old studio with ProTools HD 10, Digidesign 192, and Mac Pro 3.1/4.1/5.1

[bartlomiej.mroz@pg.edu.pl]

Hello there,

First and foremost, I am very sorry if I am posting to the wrong sub-forum. In my excuse, I am getting driven nuts trying to figure out the system I happened to get thrown into, whlist I am completely new with MacOS and Pro Tools...

As the topic states, I "inherited" an old recording studio equipped with two Mac Pros (3.1 and 4.1); the currently working one is the former, and I have the latter as a backup/sandbox. I am planning on upgrading the 4.1 to 5.1, since it does not make any difference hardware-like and opens some new possibilities (from what I read here).

However, I also have Pro Tools HD 10 license (upgraded from Pro Tools HD 8) working with Digidesign 192 interfaces, connected to the Digidesign HD Accel cards. What I can't find a definitive answer to:

1. if I could upgrade my PT license to 11-12 versions (therefore, I could use newer macOS - and not 10.8 which I have now)
2. if it makes sense in my case, considering the Digidesign cards and interfaces (I read contradictory info regarding the support for them, but probably I should stick to PT 10 as written here)
3. where on Earth to I find "System ID" -- which seems to be somewhat helpful in finding answers to some of my questions (all my Avid products have empty field in the "System ID" column)
4. how can I contact Avid so I could ask them directly

I think that would be it. Sorry for this long and a bit chaotic post, but I am getting desperate for help.

Thank you in advance for all your consideration

[tope d]

Originally Posted by bartlomiej.mroz@pg.edu.pl

Hello there,

First and foremost, I am very sorry if I am posting to the wrong sub-forum. In my excuse, I am getting driven nuts trying to figure out the system I happened to get thrown into, whlist I am completely new with MacOS and Pro Tools...

As the topic states, I "inherited" an old recording studio equipped with two Mac Pros (3.1 and 4.1); the currently working one is the former, and I have the latter as a backup/sandbox. I am planning on upgrading the 4.1 to 5.1, since it does not make any difference hardware-like and opens some new possibilities (from what I read here).

However, I also have Pro Tools HD 10 license (upgraded from Pro Tools HD 8) working with Digidesign 192 interfaces, connected to the Digidesign HD Accel cards. What I can't find a definitive answer to:

1. if I could upgrade my PT license to 11-12 versions (therefore, I could use newer macOS - and not 10.8 which I have now)
2. if it makes sense in my case, considering the Digidesign cards and interfaces (I read contradictory info regarding the support for them, but probably I should stick to PT 10 as written here)
3. where on Earth to I find "System ID" -- which seems to be somewhat helpful in finding answers to some of my questions (all my Avid products have empty field in the "System ID" column)
4. how can I contact Avid so I could ask them directly

I think that would be it. Sorry for this long and a bit chaotic post, but I am getting desperate for help.

Thank you in advance for all your consideration

Hi There!

Can you give more info on your Macs's specs so we can check what possible updates are possible with your Pro Tools and system?

Thank you,
-Tope

[Darryl Ramm]

Your Pro Tools HD TDM hardware is not supported past Pro Tools 10. Unless you are familiar with these TDM systems and especially need the low latency monitoring through plugins they offer you are likely better off leaving this, maybe selling the TDM cards, 192 IO, and possibly Macs.

What are you trying to achieve? What type of music/bands are you trying to record? Do you have all the other gear, Microphones? Mic stands? Preamps? Monitors/Speakers? Headphones? Outboard gear? Room treatment? Etc. etc. there can be a lot of value in that. What is your budget? If you are totally getting started and know nothing about Pro Tools and DAWs you are almost certainly better off just buying a new Apple Silicon Mac and a CoreAudio interface and using the latest Pro Tools, even the free Intro product or other DAW.

Do you need the expensive HD software and to be paying more to upgrade that? Many of the HD features are now in the Studio Product. Or if you want to run Pro Tools 11 or 12 and are careful you can buy a used license… for HD or the standard version (if not using TDM and you don’t need the software features). If you buy a different interface you need to make sure it has Intel drivers for your macOS version.

You can upgrade the old Cheesegrater, add NVMe SSD on PCIe cards, add more memory, upgrade the CPUs if they need it, upgrade macOS a lot, and these were nice flexible macs in their day… but then you are stuck on the going away Intel platform. So is it worth the effort, esp. vs selling this gear now while it has some value and starting over.

If you had a studio with rooms that already ran old Cheesegrater with TDM systems and wanted to expand/have spares, or you had uses TDM a lot these systems and wanted what you were used to before, then it could make sense to keep.