NEW -> Pro Tools | Carbon Pre

[K Roche]

Originally Posted by BScout

I'd say that is street price since that's what Vintage King is listing it for.

According to the PT Expert blog that was the price announced a AES so I'm guessing (do not know) it's the MSRP

[BScout]

Pro Tools | Carbon supports up to two Pro Tools | Carbon Pre interfaces for up to 24 mic/line inputs and 24 line outputs

From:
https://www.avid.com/products/pro-tools-carbon/specs

The confusing point is: "2 AVB Ethernet ports for Pro Tools | Carbon I/O expansion" under Carbon Pre

Meanwhile for using ADAT expansion:
https://avid.secure.force.com/pkb/ar...Configurations

So are the AVB ports being used or not on the Carbon Pre? (Or is this a case of a half-finished product being released and they didn't get the AVB to work as expansion?)

[K Roche]

Originally Posted by Matt Hepworth

I don't know what I'm missing, but it looks like it's not really an expansion, just a new take on AVID/Digi PRE? Still limited to 24 inputs with Carbon-based system just like a current Carbon. Am I missing something? Does it actually increase the Carbon I/O, or just replace some I/O with more pres?

Everything I see looks like it's the latter...

I think you are correct It is simply a way to get either 8 more or 16 more Pre's (adding a second one) into the total of 24 channels It also does not increase the HDX chip count so still just the 8 on the original Carbon
But I am wondering if being AVB it will allow 16 or 24 channels to be at higher than 48k which is the limit with additional 16 ADAT channels

[eightamrock]

Are the Carbon preamps really that good or is the idea that everything is software controllable really the attraction?

[JFreak]

Originally Posted by eightamrock

Are the Carbon preamps really that good or is the idea that everything is software controllable really the attraction?

Yes and yes.

[LDS]

Originally Posted by dominicperry

The Carbon Guide has the following table for AVB config:

• 28x56 (44.1–96 kHz)
• 56x56 (44.1–96 kHz)
• 56x84 (44.1–96 kHz)
• 28x42 (44.1-192 kHz)
• 28x56 / 14x14 (44.1-192 kHz)
• 42x56 / 14x14 (44.1-192 kHz)

So, how many can we chain to get 56 in and 84 out? Probably Carbon + 2 Pres ?
It's a shame they didn't add some more headphone outs but I guess once you get past 4, headphone distribution is probably needed anyway.

Dominic

But how much DSP is in the Carbon? 64 inputs and 4 headphone sends will pretty easily bring a whole HDX card to its knees, before even adding plugins.

[dominicperry]

Well at the moment I’m struggling with putting just 8 channels in and out of DSP mode, taking 5 or 6 minutes, so 56 channels will take nearly an hour.
It does seem a bit strange not to put some more DSP in the second box. $2000 (assuming some discount) is a lot for 8 mic pres and some extra ADAT ports.

Dominic

[trimix]

Originally Posted by BScout

From:
https://www.avid.com/products/pro-tools-carbon/specs

The confusing point is: "2 AVB Ethernet ports for Pro Tools | Carbon I/O expansion" under Carbon Pre

Meanwhile for using ADAT expansion:
https://avid.secure.force.com/pkb/ar...Configurations

So are the AVB ports being used or not on the Carbon Pre? (Or is this a case of a half-finished product being released and they didn't get the AVB to work as expansion?)

The AVB ports on the new Pre will work when attached to Carbon as an additional 8 i/o over AVB, up to a limit of two Pres chained to one Carbon. They will also work as a stand-alone AVB core audio interface when attached directly to an AVB capable Mac. The ADAT connectors on the Pre will not work as additional i/o for Carbon, they are just a mirror of the AVB signal for use with non-AVB systems like HDX or an off the shelf ADAT interface.

[LDS]

Originally Posted by dominicperry

Well at the moment I’m struggling with putting just 8 channels in and out of DSP mode, taking 5 or 6 minutes, so 56 channels will take nearly an hour.
It does seem a bit strange not to put some more DSP in the second box. $2000 (assuming some discount) is a lot for 8 mic pres and some extra ADAT ports.

Dominic

I don't really see why they called it the 'Carbon Pre', other than clearly just opening the Carbon design files and deleting the DSP, monitoring section and headphone amps. They should have called it something more ambiguous like the Avid PreX...

This feels like a very awkward product release that tries to give Carbon users the expandability they've asked for, while directly revealing that Carbon users will never be able to have the true expandability they've asked for.

[eightamrock]

Originally Posted by dominicperry

Well at the moment I’m struggling with putting just 8 channels in and out of DSP mode, taking 5 or 6 minutes, so 56 channels will take nearly an hour.
It does seem a bit strange not to put some more DSP in the second box. $2000 (assuming some discount) is a lot for 8 mic pres and some extra ADAT ports.

Dominic

Hi, so I also have this problem when certain plugins are turned on, particularly on the master channel.

Are you by chance using the SoundID plugin from Sonarworks? That one in particular I find to jam up my DSP when its on the master insert.

If I disable all plugins on my master channel before enabling/disabling DSP the problem goes away.