Complete Toolkit for PT8

[NfoRcErX]

Much like many other users, I am really excited about PT8 coming soon and the new LE Complete Production Toolkit! I think the possibility to do a 5.1/6.1/7.1 mix at home sounds like a great ability! The thing is, the more I've been thinking about it, I'm starting to wonder exactly how much of a blessing it really is going to be once it arrives and had a few questions that others might be able to answer or at least deliberate with me to figure out exactly how to approach this.

First off, The ability to mix 7.1 requires the user to monitor 7.1, and how could I do this on an LE system other than the 003+ ? Is there going to be some sort of LE Optical breakout box to send a multichannel mix out realtime where another box would send to individual speakers? Has anyone from digi already addressed this and I simply missed it? It sounds like a big draw of an ability, but if I can't monitor a surround mix, I definitely wouldn't want to do work, have to encode to dolby/dts/lpcm just to burn a DVD and then test it continuously.

Second, Is there going to be any upgrade options for the Complete Production Toolkit much like DV Toolkit 1 to DV Toolkit 2? Since over half of the stuff in CPT is already owned by DVT2 Owners, it makes sense for them to pay less than the $2,000 full price to get the added benefits without having to purchase another full copy of the toolkit.

Third, has Digi announced (or does any other company offer, for that matter) any additional products to allow LE users to do surround panning? My school has some different systems with the control boards with a surround panner directly incorporated, and that's nice, but for a home system, it'd be nice to get just that device to accompany a Command|8 or 002/003 console.

I've tried surfing the web and reading all the documentation/sales and pricing figures I can find and it appears there isn't a plan for an upgrade path for Toolkit owners and I've yet to see exactly how the Surround Monitoring in LE is supposed to work. On paper, the surround addition to LE systems sounds great, I'm just having a hard time figuring how I will be able to set up a surround matrix let alone mix.

If anyone knows or has an idea of how it will work, I definitely appreciate any insight!

Thanks

[albee1952]

First off, you are correct that you will need an 002 or 003 to have the outputs required so none of the Mbox products will handle the surround outputs.

Second, I believe there is a fairly priced upgrade and I seem to remember a $695 price but don't quote me on that.

Third, none that I have seen but it sure would be nice. Maybe it could be part of a replacement for the aging Command8. I keep asking for a Command16 with 16 faders so maybe a surround panner option could be another new product. We can dream....

[sbag]

+1 for updating the C8 to 16 fader>
and the c8 still goes for $1150.00 > Wow