Pro Tools Hardware Requirements

[JFreak]

Well let's put that behind now.

As said, the power of your system lies wihin the cards. If it is enough for your mixes, don't change it, don't break it. Gets harder and harder to find old plugin installers for example, so you better clone your system drive because the current one will eventually fail. And that eventually may become sooner than you think especially if it is original. The macpro1.1 was released in August 2006.

PT Studio will not run your TDM cards, so you would be only using the underpowered macpro1.1 CPU (even macpro5.1 is underpowered compared to HD3). Not only that, but you would be running OS that is 10 years newer than youn are currently using, it will eat a lot of your computer's capability. Not much left for plugins.

[roderickelms]

I learned the lesson about backups a good many years ago. I have two clones of the startup drive, updated with Superduper every time the Mac is in use. Incidentally, the startup drive is a new SSD – none of the drives are original. That MacPro has five drives – four regular SATA and an SSD.
I still plan to try the latest PT trial in Monterey on the MacPro 5,1 and see how it goes. I will clearly need to update that 2012 machine at some point as it won't go beyond Monterey, but for now all is well. Likely an M1 Studio. The decision will be whether to go with the basic 32gB RAM and also 24/36 bit GPU. Then to start saving!
Thanks for your thoughts.

[sw rec]

“Yes, but if you are using a Mac, or Windows with a compatible sound card, an external interface is not required. Pro Tools will work with Mac core audio or Windows ASIO.”

Except, if you’re on Windows, Pro Tools doesn’t like to “share” the hardware, and this will cause you a lot of headaches. Interface not required by strictest definition, but it’s a bad idea to not use one, IMHO.

[albee1952]

Originally Posted by sw rec

“Yes, but if you are using a Mac, or Windows with a compatible sound card, an external interface is not required. Pro Tools will work with Mac core audio or Windows ASIO.”

Except, if you’re on Windows, Pro Tools doesn’t like to “share” the hardware, and this will cause you a lot of headaches. Interface not required by strictest definition, but it’s a bad idea to not use one, IMHO.

Completely agree, using a dedicated interface for Pro Tools is miles better than trying to work without one. Just because it CAN work, doesn't mean it will serve your needs. Now there are several really solid options at price points from $200(or less) to a few thousand. If you do start leaning towards a new interface(and I would), your big deciding factors are:
1-connection. Thunderbolt will be fastest, but USB2 will work fine(happy with Mbox Studio here after years of HD/Native)
2-IO needs. Some interfaces can go 32 IO on USB. For more IO, I would look at Thunderbolt or AVB(Mac only)
3-DSP. If you are into the UA DSP platform, the Apollo interfaces become very strong contenders.
Food for thought

[Obsidian Dragon]

Just offering my two cents on this topic:

Perhaps the best way for the OP to experience the difference between his existing systems and the newer system he is considering is to arrange a session with a local Avid dealer that has a system setup with a current version of Protools running on a modern Mac using an M1, M2, M3, in standard, Pro, Max, or Ultra configurations. I does not need to be using any PCIe chassis and DSP cards or running Protools Ultimate. I would leave UAD interfaces, processors and UAD plugins out of the equation for now. Simply Protools Studio will be fine for general performance comparison purposes. Either the difference will be so impressive that the decision to upgrade is obvious or the difference is only marginal and he can decide to happily stay with his current setup for now.

If an Avid dealer is not locally available, Apple has a generous 14 day return policy on Macs and you can get a one month subscription for current Protools to load up and try. You basically have to experience it for yourself. You can then make the best decision based on your first-hand evaluation.

[roderickelms]

Thank you for this. I'm very happy with how PT8 is running under Snow Leopard – it serves my needs and is well backed up – its speed is not a big issue. I can't afford a new/secondhand computer but will try PT trial/free on my MacPro 5,1 under Monterey to investigate the new PT options.

My original query was simply to establish that I didn't need any additional hardware. However, I greatly appreciate the wider discussion. I understand about the audio output issue and have several USB interfaces in the studio –*I never use a Mac's built-in audio!