Pro Tools 6.1 for Mac OS X & Windows XP Compatibility Summary

Pro Tools 6.1 is a cross-platform, cross-product release (TDM on OSX and XP, LE on OSX and XP). Macintosh OS X version 10.2.6 or 10.2.8 or Windows XP (Professional or Home Edition) is required to run Pro Tools 6.1 software. The Pro Tools 6.1 TDM and LE releases support the systems listed below.

Pro Tools TDM Product Family Compatibility

Supported Digidesign Pro Tools TDM Systems:

  • Pro Tools|HD
  • Pro Tools|24 MIX
  • Pro Tools|24

Supported Digidesign TDM PCI Cards:

  • Pro Tools|HD Core and Process
  • Pro Tools|24 MIX, MIX Farm, MIX I/O
  • Pro Tools|24 d24
  • DSP farms (with AMCC chip "QC" or higher)

Pro Tools LE Product Family Compatibility

Supported Digidesign Pro Tools LE Systems:

  • Digi 002
  • Digi 002 Rack
  • Mbox
  • Digi 001
  • ToolBox/Audiomedia III (with AMCC chip "QC" or higher)

The following items are officially qualified for use with the Pro Tools 6.1 TDM & LE systems above, except as noted on the individual pages for each system.

Apple G4 (AGP Graphics) Computers Supported:

Single Processor

  

Dual Processor
350 MHz Power Mac G4  

Dual 450 MHz Power Mac G4

400 MHz Power Mac G4

   Dual 500 MHz Power Mac G4

450 MHz Power Mac G4

   Dual 533 MHz Power Mac G4

466 MHz Power Mac G4

   Dual 800 MHz Power Mac G4 QS
500 MHz Power Mac G4   Dual 867 MHz Power Mac G4 MDD
533 MHz Power Mac G4   Dual 1 GHz Power Mac G4 QS
667 MHz Power Mac G4   Dual 1 GHz Power Mac G4 MDD
733 MHz Power Mac G4 *   Dual 1.25 GHz Power Mac G4 MDD
733 MHz Power Mac G4 QS **   Dual 1.25 GHz Power Mac G4 FW800
800 MHz Power Mac G4 QS   Dual 1.42 GHz Power Mac G4 FW800
867 MHz Power Mac G4 QS    
933 MHz Power Mac G4 QS    
1 GHz Power Mac G4 FW800    
1.25 GHz Power Mac G4 MDD    

Legend:
QS = "Quicksilver" models from 2001-2002
MDD = "Mirrored Drive Doors" models from 2002
FW800 = FireWire 800 models from 2003
* Early "Digital Audio" 733 with level 3 cache
** "Quicksilver" 733 without level 3 cache.

The new Apple Power Mac G5 models scheduled to ship in August 2003 have not been qualified by Digidesign at this time. Digidesign will be working closely with Apple to add support for both Pro Tools TDM and LE systems with the Power Mac G5. See News Story

Apple Power Mac G4 2002 "Mirrored Drive Doors" Models — Dual 867 MHz, Dual 1 GHz, and Dual 1.25 GHz with d24 systems and Digi 001 systems

Some Pro Tools d24 users and Digi 001 users have experienced a system hang on startup with early models of these CPUs. If you have experienced this problem with either d24 hardware or a Digi 001 when connected to one of the "mirrored door" G4s, you should contact AppleCare at 1 800 APL-CARE (within the U.S.). For those customers outside of the US, there should be an AppleCare card included in your Apple product packaging which has the local AppleCare phone number. When contacting AppleCare, customers should refer to the "Digidesign Digi 001 or audio system".

PCI vs. AGP Graphics Support

Pro Tools 6 systems are not supported with G3 processors or PCI Graphics G4 desktop models, only the G4 AGP graphics desktop models.

Digi 002, Digi 002 Rack and MBox are also supported in Mac OS X with the following models that do not contain PCI slots.

Digi 002 Only:

Digi 002 Rack Only:

Mbox Systems Only:

G4 PowerBook CardBus PCI Expansion — Pro Tools|HD Systems

  • Magma 4-slot CB4DRQ-D1
  • Magma 2-Slot CB2 & CB2S

Limited Cardbus support for Pro Tools 6.1. No SCSI support, Firewire drives only, using the below configuration:

  • 48kHz 4DSP 128 voice Playback engine: for a maximum of 96 tracks/voices
  • 48kHz 2DSP 96 voice Playback engine: for a maximum of 64 tracks/voices
  • 96kHz 4DSP 64 voice Playback engine: for a maximum of 48 tracks/voices
  • 96kHz 2DSP 48 voice Playback engine: for a maximum of 32 tracks/voices
  • If you experience persistent –6031 errors, it may be necessary to raise the Hardware Buffer size

G4 Dual Processor Support

Pro Tools 6 is fully compatible with Apple dual-processor G4s running OS X. There is no need to install any additional software. Dual-processor users will experience increased performance over the single-processor CPUs.

Digidesign Audio Interfaces

  • 192 I/O
  • 192 Digital I/O
  • 96 I/O
  • 888|24 I/O
  • 888 I/O (PT|24 & MIX Only)
  • 882|20 I/O
  • 882 I/O (PT|24 & MIX Only)
  • 1622 I/O
  • 24-Bit ADAT Bridge I/O
  • ADAT Bridge I/O (PT|24 & MIX Only)

Digidesign Peripherals

  • PRE I/O
  • SYNC I/O
  • USD (PT|24 & MIX Only)

Video

Optional Software

  • DigiTranslator 2.0 (TDM & LE)
  • MachineControl (TDM only)
  • DV Toolkit (LE only)

Storage — TDM & LE Systems

  • DigiDrive SCSI Drives
  • DigiDrive FireWire 80
  • Avid MediaDrive rS80
  • Avid MediaDrive rS36/320 LVD
  • Avid MediaDrive rS73/320 LVD
  • Avid MediaDock iS36/320 LVD Shuttle
  • Avid MediaDock iS73/320 LVD Shuttle
  • Avid MediaDock Dual
  • Avid MediaDock Dual+
  • SCSI-128 Kit (ATTO Express PCI-UL3D)
  • SCSI-64 Kit (ATTO Express PCI-DC)
  • Apple Disk Utility (OS X)
  • ATTO ExpressStripe Utility (for AV|XL striped drives only)
  • DigiDrive Storage Manager

Hard drive storage requirements have not changed from previous versions of Pro Tools, with the exception that with Pro Tools LE v6.1, SCSI devices are now supported with Digi 002 and Digi 002 Rack systems.

As with all Pro Tools systems, drive performance depends on a number of factors, including track count, edit density, and the use of crossfades or processing like Beat Detective. See the Hard Drive Minimum Requirements under each Pro Tools System.

Control Surfaces

  • ProControl (up to 5 fader packs) (TDM only)
  • Edit Pack (TDM only)
  • Control24 (TDM & LE)

Expansion Chassis — TDM Systems Only

  • Digidesign Pro Tools Expansion Chassis, 13 Slot
    Compatible models: S/N begins with NB0600100C or higher
    Incompatible models: S/N = NB055300B1 or lower
  • Magma 13 Slot Expansion Chassis — model P13R-D1 and P13RC1.5-D1
  • Digidesign Pro Tools Expansion Chassis, 7 Slot
  • SBS (Bit3) 7 Slot Expansion Chassis — model DD007-R
  • Magma 7 Slot 64-bit 33MHz Expansion Chassis — model P7R464-D1 and P7R464C1.5-D1

MIDI Interfaces

  • Digidesign MIDI I/O - USB MIDI interface with 10 MIDI I/O ports, supporting 160 MIDI channels (Mac systems only, Windows drivers not yet available)
  • Emagic AMT8/MT4
  • MOTU MTP AV
  • Roland MPU64/UM2/UM4

Miscellaneous

  • Quicktime 6.0.2 or higher
  • Keyspan USA-28X USB-serial converter (for use with MachineControl only. Serial MIDI devices are not supported)
  • All Apple-installed single or dual monitor cards which ship as standard equipment with qualified Apple Power Mac G4 AGP models are supported with Pro Tools 6.1.
  • Japanese localization (on 6.1 Mac OS X only, Windows XP Japanese version to follow)

Known Compatibility Issues with Pro Tools 6.1 for Mac OS X

  • When using a PowerMac "FW800", MachineControl requires a third party USB Card for use with Keyspan serial adaptors. With this configuration, the Keyboard/Mouse should also be connected to the third party USB card.
  • The Movie Offset feature affects both the QuickTime Movie output to Digital Video and the Onscreen movie
  • In order to use Japanese fonts in a sessions, HFS (standard) drives cannot be used, only HFS+ formatted drives can be used.
  • Use of "Continuous Scroll with Playhead" with LCD monitors may result in a flickering gray area located to the left of the session start point.
  • Sometimes when opening a session that was based on a PT 3.2 format session, the following error may occur when Restoring IO paths: Time type mismatch occurred in "Time_Typed.cpp" line 370. A reboot may be necessary if this occurs.
  • After dragging an AudioSuite process window to the second monitor, then closing it, opening another Audiosuite process window may result in that window going "white" on the second monitor.
  • The use of a third party FireWire PCI card is necessary with FW800 machines with Digi 002 or 002 Rack in orderto either record to or boot from an external FireWire drive.
  • System instabilities and performance issues can occur when using MIDI control surfaces in conjunction with PT 6.1 and 3rd party MIDI interfaces. For best multiport MIDI performance, we recommend using Digidesign's MIDI I/O on Mac OS X systems.

Full Pro Tools System Compatibility Details:

Supported Digidesign Pro Tools TDM Systems:

Compatibility information with Pro Tools TDM software for Windows XP:

Compatibility information with Pro Tools TDM software for Mac OS X:

Supported Digidesign Pro Tools LE Systems:

Compatibility information with Pro Tools LE software for Windows XP:

Compatibility information with Pro Tools LE software for Mac OS X:

Additional Information