PT 2020.12.0 and HDX Card Maxing out

[mgmazzei]

Perhaps someone could help me with this question on my HDX card. I updated to Pro Tools ultimate 2020.12.0. I replaced my 2012 MAC Pro with a MAC mini 3.2 Ghz 6 core i7 64 Gig. running 10.15.7 . I now have a HDX Expansion Chassis (Sonnet) that houses my one HDX card. Hard drives are connected to the MAC. They are running fine. I have noticed in my sessions that the HDX card is at 96% on 3 lines. .. 84% on the other line!!!! WOW!! I never really looked at the usage much with older versions of PT. These 48Khz sessions have about 159 voices sometimes more (stereo) not all sounding at the same time, some MIDI streaming, but the majority of my orchestration is on a PC running Vienna Ensemble. Looking at the system usage while the session is running my HDX card is almost Maxed out and I have not even started using any DSP or native plug ins!!!!My MAC Mini CPU is about 3 % … Why is my HDX card almost MAXED? I have not received any error messages …yet… Is this the “new normal” for my sessions. ….. I ran Digi- test and my card passed… I’m not the only one doing hight track count sessions. Avid claims that one HDX card can handle many MIDI tracks and 256 voices…obvious not all at once…. Is something wrong with my card or do I need to purchase another card for processing if I want to use DSP plug ins…. Is this normal for the HDX card when a session has a high track count???….
Thanks

Mike

[arche3]

I'd say normal. Stereo mixer takes up 2 hdx voices. I got an hdx3 now because I just didn't want to worry about it.

Sent from my SM-G986U using Tapatalk

[mgmazzei]

Thanks arche3 for the quick reply... I wanted to make sure the card was working properly. I figured my sessions were getting big and when I start mixing using plug ins , it will probably max out... So, i guess for moderate sessions such as 40 tracks and maybe 50 midi, add some plug ins , one card will do....
AVID tells us how powerful one card is and that is true BUT you need to distribute everything .... One card cannot do all 256 voices with plug ins plus MIDI........ Thanks again...

Mike

[DetroitT]

At this point I would wait and see about the ‘Upcoming “Hybrid Engine” optional for HDX.
There is some information but mostly for Carbon product.
May open up some Native freedom use with HDX.

[mgmazzei]

Interesting... Thanks DetroitT ... I wonder how long Avid will continue to sell this card. It's been out for a while ... However I'll probably be forced into the purchase on another card ... I can't wait on the sessions ..

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by mgmazzei

Thanks arche3 for the quick reply... I wanted to make sure the card was working properly. I figured my sessions were getting big and when I start mixing using plug ins , it will probably max out... So, i guess for moderate sessions such as 40 tracks and maybe 50 midi, add some plug ins , one card will do....
AVID tells us how powerful one card is and that is true BUT you need to distribute everything .... One card cannot do all 256 voices with plug ins plus MIDI........ Thanks again...

Mike

Something to keep in mind that not all third party plugins support aax dsp. Waves, NI & Arturia don't. Only some Plugin Alliance plugins do and all McDSP plugins do.

[mgmazzei]

That's true Musicman 691.. I could use all native plug ins ...I also could bounce some tracks to free up HDX power... It just seems to me that Ultimate PT pulls up the HDX card power more than previous PT versions... You can build a big session really fast...

[JFreak]

Originally Posted by musicman691

Something to keep in mind that not all third party plugins support aax dsp. Waves, NI & Arturia don't. Only some Plugin Alliance plugins do and all McDSP plugins do.

Sonnox plugins do as well, and are among the best

[mgmazzei]

I love Sonnox plug ins ... I use them alot... I just wanted to make sure if this is normal. You can't expect one HDX card to handle 200 tracks and many plug ins... It's a huge advantage to have a second card.

[JFreak]

Yes. The previous DSP generations were also crippled with one card only, but different reasons.