What do I need to upgrade from HD Native to HDX?

[snowplaysmusic]

I have Pro Tools 2022.07 Flex perpetual with active subscription, an HD IO, and the HD Native PCIe card on Windows. What do I need for HDX? Is it as simple as replacing the HD card with an HDX?

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by snowplaysmusic

I have Pro Tools 2022.07 Flex perpetual with active subscription, an HD IO, and the HD Native PCIe card on Windows. What do I need for HDX? Is it as simple as replacing the HD card with an HDX?

Yep pretty much. Read and follow install directions, be sure to use the correct internal power supply cable. Firmware updates etc. but that should happen automatically.

Maybe take the chance to check all your plugins are up to date and if any 3rd party vendors charge more for AAX-DSP versions of plugins you want to use as HDX/DSP then purchase those upgrades.

Is a single HDX card enough DSP for you? I think I've pointed this out before for you. Folks can be disappointed when they find out they needs more cards. Hybrid engine helps of course.

[snowplaysmusic]

Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm

Yep pretty much. Read and follow install directions, be sure to use the correct internal power supply cable. Firmware updates etc. but that should happen automatically.

Maybe take the chance to check all your plugins are up to date and if any 3rd party vendors charge more for AAX-DSP versions of plugins you want to use as HDX/DSP then purchase those upgrades.

Is a single HDX card enough DSP for you? I think I've pointed this out before for you. Folks can be disappointed when they find out they needs more cards. Hybrid engine helps of course.

Thank you Darryl. It's real cool that you're here. I'm still processing your message in the other thread. OK great, thank you. I think a single card might be enough for now. I am discovering that I may be moving OTB and more into a live sound / studio hybrid situation. I think I just want HDX to get the mix engine on the card, take strain off the CPU, get the system more reliable, and have the true low latency during tracking. I'm planning to do as little plug-ins as possible, but it'll be nice to have some (mostly stock) AAX-DSP for processing. But generally this is to get the mix engine off the CPU and not have to worry about buffer size when tracking and monitoring.

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by snowplaysmusic

Thank you Darryl. It's real cool that you're here. I'm still processing your message in the other thread. OK great, thank you. I think a single card might be enough for now. I am discovering that I may be moving OTB and more into a live sound / studio hybrid situation. I think I just want HDX to get the mix engine on the card, take strain off the CPU,...

OK and that's the opposite of hybrid engine. Where the mixer runs native. You can find discussions and documentation about how much HDX resources the mixer takes... certainly remember folks in the past being surprised just mixing consuming a singe card. But it's sounding like you are not running large sessions?

If all you are facing is stability problems system that are grossly out of whack from what you should get with a powerful PC you might find that adding HDX is just as unstable. So hopefully you can find a dealer or somebody who will let you test and possibly return the card if it does not help or makes things worse.

[snowplaysmusic]

Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm

OK and that's the opposite of hybrid engine. Where the mixer runs native. You can find discussions and documentation about how much HDX resources the mixer takes... certainly remember folks in the past being surprised just mixing consuming a singe card. But it's sounding like you are not running large sessions?

If all you are facing is stability problems system that are grossly out of whack from what you should get with a powerful PC you might find that adding HDX is just as unstable. So hopefully you can find a dealer or somebody who will let you test and possibly return the card if it does not help or makes things worse.

Well I thought with the new hybrid engine that one can use a single HDX card for tracking (limited by the onboard DSP and track count) and then mix with native resources. I have to review all this. I will find a local dealer so I can return the card, good idea.

[albee1952]

What kind of issues are you having with HD/Native? I spent 3 years tracking full bands with HDN in an old-ish HP z820 tower(dual 6-core XEONs @3.5GHz and 64GB of RAM). Up to 32 live inputs, 6 stereo headphone sends, several dozen plugins at a 64 buffer. I agree with Darryl that system problems are not likely to go away and you should work to solve the issues before you drop a few grand on the HDX card.

First step; Post a Sandra report on the computer (https://sisoft-sandra-lite.en.softonic.com/)

[Darryl Ramm]

Dave there are other threads touching on the problems. Looks like he tried lots of stuff but the details were never fleshed out on DUC. Pity because it's a massive AMD Threadripper system and it would be good to see those running well (I'm hugely impressed by Threadripper and EPYC platforms for technical work, just don't run Pro Tools on a Threadripper box myself).

[albee1952]

Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm

Dave there are other threads touching on the problems. Looks like he tried lots of stuff but the details were never fleshed out on DUC. Pity because it's a massive AMD Threadripper system and it would be good to see those running well (I'm hugely impressed by Threadripper and EPYC platforms for technical work, just don't run Pro Tools on a Threadripper box myself).

Interesting. In that case, I would think paying for HDX is not likely to solve the problems. If only folks would keep everything together in one thread.....