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As i'm sure has been brought up here the basic Macbook which i currently use no longer has a firewire input. This is a problem i haven't had a problem with as an LE w/MBox home recording system. But now that i'm looking for work a higher level of professionalism is required in my home mixing and recording.

I am looking to upgrade to an Imac 21-inch which i hope to get for a bargain used of ebay *fingers crossed*.

My big question for you is whether it would be cheaper to stick with Pro Tools 8 and get a Digidesign firewire rack interface or upgrade to pro tools 9 and get an interface from a more affordable company, there are pro's and cons to both of these and i keep getting different opinions.

Thoughts? and any other tips on upgrading from amateur to more pro home systems at a budget would be much appreciated.

Comments

mdb Mon, 03/07/2011 - 14:45

Get an Allen & Heath Zed R16 and keep your Pro Tools 8 DAW. The A&H has a decent firewire interface card built in and you're getting 16 channels of good preamp and EQ. A good deal if you can afford $1600. That will get you going and when you've got some work and can afford it, buy better analog gear and patch them into the A&H.

Boswell Tue, 03/08/2011 - 03:18

mdb, post: 365816 wrote: Get an Allen & Heath Zed R16 and keep your Pro Tools 8 DAW. The A&H has a decent firewire interface card built in and you're getting 16 channels of good preamp and EQ. A good deal if you can afford $1600. That will get you going and when you've got some work and can afford it, buy better analog gear and patch them into the A&H.

What problem are you trying to solve here? PT8 will not talk to the Zed-R16. You would need PT9 for that.

An interim measure would be to use Reaper for tracking with the Zed-R16 and then PT8 for mixdown. Or just forget the PT bit.

mdb Tue, 03/08/2011 - 08:25

Boswell, post: 365864 wrote: What problem are you trying to solve here? PT8 will not talk to the Zed-R16. You would need PT9 for that.

An interim measure would be to use Reaper for tracking with the Zed-R16 and then PT8 for mixdown. Or just forget the PT bit.

I don''t use Pro Tools and am surprised PT8 cannot talk to the A&H. He wants a cheap way to begin a recording business and thought it was a good idea. That's the problem I'm trying to solve. If PT8 doesn't work then I guess he should upgrade his DAW too (or use Reaper like you suggested). It didn't sound like he wanted to spend a lot of money to get going and if he's trying to offer a service to record bands a 16 channel board is a good idea... maybe not?

After re-reading his question I see the options were: keep PT8 and get a digidesign rack interface OR upgrade to PT9 and get a different interface. Since I suggested a different interface I suppose I should have suggested upgrading to PT9 instead of keeping PT8. My mistake.:eek:

TheJackAttack Tue, 03/08/2011 - 10:14

PT8 and prior ONLY interface with approved Digi devices. PT9 is the first version that uses other ASIO interfaces. That has been one fatal flaw of PT from the beginning so it is an assumed fact for most of us. So if the OP wants to use PT then he either upgrades to PT9 and whatever interface or he sticks with PT8 and Digi only interfaces.

Of course, many folks that "use" PT do track with other gear and then import the audio files so that isn't any big hindrance in my opinion.