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Digidesign Hardware Supplied with System
- Mbox 2 (firmware v20 or higher required)
- USB Cable
Digidesign Software Compatibility
- Pro Tools LE 7 for Windows XP
- 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, TDM hardware and software 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 at up to 96 kHz (48 tracks in PTLE requires DV Toolkit 2 or Music Production Toolkit option)
Not tested with Pro Tools 6.9 and higher:
- SCSI-64 Kit/ATTO ExpressPCI-DC
FireWire Storage
- Avid MediaDrive rS250
- Avid MediaDrive rS80
- DigiDrive FireWire 80
For more information and specific requirements for FireWire drives, see FireWire Drive Requirements
Video Options
Optional Software
Apple QuickTime 6.5 or Higher Recommended
- Available at www.apple.com/quicktime
- Required only on systems using video
- AGP or PCIe (PCI Express) graphics card with 16 MB or more video RAM required for movie playback
- Known Issue: Apple QuickTime 7 is currently not supported with the Digidesign WaveDriver on Windows XP
Third-Party Video Capture Cards
- Playback within Pro Tools is only supported via the computer monitor. Hardware Codecs are not supported. Use a third party application and card to capture video and import the video into Pro Tools. For the best performance use Avid CODEC DV files created by Avid Xpress DV.
Performance Guidelines
- Recording to the system startup drive is not recommended or supported
- For desktop models, a separate internal or external dedicated audio hard drive is required for maximum performance and track count (see Hard Drive Minimum Requirements)
- Although limited recording and playback of audio tracks may be possible using the internal drive in laptop models, a separate external dedicated audio hard drive is required for maximum performance and track count. Digidesign recommends the use of FireWire drives for use with these computers. (see Digidesign FireWire Drive Requirements)
- For best performance on laptops, it is suggested that you set your monitor to 256 colors
- Also note that we have seen better performance on computers that have less components attached and non-custom versions of the BIOS or Windows XP
- Mbox 2 will not function properly if connected to a passive USB hub. If you need to use a hub for other USB peripherals, use a powered hub or a separate dedicated USB port for Mbox 2 to function properly.
Known Incompatibilities
Caution - Mbox 2 is NOT supported on the following systems or systems with the following components:
- Older Dell Inspiron and Dell Latitude laptop computers that run less than 1ghz (please see recommended Dell laptops above)
- Computers with motherboards containing SiS (Silicon Integrated Systems) chipsets
- Intel Celeron, Pentium III and older processor based computers are not supported
- AMD K6, K6-2 or K6-III, K7 processor based computers are not supported (newer AMD Athlon XP, Athlon 64, and Athlon 64 FX processors are supported)
- Computers with motherboards containing mixed chipsets from AMD plus VIA combined
- "ESS Solo-1 PCI AudioDrive" Sound, video and game controller. This device can be disabled from the "Device Manager" in the "System" Control Panel.
- Laptops users may need to disable integrated wireless networking
- Asante Network cards are not compatible with Control 24 on Windows XP
- Pro Tools will crash when pressing play if Avid XPress DV 4.1.1 is installed after PT. The workaround is to install Avid XPress DV before installing Pro Tools. (Item #47816)
- Some HP Pavilion models do not meet the minimum requirements as listed in these compatibility documents. Before purchasing these or any computer, please carefully go over these documents and the exact specifications of the computer to make certain that all of the compatibility guidelines have been met.
Additional Compatibility Information
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:
Pro Tools 7 Plug-In Information
While most Digidesign and Development partner plug-in versions for Pro Tools 6.7-6.9 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 fixes for this as soon as possible. Unfortunately, at this time we do not have a release timeframe for improved plug-in versions.
Need Advice on a Computer Purchase?
Be sure to check out the Pro Tools LE Windows section of the Digidesign User Conference for computer recommendations from other Pro Tools LE users.
Disclaimer: Digidesign can not verify that the information in this forum will provide full functionality or performance. Please refer to these Compatibility Documents for Digidesign's official system requirements. |
Supported CPU Models & Requirements
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*). Most desktops are capable of 48 stereo tracks at up to 96k, providing the system meets the following recommended requirements for maximum track count:
- 2GHz or higher processor
- 1GB total system RAM or more
- 2 or more hard drives dedicated for audio record and playback:
- 1 internal IDE/ATA and 1 internal SATA drive
- 2 internal SATA drives
- 2 SCSI drives
- 2 or more external FireWire drives
*Maximum Sample Rate
- Digi 002, Digi 002 Rack - 96 kHz
- Mbox 2, Mbox - 48 kHz
Recommended Desktops
Turnkey/Audio Optimized Systems
Other Manufacturers or Build Your Own — Recommended Motherboards for Dual Core Processors
- ASUS P5WD2 Premium
- Pentium D Dual Core Processor
- Intel 955X chipset
- ASUS A8N-E
- AMD Athlon 64 Dual Core Processor
- nVidia nForce4 chipset
- Tyan Thunder K8WE (Model S2895)
- AMD Opteron Dual Core, Dual Processors
- nVidia nForce4 chipset
- System built by Colfax International
Desktop — Minimum Recommended Requirements
AMD Athlon 64 or 64 FX Processor
- VIA K8T800, VIA K8T800 PRO, or NVIDIA nForce3 chipset
- Socket 754 or 939 motherboard
AMD Athlon XP Processor (2000+)
- VIA KT266A or NVIDIA nForce chipset
Intel Pentium 4 or Xeon Processor (2.4GHz+)
- Asus P4C800-E motherboard
- Intel 845/845E/845PE, 850/850E, 865PE, 875P, 915GL/915GV, 925XE, 945G*/945P*, 955X* chipsets with Intel Pentium 4 processors
*Also qualified with Pentium D processors
 Chipset Compatibility Alert
- Digidesign's Mbox 2 is not compatible with desktop computers with the following chipsets:
- Intel 915G
- Intel 915P
- Intel 925X
- For more about this issue, see the following information provided by Intel:
To find out the model number of your chipset, check with the manufacturer before purchasing, or use the following tools for your existing computer:
How can I tell if my PC is compatible?
Find out how much RAM and which processor, chipset, and Windows XP Service Pack you have:
Recommended Laptops
- Dell Inspiron 9300 (Pentium M, 915PM chipset)
- Terra Digital Audio ML12i Pro (Pentium M)
- ThinkPad R40 Series (Pentium M, Pentium 4-M)
- ThinkPad R50 Series (Pentium M)
- ThinkPad T43 (Pentium M)
The following computers are compatible with Pro Tools LE 7, but may not be able to achieve maximum track count (48 mono or 48 stereo tracks) with Music Production Toolkit or DV Toolkit 2:
- Acer Aspire 1360 (AMD, VIA K8)
- Acer Aspire 1522 (AMD Athlon 64, VIA K8)
- Acer TravelMate C300 Tablet PC (Pentium M)
- Dell Precision Workstation M60 (Pentium M)
- Dell Precision Laptop M-20 (Pentium M)
- Dell Inspiron 6000 (Pentium M)
- Dell Inspiron 8600 (Pentium 4-M)
- Dell Inspiron 8500 (Pentium 4-M)
- HP Compaq Business Notebook nx8000 (Pentium M)
- ThinkPad T30 (Pentium 4-M)
- Toshiba Satellite 1900 series (Pentium 4)
Models with Intel Celeron processors are not supported, check with manufacturer before purchase.
The following chipsets have been approved with laptop computers with Intel processors:
System Software
- Windows XP Professional or Home Edition
- Not Supported:
- Windows XP Professional x64 Edition
- Windows XP Media Center Edition
- Pro Tools LE 7 is qualified with Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP1 not tested)
- If you are updating from SP1 to SP2, please read the following beforehand to help insure a smooth transition:
- Pro Tools LE 7 software can't be installed or used on systems running Windows 98, Me, 2000, NT, 95, or 3.1
- Windows XP Settings & Requirements
Windows XP SP2, Microsoft DEP and PACE InterLok Drivers Update
- if you encounter unexplained blue screens, freezes or spontaneous reboots when launching Pro Tools with Windows XP Service Pack 2, please update your PACE InterLok drivers:
- The current InterLok drivers solve the described problems without having to disable Microsoft's DEP (Data Execution Prevention) feature introduced with Windows XP Service Pack 2.
- The correct PACE InterLok drivers are included with the installation of Pro Tools 7
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
- Refer to motherboard manufacturer for supported RAM version
**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, 1GB RAM or more is required on Windows XP
Additional Requirements Monitor
- Minimum resolution of 1024 x 768
- 17" or larger recommended if using external monitor
Storage
RAID Not Supported
- Pro Tools does not support RAID technology. Please do not activate this feature on any Pro Tools recording drives.
Digidesign ASIO Driver
Digidesign WaveDriver
Additional Information & Downloads
Product Information & Specifications
Downloads
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