Ancient HD3 PCIx system - any use?!

[YYR123]

Nope you will need a chassis to make that work.

This should jumpstart your reading

http://akmedia.digidesign.com/suppor...v803_63872.pdf

Wow just looked back at the posts from 2017 and it looks like the community has said HD3 is where it’s at....mea culpa

[John_Toolbox]

The PCI/PCIx thing always seems to generate confusion.

The earlier HD cards (not PCIe) have the PCIx form factor, but are technically PCI. You can actually install them in the shorter PCI form factor slots, the extra set of pins is not functional.

PCI HD cards will work in the internal slots of a PCIx Mac (most PPC Mac G5’s), and will also work in a few select PCI to PCI chassis from that era.

PCI HD cards will only work in a Magma PE6R4 PCIe to PCIx chassis with a PCIe (intel) Mac Pro

Keep in mind, older macs have limitations on the OS they can run, and older Pro tools versions are also limited to certain OS’s. So if you want to run Pro Tools 10HD, you’ll need to go with the intel Mac Pro / PE6R4 setup.

PCI HD cards will work in certain PC motherboards(not an expert at the PC configurations, but there are several very smart people on this forum that can help you if that’s the route you want to go)

If you don’t have all of this stuff laying around, it’s probably not worth putting together a TDM system. Trying to find a tech if you need support for an old system might be an issue, and most plugin vendors are no longer selling older versions that would work with a TDM system. I personally think in 2019, going with a more current version of Pro Tools makes everything easier. It’s easy to get plugins, you have many choices for audio interfaces, and it supports modern OS’s which are more stable and secure.

[Sugarnutz]

I’m in the Philippines for a family funeral, so to kill time I’ve been on YouTube a bunch. I have noticed that both Chris Lord-Alge and Tom Lord-Alge are both using HD6 Accel systems. Of course they’re not mixing in the box, they’re using SSL consoles to mix. One thing both of them do is consolidate sessions down to 48 tracks or less (I should say their assistants consolidate the sessions), Chris says 44 because that’s what he had with two 24 track analog machines. These are current videos in the last year or two, so that says a lot about the life left in a good TDM system. I still have mine on a 2008 3.2 GHz 8-core Mac Pro and Magma chassis running PT 10.3.8. That Mac Pro with 32 Gb of RAM (can you say 20 Gb RAM cache), 500 Gb SSD boot drive, two 1Tb hard drives and GTX 680 video card cost me right at $600 and this machine is “Swoft” running OSX 10.8.5, no getting coffee unless I want it. I use it strictly for tracking though, got a more modern Thunderbolt Native/2018 Ultimate for mixing just because of all the AAX plugins available.

[moonmusic]

I got a PT8HD3 G5 Dual system set up behind my drums just to track my drum kit...It's nice having everything always hooked up/arms length away and the template session has 2 groups of identical tracks with compression, eq and d-verb...I prefer to work on the verse/prechorus/chorus/etc in sections so having the 2 groups set up makes it easy to switch between them as I overdub...When I'm done I save it to a usb stick and move it over to my newer PT rig where I consolidate and switch out the old plugs for the new ones...Tracking drums with extremely low latency is great too....I've also thought about setting up a room with all my old 80's digital keyboards with the midi 10 channel i/o and the 96i, running as many outs of the keyboards in mono as they allow individual outs and using the tdm plugs instead of built in keyboard effects....I know it's not as slick and streamlined as synth vsts but I like pushing buttons and turning knobs and scrolling through presets in random order before they categorized all the sounds....Never know what you'll come up with....moon

[simondo]

Hi John

are you 100% certain about this comment you made above?

"PCI HD cards will only work in a Magma PE6R4 PCIe to PCIx chassis with a PCIe (intel) Mac Pro"

I have a guy selling a HD3 in a Magma 64bit P7R4 chassis for a good price. I have been searching to see if this will work with PTHD10 in a Mac pro and a PCIe host card. Trouble is I am getting conflicting info from various places where some are saying it will work, including Magma Tech Support and also Sonic Circus who have a P7R4 for sale with a HD3 inside claiming it works with Pro Tools 10.

Magma said it was good to go with a PCIe host card

[John_Toolbox]

What configuration was the seller using with the P7R4? The way you have described this rig for sale suggests that it does not include a PCIe host card. Personally, I would not buy a used magma chassis without getting the host card and all cables, and knowing what computer, os and pro tools version the seller was using with it.

PE6R4i was the only PCIe to PCI chassis officially supported by Avid, and back in the day when these were still current, it was the only chassis I would have recommended. Keep in mind my knowledge of these systems might be somewhat outdated, I haven’t used one for many years, so there may be more solutions available in 2019 that weren’t available in 2009. I have seen several people struggle with a used chassis that was a “great deal” and they ultimately ended up wasting their money and a lot of time.

Keep in mind many sellers of older used gear do quick research on compatibility without actually testing. The Hd cards are indeed compatible with PT10 in very specific configurations... but that doesn’t mean the seller was actually using it with PT10 and a Mac Pro 5,1 with this chassis.

If magma says it will work, that’s promising, I would make sure that they confirm the chassis serial number is compatible with the Mac Pro, PT 10.x and the OS you intend to run, and that you have the correct host card and cabling. Or, buy it knowing that the you are buying the cards for the asking price and getting the chassis for free, that way if it doesn’t work out you didn’t overpay for a 4U rack filler panel.