External HDX on Windows?

[atticmike]

Hello there,

Has anyone tried HDX cards externally on Windows based Laptops?

Avid doesn't test this and I can't read anything about it.

[albee1952]

This could be a PITA, any way you look at it. Consider:
1-unless the laptop has Thunderbolt, I don't there is any way to do it.
2-With thunderbolt, an external chassis and proper cables can make the physical connection, but there my be no Windows driver that works.
3-Even though I am a PC guy, I am reluctant to recommend any windows laptop(in favor of a properly configured MacBook Pro).
4-why do you feel you need HDX? Modern native rigs are more than capable of serious(IOW, "pro") production in most cases.
5-For me, the only reason to use a laptop is for portability and adding a chassis for the HDX card, plus a Digilink interface seems counter-productive(again, that's only my opinion)

I ran a commercial studio in Nashville for several years with an HDN card in a Windows desktop and did plenty of full-blown productions for commercial release and never felt I was cheated(or that I was cheating clients). Its important to have realistic expectations before you rush out and buy lots of stuff(especially if its because somebody told you that you need that). Food for thought

[atticmike]

Originally Posted by albee1952

This could be a PITA, any way you look at it. Consider:
1-unless the laptop has Thunderbolt, I don't there is any way to do it.
2-With thunderbolt, an external chassis and proper cables can make the physical connection, but there my be no Windows driver that works.
3-Even though I am a PC guy, I am reluctant to recommend any windows laptop(in favor of a properly configured MacBook Pro).
4-why do you feel you need HDX? Modern native rigs are more than capable of serious(IOW, "pro") production in most cases.
5-For me, the only reason to use a laptop is for portability and adding a chassis for the HDX card, plus a Digilink interface seems counter-productive(again, that's only my opinion)

I ran a commercial studio in Nashville for several years with an HDN card in a Windows desktop and did plenty of full-blown productions for commercial release and never felt I was cheated(or that I was cheating clients). Its important to have realistic expectations before you rush out and buy lots of stuff(especially if its because somebody told you that you need that). Food for thought

You are reluctant to recommend any Windows Laptop in favor of a properly configured Macbook Pro? WTF? I'd favor any properly specced Windows Laptop over a Macbook Pro...

Yes my Laptop has Thunderbolt 3 and with Thunderbolt 3, there shouldn't be any drivers as with Thunderbolt 2, it should be a straight forward PCI-E transmition of the installed card but I haven't read any experience reports on this.

I've used Macs for years since the G5 up to two following Intel models (2008 and 2010) but right now and switched back to Windows because not only the OS is superior to MacOS but also the cooling of good Windows laptops, upgradabilty such as Ram and HDD as well as some other features as well as a proper Thunderbolt 3 port with all lanes for that very connection, which Macbook Pro's don't even have integrated.

But you are right, the machine is enough powerful by itself but I'd need it for latency free tracking so it'd be nice to hook it up to an external chassis and run it on my Razer Laptop. Have you heard about anybody doing it?

[Darryl Ramm]

Nothing works without drivers. Thunderbolt 2 or 3 is irrelevant. You have to know that the HDX drivers on Windows support getting to PCIe via Thunderbolt... do they? (I have no idea).

MacOS but also the cooling of good Windows laptops, upgradabilty such as Ram and HDD as well as some other features as well as a proper Thunderbolt 3 port with all lanes for that very connection, which Macbook Pro's don't even have integrated.

What are you talking about? The MacBook Pros have dual Thunderbolt 3 busses, fully connected to PCIe3 via the same Intel Titan Ridge chip that similar PC designs will use.

The problem that many of us have on DUC with recommending Windows laptops is so many of them have had issues in the past. And there is such a diversity of configs. If you know great Windows laptops that work with Pro Tools very well then maybe you should be recommending them here.

[JCBigler]

Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm

The problem that many of us have on DUC with recommending Windows laptops is so many of them have had issues in the past. And there is such a diversity of configs. If you know great Windows laptops that work with Pro Tools very well then maybe you should be recommending them here.

My Lenovo P50 with Windows 10 Pro has a Thunderbolt 3 port and the Intel Alpine Ridge Thunderbolt Controller, and works wonderfully with the HD Native Thunderbolt box. I use the Apple TB3 to TB2 adapter hitch work without issue also. Ialso have a 34mm Express card slot whInch presumably will work with the appropriate Express card to a PCIe adapter.

Assuming you could find an external Thunderbolt 3 to PCIe chassis, expect it to work fine with with the HDX cards as well. The problem that I am aware of with the Sonnet Tech Chassis is that it doesn’t work with the Avid cards on either Windows or Mac with the TB3 version. But they say that the TB2 version does.

Magma says that their TB2 expansion chassis will work with Windows 7/8 and Avid cards. I would expect that they will work with Windows 10 also, since Win10 includes TB drivers as part of the OS.

[pbthias]

... in my experience the TB2 chassis should also work with a TB3 to TB2 adapter...

Slightly related tale from the lab:
I once had 1 hour while building a HDX system with the Sonnet Chassis for a customer. Just for fun I put an old TDM Core PCIe card into it, installed Pro Tools 10HD on a Win 7 Bootcamp Installation (Macbook 2012).
And it worked. No longer testing though. But yeah, I had it running and recording for a few minutes.