Pro Tools|HD & Pro Tools|HD Accel System Requirements

With Pro Tools HD 7.0/7.1 for Mac OS X 10.4 ("Tiger")

Compatibility Alert — New Power Mac G5: PCI Express Information

All 3 new Power Mac G5 models announced by Apple on October 19, 2005 use PCI Express (PCI-e) slots. Previous Digidesign PCI cards: HD Core card, HD Accel card, HD Process card, Digidesign 64-bit Expansion Chassis, ATTO UL3D, or any hardware that requires PCI or PCI-X slots cannot be installed internally on these G5 PCI Express models. For more information on PCI Express-compatible Pro Tools|HD Core and Pro Tools|HD Accel cards, please see the following announcement in the News section:

Media Station|PT 1.8.2 for Pro Tools HD 7 Now Available


Digidesign PCI Cards Supplied with HD System

Pro Tools 7.0/7.1 software supports the following systems:

Pro Tools|HD PCI Systems

Pro Tools|HD 1

  • HD Core PCI card

Pro Tools|HD 2 Accel

  • HD Core PCI card
  • HD Accel PCI card

Pro Tools|HD 3 Accel

  • HD Core PCI card
  • (2) HD Accel PCI cards

Other Card Options

Pro Tools|HD PCI Express (PCIe) Systems

Pro Tools 7.1 software supports the following systems:

Pro Tools|HD 1 for PCI Express G5

  • HD Accel Core PCIe card

Pro Tools|HD 2 Accel for PCI Express G5

  • HD Accel Core PCIe card
  • HD Accel PCIe card

Pro Tools|HD 3 Accel for PCI Express G5

  • HD Accel Core PCIe card
  • (2) HD Accel PCIe cards

Power Mac G5 PCI Express model required. (currently not compatible with Windows systems)

Digidesign HD Audio Interfaces (one required)

  • 192 I/O
  • 192 Digital I/O
  • 96 I/O
  • 96i I/O

Optional HD Cables - DigiSnakes & DigiLink

Digidesign Software Compatibility

  • Pro Tools HD 7.0/7.1 software for HD systems on Mac OS X version 10.4 (Tiger)
  • Pro Tools HD software will not work without Digidesign hardware connected

Included and Optional Plug-Ins

Optional Digidesign Hardware

Digidesign Control Surfaces

Control Surfaces & MIDI Interfaces

PCI Expansion Chassis

Supported Expansion Chassis & Requirements

  • All Qualified Digidesign & Third Party models

Pro Tools|HD Interfaces & Peripherals

Legacy Digidesign Audio Interfaces

Connect 1 or 2* to a single 192 I/O, 192 Digital I/O, or 96 I/O Legacy Port:

  • 888|24 I/O
  • 882|20 I/O

Connect all 16 channels to a single 192 I/O, 192 Digital I/O, or 96 I/O Legacy Port:

  • 1622 I/O

Connect 8 channels or 16 channels* to a single 192 I/O, 192 Digital I/O, or 96 I/O Legacy Port:

  • 24-Bit ADAT Bridge I/O

* Requires "Y" cable adapter

Audio Interfaces — Other Manufacturers

Digidesign does not test or verify other manufacturers' audio peripherals with our system. During beta testing of Pro Tools HD 7 software, we received feedback that installing Pro Tools HD 7 software may prevent a non-Digidesign audio interface from working. We therefore suggest that customers contact the manufacturer of their device to check on potential compatibility issues before upgrading to Pro Tools HD 7 software.

Optional Digidesign & Avid Storage

SCSI

  • Avid MediaDrive rS300/320 LVD
  • Avid MediaDrive rS146/320 LVD
  • Avid MediaDrive rS73/320 LVD
  • Avid MediaDrive rS36/320 LVD
  • Avid MediaDock Shuttle iS146/320 LVD
  • Avid MediaDock Shuttle iS73/320 LVD
  • Avid MediaDock Shuttle iS36/320 LVD
  • Avid MediaDock Dual
  • Avid MediaDock Dual+
  • DigiDrive MediaDock
  • DigiDrive SCSI Drives
  • SCSI-128 Kit
    • Includes ATTO ExpressPCI-UL3D
    • Qualified for up to 192 tracks @48 kHz on Pro Tools|HD Accel systems
    • Power Mac G4 & G5 PCI Models Only
      (Not compatible with Power Mac G5 PCI Express models)

Not compatible with Power Mac G5 or tested with Pro Tools 6.9 and higher:

  • SCSI-64 Kit/ATTO ExpressPCI-DC

Power Mac G5 PCI Express Models

The following PCIe storage host adapter card is now qualified with the Power Mac G5 PCI Express models:

FireWire Storage

  • Avid MediaDrive rS250
  • Avid MediaDrive rS80
  • DigiDrive FireWire 80

Important Information for Avid rs80 and rs250 Users on Mac OS X: Initio Firmware Update for Avid rs80 and rs250

For more information and specific requirements for FireWire drives, see FireWire Drive Requirements

Video Options

See the Video Options page for more information on all of the above.

Not Tested with Pro Tools 6.9 and higher:

  • ATI Radeon 8500 Macintosh Edition
  • ATI Radeon 9800 Pro Mac Special

See the Video Options page for more information about the above cards.

Media Station|PT 1.8.2 for Pro Tools HD 7 Now Available

AVoption|V10

AVoption|V10 is only compatible with Windows XP

Supported CPU Models & Requirements

System Software

After updating either Pro Tools or your Mac OS, always run Disk Utility and "Repair Permissions" on the startup drive.

Total System RAM

  • 512 MB RAM minimum required
  • 1 GB (1024 MB) or more highly recommended

1 GB RAM or more recommended for sessions with:

  • Large amounts of audio, large DSP engines, high edit density, or large DigiBase databases
  • A large number of installed plug-ins
  • Options like MachineControl and DigiTranslator

1 GB (1024 MB) minimum required with the following options:

  • Digidesign Expansion|HD Chassis

2 GB (2048 MB) minimum required with the following options:

  • D-Control
  • Avid Mojo

More RAM increases overall system and Pro Tools performance.

Additional Requirements

iLok Required for Pro Tools HD 7

Monitor

  • Minimum resolution of 1024 x 768
  • 17" or larger recommended if using external monitor

QuickTime Required

  • Apple QuickTime 7
  • Included with Mac OS X 10.4

Storage

Digidesign CoreAudio Driver

New Session File Format (".ptf")

Pro Tools 7.0 uses a new session file format and extension (.ptf) to distinguish its sessions from sessions created with previous versions. Pro Tools 7 sessions need to be saved as an earlier format to be used with pre-7.0 Pro Tools systems. For more information, see the following:

Energy Saver Settings

Pro Tools Does Not Support Sleep Mode

In the Macintosh System Preferences, launch Energy Saver, click the Sleep tab, and disable all Sleep features. Set "Put the computer to sleep when it is inactive" to Never. Do not manually put your computer to sleep when running Pro Tools.

Processor Performance & Power Mac G5

For optimal Pro Tools performance, you must set Processor Performance (located in System Preferences > Energy Saver > Options) to "Highest". Updating your Mac OS may reset this to the default setting: "Automatic". After updating your Mac OS, check to make sure this is set to "Highest".

Apple's Mac OS help documentation provides the following info on Energy Saver Processor settings:

  • The PowerPC G5 processor in your Power Mac G5 can run at various speeds. The default setting for this feature is "Automatic", which allows the system to run the processor at full speed when required, and at a lower speed during periods of light processing activity. Certain real-time applications, such as audio creation or gaming, may perform optimally when using the highest processor performance setting. You can change the processor performance setting in the Energy Saver pane of System Preferences.

Additional Information & Downloads

Pro Tools|HD Product Information & Specifications

Downloads

Pro Tools 7 Information

Pro Tools 7 Plug-In Information

While most Digidesign and Development partner plug-in versions for Pro Tools 6.9.x are also compatible with Pro Tools 7, all RTAS plug-ins will need to be updated to take advantage of the improvements to RTAS plug-in performance introduced in Pro Tools 7.

Please note: Plug-in versions updated for Pro Tools 7 are NOT compatible with Pro Tools 6. For all Digidesign and Digi-distributed plug-ins, both versions will be available, and use the same authorization on both Pro Tools 7 and Pro Tools 6. Check the link above, and with individual third-party developers for compatibility, update, and upgrade information. Additional information:

Logic Pro 7.2 & Pro Tools HD 7 DAE

  • Logic Pro 7.2 is fully compatible with the Pro Tools 7.1 version of DAE. All features are supported, including ESB and EXS24TDM (except as noted below with Expansion|HD chassis)
  • To install the required files, download and install Pro Tools HD 7.1cs4 or higher from the Digidesign Pro Tools CS Updates page.

Customers using Pro Tools HD 6.9.x and earlier software must use Logic Pro 7.1 or earlier.

Logic Pro 7.2 DAE is supported with the Digidesign Expansion|HD 6 slot expansion chassis when used with the files included with the installation of Pro Tools HD 7.1cs4 or higher. However, the ESB and EXS24 features are not supported with the Expansion|HD chassis.

Please Note: Logic Pro 7.2 is available from the Apple website (www.apple.com/logicpro). Although Logic Pro 7.2 is a universal version that runs natively on both Intel- and PowerPC-based Mac systems, Digidesign hardware and Pro Tools software are not yet compatible with Intel-based Mac systems. Pro Tools|HD hardware currently requires a PowerPC-based Mac system or a Windows XP system.