Poor mans HD rig with PT 7 (revisited)

[Shan]

Greetings all,

Awhile back I made a post here with the idea of upgrading to an HD1 system with the 96I/O. But it would basically have to be mostly RTAS based. And of course I could still bring along the Control/24, UAD-1, PoCo cards and Adat AI3 etc. So those investments can still be used as I climb up the HD ladder.

The main barrier was the inability to use RTAS effects on aux channels etc. There were a few workarounds but many stated that it probably wouldnt be worth it and that I should get no less than an HD 2 which is way out of my price range. HD1 with 96I/O is more realistic for me price wise and I got a good offer from my Digi dealer.

Now with the recent announcement of PT 7, I would like to bring this topic back and get more opinions.

With the new CPU optimizations and RTAS support anywhere and everywhere, this now seems like a good idea again. Keep in mind that my climb to HD has to be gradual. HD2 and beyond I absolutely cant do. HD1 with 96I/O is workable. Adding to the HD1 rig down the road is workable and more realistic. But, at the same time, I can still keep and use my other investments such as the Control/24, UAD-1, PoCo cards and ADAT AI3 etc.

Could this finally be the 'middle' system some of us are looking for? Well, if HD1 with PT7 and the 96I/O could be had around $4000-5000.00, then I think alot of units would be sold. Just some thoughts.

Maybe Digidesign could even offer some type of 'bundle' deal with HD1 and 96I/O. This may also push more sales for the 96I/O box. I have yet to be in one major studio using HD that has the 96I/O for the front end. It's always been the 192 I/O. So how about it Digidesign? That would be a good way to test the waters and promote it as the "middle system between 002 and HD" that many have asked for. And you can do this with the products you already have. No R&D costs at all.

It's not fully TDM(but very upgradeable) but still mostly RTAS based like the 002. The HD core card will handle the I/O, PDC, latency issues and mix engines, and the new supercomputers CPUs will handle the plugins.

Would any LE users climb aboard this if there was an HD1 and 96I/O bundle at a resonable price? Maybe even include a trade in with the 002 for the upgrade to bring the price down even more? I would be all over this.

Any new thoughts or suggestions on this in regards to PT 7? I think this idea could now work with PT 7.

Shane

[Rail Jon Rogut]

It's a good interim solution.. but you'd still be advised to buy the MassivePack bundle with the additional Accel card and the plug-ins. Do you have a multiprocessor PC?

Rail

[Shan]

I have one on order Rail.

Time to move on from the Control24/002r combo. It is just taking to long to mix stuff with all the workarounds I have to do like using Ableton LIVE for more tracks and submixing etc.

I think my 'poor mans' HD1 rig above will put me alot further ahead to what I am using now. Just fishing for other opinions on this subject. Of course when PT 7 is released I will go to my dealer and see if this would be a realistic thing to do.

And then again, addiing an additional CPU to a quad dualcore motherboard is alot cheaper than an Accel card. Just some thoughts. This might just be way out there.


Shane

[Rail Jon Rogut]

There are some high end Accel only plug-ins you'll want to use though -- I guarantee it.

Rail

[Shan]

There are some high end Accel only plug-ins you'll want to use though -- I guarantee it.

Rail

Very true! I could use some of them now on some current mixes. I have to get the Core card and I/O box out of the way first though. And the Massive pack 4 bundle is quite the offer.

I'm going to take some of my bigger mixes to my Digi dealer when PT 7 comes out and see if this idea is worth looking at. It may also help a few other PT LE guys who need something in the middle. I'll report back when PT 7 gets released. Maybe I'll be one of the first to take this route.

Shane

[JonnyGinese]

I was thinking of doing this way back when... but now taht dual core is supported it makes even mroe sense... to have an HD1 system and a dual core should give proformance of past an HD2(but with RTAS pluin count) i would think.. I also have another question.. can you use the older TDM stuff like the 888 with the new PT7 HD? Because if so that might be an even cheaper way to go.

Jonny

[zboy2854]

This is the route I've gone. Just built a quad core Opteron machine with an HD Core. The Opterons give me plugin power for days. And I think short of Digi requiring all plugs to need Accel cards to run, this is the wave of the future, and it need not be considered a "poor man" solution, but rather simply a sensible one.

[Shan]

This is the route I've gone. Just built a quad core Opteron machine with an HD Core. The Opterons give me plugin power for days. And I think short of Digi requiring all plugs to need Accel cards to run, this is the wave of the future, and it need not be considered a "poor man" solution, but rather simply a sensible one.

Great!! Can you tell us aliitle more about how this works out for you. What are your computer specs? Mother Board, Drives etc?

Have you mixed any large demanding sessions with this approach?

I think your system will smoke even more with PT7.

Thanks for your time.

Shane

[zboy2854]

Great!! Can you tell us aliitle more about how this works out for you. What are your computer specs? Mother Board, Drives etc?

Have you mixed any large demanding sessions with this approach?

I think your system will smoke even more with PT7.

Thanks for your time.

Shane

Sure, here's the lineup, based on the HPxw9300, which is qualified by Digi for HD:

Tyan Thunder K8WE motherboard
2 AMD Opteron 265 CPU's w/Thermalright XP-90c heatsinks and Thermaltake 92mm fans
2 GB OCZ DDR400 ECC Registered RAM(4 x 512MB modules)
2 WD 300GB SATA drives
NVidia Quadro FX1300 PCI-e Video Card 128MB RAM
Enermax CS-1018 Super ATX Server Case
Enermax EG701AX-VE 600W Power Supply
NEC DVD +/- RW drive

Works great in PT 6.9. Done lots of huge track count sessions (60-70 tracks) with plugins 'o plenty. No choking.

[Shan]

Thanks for the reply Zach. Looking forward to hearing your results with PT 7!!

By the way, I edited and added to my first post above. It may stir up a few more ideas for us and Digidesign to make this approach more affordable. This approach could finally be our 'mid system' between HD and LE that many have asked for through out the years.

Shane