ProTools 10 compatibility with Focusrite ISA ONE digital card

[pipepro]

Hi,

I have the Focusrite ISA ONE and I would like to know if the digital A/C card it has works as a third party interface to record with the new ProTools 10.

Anyone knows???

[nst7]

It doesn't work as an interface. Your best option is to get a cheap interface with a digital input and hook it up to that.

[panamajack]

Originally Posted by pipepro

...[concerning] the Focusrite ISA ONE...[will its] digital [A/D] card...work as a third party interface to record with the new ProTools 10?

If you are using a Mac Pro, you can run PT10 using only the built-in audio. Because the Mac Pro includes optical SPDIF I/O, you could connect the optical SPDIF out from the digital option of the ISA ONE (via TOSLINK connector) directly to the Mac Pro. You will have very limited I/O, but if a pair of input and a pair of output is all you require (for instance, if you want to do location recording of a soloist), it is possible to connect the ISA ONE directly to the Mac Pro without any interface other than the built-in audio. You would take the Mac Pro's analog line out and route it back to the external input on the ISA ONE to monitor any existing tracks, and disable the ISA ONE's "cue mix" to eliminate latency. In this mode, you can only record one channel.

Your input would be limited to 96KHz, even though the ISA ONE can do A/D conversion as high as 192. This is a limitation of the Mac Pro's optical port.

A dedicated interface would provide you with much more flexibility, but maybe if you are only recording a single acoustical instrument this would be adequate.