Which ilok do I need.

[steve78]

Hello all, it's been a bit since I was on, anyway I am looking for a version of pro tools to put on my mac book pro that I can use to track live shows from my soundcraft digital console, I understand that pretty much any version from 9 on should work, and I know that all of these versions need an ilok to work. All my experience is with pro tools 5&6 Tdm.

My question is, what determines which version of ilok I need? Is it dependent on which pro tools I am going to use or which mac iOS I am using? I have spent hours searching to figure this out with no avail.

I am leaning towards pt9 simply because I can get a copy cheap but most of these are an ilok license transfer and doesn't come with the ilok.

I know I will probably have probably have to change my iOS depending on which pro tools I go with.

[albee1952]

ILok is actually pretty simple. If you have any modern 64 bit computer/OS, then you need iLok 2 or 3(just buy the 3rd gen). The old key-shaped iLok only works on older systems.

[steve78]

So if I were to go with pt9, it would need to run on mac OS X snow leopard 10.6.2 up to 10.6.8, will it run with an ilok2 or do I need to find an ilok1?

I do understand how it all works, I used to use the ilok stuff with the avid pro audio consoles but that is a bit of a different beast since it is not based on an external computer. I just want to make sure I get the right stuff and not have to buy stuff twice.

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by steve78

So if I were to go with pt9, it would need to run on mac OS X snow leopard 10.6.2 up to 10.6.8, will it run with an ilok2 or do I need to find an ilok1?

I do understand how it all works, I used to use the ilok stuff with the avid pro audio consoles but that is a bit of a different beast since it is not based on an external computer. I just want to make sure I get the right stuff and not have to buy stuff twice.

As already advised just get an iLok 3.., more robust and what you can actually buy now. People would not advise you to get that if it would not work.

[Sardi]

I’m going to offer a totally different option.

If you’re purely tracking the live performance with no editing etc. why not just use something like Waves Tracks Live? Simple, stable and free. It’s pretty much designed for what you want to use it for.


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[Darryl Ramm]

... and if going there then why not a digital recorder?

And if using Pro Tools... that OS also needs to be compatible with available device drivers for your mixer. What exact mixer do you have?

[JFreak]

Originally Posted by albee1952

The old key-shaped iLok only works on older systems.

Umm.. the key works with new systems too, but many of the licenses, such as PT, are not allowed in iLok1 any longer so THAT is why you need a new version.

[steve78]

Hey all thanks for all the info.

So the reason for going with pro tools is that I am familiar with pro tools and I already have an older tdm system (the full 64 tracks) in the studio now. This is working well and we don't intend to change this anytime soon. This whole set up is mainly in the analogue world with a big soundcraft studio board for the preamps and out board fx. The tdm rig is mainly the "tape machine". We do add comps and gates in pt, but other then that the rest is analogue. Now to do anything outside of the studio with this rig is not practical. The area we are in is very remote and so the studio side of things is pretty quiet, most of the work for it is in the winter, when the live side of my business is slow.

So that being said I also own a production company and in the summer we do 9 large festivals as well as many other events. So the portable pt rig would be for doing things like that. I know that the pt sessions in a newer pt are probably not backwards compatible but the wave files are so I can easily drop these into the tdm rig if need be. I am not sure how much this will get used but I want to have the option if need be. I have done a few remote recording sessions where we just tracked everything then did the mix down in the studio.

I am running 2 different digital consoles both of which are soundcraft as well as a midas M32. The soundcraft consoles are the si impact (we can do up to 80 channels with this one) and ui24r. The ui24r will already track straight to a hard drive but I find it doesn't mix down well and I would much prefer to work in pt. it's also limited to only 20 inputs which is not enough for the larger acts. The impact won't track but it will work with pt.

I know that both the souncraft consoles work with pt 9 or newer and if it's a mac version no drivers are needed, it just works, been there and have tested that. The midas has not been tested by me but I won't likely be using this console for recording anyway, and it will do a l/r straight to USB stick.

[Sugarnutz]

I've got an iLok 1, two iLok 2s and just bought an iLok 3 from Amazon. The iLok 3 is built way better than its predecessors.

[JFreak]

Sure. Version two wasnt bad either. I was only shaking my head bcs version three was not the usb3 plug


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