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  #1  
Old 09-10-2022, 04:59 PM
ZerglingPhilosophy ZerglingPhilosophy is offline
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Default Are there any downsides to upgrading to HDX from HD Native

Aside from cost? This question is coming after the "hybrid engine" updates which seemed to open new doors for HDX in 2022.
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Old 09-10-2022, 05:25 PM
Darryl Ramm Darryl Ramm is offline
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Default Re: Are there any downsides to upgrading to HDX from HD Native

Cost. Forced lock into DigiLink interfaces. Reliance on HDX PCIe cards and associated hassles, including some compatibility, driver and support challenges that Avid has been going though on Mac. Lock in to Pro Tools Ultimate and associated costs. Unclear long term future/support for HDX from Avid (HDX card is old, Avid is terrible about articulating any roadmap).

Reverse question. Do you really need/want it? It will really help with tracking vs. what you have now? Own a serious studio, charging serious money, got engineers, producers and talent walking in that might expect Pro Tools zero latency monitoring/plugins... go for it.

Last edited by Darryl Ramm; 09-10-2022 at 05:43 PM.
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Old 09-13-2022, 08:42 AM
ZerglingPhilosophy ZerglingPhilosophy is offline
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Default Re: Are there any downsides to upgrading to HDX from HD Native

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Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm View Post
Cost. Forced lock into DigiLink interfaces.
I thought HD Native locks you into DigiLink too.
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Old 09-13-2022, 08:59 AM
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albee1952 albee1952 is offline
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Default Re: Are there any downsides to upgrading to HDX from HD Native

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Originally Posted by ZerglingPhilosophy View Post
I thought HD Native locks you into DigiLink too.
It does, but the more important question is; do you NEED HDX? A well-spec'd HDN system should be able to do over 100 tracks without issue. What do you feel you are missing? The biggest advantage of HDX is the ultra-low latency for tracking, but having said that, I tracked full bands on an HDN rig and never heard a single complaint about latency(with a 64 buffer and careful use of several dozen plugins so max ADC was between 4 and 11 samples). The downside is the price of admission. Unlike some, I am quite happy with digilink. And I can't think of any hit song that became a hit because of the interface
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Old 09-13-2022, 09:06 AM
Darryl Ramm Darryl Ramm is offline
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Default Re: Are there any downsides to upgrading to HDX from HD Native

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Originally Posted by ZerglingPhilosophy View Post
I thought HD Native locks you into DigiLink too.
Not if you replace HD Native with ASIO or CoreAudio hardware, and maybe replace Ultimate with Studio at the same time. Digilink is rapidly not making any sense, especially at the low end, unless you *need* HDX.
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Old 09-27-2022, 08:25 PM
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jeff markham jeff markham is offline
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Default Re: Are there any downsides to upgrading to HDX from HD Native

IMHO, you need to assess what you need from your rig and
what you need it to do.

There will always be pressure to upgrade to the latest, greatest
interface path from whatever DAW path you choose.

What I always ask myself is, "if I choose never to upgrade again,
what will I be losing? Can I continue to do what I do without
that latest software version and the latest hardware?"

There's so much parity in the audio workstation market, the
answer is almost entirely "yes, I could make it work without
the latest stuff from vendor X".

In the specific, HDX will give you hardware assisted plugins for those
plugins that support it. Native gives you no hardware assist.

The counter argument to HDX is that multi-core, hyper pipelined CPUs
have made the delta between hardware and software a decision of
whether to upgrade your compute platform rather than throw money
at hardware DSP. The hardware DSP is a fixed quantity .. it will never
get faster while your core CPU can be upgraded at scale. Zero latency
becomes almost moot at a 256 sample buffer if your system can
support it. If it doesn't, getting more capable compute host is (imho)
a better investment than buying into a DSP platform that is guaranteed
not to scale.

I am a long time HD / TDM user who has a HD Native and I personally
feel no need for HDX.

If I was a post house running hundreds of tracks, I might feel different.
There HDX makes a difference because if you have a lot of tracks at 96KhZ,
HDX is a good way to go. You might need to push the plugins back
to the hardware just due to processing bandwidth CPU pipeline.

I don't have that problem

jeff

Last edited by jeff markham; 09-27-2022 at 09:16 PM.
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