YES!!!! 64bit Pro Tools!!!!

[CamM]

Originally Posted by sw rec

I expect soon we will be able to buy a 64 bit machine and run Pro Tools on the machine unpartitioned and without dual boot etc.

I doubt if we'll EVER see a time when we can record to the system drive. No big deal in a world of $100 hard drives........

With solid state drives, I don't see why not.

[sw rec]

Because it's still a matter of physics. One drive has enough to do just running windows and the basic Pro Tools program without trying to ALSO read & write audio. And again, with a drive being under $100, what's the big deal? Kinda like buying a 2" 24-track machine and not wanting to buy tape so you can actually record....

[Craig F]

Originally Posted by CamM

With solid state drives, I don't see why not.

absolute worst case (which I have seen happen) Pro Tools hiccups during recording and overwrites the System folder killing the OS
SSDs would be no different than platers in this case

[CamM]

Originally Posted by sw rec

Because it's still a matter of physics. One drive has enough to do just running windows and the basic Pro Tools program without trying to ALSO read & write audio. And again, with a drive being under $100, what's the big deal? Kinda like buying a 2" 24-track machine and not wanting to buy tape so you can actually record....

If the sata buss can send gigs a second, the limiting factor is the drive. A regular HDD has to move it's little arm about reading a disk. A SSD just reads everything, and eventually could be transferring that gig a second of info.

But as the other guy says, pro tools will throw a fit and record over the OS.

[RiF]

Just a report from the (or to be more exact: "my") real world: I can run 35+ tracks to my USB MBox2 on my consumer HP laptop from the system harddrive (stock 250 GB/5400 RPM drive that came with the laptop, Vista!) without any hickups or errors (PT reports 15% drive and 75% RTAS usage). I get the occasional hickup and/or error on my desktop (WinXP ultra clean/DAW only!, 002r, dedicated 7200 RPM SATA audio drive) at lower track counts... I did not record on my laptop, though.

[tejoz]

*6 months later*

hmmmm.......

[EricJacksch]

I am starting to loose hope that my Mbox will once again be something other than an expensive paperweight.

I can't imagine why anyone would not want to run a 64-bit Windows operating system given that most processors have been 64-bit for years. It's becoming clear that digidesign is out of touch with reality.

[YoRugMan]

But hang on -

Professional Pro Tools-using producers have been stuck with 32bit the entire time, and we've all enjoyed some fantastic music as a result.

Is 64bit really necessary then?
Digital audio doesn't require anywhere near the sort of grunt that CGI can benefit from....

[daeron80]

Originally Posted by YoRugMan

Is 64bit really necessary then?

I asked the same Q in another thread a few weeks ago. It didn't get any actual answers, just angry, irrational rants in response. From what I can gather, the issue is not that 64-bit operation will improve music production capability (although it could), but that people want to be able to buy the latest/supposedly-greatest hard/software the second it comes out and not worry about compatibility with their other programs. Which of course is completely unrealistic and always has been. 12-15 yrs ago, before PT had MIDI capabilities at all, everyone had a separate MIDI program that we synced to PT by various methods. Keeping Mac hardware, OS, backup system, and both pieces of software compatible with each other was a constant nightmare. Upgrading anything usually meant upgrading everything, which was not always possible. Using PT has always meant that you lag behind the rest of the hardware and software community, and it probably always will. It's the price you pay for the possibility of a reasonably stable, working, professional system.

[flommer]

Originally Posted by YoRugMan

But hang on -

Professional Pro Tools-using producers have been stuck with 32bit the entire time, and we've all enjoyed some fantastic music as a result.

Is 64bit really necessary then?
Digital audio doesn't require anywhere near the sort of grunt that CGI can benefit from....

The main argument for the PT program becoming 64 bit is it would allow it to access more than 4GB RAM. There are some users who run lots of plugs that use lots of RAM and they sometimes bump up against that limit. That is the only rational reason I have come across. It is not really about power (grunt) but about capacity.

Having 64bit drivers to enable the use of the 64 bit kernel is a different issue and seems to be one of compatibility, not performance..