m-powered protools max 14 channels of 96khz

[ciank]

I recently purchased a m-audio profire 2626, protools m-powered, music production toolkit 2, and a bunch of other software and hardware. Having read the blurb on the m-audio website product page for the 2626: "96kHz and 18 x 18 I/O maximum with Pro Tools M-Powered", I believed that my particular combination would give me 16-track recording at 96khz, with the capability to add two more.

Sadly I have discovered like others that in fact the 96khz limit is 12 channels, or 14 if you do some twiddling with inputs. I note that the m-audio website text has been changed recently to say: "Pro Tools M-Powered supports a maximum of 18 x 18 I/O at 44.1 or 48kHz, and a max of 14 x 14 I/O at 88.2 or 96kHz. Pro Tools M-Powered does not support sample rates above 96kHz".

At least new prospective purchasers are now being given the correct information, and the misleading advertising has been removed. However I feel a bit peeved because if I now opt to upgrade to a solution that will give me what I want, I have to ditch my investment in some or all of this stuff.

In browsing this forum and that of m-audio, I note that the official story differs between avid and m-audio, as to whether this is a limitation of adat protocol (Avid position - so how do other DAWs manage it), or a failure by Protools to support mux. Neither of these positions are consistent with the actuality; if so I would expect a limit of 10 inputs (8 analog, and 2 spdif).

I am posting this in both forums with the invitation for the company representatives (it is one company after all) to ask the questions:

What is the real reason for this limitation?
Will the 14 channels continue to be supported?
Will Protools m-powered be capable of dealing with adat/mux any time soon?

[Dism]

Originally Posted by ciank

I recently purchased a m-audio profire 2626, protools m-powered, music production toolkit 2, and a bunch of other software and hardware. Having read the blurb on the m-audio website product page for the 2626: "96kHz and 18 x 18 I/O maximum with Pro Tools M-Powered", I believed that my particular combination would give me 16-track recording at 96khz, with the capability to add two more.

Sadly I have discovered like others that in fact the 96khz limit is 12 channels, or 14 if you do some twiddling with inputs. I note that the m-audio website text has been changed recently to say: "Pro Tools M-Powered supports a maximum of 18 x 18 I/O at 44.1 or 48kHz, and a max of 14 x 14 I/O at 88.2 or 96kHz. Pro Tools M-Powered does not support sample rates above 96kHz".

At least new prospective purchasers are now being given the correct information, and the misleading advertising has been removed. However I feel a bit peeved because if I now opt to upgrade to a solution that will give me what I want, I have to ditch my investment in some or all of this stuff.

In browsing this forum and that of m-audio, I note that the official story differs between avid and m-audio, as to whether this is a limitation of adat protocol (Avid position - so how do other DAWs manage it), or a failure by Protools to support mux. Neither of these positions are consistent with the actuality; if so I would expect a limit of 10 inputs (8 analog, and 2 spdif).

I am posting this in both forums with the invitation for the company representatives (it is one company after all) to ask the questions:

What is the real reason for this limitation?
Will the 14 channels continue to be supported?
Will Protools m-powered be capable of dealing with adat/mux any time soon?

The "real" reason for the limitation... good luck getting that out of an Avid rep.

The reason it goes down from 18 to 14, is because of supposed ADAT limitations. 8 channels at 48k, 4 channels at 96k. So if you track at 48k (which most people do), you can get the full 18 channels. Tracking at 96k is pretty unnecessary unless you are using the recordings for a hi def source. If you're going to CD... tracking at 96k is a waste of disk space. In any case, 18/14 should continue to be supported for as long as you're using a 2626 with M-P.

Not sure what you mean by "dealing with ADAT/mux."