Mbox (original model) with Pro Tools LE 7.0/7.1 for Mac OS X Version 10.4 "Tiger" for PPC

Pro Tools 7 Information

For information about Pro Tools 7, including Upgrades and Updates, please see the following pages:


Digidesign Hardware Supplied with System

  • Mbox
  • USB Cable (12')

Digidesign Software Compatibility

  • Pro Tools LE 7.0 and 7.1 for Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger)
  • Pro Tools LE software will not work without Digidesign hardware connected
  • Pro Tools LE supports the use of any single supported Pro Tools LE audio interface. Simultaneous use of multiple Pro Tools LE hardware devices is not supported.

Included and Optional Plug-Ins

Optional Software Bundles:

Optional Digidesign Hardware

  • Command|8
  • Control|24
  • MIDI I/O
  • PRE (For use as standalone microphone preamplifier. For remote control within Pro Tools, Pro Tools|HD is required)

Control Surfaces & MIDI Interfaces

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 48 mono or 48 stereo tracks (48 tracks in PTLE requires DV Toolkit 2 or Music Production Toolkit option)
    • 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:

  • ExpressPCI UL5D - Dual-channel Ultra320 PCI Express SCSI Host Adapter
  • Qualified for up to 48 mono or 48 stereo tracks (48 tracks in PTLE requires DV Toolkit 2 or Music Production Toolkit option)

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

Software

Hardware

  • Canopus ADVC-110 DV Transcoder
  • Canopus ADVC-100 DV Transcoder

See the Video Options page for more information on the Canopus Transcoder models

Maximum Performance Guidelines

  • Recording to the system startup drive is not recommended or supported
  • For Power Mac G5 or G4 desktop models, a separate internal or external dedicated audio hard drive is highly recommended for maximum performance and track count.
  • Although limited recording and playback of audio tracks may be possible using the internal drive in iBook, PowerBook, iMac and Mac mini models, a separate external dedicated audio hard drive is highly recommended for maximum performance and track count. Digidesign recommends the use of FireWire drives for use with these computers.
  • Dual processor users will experience increased performance over single processor CPUs

Known Incompatibilities

  • Mbox will not function if any Digidesign PCI cards are installed in the CPU. (Digi 001, Audiomedia III, TDM cards, SampleCell)
  • Pro Tools LE core hardware systems cannot be combined
  • Pro Tools 6 does not work in the OS 9 "Classic Mode". You must choose Mac OS X as your Startup Disk.

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.

Supported CPU Models & Requirements

Not Tested:

  • eMac G4 (although not tested, there are no known differences in performance compared to iMac G4 with similar processor speeds)

DV Tookit 2 & Music Production Toolkit Options — Maximum Track Count Information

The purchase of either of these options expand a Pro Tools LE system from 32 total voiceable tracks to up to 48 mono or 48 stereo tracks at up to 96 kHz (interface permitting*). In order to reliably achieve maximum track count, Digidesign recommends the following on Mac OS X:

  • Digidesign-Qualified Power Mac G5 Dual Processor 2GHz or higher, including Power Mac G5 Quad
    • Power Mac G5 Dual 2GHz (first generation model M9032) may not achieve maximum track count
  • 1.5 GB total system RAM or more
  • 2 or more hard drives dedicated for audio record and playback:
    • 2 internal SATA drives
    • 2 external SCSI drives & qualified SCSI HBA
    • 2 or more external FireWire drives

*Maximum Sample Rate

  • Digi 002, Digi 002 Rack - 96 kHz
  • Mbox 2, Mbox - 48 kHz

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 minimum required**, more recommended
  • More RAM increases overall system and Pro Tools performance
  • More RAM suggested for sessions with high edit density, extensive use of plug-ins, or simultaneous use with MIDI sequencers
  • DigiTranslator 2.0 will also require additional RAM

**Additional RAM Requirements — DV Tookit 2 & Music Production Toolkit Options

  • The purchase of either of these options expand a Pro Tools LE system from 32 total voiceable tracks to up to 48 mono or 48 stereo tracks at up to 96 kHz (interface permitting)
  • In order to reliably achieve maximum track count, 1.5 GB RAM or more is required on Mac OS X

Additional Requirements

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 (Audio Drive) Requirements

Digidesign CoreAudio Driver

Additional Information & Downloads

Product Information & Specifications

Downloads

*Power Mac G5 Quad 2.5GHz requires Pro Tools LE 7.0cs2 or higher for support (supported in 7.1)

MIDI Patch Names

Pro Tools 7 includes many new MIDI Patch Names. For information on modifying or creating your own, see the following:

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.

Pro Tools 7 Plug-In Q & A

Q: Are all plug-ins for Pro Tools 6.7-6.9 100% compatible with Pro Tools 7 software, or will I have to get updates from plug-in vendors?

A: Most plug-ins will work fine. An updated list of known compatibility issues is posted in the Developers/Plug-In Info section of the Digidesign website.

Q: Do all RTAS plug-ins automatically benefit from Pro Tools 7 software performance improvements?

A: The answer depends on the system configuration. On multi-processor systems (with a dual processor or dual-core processor), most plug-ins will benefit greatly. On single-processor systems, most plug-ins will have to be updated before delivering enhanced performance. Customers should contact third-party vendors for more information about updates.

Final release testing of Pro Tools 7 has shown that there are some performance issues with certain RTAS plug-ins when used with single processor computers. Instance counts on OS X-based LE systems may show a small decrease with certain plug-ins, Windows XP-based LE systems may incur a small performance hit as well with these plug-ins. All plug-ins tested show significant instance count gains on dual-processor computers.

We are actively looking at these issues, and hope to have solutions as soon as possible. Unfortunately, at this time we do not have a release timeframe for improved plug-in versions.