Sell my HDX?

[fretfingers]

So I'm thinking that I might sell my HDX card before it goes down in value anymore and use they money towards a new Mac Pro.

Besides the DSP which I don;t get much use out of, is there much else I am going to be losing that I just can't see right now?

I write and mix a lot in Pro Tools. I don't usually track more than one thing at a time and it's pretty rare here at the home studio. I do need more power for synths and plugins and I think the new mac would really help me there.

I'm just worried that I may regret this later. Any thoughts?

[Craig F]

ToO http://avid.force.com/pkb/articles/FAQ/en363631
selling the system w/o the ToO makes you look bad

unless you find someone that want's to add a card to their system and doesn't care

[Barry Johns]

Sell it, I'm surprised you thought you ever needed it to begin with.

[ArKay99]

Sell the interface too. You can't use it without the HDX card unless you get a TB interface and that's around $1500 used.

What you will be losing is the round trip latency which is sub millisecond with HDX while using DSP plugs. However, I picked up a new Apollo 8 Blackface. It sounds great and gives me all I need plus the DSP is on the input, so no latency with plugs on input. And it sounds as good as my 8x8x8 I/O did.

The other thing you'll be losing is the ability to run your AAX plugs as DSP.

Be prepared to spend some bucks on thunderbolt stuff like drive enclosures, monitor adapters, and DVD writer external drive...and don't forget Thunderbolt cables...it adds up.

[fretfingers]

Thanks guys!

I use an Apogee Symphony so no need to sell the interface, (although I am seriously considering the Antelope Orion32).

There are so few DSP plugs available, so most of my sessions are full of Native plugs. The round trip latency was already kinda native looking. That said, PT11's Low-Latency Input Buffer helped a lot here. I'm pretty sure that's not an HDX only thing. Fingers crossed...

I'll be borrowing a 6 core machine next week to do some testing. Last thing I want is to sell my HDX and then have a new system that can't playback some of my previous heavy duty sessions.

[fretfingers]

Bump

[Table Syrup Records]

I think the biggest thing you'll deal with is monitoring in low latency, depending on the latency of your symphony and size of your sessions.

I seem to remember the Symphony latency being pretty decent too. So you may be ok, until you get into hefty sessions and need to increase your PT Playback buffer. Then you'll be hurting, even one track at a time

I personally use a Waves DLS with my Avid HD I/O and a 192... smooth, and super low latency monitoring with plugins (1.2ms at 96k, with plugs in monitoring, regardless of PT buffer). In PT I can leave my buffer up (say, 512) but it still doesn't impact my monitoring - and I also have a DSP server in it...

In my opinion, if you have hefty sessions, or need low latency - PTHD and a low latency platform like HDX or Waves is the way to go - otherwise you are gonna have tracking issues when things get busy.

You might just wanna sit tight since you already have it. That or explore other options... but from the sounds of things, the machine alone isn't gonna cut it for you.

[fretfingers]

Originally Posted by Table Syrup Records

You might just wanna sit tight since you already have it. That or explore other options... but from the sounds of things, the machine alone isn't gonna cut it for you.

This is what I'm worried about, so I'll be testing on a rental machine this week.

I was also really hoping the new Low-Latency Input Buffer would help me here though. I have tried it on my current system with just the symphony connected. When I drop the new *Low-Latency Input Buffer* down to 128, the session runs fine. But when I put a track on input, CPU shoots to 100%.

I'm hoping that this is still a lack of CPU and that the new Mac Pro saves the day.

I'm also hoping that I cash get a bit of money back from the HDX card before it's worthless. I could sure use that to put towards the new mac.

Thanks for all of your input everyone! :)

[albee1952]

Originally Posted by fretfingers

Thanks guys!

I use an Apogee Symphony so no need to sell the interface, (although I am seriously considering the Antelope Orion32).

The Orion would be about dead last on my list of interfaces to buy(sorry). I demoed it early on and was HAPPY to see it leave

[fretfingers]

Originally Posted by albee1952

The Orion would be about dead last on my list of interfaces to buy(sorry). I demoed it early on and was HAPPY to see it leave

Why? Was it a sound thing?