Several questions about audio in PC.

[Julien Apruzzese]

Hi everyone,

it's been a very long time since i have not been here and i greet everyone i know.

Since i started, i worked only with Mac and Protools HD. The communication between the audio hardware and the software is done through the TDM bus allowing very little latence. We don't use here the Core Audio protocole from Apple. So over the last 10 years, i have not really paid attention to how the communication is for Protools LE on Mac and PC.

Here are some questions :

- on Mac, when i listen iTunes through my DA (like an DA-16X), how is sound transmitted ? Via Core Audio ? Is there a difference between listening the same Wave file through iTunes and through Protools ? In others words, between listening through Core Audio and TDM Bus.

- on PC, when i listen iTunes through my Focal XS 2.1 system USB-connected , how is sound transmitted ? Via Directsound ? Via ASIO ? Is there a difference between listening the same Wave file with iTunes on Mac and with iTunes on PC (always using the same Focal XS 2.1 system USB-connected) ?

- can i use Protools 9 LE only with my Focal system connected by USB ? Same answer for Mac and PC ? Can i only buy the Protools 9 LE software (without any Avid hardware) ?

Thank you for helping me understand better what is happening internally.

Regards.

P.S. : i have Windows 7.

[Julien Apruzzese]

Nobody to discuss about this subject ?

[albee1952]

"can i use Protools 9 LE only with my Focal system connected by USB ? Same answer for Mac and PC ? Can i only buy the Protools 9 LE software (without any Avid hardware) ?"

You can use Pro Tools with almost ANY hardware that will work with an ASIO driver(PC) or core audio(Mac). Checkout airusersblog.com for a pretty serious list of interfaces that are known to work(or NOT work) with PT9. If you use the Focal system(I assume it to be monitors?) you may be able to play back, but you may not have any inputs(on a Mac, you can likely aggregate devices and use the Focal as the output/audio engine, and use the Mac's input), but I am not a Mac user so can't comment on how realistic that is. There are lots of known-working interfaces, so, why not get one and patch the Focal speakers via analog or SPDIF(not sure what they offer for connections).