HD vs. Mix

[distressor]

Hi. I'm about to invest in a home project studio and I'm still unclear about the real differences between a quality used Mix system and a HD system. I've done a lot of research and understand the general differences, sampling rate etc, but are the overall differences worth the money? Am I actually going to be able to feel and hear the dollar difference? I have professionals advising me a used Mix system is just as useful, sometimes actually better. That's the way I'm leaning now. Has anyone updated to HD and felt it wasn't worth it, or prefers their older mix system?

Thanks !!

[dr sound]

Updated to a HD3 from a Mix. Strongly prefer HD to Mix. It sounds much better. Add to the fact you get more power on an HD and that process cards are very cheap these days. If you have the money look into HD Accell.
Good Luck,

[Dog BBQ]

Well the price of Used HD systems are falling since the release of the Accel...

And for some reason the used Price of Mix cards and i/o's are still High.

Have you thought of a LE rig 001 or 002? How big would the sessions be?

I wouldn't go with a legacy System the power isn't there and I'm sure suport will drop off soon

btw: are the professionals advising you also selling you the equipment or just advising you?

Good Luck

[AEW]

I've moved from a mix3 to a HD2 with the Massive pack so the plugins are great that came with the deal. But if I had to start all over I'd go the 002 with a G5 when it works.
The hardware that comes with HD is the killer sound but then if u go a 2nd hand Mix with ADAT bridge and an Apogee front end you'll have a winner.


Nick

[kmshroom]

I have professionals advising me a used Mix system is just as useful, sometimes actually better.

this is not true. in many ways, the 002 is actually better than most Mix systems.

the 002's converters and clock is better than the ones in Mix hardware. yes, you can also hook an Apogee converter up to a Mix system. but you can also do so with a 002.

the 002 & PTLE can go up to 96k, while Mix is limited to 48k.

the DSP power of Mix cards are nowhere near as strong as the native power of a good, current computer processor (G5 - AMD Athlon - P4).

there are lots of plug-ins out there for TDM that are either HD only or HD-Accel only. ..and RTAS has really annoying limitations in PT TDM (not to mention how HTDM is a failure of a plug-in protocol).

Digi will likely drop support for Mix when PT 7.0 comes around (well, relatively soon in the future anyways, at it has been relegated to Legacy status for over a year now). but then again, maybe they'll offer attractive upgrades? who knows.

in any case, with 002, Mix, HD, or whatever, it will be more than enough to make great music. but i wouldn't go Mix unless you got a really good price.

[distressor]

Thanks everyone for the great advise, from around the world no less. Anyone with additional system selection advise would be helpful. The Apogee issue seems to be a recurring theme. I've done some DUC searches for info on apogee, but would still welcome any additional info on this subject. Do HD interfaces come stock with apogee convertors? What is a "rossetta" etc? Thanks !!

[kmshroom]

basically Apogee is a company that makes top-quality converters. whether they are the best or not is debatable, as there are other top-quality converters out there, made by the likes of Prism, etc. out of the top class thou, it does seem that Apogee advertises the most and is the most 'popular.'

Do HD interfaces come stock with apogee convertors?

no. HD interfaces made by Digidesign (the ones that are blue around the edges and silver in the middle) come stock with Digidesign-made convertors.

What is a "rossetta" etc?

Rosetta is simply a product line from Apogee (kinda like 'HD,' 'Mix,' 'LE' by Digidesign). it denotes products from them that are better value for money than some of their other/older stuff by cutting corners in functionality, like fancy front panel metering.

oh, another reason you hear Apogee mentioned more than others here is because you can interface Apogee products directly with PT TDM (converter products from non-Apogee and non-Digidesign companies cannot directly interface with PT TDM).

[zboy2854]

One thing I highly recommend getting now that the Rosetta has been mentioned is, regardless of which PT system you get, get a Rosetta 800. You can then use that as the front end for either 002, HD or TDM directly, just by getting the appropriate add-on card for the Rosetta. That way, you can upgrade in the future, i.e. from TDM to HD or from 002 to HD, etc. and still use the same front end converters.

BTW, Prism's Dream converters do also interface directly with HD/TDM and are IMO hands down THE top converters, but unless you've got the $8K to spend on them, go with Apogee.

[Haigbabe]

BTW, Prism's Dream converters do also interface directly with HD/TDM and are IMO hands down THE top converters, but unless you've got the $8K to spend on them, go with Apogee.

Greets Zach.

What do you think of Daniel Weiss's converters? They have been coming top of my list for a while now.

Best regards,

Haigbabe

[Duardo]

Support for Mix systems has for the most part been dropped already. They don't (and won't) work on G5's.

The Rosetta800 is great, but keep in mind that the HD interface card isn't slated to be available until April...

-Duardo