Avid Pro Audio Community

Avid Pro Audio Community

How to Join & Post  •  Community Terms of Use  •  Help Us Help You

Knowledge Base Search  •  Community Search  •  Learn & Support


Avid Home Page

Go Back   Avid Pro Audio Community > Pro Tools Hardware > Pro Tools HDX & HD Native Systems (Mac)

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
  #1  
Old 04-24-2022, 07:40 PM
LukeHoward LukeHoward is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Melbourne
Posts: 1,233
Default New DAD interfaces

No DigiLink, but lots of other goodies: up to eight (AX64) instead of six (AX32) analogue cards; super low latency Thunderbolt; ADAT, Dante and Pro|Mon as standard.

https://www.digitalaudio.dk/page2118...ordid2118=1185
__________________
https://lukehoward.com/
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 04-24-2022, 07:51 PM
BScout BScout is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Posts: 4,141
Default Re: New DAD interfaces

I am concerned what no backwards compatibility for future cards means (and the MTRX.) In essence, the AX64 means the end of the AX32 for DAD but does that mean no further development for the MTRX? The future-proof/modular nature of the MTRX might have been oversold in that case if only the current cards will be available for use.
__________________
Pro Tools Ult 2024.3, HDX 2, MTRX/SPQ, RME BBF Pro + MADIface ProS1 x 2, Fire HD10 + Max11, Dock, iPad Air5 Mac Mini 14,12, 12 core, macOS 13.6.5RAM 32GB, SSD 4TB, GPU 19 coreQNAP TVS-872XT 148TB TB3
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 04-24-2022, 08:05 PM
LukeHoward LukeHoward is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Melbourne
Posts: 1,233
Default Re: New DAD interfaces

Quote:
Originally Posted by BScout View Post
I am concerned what no backwards compatibility for future cards means (and the MTRX.) In essence, the AX64 means the end of the AX32 for DAD but does that mean no further development for the MTRX? The future-proof/modular nature of the MTRX might have been oversold in that case if only the current cards will be available for use.
That's really a question for Avid. Looking here, the only modern HD interfaces that are past their final sale date are the Pro Tools | HD IO 16x16 Digital and Pro Tools | HD Omni. i.e. you can still buy a HD I/O.

It's not as if you can use the AX32 cards in a MTRX anyway... (I mean, maybe you can, but they're not supposed to work and certainly it isn't a supported configuration)

I think it's good that DAD continues to innovate. It's a pity of course there's no MTRX with a Thunderbolt port, as that would certainly be useful for Atmos renderer configurations. But perhaps that will be eventually solved in a different way.
__________________
https://lukehoward.com/
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 04-24-2022, 08:11 PM
basehead617 basehead617 is online now
Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: California
Posts: 294
Default Re: New DAD interfaces

I’m not really an expert on PCI versions and all that, but is it possible Avid could make a 256 channel HDX card in the future, like a DigiLink 2.0 that supports 256 channels per card? that would certainly simplify things..

Last edited by basehead617; 04-24-2022 at 08:46 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 04-24-2022, 08:19 PM
LukeHoward LukeHoward is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Melbourne
Posts: 1,233
Default Re: New DAD interfaces

Quote:
Originally Posted by basehead617 View Post
I’m not really an expert on PCI versions and all that, but is it possible Avud could make a 256 channel HDX card in the future, like a DigiLink 2.0 that supports 256 channels per card? that would certainly simplify things..
If I've done my math right (which I may not have, ha), then a 16x PCIe 3.0 slot as one finds in the Mac Pro should be able to handle 4096 channels of 32-bit 96kHz audio (12.6GB/s).

But at that point you're probably just better off putting Thunderbolt or Ethernet on the audio interface itself...
__________________
https://lukehoward.com/
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 04-24-2022, 08:44 PM
BScout BScout is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Posts: 4,141
Default Re: New DAD interfaces

You can't use the AX32 cards in the MTRX (they are firmware locked to models.) But the cards themselves are the same. The concern is keeping two product lines going for the option cards. Say a future AX64 card uses new ADC chips (supply issues, whatever; look at Merging and their improved cards, for instance.) Will DAD keep manufacturing the older cards until they run out of chip supply for the MTRX simply to keep prior owners as "second class"? There would be no technical reason why this "improved" card wouldn't be able to be manufactured for the MTRX (after all, the edge connector is the same.)

Just hate the idea that a chassis system (that many of us have sunk a lot of money into) could be excluded from future option card development. Which was a selling point of the MTRX. Since the MTRX debut, as far as I can remember, only 2 new cards have debuted: SPQ card and Digilink card. If that's it for this model's lifetime, it's pretty disappointing.

I'm not against DAD creating a new, improved chassis (with new features like TB3 and TB3 chaining.) Just that note about future option cards is worth flagging.
__________________
Pro Tools Ult 2024.3, HDX 2, MTRX/SPQ, RME BBF Pro + MADIface ProS1 x 2, Fire HD10 + Max11, Dock, iPad Air5 Mac Mini 14,12, 12 core, macOS 13.6.5RAM 32GB, SSD 4TB, GPU 19 coreQNAP TVS-872XT 148TB TB3
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 04-24-2022, 08:54 PM
Darryl Ramm Darryl Ramm is online now
Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: USA
Posts: 19,510
Default Re: New DAD interfaces

The world is kinda inverted. Pro Tools requiring HDX for large IO counts, but with HDX DSP that is increasingly a boat anchor for large mixing. Different thing for low latency tracking.. but it's mind numbing that large post shops have to go DigiLink to MTRX etc. to get large IO count.

Yet another innovator's dilemma for Avid, yet another one I'll never be surprised if they keep on doing the wrong thing. But they need to decouple high IO counts from Digilink, and show a clear roadmap for the future high-end, is that Dante AVB or both or what? DigiLink needs to die. We are on the edge of interesting new computers like the Mac Studio, and hopefully soon the Mac Pro that make the processing power of a maximum config HDX system look so stupid.
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 04-24-2022, 10:49 PM
LukeHoward LukeHoward is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Melbourne
Posts: 1,233
Default Re: New DAD interfaces

Quote:
Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm View Post
The world is kinda inverted. Pro Tools requiring HDX for large IO counts, but with HDX DSP that is increasingly a boat anchor for large mixing. Different thing for low latency tracking.. but it's mind numbing that large post shops have to go DigiLink to MTRX etc. to get large IO count.

Yet another innovator's dilemma for Avid, yet another one I'll never be surprised if they keep on doing the wrong thing. But they need to decouple high IO counts from Digilink, and show a clear roadmap for the future high-end, is that Dante AVB or both or what? DigiLink needs to die. We are on the edge of interesting new computers like the Mac Studio, and hopefully soon the Mac Pro that make the processing power of a maximum config HDX system look so stupid.
Well said, as usual. :)

If you need high I/O counts simply to route to and from the Dolby renderer, then clearly a better solution is a variation on the Dolby Audio Bridge that lets you continue to use the HD engine (and thus hardware I/O and DSP). Or integrating the renderer directly into Pro Tools as Logic and Nuendo have done. Either would suit me fine: there's no way I'm going to buy more HDX and DigiLink cards to get the full 128 channel bed+object count, it's crazy expensive and the alternatives of using fewer objects or the Dolby Audio Bridge work fine. (Generally I do the former because I don't want to lose DSP or I/O.)

Decoupling high I/O counts from DigiLink is I guess mostly a business decision, tempered perhaps by the fact that Avid having a higher QA threshold, i.e. they want to make sure high channel counts work reliably on native systems. But surely we are at that point in 2022. I'm sure if Apple really wanted to (which I doubt given the size of the market to them), they could push things further down the stack to a real-time OS Pyramix/RTX64-style and displace DSP entirely.
__________________
https://lukehoward.com/

Last edited by LukeHoward; 04-24-2022 at 11:04 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 04-24-2022, 11:47 PM
LDS LDS is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Sydney, Australia
Posts: 1,495
Default Re: New DAD interfaces

I don't want Pro Tools to be like any other native DAW though. You can toss 128 channels of I/O in most DAWs... but it is a bit of a kludge compared to any integrated system. Avid should really get back to making integrated systems designed for 2022. Keep HDX cards. What they do, they do very well - most people don't need more DSP. Add an internal renderer with the full 128 channels of objects - most people won't need more than one HDX card worth of IO. Fold into Pro Tools all of the monitoring and matrixing capabilities of DADman, and... Taa-da! Plug in your favourite Eucon control surface from which you can access everything you ever need, and suddenly you have an integrated DAW system that very politely says 'let's get busy working with sound'. It is the perfect antithesis to all of the YouTube based noise about Apple-computers-this, intel-CPU-that, and the weird and wild allusions that try and suggest working with sound is all about CPU benchmarks.

If anything, Avid really need to further decouple Pro Tools and it's IO from how every other native DAW on the market does it. Because how most other DAWs do it is pretty unremarkable when it comes to day to day sound work.
__________________
Pro Tools Ultimate 2024.3. OSX 13.6.5. Win 10. HD Native. Lynx AES16e. Lynx Aurora 16. i9-13900KF. ASRock Z690 Steel Legend. 64GB Ram. AMD Vega 64. BM Decklink. Dolby Atmos Renderer 5.2. Trinnov D-Mon. D-Command.
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 04-25-2022, 01:14 AM
RobertDorn RobertDorn is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Netherlands
Posts: 405
Default Re: New DAD interfaces

Very curious if the Thunderbolt chassis connectors will find its way into an updated MTRX chassis in the future. That would be awesome. Love HDX for the low latency tracking with DSP plug-ins in full mixes. But for every other audio app than Pro Tools , a native Thunderbolt port on the chassis would be awesome.

In a Facebook post in the DAD page I read they have absolutely no plans to discontinue the current cards, since those are the same cards that can be used in the new AX64
__________________
Apple MacBook Pro M2 Max, 96GB ram | Pro Tools HDX | Avid MTRX | Pro Tools Ultimate 2023.12 | macOS 13.6.3
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Traditional Avid interfaces vs 3rd party interfaces aftermid Pro Tools 10 9 10-24-2012 01:12 PM
RME interfaces pinnacle macOS 2 10-16-2011 12:12 AM
Using two interfaces? liquid32 003, Mbox 2, Digi 002, original Mbox, Digi 001 (Mac) 0 01-27-2006 08:12 AM
Interfaces not seen (192 I/O and 96 I/O) Jeffrey Patricio Pro Tools TDM Systems (Mac) 4 04-10-2005 07:11 AM
2 001 interfaces? ariel keshet 003, Mbox 2, Digi 002, original Mbox, Digi 001 (Mac) 2 01-20-2003 12:06 AM


All times are GMT -7. The time now is 01:57 PM.


Powered by: vBulletin, Copyright ©2000 - 2008, Jelsoft Enterprises Limited. Forum Hosted By: URLJet.com