TDM vs rtas processing?

[koka]

Im in the mood to buy McDSP Emerald pack native 1400US. But just wonder are there any sound difference between TDM and rtas plugins. ML4000 especialy?

I try demos and was supprised with sound quality of these plugs.With zero latency ?How is it possible?

[Phil Jeffers]

The TDM mix engine should have higher fidelity with its 32Bit mix engine. The actual plug-in quality shouldn't be any different. I know this to be true for Waves and UAD plugs (Waves confirmed this to me). You may want to check with McDSP though.

[CME]

TDM are for Pro Tools HD only and run on the process cards. RTAS can be used on both HD and LE/MP but run on the computers cpu. So unless you have PTHD you don't need/can't use the TDM plugs, which are usually more $. As far as differences in sound, I believe they are negligible if non existent in most instances, with the 24-bit vs. 32-bit operation being the biggest difference.

[tele_player]

The TDM mix engine should have higher fidelity with its 32Bit mix engine. The actual plug-in quality shouldn't be any different. I know this to be true for Waves and UAD plugs (Waves confirmed this to me). You may want to check with McDSP though.

TDM uses a 48-bit integer mixer. ProTools LE uses 32-bit floating point.