Two Separate HDX Systems-One Set Of I/O

[Carl Lie]

Hello Avid Community:

I hope you all are doing well. While working slowly to move older projects on my old cheese grater to my macbook pro I'm in a situation where I have two separate HDx systems (MacPro and Laptop) and one main i/o setup in my studio.

I wondering if any of you know of a way to switch out the HDX cable to the primary i/o without crawling around in the back and doing by hand.

Not a super big deal but curious as I know there are a lot of bright people on this forum.

Thanks and be well.

Carl

[its2loud]

Do you mean the DigiLink cable?

How is the HDX card for the MacBook connected vs. the HDX card for the MacPro?

Why do you need both connected and what’s your IO hardware?

[Carl Lie]

Originally Posted by its2loud

Do you mean the DigiLink cable?

How is the HDX card for the MacBook connected vs. the HDX card for the MacPro?

Why do you need both connected and what’s your IO hardware?

Yes. The Digilink cable. With Mac Pro, HDx card is internal. With the MBP, card is external in a TB enclosure.

I don't need them both connected at the same time. I have two Avid HD 16 x16 I/O.

Thanks for asking.

[its2loud]

Originally Posted by Carl Lie

Yes. The Digilink cable. With Mac Pro, HDx card is internal. With the MBP, card is external in a TB enclosure.

I don't need them both connected at the same time. I have two Avid HD 16 x16 I/O.

Thanks for asking.

Just use the HDX card in the TB enclosure for both machines. No need for the HDX card in the Mac Pro. Simply plug the TB enclosure into whichever computer you're using at the time.

[JFreak]

Originally Posted by its2loud

Just use the HDX card in the TB enclosure for both machines. No need for the HDX card in the Mac Pro. Simply plug the TB enclosure into whichever computer you're using at the time.

This.

Because this DigiLink protocol is 1:1 and you will otherwise always need more gear or more cable switching.

Just be sure to power off existing system before powering on the one you are going to be using. That guarantees proper boot sequencing in the interface(s).

[Carl Lie]

Awesome. Thanks to you both. Any brands that come to mind for a card that I can put into the Mac Pro for TB?

Looks like Sonnet makes one. I figured that mac was so old there was nothing I could do with it.

Really appreciate the advice!

C

[LDS]

If your Mac Pro doesn't have thunderbolt, a thunderbolt enclosure isn't going to help. People have added thunderbolt AIC cards to 5,1 Mac Pros. There is nothing plug-and-play though. It's a hack that requires some google research.

You **might** be able to do something with the cabling to make it more accessible? Avid made digilink to mini-digilink adapters in all kinds of directions, for connecting HD I/O to old TDM systems, or 192s to newer HDX cards, etc. Perhaps an interesting combination of Digilink and Mini-digilink cabling and adapters might allow you to re-patch cables on the desktop rather than in the back of the rack?

The ultimate/easiest solution would be to buy a DAD/MTRX digilink-equipped interface. You can set the two digilink ports to Pri/Pri and just leave both HDX rigs plugged in...