i really don't.. A guy benchmarked it overnight and it kept the 8 core at 95 degrees all night and dropped the frequency rather than speeding up the fan. 95 degrees for 10 hrs straight is not healthy.

I also love that the mac pro has 6 thunderbolt TWO ports, of cables i have already invested a small fortune in, for TB to esata adapter, multiple apollos and multiple satellites, TB hard drives, and TB docks. Of which, kindly, not one developer included a Tb cable with LOL.

I checked out the 8 core mac pro geekbench and it's 22K multi vs 31K of new imac. So, the new imac is 30% more powerful.. I expected that.... but it doesn't mean the Mac pro won't work for me.

It's really a shame in one case.. apple were too lazy to simply keep the machine as is, and upgrade processors.. New processors that would directly fit on their boards literally, came out years ago and they just refused to upgrade them.. I don't get that part at all..they could have bumped them without changing anything else...

yes i could probably wait for the new mac pro in 2018, but i KNOW i will HAVE to use high sierra or high sierra's successor in it, and i want to stay on sierra for many years to come. So again, the 2013 3ghz mac pro 8 core is still a good bet for me i think.. i just wish it wasn't using a 5 years old processor due to apple's negligence.
On a good note, the gap between the mac pro 3ghz 8 core, and my imac quad i7 3.4 (a 2600k basically), is as big as the gap between the mac pro 8 core and the imac pro 8 core. So for me, i will see a huge jump anyway.

8 real cores, 16 threads in pro tools.. should work great! Not to mention it's 7 grand brand new here with 1 TB SSD and then another 500 for 64 gb ram from OWC vs 2grand from apple.. so 7.5 total, vs 10 grand for the imac pro with 64 ram.. cause one is forced to buy apple ram in that case.

But again, it all depends on whether i will be able to arm 64 channels at 32 buffer at 44K, or 64 buffer at 88K, and have my external gear being monitored in real time through HDN without dropouts.. like i can do right now with 32 channels with my apollos..

[TNM]

Since I have decided on HDN i will merge another topic's questions here.. Again thanks so much in advance for any advice.

1) What is the very cheapest way to get 64 analog inputs into HD native. I don't care brand, anything these days sounds good enough for my particular needs..
Would it be, say, four ferrofish A16's into a digi adat thingie?

Or dante/focusrite?

Any suggestions, please, i am all ears.

2) I would like in general to hear from others on mac in particular, who have used hd native to monitor all 64 inputs in real time. I want the raw performance for doing just that, *before* adding plugins and other tracks to the project.. I am trying to ascertain the basic cpu requirement to simply monitor 64 inputs at low latency in HDN, whilst doing nothing else.

3)Does HDN compensate latency from external inputs to be in time with the rest of the project? say i have 16 channels of midi gear playing back on 16 different midi tracks in pro tools, but i have also 16 audio tracks with a bunch of high latency effects on them. Will the PDC engine align the playback to be in time?

These three questions are now literally the absolute most important thing to me in this whole venture, as i have more or less decided definitely o HDN.

I found a TBolt HDN for 1K AUD, so i need to get PT sub, i will get the 999 per year sub, and i/o on top.

Thanks so much in advance.

[propower]

1- I sure wish I could type anywhere near as fast!

Antelope is a unique answer that works for me because #1 in my world is super low RTL for audio tracks (vocals - acoustic instruments). They are the best today and I have owned a lot of alternatives. They also sound great and their internal FX are very good. Note - I only use these to monitor since what I like to hear when recording is rarely what I want in a mix. Technically - the best audio delay comp is still PT with AVID i/o. All other alternatives have issues that need to be dealt with.

WRT nMP 6 core - it is beyond my experience to imagine a project that machine would not handle in PT with no thermal stress ever. Not that others couldn't make it happen but in normal 44.1 32 or 64 buffer use - just beyond my experience. I rarely hit 30% at 96kHz. Price wise - ebay is littered with these machines - $2.5K would be alot for Hex core, 512SSD and 32G ram. I got $2200 for mine. Today there are lots of 8 core 1TB 32 to 64G ram ones for $3500 or less. I only bought the iMac because I wanted the internal 1TB and this gorgeous screen. But I get by happily with an i5 The i7 runs way too hot for me.

So many coonverter choices.... The old Lynx Aurora for saving a few bucks - the new Aurora(n) for 32X32 and many others... Just buy all the same to save headaches later

[TNM]

Unfortunately, the 8 core, 1 terabyte ones do not exist in Australia at 3500 or less (i presume you mean 3500 USD which is 4 and a half AUD, so 3 grand cheaper than a new one, which is a lot of money!)
and even though most ebay sellers will ship here,

I will pay:
$350 USD on taxes on a 3500 machine. So make that 3850.

Then, I will pay at least $100 or more in customs agent fees. So, 3950.

Then, the currency conversion fee of paypal of around 2.5 to 3%, let's say another 80 AUD, or just to make it easy, let's say $50 or $4000 USD so far.

Finally, we have shopping, which is around $250 USD for such a machine. So we are at $4250 USD for a second hand machine, roughly 5.5k australian, VS 7.4 K for a brand new one.

1.9 k is still a lot of money saving.. BUT.. i can get 3 years warranty on a brand new one.. and since it is a machine i plan to keep till 2024 minimum, i think one with a fresh SSD makes sense.. no one has any idea how many writes the second hand one would have.. the 1TB internal ssd is absolutely essential to me by the way.. But that thing could have been used relentlessly by a video editor for four years straight.. and there's another grand to replace the SSD if it's life is close to an end.
Secondly, if something goes wrong and it arrives faulty, i'd have to send it back to the US at my own cost as return shipping for second hand products is not covered in any way. There's another 250 bucks.
Thirdly, many of these machines are before the bump and the dual D700's.. Since i plan to learn media composer, the D700's make a difference. I want to start putting videos to my music, and i have a lot to learn, but learn I will.

Trust me, the first thing I did was try to find a second hand one..

and as far as displays go, in that case i WILL settle on a second hand one, as i want two 27" thunderbolt displays which are discontinued. It makes absolute sense for me to get them at around $600 each second hand.. since they are discontinued and have flawless integration with the mac pro, as well as each becoming their own thunderbolt dock for USB and firewire!


But for the machine itself, I am not so sure. I think in this case it might be worth getting new.

I also have heard that if i go in person to some retailers it's quite common to get 5% off, which is another $350 saving.. so the difference between a second hand one from overseas and a brand new one locally, is shrinking all the time. :)

[TNM]

Ok i just realised something..

delay comp for converters.. avid is the answer? So all of them are automatically compensated if avid? Is there ANY avid interface without a fan?

I was SURE that antelope had perfect compensation with HD.. they even show a video on they line up sample accurate.. But could you give me an example, of say, a problem i might face with a focusrite 8Pre HD? and what workaround i would need to do?

What about a waves dsp system with i/o? is that an option? I could then monitor through waves plugins with low latency..

Whatever i DO get, i will get the same of everything, so if i have to set an offset (i presume this is the workaround?), i can measure it once and it's the same for all the A/D. This makes sense.

Yes, the lynx is an easy answer.. simply 2 interfaces at 32 inputs each.. here it is:
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/AuroraN32HD

But um, that's 11 THOUSAND us dollars for 2 of them..
that's 14k AUD!
And guess what the actual local price is?
http://awave.com.au/shop/instruments...urora-n-32-hd/

That's just under 17 thousand dollars for 2x32 channels of AD!

No, no.. this is WAY out of my budget.. there is ZERO chance i can do this sorry...
I was hoping for something much cheaper..

I used to be rich, but that was many years ago.. MANY years ago.. now, i save hard for every thing and sacrifice almost every other activity to put it towards my studio.
17 thousand dollars PLUS the mac pro PLUS the hd native.. we are talking 25 thousand dollars.. i just do not have that sort of money.. and part of me couldn't really justify spending it on just those things even if I did.. I am not an audiophile with a great famous mastering studio..