My thoughts on Pro Tools HD Native + Omni + Software

[mmk]

Best recording equipment available for someone like me who records 1 track at a time and all mixing in the box. Killing my old 003 i did the trade in (1000 dollars off the bundle). Just got it a few days ago already had pro tools installed, didnt have to do much except plug in the card hook up the interface and register the ilok, I really thought it would be much more difficult.

My thoughts on the sound quality is, it's the best interface available. Definitely professional my records sound like those of a Major artist. honestly I bought it not expecting THAT much of an improvement over the 003... boy was I wrong, this hd setup is 10x better. Finished product is night and day difference no contest and working in HD with the card and stuff is a lot smoother.

My thoughts on workflow: great features in the HD Software, I have a copy of Pro Tools already and I discovered I could run my Avid Omni through Regular pro tools without having to use the HD license. I considered selling the HD license to get some money back, until i used it. Won't be selling it now... Great features and program runs much faster with disk caching, plugins show when they are clipped even when not open (very hepful for me), i can use MAX delay compensation (due to HD card i guess), now that I have used this I don't want to go back.

My thoughts on recording / mixing: since I record 1 track at a time, nothing has changed really in my recording, I actually couldn't notice a difference in quality while recording compared to my 003... until i got to mixing...upon first playback on the raw recording unmixed i noticed a small difference it sounded a little bit clearer, but as soon as I started mixing, I was suprised how clear the recording sounded (vocals) I could also really zero in on every aspect of the mix mainly bass seemed like the bass was a lot more defined and easier to mix... by the time i got done i listened to my old recordings, and laughed because it sounds like a joke compared to HD

Overall, man this thing is rock solid and I'm happy with it, I am still on PT HD 10 (read my PT 11 Review) for now & am very happy with it not considering switching to PT 11 (even though i own it) until everything is ready. Killing the 003 and any recording setup I have ever used personally. I'm happy to own an HD setup in my own home and rival the recordings of major artist. Good day thanks Avid if you are considering buying Omni go for it, don't let people talk you into a lesser interface if it's anything less it's not the best. (ie apollo or RME imo they not touching this not even close) This is the way to record for the next decade lol pretty much

[I&I]

I bought the omni a few days ago & yes it's rock solid. My question is what's the proper sequence in powering up the omni? Mac first then the omni or vice versa.

[chrisdee]

Originally Posted by I&I

I bought the omni a few days ago & yes it's rock solid. My question is what's the proper sequence in powering up the omni? Mac first then the omni or vice versa.

Hi.

It doesn't matter what you start first. You only need to power on omni berfor you start pro tools.

[chrisdee]

Originally Posted by mmk

I actually couldn't notice a difference in quality while recording compared to my 003... until i got to mixing...upon first playback on the raw recording unmixed i noticed a small difference it sounded a little bit clearer

Good to hear you have found the Omni. I agree it sounds great. Clear and detailed.
It's a bit strange you are not getting noticable better results during monitoring/tracking as well.

The tracking/monitoring sound quality was the first thing i noticed coming from Mbox Pro and Mbox 2Pro befor that.
It should be like a wool blanket is lifted off your converters.

[mmk]

Originally Posted by chrisdee

Good to hear you have found the Omni. I agree it sounds great. Clear and detailed.
It's a bit strange you are not getting noticable better results during monitoring/tracking as well.

The tracking/monitoring sound quality was the first thing i noticed coming from Mbox Pro and Mbox 2Pro befor that.
It should be like a wool blanket is lifted off your converters.

yeah it took me until today until i finally noticed the quality. it comes from the way i record. a lot of times Its while im in the middle of producing a song because I like to record as soon as i start getting that creative spark. Most times the sounds are all over the place at that point and vocals clashing with the instruments. (Mainly because I'm recording myself running in and out of the booth) I don't really worry about mixing or levels until everything has been laid down so that may have been why i didnt hear any difference. Just as long as the vibes right.

Today i was recording a song and i took a little extra time to mix the beat before recording and to get my vocals directly over the music, and yeah it was night and day. almost so clear that it was hard to record because I was hearing every sound from the room to mouth noise to the tone of my voice.

I also open my studio to clients, it has been a huge difference and they have noticed it too... I could definetly hear a huge difference while recording when I was engineering for obvious reasons... way easier to engineer while recording someone else, then try to engineer and record yourself at the same time... btw the 003 is a lot clearer and fuller sounding than the mbox 2 pro or mini... through headphones its hard to tell quality difference between the 003 and omni while recording, (while recording with no music behind, it sounds very simlar) you really only hear a big difference when recording over a nicely mixed instrumental...

[mmk]

BTW one thing i have discovered in my week of owning the omni, the fan, i had it on auto to begin with and noticed after a 8 hour day of recording and leaving it on it would get hot, and that worried me because i figure if i kept it up this way over the years it would overheat...

i have it racked and theres not much room on the sides for air to escape... i read up on the fan issue, turns out it runs a lot cooler with more ventilation on the sides (Maybe not being in a rack). It's Sad because i keep it racked, but it's not that bad. I turned the fan on, yes it is noisy. But does not leak into my recordings. I was disturbed the first time i turned it on because of the noise difference with the fan off and on, but used it the next day and didn't even notice it was on until i listened closely.

I came up with a plan, I can turn the fan on when I leave my desk or if im planning on using headphones, and turn it off when I need to do critical listening through monitors. My computer makes some noise, but this fan makes twice the amount my computer does (and my computer has 7 fans). I noticed when the fan is on it keeps the omni cool to the touch with almost no temperature increase after long hours. Having a fan is cool with me, I just noticed it and read a lot of people complaining about it. It's not that bad to me, I keep a window fan On in my studio, and when the fan in the window is on I can't hear the omni at all... actually is nice that I can turn it the omni fan on and off (auto usually turns the fan off, there is no actual off button)...

that was one the only hidden issue so far i can point out after using this thing for a week straight, but it isn't a big deal. Pro tools has been running smoother and my music sounds much better and more controlled I'm glad I bought it and would reccomend it to any serious professional or aspiring professional

[mmk]

Originally Posted by chrisdee

Good to hear you have found the Omni. I agree it sounds great. Clear and detailed.
It's a bit strange you are not getting noticable better results during monitoring/tracking as well.

its been a while since i posted I have been using the omni for a while now, and i have noticed many things that have greatly improved my sound quality!

first off, I can really hear what Im doing now when recording, at first i wasn't used to it so I couldnt really hear the difference... today I was recording a song and the mic sounded a little funny so i moved it around until i got the right sound and ajusted the mic sheild i had behind it until it sounded jsut right. Then i realized it still sounded funny so i moved back a few inches from the mic, and POW!!! sound quality went from, ehh to WOW!!!! can't believe how clear this thing sounds and to think I recorded all these songs standing too close to the mic!!! Standing a little farther back from the mic made my recording sound infinately better and I only discovered that because i can hear exactly what I'm doing through HD converters, I could never truly hear what I was doing on the 003, and used to overcompensate for its lack of transparency. I have also calibrated my speakers a lot better due to the transparency of the monitoring, (had the sub up way louder than monitors, only discovered this once i bought the omni theres a line output gain setting and a speaker output, i had the sub on one setting and monitors on another so sub was playing much louder, now i fixed that thanks to omni, theres a a small button on the back of each speaker, they all need to have the same setting or they wont play at the same volume, never really thought about that until i saw the +4DBU and -10DBU setting on the HW menu on the omni and started reading up on my speakers more, cant believe i missed that, speakers came to life after i set them correctly, not to mention i did that on my preamp as i had it with a pad setting on, turned that off now i'm geting a lot less noise in my recordings) my mixes are benefitting tremendously because of this as well. That is a main thing i want to point out from this unit, the clearness of the interface is helping me get that perfect recording and mix that i could have never gotten before If i didn't get the omni!!! Very happy i got this inerface


BTW what i wrote about how the mic quality changed when I moved back was because I have just discovered the problem after posting the message above earlier, my mic (Blue Kiwi) had internally become dislodged so the diapram that picks up your voice was bouncing around in the mic, i thought this was just a cosmetic problem but I opened up the Mic just now and re attatched it using the rubber stands that hold it in place inside the capsule. Put the mic back up and recorded on it like i just had been recording before, WOW!!! another mind blowing level of clarity... holy.... turns out the diaprham must have been pointing down or something before, because the vocals i recorded earlier sound thin in comparison, (and ive been recording with the mic messed up for over 6 months Doh) the sound now is so rich and full it really sounds like an expensive setup now, gives me the same feeling of when i first used the Kiwi and got inspired to buy it... i swear this Omni just unlocked my whole studio's potential.... crazy i never knew my music could sound THIS good

thats like 20+++++ for the omni thats all i gotta say

[mmk]

Update:

Have had pro tools HD Native for about 2 months now, really enjoying it.

Heres what Happened with my mic, it turned out the mic was broken and when i "fixed it" it crapped out and completely died no output at all... Got the mic repaired and its a whole new ballgame now, mic sounds incredible, better than ever. Studio is complete, and sounds great.

Doing big mixes on HD Native is pretty good on HD 10, when using a lot of plugins i have maxed it out though. I'm sure it would be better on HD 11 but I have my reasons for sticking with 10, I just finished a song I have been working on for 4 days non stop, it is the best song I have worked on so far as far as sound quality. everything sounds smooth and clear which is exactly what I wanted.

The main thing I noticed on my mixes on my 003 rack compared to the omni, i used to overcompensate for the lack of transparency and my mixes would always have something that bothered me and stuck out. Mixing on HD isn't gonna fix your mixes overnight, but you don't have to fight with the transparency. Everything is represented as is, no cloudyness nothing hiding from me or lying to me. I can really dial in an exact sound that I never have been able to do before. My mixes are pro level now, like commercial level. Especailly when I compare it to other professional commercial releases, it really holds up. Compared to my old mix it's a night and day difference to me.

I will keep posting to update this thread as I see needed these are just my thoughts on this product

[nst7]

Glad to hear how it's working for you. I'm finding the same benefits from my Omni as well.

[mmk]

Thanks for the response, glad you are experiencing the same success with it. Every time i use the Pro Tools HD i walk away happy. The honeymoon period with it is over now that i have had it for a few months. I'm 100 percent satisfied with my sound as of right now. I have a bunch of other professional equipment and the HD interface was the last piece to the puzzle. I have been building my studio for 5 years so the feeling of finally owning everything I wanted is satisfying.

At this point I just want to focus on creating the best music I can make and doing the best mixes I can do, I mean thats why i bought this gear in the first place, to not have to worry about the gear and know i got the right tools for the job.