Pro Tools Interface

[c0m3t0g3th3r]

A few months ago I finally purchased pro tools. I'd been saving for quite a while and I was very excited. I was very displeased to learn that I had been misinformed by a friend. My friend told me that all pro tools software included an interface. Of course I just bought the software and now I don't have an interface. I've been saving and now I finally get to pick an interface out. I'm not exactly rolling in cash at the moment so my limit is about 200 dollars. I am using a Mac OS X Version 10.5.7. I have Pro Tools M-Powered. I just need a small interface to record my guitar and vocals. Right now I am looking at the M-Audio Fast Track USB interface. Would this interface work well with my set up? Any help would be greatly appreciated and any suggestions are welcome.

[mindnoise]

Your friend did obviously not know the diference between Pro Tools MP and LE.
LE comes with an interface included.

As for your interface, any M-Audio interface will do!

But your friend also did not know that PT needs and external FireWire Harddisk,
or secend internal Harddisk to really work well.
And if you opt for an external HD, the case REQUIRES an Oxford 9xx (912, 924) chispset.
owc.com has some good HD cases.

Recording to the interal System harddsik is NOT recommended."
It will work for some time but you will run into trouble over time,
since OS X has a lot of disk I/O running in the background.

sorry for increasing you disappointment even more.

best
m.

[Eric Seaberg]

I agree with mindnoise... if you can do with a couple of inputs stick with a USB interface, but look for an external drive. I'd recommend something like this http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other.../MS4U7250GB16/. It's got the right Oxford chipset and at 7200 RPM won't slow you down with data transfers.

G'luck!

[c0m3t0g3th3r]

Thanks guys. Unfortunately, I don't have an extra $100 to shell out on a hard drive. What exactly will happen if I don't get one?

[Eric Seaberg]

Originally Posted by c0m3t0g3th3r

Thanks guys. Unfortunately, I don't have an extra $100 to shell out on a hard drive. What exactly will happen if I don't get one?

You'll most likely have a lot of DAE errors saying something like the drive may be fragmented or is too slow.

[mindnoise]

... and a ridiculously low track count (4 or so). And more trouble if your system drive fills more than 50% (search Apple Hot-File-Adaptive-Clustering).

Depending on what equipment you already have, like guitar or microphone preamplifier to bring your signal to HiFi Level an M-Audio Transit will do the job, too.
Costing $75 new or even less used. It has a really good sound quality and can accept dynamic microphones, too.

This would free the resources for a second drive.

PS:
the whole problem comes down to how PT handles recording. While other DAW Software just write to disk buffer regardlessly if the disk can keep up with the incoming data, giving you clicks and glitches in your perfect perfromance. PT makes sure every bit of signal that is coming is exactly written to disk as it comes in. So the disk will need to keep up the speed ALL the time.
With a stereo 24bit recording (always record in 24 bit with the level meters peak half way up the scale) in CD quality the problem is of course less troubling thant 16 tracks at DVD-Audio Quality).

[c0m3t0g3th3r]

So using an M-Audio Transit interface would serve as the recording interface and work so that I wouldn't have to purchase another drive?

[mindnoise]

no,

but spending $75 for a transit instead of $149 for a Fasttrack would leave you enough budget to buy a drive.

But the Transit can only accept Line Level Input or Dynamic Mircophones.
While the FastTrack has Instrument Level and Line Level (HiFi) Inputs and supports Condensor Mircrophones.

But if you already have microphone and guitar preamplifiers you don´t need the FastTrack features, anyway.