Ideas on maybe switching to PT

[manosaurus]

I have researched this a little but I am still not finding the answers I need. Right now all I use to get sound into the computer is the Presonus FirePod. That's all. I do the rest with GB3.

If I want to switch to PT then I can't use the FirePod anymore which is fine I guess but I am having trouble finding interfaces that work with PT that have a decent amount of XLR inputs - at least 4 or so anyway; enough to record a rock drum kit.

If I can, I want to stay away from mixing boards or any other peripherals other than the thingy you plug the mics into. Is this possible? Pro Tools software + an interface with 4 or more mic intputs? Is it going to be way more complicated than this?

TIA (... zim)

 

[zimv20]

the hardware is limited, yes, and the list available depends on which version of PT you get.

i'm running PTLE, and with my digi002r, i can theoretically run 18 ins, which breaks down as:
1. 4 via built-in pre's (which i don't think are very good)
2. 4 via on board line ins
3. 8 via ADAT (i connect a rosetta800 via ADAT)
4. 2 via s/pdif

if you look at PT-M, you'll see that you have available a number of M-Audio interfaces. of the most interest to me is the Lightbridge, which allows you to connect a lot of your own conversion via ADAT.

at the moment, you can run 32 ins/outs via ADAT (44 or 48 kHz sampling rate). but many believe digi made a mistake in allowing that much, since they advertise 18 simultaneous, and that digi may take that away in future software releases.

regardless, there are a number of compatible m-audio interfaces, and you can probably find something to fit your needs.

btw, PTLE and PT-M software are nearly identical. if you want to score films, though, you'll probably want PTLE. but for recording and mixing bands, and doing s/w instruments, both will handle it.

another difference i know about is that PT-M's smallest buffer size is, iirc, 128. PTLE will do a buffer size of 64 (helpful for tracking w/ low latency).

anyway, imho, with a switch to PTLE or PT-M you're looking at:
1. a great piece of software
2. rather mediocre and overpriced hardware
3. proprietary plug-in format (RTAS)
4. running not-the-latest version of osx
5. a very stable platform

 

[zimv20]

oh, i tried cramming all that into a haiku, but a detail or two got lost.

 

[scottlinux]

Yeah, you'll have to consider the 003 route. Unless you can plug some of the mics into an instrument IN jack...

 

[BCains]

the hardware is limited, yes, and the list available depends on which version of PT you get.

i'm running PTLE, and with my digi002r, i can theoretically run 18 ins, which breaks down as:
1. 4 via built-in pre's (which i don't think are very good)
2. 4 via on board line ins
3. 8 via ADAT (i connect a rosetta800 via ADAT)
4. 2 via s/pdif

Something like the API A2D is 2 mic pres + ADDA for a s/dif connection.

I run 8 channels of outboard pres via ADAT (like the above) through my Lynx ADDA.

Some other options are to buy a combo ADDA / preamp like;
Mackie Onyx 800R (8CHs)
Focusrite ISA 428 (4CHs) x2 you can link them together
Focusrite Platinum OctoPre (8CHs)
Audient ASP008 (8CHs)