Members bluehuricane Posted April 20, 2009 Members Share Posted April 20, 2009 recording forum's a bit slow, so i thought i'd ask here. i've read that if you're using a firewire interface, you bypass the sound card in your computer. is this true? if not, what level of soundcard will i need to multitrack on protools? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 You can have multiple audio interfaces connected to your computer simultaneously, but each program usually has a way to assign what audio interface it is going to utilize. Pro Tools, unlike most programs, requires specific Digidesign or M-Audio hardware audio interfaces in order to run. Pro Tools LE comes "bundled" with Digidesign hardware such as the MBox, Digi 003, etc. The program will not run without the hardware connected, and you can not use third party hardware with Pro Tools. Pro Tools M-Powered software is available separately for a street price of about $250, and will only run if you have one of the M-Audio interfaces attached to your system that is approved for use with that software - there's a variety of different interfaces on the "compatible" list. If your onboard soundcard is causing conflicts, you can either physically remove it, or you can disable it in Device Manager. However, on most modern computers, that "extra" soundcard usually won't be an issue, and Pro Tools will pretty much "ignore" it. It can not be used by the software as its audio interface - UNLESS you're running Windows 98se and are running the very old Pro Tools Free software (8 audio tracks, 128 MIDI tracks, 16 bit audio, stereo I/O only). PTF will not run on an NT system such as Windows XP, and I don't think it's even available for download anymore on the Digidesign site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members theboywho Posted April 20, 2009 Members Share Posted April 20, 2009 Using a firewire interface would be like installing a new soundcard in your computer and using that instead of the main one, except its external.Basically pro audio style interface with an aiso driver should be able to multi-track on protools. Its a matter of deciding your budget, how many inputs you want/need and what quality and features you want from it.Usually best to start with the budget. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 Basically pro audio style interface with an aiso driver should be able to multi-track on protools. Sorry, but that's not quite true. While all of the current Digidesign hardware can use an ASIO driver, which allows you to use the Digidesign interface with other software from other companies, such as Cubase or Sonar, third party interfaces are not compatible with Pro Tools software - you have to either use Digidesign, or M-Audio hardware interfaces. Its a matter of deciding your budget, how many inputs you want/need and what quality and features you want from it. Usually best to start with the budget. That I can agree with. There's only a few Digidesign PT interfaces that use firewire - the discontinued Digi 002 series, and the current Digi 003 series of interfaces. M-Audio has a larger selection of Pro Tools M-Powered compatible interfaces, but again, they will only run the Pro Tools M-Powered software, and will not work directly with the Digidesign version of the Pro Tools software. However, the two versions Pro Tools LE and PT MP - are nearly identical otherwise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members theboywho Posted April 20, 2009 Members Share Posted April 20, 2009 Basically pro audio style interface with an aiso driver should be able to multi-track on protools.Sorry, but that's not quite true. While all of the current Digidesign hardware can use an ASIO driver, which allows you to use the Digidesign interface with other software from other companies, such as Cubase or Sonar, third party interfaces are not compatible with Pro Tools software - you have to either use Digidesign, or M-Audio hardware interfaces. Ah, I thought I had read that the latest one could work with any asio drivers, must have read that wrong, or could I be thinking of some hack/crack for it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 There was a cracked version of Pro Tools Free that expanded the track count to 32, but other than that, I am unaware of any cracks that will allow you to use the current PT software sans Digidesign / M-Audio hardware. I am not the guy to ask about cracks though, and as a site admin here, I have ask that you guys please don't promote or otherwise use HC to seek info on "cracked" software. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jorhay1 Posted April 20, 2009 Members Share Posted April 20, 2009 digital performer uses multiple interfaces pretty well but,,,, digital performer,,,, ew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bluehuricane Posted April 20, 2009 Author Members Share Posted April 20, 2009 i'm gonna get a digi 002, and i think it's a firewire connection. thanks for verifying what i thought i knew about soundcards. anyone know anything about motherboards? is there anything specific i should want in one? sata and what else? chipsets etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rogueweez Posted April 20, 2009 Members Share Posted April 20, 2009 I know some stuff about motherboards...pretty much every one these days has SATA, you may want to look at ones with FW400 or FW800 built in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bluehuricane Posted April 20, 2009 Author Members Share Posted April 20, 2009 what's fw400? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rogueweez Posted April 20, 2009 Members Share Posted April 20, 2009 Firewire 400 (the slower version) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bluehuricane Posted April 20, 2009 Author Members Share Posted April 20, 2009 oh ok. cool, so if it's sata and has fw800 it's probably good enough? and also compatible with my other stuff obviously Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rogueweez Posted April 20, 2009 Members Share Posted April 20, 2009 Yes, are you replacing an existing motherboard? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 Yes, the Digi 002 is a firewire interface. The motherboard you use - especially the motherboard's chipset and firewire interface, definitely matter. Not all mobos will work with Digidesign hardware / software, so it's important to check into that before purchasing anything. I'm running an older Athlon 64 4200 X2 (dual core) system, with a Asus A8N-SLI Premium motherboard. I used to use it with a Digi 002, no problem... and now it's the host platform for my PT HD2 Accel system. If I were to replace the motherboard and CPU, I'd go for one of the Intel Core 2 Duo or maybe a quad core... You can check out Digidesign's compatibility info Here. However, not everything that will work is on that list - lots of "untested" (by Digidesign) systems are known to work. For that, the best place to ask is over on the DUC - the Digidesign User's Conference. Check in the Pro Tools LE on Windows forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bluehuricane Posted April 20, 2009 Author Members Share Posted April 20, 2009 cool, thanks phil. and no, i'm not replacing a motherboard but i'm building a comp with a core 2 duo, 500 gb harddrive, 2 gb ram and windows xp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rogueweez Posted April 20, 2009 Members Share Posted April 20, 2009 Anything from Asus or Gigabyte should work great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bluehuricane Posted April 20, 2009 Author Members Share Posted April 20, 2009 cool, thanks. i'm looking at asus right now. my brother's built a few computers so he's giving me a lot of help and finding me deals and i think he wants to get me an asus right now. do you know if the 680i chipset works with protools, it's not listed on the website but my brother said it's his favorite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rogueweez Posted April 20, 2009 Members Share Posted April 20, 2009 Can you even get 680i motherboards anymore? My last build was an Intel P45 chipset btw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bluehuricane Posted April 20, 2009 Author Members Share Posted April 20, 2009 what would make a chipset not work with protools? is there something on the bios level that protools needs specifically? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members theboywho Posted April 20, 2009 Members Share Posted April 20, 2009 For the hard-drives you might be better off getting two, one for the main OS and programs and one for the recording files, it will speed stuff up, allow you to de-frag the recording drive easier and if anything goes wrong you can re-format the windows drive without effecting your songs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bluehuricane Posted April 20, 2009 Author Members Share Posted April 20, 2009 ^yeah i already decided that was best. thanks anyways! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rogueweez Posted April 20, 2009 Members Share Posted April 20, 2009 {censored} man, I just realized you're right down the street from me (so to speak). I live in Dupont. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bluehuricane Posted April 20, 2009 Author Members Share Posted April 20, 2009 howdy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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