Need Pro Tools on two separate computers to be able to access two Apogee Symphonies

[MSCStudent]

Hello!

I am a relatively new user of Pro Tools and have come across a problem that I need help solving. My boss wants to set up our studio in a way that both computers are able to access all the channels from the two Apogee Symphonies we have. We were thinking we could use the waves sound grid option card in the apogees in order to connect the computers together. However, in our current set up, Pro Tools has an input limit of 32 channels. We currently have 52 channels between the two apogees. Is there a way to bypass the 32 channel limit, as well as make it possible for the two computers to have access to the channels on both apogees?

Thanks for any help you can offer!

[YYR123]

Pro tools ultimate can do that.

[LDS]

Originally Posted by YYR123

Pro tools ultimate can do that.

I don't think it can, at least not by itself anyway.

To run more than 32 channels of I/O on a single system it needs to run either a HD Native or HDX card. Both vanilla and ultimate are limited to just 32 channels of I/O if running with core audio or ASIO interfaces & drivers.

You would need something like the Soundgrid DiGiGrid DLI to connect SoundGrid connections to the Pro Tools HD native or HDX card connections.

[MSCStudent]

Originally Posted by LDS

I don't think it can, at least not by itself anyway.

To run more than 32 channels of I/O on a single system it needs to run either a HD Native or HDX card. Both vanilla and ultimate are limited to just 32 channels of I/O if running with core audio or ASIO interfaces & drivers.

You would need something like the Soundgrid DiGiGrid DLI to connect SoundGrid connections to the Pro Tools HD native or HDX card connections.

Thank you for the reply! So would the setup in the link work? https://imgur.com/a/e4rgLhj

[DetroitT]

You will need 2 licenses to run both at the same time.
Whats the end game? There may be a better more efficient way.

[MSCStudent]

Originally Posted by DetroitT

You will need 2 licenses to run both at the same time.
Whats the end game? There may be a better more efficient way.

I work in an audio conversion lab. Essentially, we want both computers in the lab to be able to access all the reel machines and cassette machines. Currently, all the machines are routed to two different apogees, one apogee connects to one computer, and the other apogee connects to the other.

Is there a more efficient way that we can have both computers be able to access all the machines?

[its2loud]

Take Pro Tools out of the record equation and use Waves' Tracks Live (free). With the sound grid card in the Apogees you'll have access to all inputs and outputs on both computers attached to the network.

For further editing, you can export full .wav files from Tracks Live and import them into Pro Tools.

Or.. Use this https://www.waves.com/hardware/digigrid-dli if you're running PT Native on both computers. However, I'm not sure two PT systems can share the same interface.

Seems like if you're just going to need it for Analog to Digital transfers, Tracks Live will work just fine.

[LDS]

Originally Posted by MSCStudent

Thank you for the reply! So would the setup in the link work? https://imgur.com/a/e4rgLhj

No, it would look something more like the below image. You will need two complete Pro Tools HD Ultimate systems to access more than 32 channels of I/O on each. That means two HD Ultimate licenses, two HD native interfaces and two Waves DLS. The routing of your audio from the Symphonies would happen further upstream within the network. Even then, I would be contacting Waves to make sure it will work as intended.

It does seem like you might be overcooking this. It will cost some $20,000+ including the cost of your Apogee Symphonies? Do you really need to use Pro Tools software for what you want to do? A much simpler approach would be to use a Dante based system with an DAW like Reaper. Apogee did announce a Dante card for the Apogee Symphony MKII a couple of years ago, perhaps drop them an email and see if it is available? If the Dante option isn't available... I think that maybe Pro Tools & Apogee Symphonies aren't a particularly ideal setup for what you want to do.

What is the current configuration of the I/O in your Apogee Symphonies?

[Mixchump]

I'm surprised that nobody's mentioned Dante/AES67 as the perfect solution here.


http://www.apogeedigital.com/blog/ap...te-option-card


If you put a Dante card in the Apogee Symphony interfaces, and set up a good quality gigabit Ethernet switch (a Dell 2808 is great for this), all of the IO channels are available to every machine, all the time.


This is exactly what you are looking for (and it's the future of ProAudio)


Thoughts?

[LDS]

Originally Posted by Mixchump

I'm surprised that nobody's mentioned Dante/AES67 as the perfect solution here.


http://www.apogeedigital.com/blog/ap...te-option-card


If you put a Dante card in the Apogee Symphony interfaces, and set up a good quality gigabit Ethernet switch (a Dell 2808 is great for this), all of the IO channels are available to every machine, all the time.


This is exactly what you are looking for (and it's the future of ProAudio)


Thoughts?

It is mentioned in the post right before yours

It will only work if you ditch Pro Tools as your DAW. And even then, I'm not sure the Apogee Dante card even exists yet. The only place I can find it is in two year old blog posts.

Pro Tools only supports more than 32 channels of I/O via HD native and HDX cards. So any Dante solution needs to terminate to digilink connection to make it into Pro Tools Ultimate. That rules out Symphonies, because the Dante option card replaces the Pro Tools option card. You would be better offer replacing the symphonies with a bunch of Focusrite Red interfaces that offer both digilink, analogue I/O and Dante in one box.

Dante and other network based protocols are definitely the future, but Pro Tools really seems to have limited support for it at the moment.